Into the Wild Spaces

We’d thought about traveling to Austria or Switzerland in search of snow, but Spanish friends told us there was an easier way. And there was. Senegal is closest to Spain, and just outside of Granada in the south of Spain, lie the Sierra Nevada, whose 3000 foot peaks gathered snow each winter within just a few hundred miles’ distance from the Mediterranean. Too good to be true?

Too good. And too true. We were there in two days’ travel, taking an evening in Madrid to rest up from yet another red-eye flight from Africa over cups of hot chocolate and a plate of warm churros. Arriving in Granada we proceeded southeast and up, on a bus that left Granada’s station several times each morning carrying travelers and their skis. The road narrowed, turning back on itself again and again and fording small streams as the snow gathered at roadside and the pines thinned, and then we were there at the ski camp. Continue reading "The Sierra Nevada"

We had a lot of fun in the Canary Islands, but when I think back on our trip, one mental image will stand out more than the rest: the Barranco de Guayadeque. And as usual, the sidetrip we took while on our way to somewhere else grew to outshine our original destination.

Our guidebook had mentioned the Barranco de Guadaque but I hadn't thought much about it until a Spaniard I was chatting with mentioned it in passing. It was on our way, not far from the colonial village of Agüimes where we'd stopped to explore. The sun was well on its way to overhead, and we'd be looking for lunch for the kids before much longer. Continue reading "The Barranco de Guayadeque"