Mr. Kuk's Excelente Aventura

Several years ago, we targeted the Málaga area as our preferred home base for a sabbatical year. Ever since that time, I have anticipated visiting nearby Ronda. Perhaps you will recognize this town, set atop two plateaus separated by a steep gorge and a waterfall, from the classic children’s book The Story of Ferdinand or from the more recent animated film Ferdinand . From the moment that I saw pictures of Ronda, it immediately went to the top of my “must-visit” list. A view of Ronda from the movie Ferdinand. The beauty of Ronda was shrouded on our journey toward the city, as our bus wound along steep mountain roads through the cold rain. We had a few hours to kill before checking into our AirBnb apartment and had not counted on dealing with inclement weather. To pass the time, we lingered in a café and I walked with the girls to the main bridge, Puente Nuevo, which separates new Ronda from the original city. Even in the rain, the gorge that separated the city was impres...

While I was growing up, I was certain that I never wanted to live in a big city. I thought they were too crowded and dirty and I had no desire to be in a concrete jungle. While I wouldn't have described myself as a country boy, I loved nature, camping, and other outdoor activities. After moving to Baltimore, I came to appreciate the positive aspects of living in a city: efficient transportation, access to cultural events, and the ability to interact with a diverse range of people, to name a few.  At this point in my life, the ideal location is a place that allows me to enjoy the benefits of both worlds. I have enjoyed many aspects of city life in Baltimore, but also appreciate living near a large park and being able to easily escape the city to go hiking along or swimming in the Gunpowder Falls. Likewise, our recent trip to Portugal also possessed the perfect combination of adventures in the city and in the countryside. We started off by joining Santa and his reindeer on an ov...

After spending our first month in Spain bouncing between two different cities and four different apartments, our family was in no mood to travel once we finally settled town in our own place in Fuengirola. We enjoyed settling into a weekly routine in our new city and only took a couple small day trips to nearby Mijas Pueblo. As the calendar turned to December, we were ready for a weekend adventure. One of Becky's old friends from a study abroad program in college lives in Granada, which is one of the most visited cities in Spain and is only a couple of hours from Fuengirola. The city also is home to the impressive Alhambra, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Europe, and in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. All of those factors combined to make Granada the perfect place for our first side trip in Spain. Fortunately, I had gained some experience driving to the food bank in Malaga as part of my weekly volunteer activities for a local charity. Otherwise, I do...

This post is a little bit different.  I have created a video to give a glimpse into daily life in Spain.  You will see where we live in Fuengirola, our favorite nearby areas in the city, and some activities that I take part in during the week.

When we arrived in Spain on September 26th, we had four weeks to find an apartment for the next nine months.  Our plane landed in Madrid, but the next day we boarded a bus to Málaga, a port city along the Mediterranean coast.  From Málaga, we took a much shorter bus ride to the nearby town of Fuengirola for our first full week in Spain.  Málaga province along the Costa del Sol.  Málaga city and Fuengirola are on the map. Over the next four weeks, we would be alternating weeks at AirBnb apartments in Málaga and Fuengirola to determine where we wanted to settle for the rest of our year in Spain.  When we originally began to plan our year abroad, we had thought that we would live in Málaga, which is the largest city in the province and is a similar size to Baltimore.  However, I had arranged to volunteer at a school one day per week in Fuengirola, which is forty minutes from Málaga by commuter train.  I had also made contact with the director of a ...

Our bags were all packed and ready to go...actually they had already been packed for a month now.  After moving out of our house on August 25th, our family had been nomadic for the past month, bouncing between family and friends in addition to my solo trip to Guatemala.  Yet, now, it was finally time to depart for Spain!   Here we go! My aunt dropped us off at New York's JFK Airport after a final hurrah in Ocean City, New Jersey, and we settled in to wait a few hours until we could check in for our 11:55 PM flight to Madrid, Spain.  We passed time by riding on the elevators and escalators with the girls.  On the way back from the food court, I noticed on the display board that our flight had been delayed until 4:35 AM.  "Oh boy," I thought, "this is going to be a long night." After a while, I thought that it would be a good idea to see if we could check-in early to our flight so we wouldn't have to try to get Lydia and Evelyn through security ...

For the first leg of my sabbatical adventure, I set off without my trusty sidekicks.  It was a little bit intimidating traveling to a land where I had a limited ability to speak the language, but I was confident in my planning and preparation. Guatemala is a beautiful country!  I only saw a small part of the country, though, because the mountainous terrain and windy roads slow down travel significantly.  I spent most of my time in San Pedro La Laguna, along the shore of Lake Atitlan, possibly the most beautiful lake in the world.  In fact, author Aldous Huxley said, "It really is too much of a good thing."  While I was in San Pedro for language school, I was able to explore other locations around Lake Atitlan.  If I were to share all my memories, this post would be more like a book, so I am only going to share three favorite activities and two lessons learned by the shores of Atitlan. The best way to get to San Pedro is by boat Three Favorite Activi...