I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. What ever you see I swallow immediately just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful

A friend posted this quote by Sylvia Plath on her blog, it is one I really like and think has a great message. It is also relevant to my aventuras today a la playa de Salobreña, for it is at a beach that one bares a body, covered only by a small amount of formfitting fabric (or less when at a beach in Europe), to all. This is where one's confidence truly shines forth or shrinks back into the depths of our courage. Most advertising today brainwashes the vast majority to think that runmodel thin is the only image of beauty and that orange-brown is the best skin color. Though I did see many examples of perfect beach bodies, they were rarely bone-baring thin, and often included older women. These beach-goers came in all nationalities, shapes, and sizes, all wearing exactly what they pleased (this usually being a bikini set or simply a bottom piece). It just proves that we need to love our bodies, in their natural healthy state. I also maintain that everyone is beautiful in Europe because they eat well (even a LOT) and walk everywhere.

Now a bit on my adventures with Spain's supposedly fabulous bus system. Though convienent it attempts to trick the bewildered tourist or foreigner. A note to all traveling by bus: Always check the times and ticket availability by city search!!! My friends and I made the mistake of picking the first choice on the  main screen at 11, though we were soon to find out there was a bus leaving at 10. After much debate, questioning, and waiting in line, we resolved the problem with a minimal idiot tax of 85 eurocents. I must say, that the bus was quick and clean and reasonably priced at €10 for a roundtrip (ida y vuelta) to Salobreña. (Also, be warned, the buses are scary!!! Small streets, tall and wide bus, high velocities and sharpish turns.)

And la playa es hermosa. Cool clear mediterranean waters over smooth pebbly sand (a great and cheap pedicure option!) under a clear breezy and warm sky. I am lucky that the sun is less intense over here in Spain, because anywhere else with 7-8 hours under the sun and I would have been bright red. This time I spent: on the beach and in the water, eating lunch at a restaurant right on the beach with a patio overlooking a cove, and then exploring the city on a super steep hill with thousands of steps (and whose residents must have legs of steel) and then the ancient and beautiful Castillo Árabe and its surroundings. So gorgeous there, so many places to explore and get lost in. Such history. And legends. One leyenda comes from Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, about three moorish princesses whose father locked them up in one of the towers to keep them from falling in love and getting in trouble. But like all predictions that you attempt to avoid, they inevitabley come true. For the story check out: http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Alhambra/00000041.htm.

The day ended with the sunsetting over the water, seabirds swirling and diving and skimming for food, a bride and a groom (novio y novia) taking pictures on el pellón, and a parade of marching bands.