bike

Fuente de Piedra – birding and biking

Travel

This month, one Sunday, me and my friend decided to embark on yet another green trip, combining a train + bike ride inland Andalusia. We both wanted to try out this way of discovering the nature and springtime landscape around, without the need of taking the car out. Inspired by the birding experiences and interesting, and flat landscape of Fuente de Piedra, I took some time to plan a day trip from Malaga. 

Since Malaga is one of the most steep & mountainous provinces in Spain, ‘a relaxed bike trip’ is an oxymoron for most times. Also, some roads tend to have heavy traffic and I don’t enjoy it this way, as I consider it dangerous. The bike & train trip to Fuente de Piedra seemed to match all the criteria: several regional (MD or AVANT) trains passing by during a day, allowing to take a bike for free onboard and a great 40-45 km bike circular trail. We didn’t know though that AVANT trains only allow a foldable bike to take, which reduced our possibility to travel only with Media Distancia types of trains which have a broad bike and wheel chair compartment for our gravel/city bikes. However, it is not common to see a lot of bike tourism, and is better to double check if the train you’re planning to take offers enough space by letting the station officer of RENFE know about your plans (!).

Everyone we met was very helpful though and we managed to get to Antequera-Santa Ana without any problems. The train ride itself was a bliss – passing by the famous Caminito del Rey or more ancient (and dangerous!) Caminito del Principe, we saw fellow hiking groups waving at our train going on and off through the mountain ranges. Incredible how much flatter the landscape becomes after passing by the stunning Torcal and moving towards the Antequera province. From the Antequera-Santa Ana we took off on MA-5406 road only to turn left through olive groves and wide, blossoming meadows.

The landscape was far from flat so the bike ride required some stamina, especially that we needed to shorten our route as we wanted to catch the MD train, 3 hours before the originally planned AVANT. We could observe countless birds of prey such as black kite, marsh harrier and buzzards in the air and hundreds of egrets, flamingos and stilts closer to the lagoon, considered one of the most interesting birding spots in the region. We were also glad to hear and then see a loud, territorial hoopoe in flight.

Sadly, I didn’t manage to take any interesting bird pictures on that day, but was focused more on the route, keeping the tempo while pedalling through the hilly landscape around the lagoon. Above I attach the idea of how much it takes according to the Google Maps, but you should probably add 30-40% to it, as the roads are mostly gravel and not too well kept at times. The final part we decided to take via the olive groves and not A-384 road which is quite busy. It was getting quite warm and steep, but the final ride was worth a million of sweat drops left on that day. When we arrived back to the station, the conductor was waiting for us, making sure that the adventurous bike friends caught the last train on that day back.

Senda Litoral to Marbella – on four wheels

Personal, Travel

The title of this month’s post is only slightly misleading. It has been a long, intense and beautiful month for me and I can’t pin point a single cause of that fact, so I have to choose one. And it is the general kinetic pleasure of being able to travel, on four wheels, further than usual, as the movement restrictions and over six months of Estado de Alarma have been lifted. 

On FOUR wheels though? What happened to the Peugeot urban bike who was a protagonist of most of my recent posts? Here comes the pun! Two bikes equal four wheels (let’s not forget about the brave Kross who came with us all the way from Berlin, and earlier, from Poland!), true. But the fact is, the bikes share a parking lot with a car now! And the best part of it is, that in order to buy the car, we went over 50 kms using our own bikes, to the big surprise of the seller. Who started to doubt if we really need a car, even prior to see us driving it. 

Let me tell you about the way first. Since I moved to Costa del Sol, I started fantasizing of a long bike ride towards the Cadiz coast and learned, that currently, the path leads almost to Estepona, with some degree of creativity. Since I am not a big fan of using the major roads crowded with cars, I try to look for an alternative. It is not as easy in Malaga though as it is in more plain provinces. On one hand, you are limited by the rocks at the sea, and on the other by the steep mountains. So the choice of roads to use is fairly limited. There is a way to reach Marbella/Estepona currently, using the beautiful Senda Litoral via Mijas Costa, but only during weekdays and particular timeframes, not clashing with the pedestrians (9-11 am or 2-4 pm). So here comes the right amount of creativity and planning into the mix. 

While the town of Cala de Mijas looks like the most of the other Costa del Sol beach towns, the magic starts after passing by the next town, Sitio de Calahonda. There is where the Natural Park of Dunas de Artola brings peaceful landscapes of vegetation, sandy beaches and if you are lucky, you can recognize colourful flowers and birds on the way. We were very lucky to hear, and then spot about three hoopoes on that particular ride! Although some of the legends claim that to hear the hoopoe’s call brings sudden death, I prefer to attribute it to the springtime nuptial ceremonies among this species. Especially when I am learning to drive once again. Apparently, the females choose the most attractive male by the quantity, frequency and profoundness of their calls. To learn more about the hoopoe, I truly recommend the movie ‘Return of the Hoopoe‘!

But it is not all about the hoopoe. The vegetation and the wildlife observed by this beautiful path is endless, especially during springtime. The path offers whale and dolphin spotting outposts, especially around Fuengirola’s nudist beaches, making the others doubt if you really do whale or birdwarching (facepalm). This least pleasant part of the ride goes close to the motorway, so escaping the ongoing sound of the roaring engines by looking at the big blue is one of the best strategies to enjoy this 8 km ride. However, I recently learned that the local authorities plan to build a proper path, further down the rocky coast and not so close to the motorway. Judging by the amount of the runners, bikers and pedestrians it is a great idea.

The reality though, at least for now, is that we can’t go wherever we want to by our beloved four bike wheels. Hence, the decision to buy a car came just before turning 2 years living in Malaga, which is by the way, exactly today. Since we have not driven a car for many years, we are quite nervous behind the wheel but still love beautiful design and can’t agree to use a SUV, we decided for a fun, second hand car with a good condition and low mileage. So far we are still learning, yet the freedom to choose to go to the ocean or wherever we point the finger on the map, is priceless. 

Since then, almost three weeks passed and the car is not in use unless we go to practice or if we need to go somewhere further. I still recommend using collective transportation, bike or own feet to discover Andalucia, when possible, thinking about our own health, and the condition of our planet. 

Walking or driving slower, does not take the magic of the discovery, quite the opposite. Thanks to these long walks, lurking into and mindful registering of the nature, I was able to spot this gourmand sparrow, enjoying jamón ibérico, among other magical happenings that we miss by, if we live too fast.

Goodbye, hello

Personal

Be careful what you wish for. Or otherwise, be grateful for whatever comes your way. I am not really in a mood to comment on the reality, summarizing 2020 or opening 2021 with big thoughts, as I really, truly don’t know how to put it in words, or what to expect. Instead, I would like to share some reflections from the past weeks when I took time off and spent it among the people I love.

First of all, my mom managed to arrive to Malaga safe, sound and with a negative PCR result, of course, while I have imposed on myself self-quarantine about 10 days prior to her arrival. Comparing to the gloom, cold, and loneliness she would face in Poland, as due to COVID-19 she has not seen a single friend nor family member in 3 months, we both decided that the weighed risk is worth taking, within keeping all the possible safety boundaries. In this 3 months’ period of time she had also suffered an unfortunate accident, broken a few bones and managed to recover fully which made me so proud about how brave and strong she is. We cried with joy as we met at the airport, and we were not singled out. I believe who decided to travel, did it for the well-thought reason – still, we were filmed by the local TV news when hugging at the airport.

We spent a week together, mostly enjoying long walks in the sun, cooking together with my boyfriend, staring at the sunrise every day (for my mom there have been weeks she has not left the house and has not seen the sun, November and December being the most gloomy months in Poland) and having fun. On the day she left, the vaccination programme started in parallel in various EU countries, so our wish was that by the next time we meet, she will be fully immune. Weeks after, this is still a question mark but I still hope for the best.

December and January marked also a big come back to our participation in cultural life of Malaga. One day, listening to Puccini, I cried thinking about the losses for artists around the world, and also personally, how the lack of cultural life affects my creativity, and happiness. To my surprise, on the same day, I looked up various concerts of Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra and a flamenco band offering special Christmas, and New Year’s events. I had not expected much, and left the beautiful Teatro Cervantes crying with joy. I am not a big flamenco enthusiast, but with an open mind, I was completely charmed by the show of Alejandro Zambomba and his guests. Even though the voices, strings, guitars and the dance are usually the elements that people watch out for in flamenco, I got especially blown away by the percussion section and the palmas. The other day, in a completely different musical context, watching the Philharmonic Orchestra, their team work and happiness of the spectators, I understood how much I took for granted, going out to concerts, DJ sets or galleries almost every other week back in a day.

For the New Year’s Eve week, again to my own disbelief and joy, my very best friend managed to come over from Berlin. We spontaneously invited her over a few weeks before, just in case the travel is possible and if her PCR goes OK. Getting properly tested these days is a separate horror story which I would prefer not to cover. We had not seen each other for almost 18 months, except from quick meetings when I have been in Berlin for business or in transit. I was so much looking forward to spending time with her, with no huge plans, other than taking good care of ourselves.

No plans turned out to be our every day’s surprise. On that week we cycled almost 150 kms on bikes, got nice haircuts, and visited Marbella from a completely different, peaceful angle. My friend admitted that Marbella’s Old Town was such a positive surprise, knowing the city from the news’ taglines about millionaires and their affairs. We strolled around the Golden Mile, though, overlooking the sun setting over Gibraltar and Morocco, ourselves blissfully low-key and relaxed to the max. Quite atypical to watch the nature, quiet sea, just being ourselves and talking about silly things. What we needed. We came back to Malaga, with the sun setting over Africa, and spent a lovely evening with my boyfriend, who did not manage to get his holidays for this period. He enjoyed his creative output though, trying to make the most of this situation. For the New Year’s Eve dinner we ate delicious food (including 14 grapes each on midnight, as I cheated!), laughed a lot, listened to good house music and played Azul game, only to give up after 3 rounds where we cracked the tactics and were not stimulated by it anymore.

We said goodbye to 2020 – a year worth forgetting and remembering for the humanity at the same time, enumerating events of the year that made us very happy at the end of the day. I know my experience is very special and I have been incredibly blessed and lucky, but also responsible, mindful and realistic. We welcomed 2021 in style, with no huge expectations, as the next days rightfully showed. Not to sound pompous, we live on a thin ice. Surviving this crisis is good enough and it is time to learn to enjoy small moments every day and be compassionate, with yourself and others.

I’m on the road again

Music, Personal, Travel

These days I wake up with the sun and go to sleep with the curfew, embracing my sleep patterns and natural rhythm when the world calls for patience. At the same time, I realized the usual things I took for granted in the past life prior to 2020, like seeing friends, going places grow to enormous happiness when they finally happen. 

Until yesterday I was confined to Malaga capital municipality due to the temporary movement restriction due to COVID-19, which comparing to March-May confinement was ‘light’ and indeed, I was lucky to be able to go out to the museum, concert, eat out or even see my friends. I chose to do so, whenever possible, staying outside, cooking a BBQ together, or working in an urban garden, El Caminito thanks to my friend Rosa. This way the month of November went flying and actually, there was no ‘boring’ weekend. But somehow, I missed riding my bicycle for 50-60 km, as I got used to during the sweet period prior to the 2nd wave. 

Although Malaga has a long way to go to accommodate the city and its surroundings to the level an ex-Berliner is used to cycle around, I can’t complain. I’ve actually spent some hours with my Berliner friend today, who also decided to settle in Malaga, blessing each other for our recent relocation choices. First of all, the weather is mostly fantastic all year round. Secondly, I understand the limitation of the urban design – while Berlin, Amsterdam, or London are mostly flat cities, Malaga is surrounded by fairly steep mountains and the sea. Also, riding a bike seems to be either a very relaxed, family leisure, or hardcore triathlon activity. Nothing in between, unless you choose to leave shortly after the sunrise and return when everyone else is still eating out. Otherwise, bear in mind there will be a lot of families with children on the bike lanes and general ‘congestion’. 

Going slower has its joys, too. On the Westward way, it’s got the wildlife and migrating birds around the Guadalhorce basin, fun chiringuitos in Torremolinos, and picturesque bays of Benalmadena. To the East, one can spot Nuestra Senora del Carmen chapels in the rocky coastline, and on the other hand, there is a treat to brutalists/minimalists, listening to atonal sounds of Fábrica de Cemento de La Araña. 

Reminds me a lot of Deepchord’s production from 2010, as I couldn’t find proper footage of the industrial sounds produced by this massive concrete plant, for which I often stop by around the Penon del Cuervo beach. At the end of the day, techno is an ode to an industrial revolution, and working class cities, like Detroit, Berlin, and surely, Malaga.

As you go East from Cala del Moral, and Rincon de la Victoria, you are literally experiencing spiritual awakenings every now and then. This is where I usually stop by to have a coffee, watching the waves crushing by the empty shore. Today, I experienced a group nearby meditating on this beautiful day. My meditation is slightly different, but we all agree, Sunday 13th December 2020 under this hemisphere has been tremendously beautiful. Some others decided to paddle surf taking their dogs onboard. Chapeau for the dog!

Spotting rare flowers or aloe vera on the way is nothing strange, even in December, in this ever-green climate. As the weekend fades away, and so is the year 2020, I feel nothing but gratefulness that I managed to go through it healthy, with a fulfilling life and job, and the amazing partner by my side. Not sure if this is my last post of 2020, but if it is, I wish you all a better, less dramatic, and bipolar year. In the meantime, I will praise what I feel and experience in a mindful way. 

 

I left my soul there,
Down by the sea
I lost control here
Living free