BETWEEN PALMETTO AND FLAMENCO!

Blogger's Note: This blog was written for publication in May, but we lost access to our pictures for several months. It is published now - a few months late - but with no less enthusiasm for the subject!

Trivia question of the day: What is the difference between Palmetto and Flamenco? If you guessed 3000 miles, $12 and an Air Force C5 cargo plane, I would give you credit. And in that question and answer you have the Readers' Digest version of our April travel to Charleston, SC, and the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Since the European portion of the trip was bookended by the Palmetto State, I'll begin there with a blog that - uncharacteristically - has virtually nothing to do with running. Aware of Buggy and Topher's planned move to Charleston, we booked flights to visit them last fall - thinking at the time we could be among the first visitors at their new home. Alas, we didn't succeed at being among the first visitors - but we nonetheless had a great visit with the new residents of the Palmetto State - who were already exhibiting gracious southern hospitality and charm. Buggy, Topher and Grace were wonderful hosts and gave us a great overview of their new city in the five or six days we spent with them. We were treated to tours of historic downtown, southern plantation gardens, Fort Sumter (and some fascinating, albeit tragic, Civil War history), local parks, the beach and southern comfort cooking, most notably the Hominy Grill. We were very impressed by everything we saw and did - and particularly with their new home on Mountain Laurel Circle. It is QUITE a change from Carriage Crossing in Bountiful - with a great yard, quiet, green neighborhood, and complete with a pool, clubhouse and their own alligators, which make regular, but unannounced visits at the local ponds! We enjoyed luxury B&B accommodations on the second floor of their estate - and left convinced that we probably needed to plan another visit before our next scheduled trip there in December. Part of their hospitality was exhibited in helping us with the adventure of military Space-A travel. Knowing that the Charleston military base had regular flights to Europe - and quite frequently passenger seats available on them - we had planned TWO potential trips. The first would be 4-5 day visit to Charleston; the second would insert a 7-10 day trip to Spain in the mix. (Italy was our initial choice, but Charleston has virtually no flights there, but pretty regular flights to Rota, Spain, near the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Many of you will remember a few Space-A "adventures" we have had - and this was not unlike previous trips. On our first attempt to catch a flight we thought we were successful. The flight had seats; we claimed three of them, had our boarding passes and had boarded the plane and even gotten the military version of the pre-flight safety briefings....only to learn 45 minutes later that maintenance issues were going to require the plane to fly to Massachusetts first - and without passengers. Buggy and Topher consented to pick the disappointed travelers up and we spent another day or two with them before we had a second chance - which was successful - leaving Charleston Saturday evening and arriving in Spain early Sunday morning - after a bumpy, sleepless night. However, for $4/person (the cost of a box lunch) - complaining would be the height of ingratitude. We spent the next week in the Andalucía region of Spain - birthplace of the Flamenco and of the bullfight - not to mention the base from which Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World to claim it for Ferdinand and Isabella - the monarchs of the Spanish empire- and resident in Sevilla - the Andalucian capital. Our travel the next week took us to Sevilla twice; to one of Europe's oldest cities, Cadiz (founded probably by the Phoenicians a thousand years or so BC); Gibraltar - a surprisingly large and vibrant English city on the Rock across the Straits of Gibraltar from North Africa - and home of the Gibraltar Apes, the only members of this species native to Europe; Grenada and the Alhambra - one of the seven man-made wonders of the world - and an amazingly beautiful fortress, palace and garden established by the Moors during their rule in southern Spain; the Alpujarras region of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where ancient cities cling to mountainsides and traditions nearly as old still flourish; and to a string of Andalucian towns that epitomize the region - glistening and whitewashed on hilltops, with narrow, crooked streets of cobblestone never meant for vehicle traffic, but which have outlived countless generations of residents and that bedevil any motorist venturing into them. The day before we returned to the US, we visited Jerez to observe a Spanish equestrian show rivaling the Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna in precision, acrobatic ability and horsemanship. We topped off the night there with dinner and a flamenco show in a small restaurant tucked away on a crooked, ageless street in the back-alley maze of the city. The artistry and especially the footwork were unbelievable. Coincidentally, our time in Spain was the week before Easter and the time of the biggest and most celebrated festival of Andalucía - Semana Santa. We were able to observe religious parades (weather permitting) virtually every night that brought hundreds of thousands of residents into the streets. Parades included bands, cloaked and uncloaked walkers and the massive human-carried floats of the Virgin Mary and Christ. (Of note, the cloaks were of several colors and included tall, pointed hats - and wherever the color was white, it was eerily similar to the typical KKK attire!)
It seems such trips leave indelible and lasting images - and such was the case with Spain. Our experiences with the Gibraltar Apes, standing on our tiny balcony in Grenada looking directly down on a narrow street lined with thousands as the Semana Santa processions went by, observing - almost reverently - the Moorish arches and incredible stucco-work design of the Alhambra and the Royal Palace in Sevilla, the footwork of the Flamenco dancers, and the courtyards behind the steel-trellis gates of residences that have stood for centuries along the narrow, crooked alleys of cities that Columbus could have visited before he set sail for the New World - are all such images. And - as is frequently the case with such trips - would beckon us to return. Our return trip from Spain was a smooth one - but illustrated a planning principle not to be forgotten. Whereas I had done the research to know Charleston had frequent outbound flights to Spain - I had not tested my assumption that they would have an equal number returning. Unfortunately, we learned they had virtually NO trips from Rota back to Charleston - but rather flew from there to Germany, Dover (Delaware) and Norfolk VA. We ended up in Norfolk early on Easter morning, were able to rent a car and made the 5-6 hour drive to Charleston almost in time for church! An Easter story and Easter egg hunt for Gracie and Rachel capped off the day. Monday's trips to the local parks and beach capped off the trip, as we were forced to return to Utah and reality on Tuesday.
A great visit with Buggy, Topher and Grace - and an incredible trip to Spain - what is not to recommend? We've already alerted the Andersen's that we will be back - and that they should plan to fly with us on our next Charleston-based Space-A adventure. In the meantime - we highly commend Charleston and Buggy's B&B to you. You will not be disappointed. And even if you don't see Flamenco, you just might come back knowing about the Civil War significance of the Palmetto.
Thank you Buggy, Topher and Gracie for a great trip!