The rain in Spain …
… falls mainly on the Hap-pea travellers.
It began last night, when we were in bed in Ronda, and then thunder started to rumble. The thunder claps were immense, loud and long, and after the roar you could hear the heavy rain falling outside. We had a bus to catch at 10 am, to take us to Malaga, and we arrived at the bus station cold, wet and bedraggled. But the bus was warm and on time,and we set off in pouring rain, happy to be leaving Ronda, although we both had loved the city.
The rain continued to pour, and we saw gullys flowing with muddy water alongside the road. We were in the middle of a major weather system.
The further we went, the bigger those streams became, until they were torrents of muddy water, sweeping through the fields, and occasionally spilling onto the road.
And then we came to a halt, at the back of a long line of traffic. We weren’t moving forward, nothing was coming the other way. It all seemed a bit ominous. And the rain continued to fall. A police car passed us, travelling on the (empty) wrong side of the road, and 5 minutes later, a stream of vehicles passed us travelling in the other direction. Then we edged forward, and stopped. Then started, and stopped. Eventually we reached the front of the queue and the reason for our delay became apparent …
An hour later than expected, we rolled into Malaga bus station, relieved to be at our destination. At no time did we feel in danger, and it was a bit of an adventure, but it was an “edge of your seat” journey, rather than the planned relaxing passage through the mountainous countryside, marvelling at the scenery.
And still it rained – no longer heavy rain, but rain non-the-less, as we made our way to the train station, and then onto Benalmadena.
We dropped our bags in our hotel for the night and, as the rain had finally stopped – or so we thought – we headed out to have a quick look round in case the rain returned, as forecast.
We’d not gone one hundred metres when the rain drops began to fall. With umbrellas up, we pressed on but if truth be told, a little dis-spirited, we’d have both happily headed back to the UK at this point.
We reached the sea front and sky began to brighten
And before long we were sat having a coffee in the sunshine, and shedding the multitude of layers we’d been wearing since arriving in chilly Ronda two days ago.
We wandered up the sea front – it was clear Benalmadena had also taken a hammering in the recent rains – enjoying the change in temperature, light and sense of well-being. Reaching the habour, we turned and re-traced our steps, all the time growing in appreciation of this seaside town, glad we hadn’t already gone home, and glad that our final memories of our Andalusian adventure would be made warmed by the sun and against the background of blue sky.
We sat outside for our last supper, as day became night, becoming bewitched by beautiful Benalmadena.
Adios , Andalusia. Gracias, y hasta luego.