As I set off from church for the drive to Salinas this morning, I found that the police had temporarily closed the road due to the passage of a fun run. Fortunately I'd left exceptionally early to enjoy the journey, and stop if I fancied, en route. Disconcertingly traffic cones were still blocking the route I wanted to take to get to the main route out of town, through the Alameda to get to the autovia, so I opted for another route which I'd taken before, running around the back of the old town, to a point where the road follows the rio Guadalmedina out of town, past the football stadium to the junction of the A45 autovia, running up the river gorge towards Antequera.
I checked Google Maps, and this gave me a second longer alternative route out through Limonar, for no reason I could understand. I tried to follow it, but soon ran out of motorway signs, and got totally lost in narrow winding hilly back roads and one way streets, in which I became disoriented trying to extricate myself. I found a main road uphill, with almost no signposts. The took me up and over a bridge that crossed the autovia, but offered no side roads to follow and reach a junction.
There was one signpost only. I said 'Colmenar', which I knew was somewhere up the Guadalmedina Valley, so should be the right direction. Google Maps was again unhelpful, and I need to see the landscape a map refers to, rather than be subject to a barrage of verbal instructions I am reluctant to trust in case they are not up to date, or don't make sense of what I can see. So, I drove on. The next sign I saw said 'Montes de Malaga Parque Natural', and 30km to Colmenar.
The road climbed 300m from autovia level before dropping down into Colmenar. It ascends and descends in following the ancient ridge road. The views are spectacular, but with a noon deadline, I had no idea how long this detour would add to my journey and if I'd be there before the service started. Also a number of Sunday motorists were out driving at a leisurely pace, as they sought a hostelry for Sunday lunch, plus cyclists, slowing down the park crossing.
I stopped and asked directions to the autovia in Colmenar and was directed to Casabermeja about 15km away. Then there was another half hours journey in haste, plagued by bursts of heavy rain. But, I made it to Salinas by noon. The choir was singing, but they were still rehearsing, strange I thought, why haven't they started the service?
Then I realised my rush and panic was all in vain, as the service actually starts at 12.30. The journey is only fifty five kilometers by the correct route. I'd done at least seventy by failing to find it. I always allow two hours for a 45 minute trip, just in case there are motorway delays and diversions, but this morning's disorientation was both in time and direction.
There was a congregation of eighteen. The choir sang beautifully, and afterwards most people went to Manolo's to eat and drink. Doreen arrived from Velez Malaga at the end of the service, and after half an hour of socialising, we went into the restaurant for a working lunch, which was nearly as busy as the bar. As it was cold and pouring with rain, the veranda tables outside weren't in use, the reason why it was so crowded inside. It was good for the two of us to catch up, though there wasn't enough time to start planning our post Easter adult confirmation sessions. That'll have to wait until next Sunday when we meet for lunch after our respective celebrations in Malaga and Velez.
The return journey was much more straightforward, following the rio Guadalmedina down to the edge of the old town, then realising why I'd been misled when leaving this morning. What I needed to do was circumnavigate the Plaza de la Merced to get myself in the right direction through the back streets to the road along the river. I know now. I'll have to practice this route at leisure, and not wait until next time I have to travel again up-country.
No comments:
Post a Comment