Whilst our final destination was here in lovely La Manga, on the Costa Blanca south of Alicante, first of all we went down to Marbella to see some friends for a couple of weeks so the road ahead was a long one. It's actually something of a blur - slowly changing landscapes as we came down from the Massif Centrale to spy the smoky blue Mediterranean at Montpelier then the gradual shifts as the lush greens and heavy, peaty browns faded to khaki earth and silvered scrubland and the deeper red of parts of the Spanish coast - geology reminding me of Africa's tempting closeness. By the time we got all the way down to Marbella (endless hours of driving on empty motorways until we were less than an hour from our destination when every car in Europe appeared in front of us. Stationary...) the earth was a tired, creamy yellow and crackling dry. All in all, a very long way from the old-cotton grey of Dover's cliffs at 4am.
Marbella is a unique place - sun, sea, fast women and faster cars. As many Russian accents as Spanish, and more British accents than both - overall much of it has an aura of its 80's heyday. A magnet for a certain group of Europe's wealthy, Puerto Banus in particular is a chaotic blend of designer shopping, plastic surgery, Lamborghinis, yachts and enormous sunglasses. I have to confess to a weakness for flash cars - the Saudi-registered delights of Banus' marina had me weak at the knees (not to mention guilty for not having cleaned our car after the journey - 1700 miles of bugs...)
So today's pictures are about the rich and playful with their toys - all shot at as small an aperture I could manage (mostly f11, giving an exposure time of 1/1000 sec in this bright sun) for sharpness right through the picture. I was trying to capture how utterly shiny the whole place is - yachts and cars and glass and blonde girls all sparkling under the sun. The mountain in the background of the shot above is Sierra Blanca; one of the southernmost peaks of the Sierra Nevada range. Some of these are still snow-capped in July and I have heard you can ski there almost all year round.
There is so much of Spain I am planning to explore that I'm sure I'll be back down this direction soon - the Sierra Nevada, the mountains of Rhonda and of course Grenada and the Alhambra are all on my list now that I live in Spain.Puerto Banus also gave me the chance to do a little soul searching - I was walking along the marina when a man passed me with his family; tripping off this little mental monologue...
"I know him... who's that?
Maybe I met him in Edinburgh
You'd think I'd remember someone with a scar on his neck.
My brain must be going.
[by this point he had gone 20 yards past me]
Oh! It's Carlos Tevez!!"
I must confess I thought about being a Paparazzo for the day - couple of shots of a footballer on holiday would probably sell, after all. However, after a bit of personal contemplation I realised that I just couldn't do it. Don't get me wrong; I don't blame the paparazzi for all that intrusive pseudo-news photography, they are supplying a demand and it must be a tough gig; but I couldn't do it myself. Taking pictures of people who don't always want you to just isn't me.
Mind you - it might've been a harder decision if he'd been doing something that would've earned me a 4-figure licensing deal... !
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