Smurfed in Spain

 The little blue Smurfs were waiting and I am glad I wasn't traveling there alone! Juzcar is a village in Spain, high in the mountains below Ronda where the Smurf's movie was filmed. Today we walked along the narrow, curving streets and said hello.  I am not good at parking on a slanted street and had a tiny panic attack but my brother Rick and nephew Chad talked me down and we were soon walking the streets of this village I'd only read about.  Wow.  Blue houses everywhere.  Ravines so deep I wondered what would happen if someone slipped down the slope.  Could anyone stop themselves from falling a mile into water somewhere?  We could hear the trickle of a stream.  It was a narrow, serpentine lonely road getting there once we left the 400 curves toward Ronda.

At the first sight of blue houses, we were children again watching the Smurfs on television  Once in the village, we walked up and down the cemented streets marveling at the Smurfs sitting in windows, on ledges, above restaurant boards and in the city square.  When we found Smurfette inside a small square next to the church, we were enamored with the girl and stopped for photos.  And when I saw amapolas blooming at the top of the ravine (poppies), I leaned over the barrier to take a photo.

 THEN, we found a cafe and ate tapas, salad and finished with cafe con leche.  It was a whimsical day and sharing it with brother Rick,  Chad and Cess was great fun.  Our brother Steven and Christine took the other road to Antequera and Almogia.

When we saw the "stairs to nowhere, we thought it was time to go...

Then we drove another few miles to the cliff-side town of Ronda!  I'd told them about Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Nationalists pushing the government employees over the cliff in Ronda...of course, that was our next stop.  We followed the pink artistica signs toward the main thoroughfare and parked.  I took photos of each street corner like dropping cookie crumbs to find our way back just as I've done a few times since arriving in a strange area of Spain.

Before long, we were at the Plaza de Toros, the overlook, the Nuevo Bridge and the underneath area of the bridge at the interpretive museum.  Seeing the steps taken to build and preserve the new bridge between old Ronda and the new area was fascinating.  Chad and Cess wanted to walk down below and we'd followed (Rick and I) to the area near the deep, downward steps.  Did I really want to walk all the way down to the bottom of the ravine?

Me:  Ok, Rick...you have a choice.  Walk down all the way with the kids or find a table in the square and have a glass of wine?
Rick:  Wine
Me:  Ok, kids, see you in a bit.
Chad and Cess:  We will be back in 45 minutes
Me and Rick:  Perfecto

Rick and I found El Campillo Bar Restaurant, sat underneath an umbrella and listened to the music of a guitarist in the square.  When the waiter asked if we wanted to eat, I said, "vino de Ronda" and we sat with olives, bread and red wine as we watched people around us.  When a large delivery truck drew up to the square, it stopped.  We watched the men exchange hand signals, our waiter walked over to a table near us, dropped down the umbrella at the patron's table, the truck was able to slide by and then the umbrella went up again.  No horns.  No frustrations.  Calm acceptance.  It was nice to see.  This happened three times while we sat there with our wine and we smiled at the relaxed attitude of everyone involved.

Chad and Cess returned sooner than they'd promised, out of breath and happy to have a chair beside us.  After more wine and salad and shrimp, they felt better and we were on our way again.  We had a third event to make haste.  We were meeting another cousin in Campanillas at 6:30.  We found a dulce (sweet) shop on our walk back to the car and I found Yemas for Patricia so I had to buy them of course.  A table stretched across the width of the shop was covered with sweets, fresh and open.  No plastic covering and barely fitting across the expanse...

I filled El Carro up with gas and didn't learn until later than they'd charged me $96.00 plus the correct $43.00 for the fill up.  Another problem to fix when I return home...

My faithful GPS brought us a different way from Ronda (less curves) to Campanillas and we found Encarna's house, her girls (Encarni and Natalia) and off we walked to a cafeteria.  But alas!  No wine.  They only served beer.  So after complicated deliberation...we moved to another bar a block away.  Sangria all around and tapas plates with salami, bread and cheese.  Much better.  But no dinner...  We chatted for over an hour and discussed (in Spanish of course) everything from family history to their language before we left them to find dinner.

We needed to eat --- Venta Gloria, our cousin's restaurant near Los Nuñez, was the logical choice.  We always receive great service from Andres, a big smile from Paco the bartender and hugs from the owner, Pedro.  What a surprise to find Lyn M. and her guests there eating dinner too.  Lovely.  By now, the day was running late, we were all getting tired, the food was wonderful including paella, boquerones, salad and wine...

After Pedro chatted with us (promising to visit us in America within five years) and some of us had dessert, Andres brought two bottles of something with very small glasses.  Andres told us we must drink it down in one gulp.  What?  Steven sipped and the face he made didn't  invite any of us to taste it.  Andres again made the hand signals to drink in one fell swoop.  So, he poured all of us a drink and up are arms we went.  One gulp.  It was delicious and I have no idea what it was other than his Spanish and my photo of the label.

Now, at home again, we are all exhausted and preparing for tomorrow.  Me to Benagallbón to meet Eterio and Miguel for the last documentary filming session and my family will drive off to a new adventure.

Getting Smurfed in Juzcar, listening to guitar music over a glass of wine in Ronda, meeting Encarna and the girls in Campanillas and later, meeting everyone at Venta Gloria Restaurant was again --- very special.