Dive gin mill and hangout of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Bars with a little local color are far and few in between in Casablanca and on the evening of January 1st we checked out this die hard relic of 1920's France.
Saint-Exupery became one of the pioneers of international postal flight in the days when aircraft had few instruments and pilots flew by instinct. Later he complained that those who flew the more advanced aircraft were more like accountants than pilots. He worked on the Aeropostale between Toulouse and Dakar. In 1928, he published his first book, Courrier-Sud (Southern Mail), and flew the Casablanca/Dakar route. He became the director of Cap Juby airfield in Rio de Oro, Sahara. In 1929, Saint-Exupéry moved to South America, where he was appointed director of the Aeroposta Argentina Company.
In his most famous book, the Little Prince, a illustrated tale in which he imagines himself stranded in the desert where he meets The Little Prince, a young boy from a tiny asteriod. This was no doubt dreamed up after a few to many Espescial beers at his favorite estabishment.
During WWII, he initially flew in the French GC II/33 reconnaissance squadron. He took off the night of July 31, 1944, and was never seen again. On April 7, 2004, officials confirmed that the twisted wreckage of a Lockheed F-5 Lightning, found on the seabed off the coast of Marseille in 2000, is Saint-Exupéry's.
In Lyon, France the Saint-Exupéry International Airport is named after the aviation pioneer & author.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Friday, January 07, 2005
Hasta La Bye Bye
Well all good things come to an end. We are back in our Madrid hotel. The flight to ORD is at 11:55 tommorow, so its about all over for another year.
Today I wanted to see the museum's that I missed the last time arround. We took a cab to the Prado and the line was arround the block. So we went on to the Army & Navy museums instead. These places were great and after they were all done I wanted to go to the Plaza Mayor for my green pepper sandwich.
I had one last year and was dreaming about it for this trip, but when we got there last week the place was really full and they had a guy at the door keeping others out.
We hailed a cab in front of the Naval Museum and were off to the Plaza Mayor. I had just told DC that I thought things were working against me getting my green pepper sandwich when our taxi cab was involved in a crash with three other cars. We popped out said Hasta La Bye Bye to the driver and walked to Plaza Mayor, I got my green pepper sandwich. We could have stayed arround for the lawsuit, but who cares.
Tommorow we have an 11:55 flight to ORD. DC is now out like a light, an Iberia A-340 will bring us home.
There are jobs and chores and questions and plates I need to twirl but tonight I'll take my chances on the Far Side of the World, JB
Today I wanted to see the museum's that I missed the last time arround. We took a cab to the Prado and the line was arround the block. So we went on to the Army & Navy museums instead. These places were great and after they were all done I wanted to go to the Plaza Mayor for my green pepper sandwich.
I had one last year and was dreaming about it for this trip, but when we got there last week the place was really full and they had a guy at the door keeping others out.
We hailed a cab in front of the Naval Museum and were off to the Plaza Mayor. I had just told DC that I thought things were working against me getting my green pepper sandwich when our taxi cab was involved in a crash with three other cars. We popped out said Hasta La Bye Bye to the driver and walked to Plaza Mayor, I got my green pepper sandwich. We could have stayed arround for the lawsuit, but who cares.
Tommorow we have an 11:55 flight to ORD. DC is now out like a light, an Iberia A-340 will bring us home.
There are jobs and chores and questions and plates I need to twirl but tonight I'll take my chances on the Far Side of the World, JB
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Ronda to Malaga
This morning we visited the Ronda bull ring, this place was wild, this was the bull ring from Around the World in 80 Days, I knew it as soon as I walked in. We traveled down to Marbella, and kept our pinkie up the whole time as we visited the Costa del Sol. Tonight we are n Malaga near the airport for tommorow's 7:30am flight to Madrid.
The Feast of the Three Kings
Today is a public holiday in Spain. Last night was like Christmas all over again, the streets were full of families to wach the Three Kings parade, the bars were full. It was all very unexpected.
The village of Ronda is a charming old town that has the second oldest bullring in Spain. It was here that bullfighting was first done on foot. Out and about in town the other night we were in a little dive bar and found pictures of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells on the wall. It seems Hemingway once lived here. Enjoying this place so well we decided to make it home base for a couple of days.
Yesterday we drove about 50 miles to the town of Jerez and visited a horse carriage museum. Here they train the Andelusian stallion´s. This place was very impressive. The drive between Ronda & Jerez is through the mountains on a little winding road. Very, very beautiful. The weather in the afternoon is great and we stopped at a few village bars for tapas and refreshments.
Last night we stumbled into Flanigans Irish Bar, of all places, the bartender was from Dublin and knew the area my parents were from. In no time we were caught up in conversation with locals and tourists, discussing North Africa and solving the world´s problems.
Today we will drive back down to Malaga and visit some of the up scale Costa del Sol¨beach resorts.
The village of Ronda is a charming old town that has the second oldest bullring in Spain. It was here that bullfighting was first done on foot. Out and about in town the other night we were in a little dive bar and found pictures of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells on the wall. It seems Hemingway once lived here. Enjoying this place so well we decided to make it home base for a couple of days.
Yesterday we drove about 50 miles to the town of Jerez and visited a horse carriage museum. Here they train the Andelusian stallion´s. This place was very impressive. The drive between Ronda & Jerez is through the mountains on a little winding road. Very, very beautiful. The weather in the afternoon is great and we stopped at a few village bars for tapas and refreshments.
Last night we stumbled into Flanigans Irish Bar, of all places, the bartender was from Dublin and knew the area my parents were from. In no time we were caught up in conversation with locals and tourists, discussing North Africa and solving the world´s problems.
Today we will drive back down to Malaga and visit some of the up scale Costa del Sol¨beach resorts.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Out of Africa
We left Tangier yesterday afternoon and are back in Spain. Its been a while since I posted anything because doing anything in Africa is kind of different. You go to a internet cafe and the keyboards are either in French or Arabic so I gave up on posting anything. I am now working on a Spanish keyboard so this may not work out well either, but here it goes.
Last Tuesday we were in Gibraltar and went to the casino that night so DC could try and beat up the locals, No luck. While there we met a Dutch guy that had been born in Tangier. He said that it was Another World over there, he was right.
We sailed for Morocco Wednesday and arrived about 1pm. The taxi drivers decent on you as soon as you leave the boat. Everyone is wearing an outfit that looks like what Obie Wan Kenobie wore in Star Wars, its a little different. We made it to the Ramada no problem.
On the boat I asked DC how long it would take before he saw his first camel. He muttered never. By the time we had arrived at the hotel he had seen three.
This place has great beaches, lined with little beach bars, overall its dirty and backward, exactly what you would expect. They have Heinicken in 10 oz bottles and the price is right. After walking part of the town we returned to the Ramada bar for some local entertainment and early bed for our 6am flight.
Tangier Airport at 6am
Last Tuesday we were in Gibraltar and went to the casino that night so DC could try and beat up the locals, No luck. While there we met a Dutch guy that had been born in Tangier. He said that it was Another World over there, he was right.
We sailed for Morocco Wednesday and arrived about 1pm. The taxi drivers decent on you as soon as you leave the boat. Everyone is wearing an outfit that looks like what Obie Wan Kenobie wore in Star Wars, its a little different. We made it to the Ramada no problem.
On the boat I asked DC how long it would take before he saw his first camel. He muttered never. By the time we had arrived at the hotel he had seen three.
This place has great beaches, lined with little beach bars, overall its dirty and backward, exactly what you would expect. They have Heinicken in 10 oz bottles and the price is right. After walking part of the town we returned to the Ramada bar for some local entertainment and early bed for our 6am flight.
Tangier Airport at 6am
This is a busy little place early in the am. Only 2 737´s but it appears that everyone is comming out of the woodwork and its very confusing. Onward to Cassablanca and our connection to Marrakesh, RAM does a nice job and we arrive RAK at about 10 am.
Most of the taxi´s are Mercedes, and cab fares are cheep. This place is out of this world! there are horse´s and carts, donkey and carts and about a million mopeds. The weather is like Arizona, beer cold, cheep and you have the benefit of having snake charmers and every kind of hustler you can think of. Our kind of place.
We returned to Cassablanca on Sunday early. The place is kind of a dump (understatement), however it has its own special charm. Lots of palm trees, public squares and real dumpy French style cafe´s. A great place to drink $1.50 beer and get a suntan.
We lucked into a great English speaking taxi driver that gave us a full tour of the city and took us to Anfa airport so I could see some old planes. When we got there the place was surrounded by a Midway style fence and you could not see anything. Amhed just happened to find one of his kissing cousins on the street, that happened to work for RAM. This guy told us how to get in and I walked the ramp photographing 727´s, 737´s, Caravell´s, the Lockheed Connestalation and 2 King Air´s.
We left Casa early yesterday on a Beechcraft 1900 and sailed back from Tangier to spend the night in Algecarias.
Today we got a Avis car and returned to Gibralter to do the tourist thing. Drove all over the island looking at caves, cannons and monkeys. At 3pm we left to go inland, destination the village of Ronda, where I am writing this story. So now that we are back in the real world I will keep you all updated.
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