My Andalusia Treasure Box by Barbara

Our friend Barbara tells:

In the "Andalusia treasure box" are memories of the Costa del Sol from childhood until today. The short excerpt from Barbara's treasure box describes how much the experience with all senses shapes and small jewels of true "quality time" embellish everyday thoughts.

About Barbara: *Self-employed musicologist, linguist, educator and trauma counselor *Family person & mother with heart and soul *Animal lover & dog cuddler *Highly sensitive & communicative *Bookworm & nature person *Traveler & homebody

The smell of salty, fresh sea air, dry earth and pine trees: This is "my" Andalusia, the Costa del Sol. And it smells not only of vacation to me, but also of "health": because of frequent and severe lung infections, as a child I often stayed in my aunt and uncle's vacation home, beautifully situated in the mountains with a view of the sea, sometimes as far as Gibraltar, between Marbella and Málaga. "La Chiquita" still feels like a second home to me - and although I haven't actually had any lung problems for many years, pneumonia caught me again at the beginning of 2019, just while I was in Marbella.

It was a blessing that I was then allowed to move to "Chiquita" and be completely healthy there until I could get back on the plane home. History repeats itself.

Nerja, Coín, Mijas, Fuengirola... I've already spent time in a few places on the Costa del Sol. Marbella has also become a "second home" place for me. But Chiquita is where the smell is the best: I would love to wrap it up in a can and take it home with me.

And wherever I am: I carry my Andalusian feeling deep in my heart. The warm sun, which one can bear well even in the greatest heat, because there is always a fresh sea breeze, I can feel on my skin when writing about it. Breathing deeply - not only with the lungs, but also with the soul - unfolds to the last alveolus and wrinkle of the mind. The light that makes colors look brighter and more intense. The feeling of life that feels lighter than in Germany.

The landscape and vegetation of rugged mountain ranges, tough grass and next to it the most beautiful blossoms on flowers and trees. Depending on the season, the almond blossom looks magnificent from pink to white or the scent of orange blossoms in Orange Square fills the air. In the old town of Marbella, bougainvillea blooms in flower falls from the walls of houses and balconies and is a real feast for the eyes in the surrounding countryside.

As a child, I still experienced how Chiquita lay quite lonely and goat herders drove their herds over the mountains in the morning and evening with great ringing. Then I knew at dusk: It's about to get really dark - and faster than at home. The cordiality of the Spaniards towards children with affectionate "Abgeschmatze" I found very strange at that time, as well as the "flashing" with outstretched arm from the car window and the wild driving with questionable vehicles ;).

I remember visits to my grandparents, who wintered in Chiquita for many years, and to whom my mother and I could travel when it was necessary for me to get well again (my father managed the business at home and could only be there sometimes - that too is part of the memory, the missing and the anticipation of being picked up at the airport). Walks with my grandfather's dwarf spitz over mountain paths, where my grandfather hid "cuckoo owl eggs" (these colorful Spanish chewy candies, which are still available in every supermarket; my grandfather was a highly educated and clever man, who had a trick on his neck and thought up the "cuckoo owl eggs" for us children - unfortunately, we never met a cuckoo owl ...); eating churros in the orange square; and my grandmother, who as a painter captured the beauty of Andalusia - all this fills the rich treasure of my childhood memories.

As an adult, I not only show my family "my" Andalusia, but I still love to travel there with my mother. The white villages in the mountains, the hustle and bustle of the beach in Fuengirola, the shopping malls and shopping tours, picking nectarines or lemons from my own tree in the garden, cooling off in the pool, reading or walking for hours in places I love, feet in the sand and sun on my nose... this is true "quality time" for me and I like to pass on my Andalusia spark. With my best friend I ended up last November in the beauty salon in Puerto Banús - we were clearly the wrong target group, the very eager salesman could not get rid of as much as he hoped with us ;). I am sure: There are still many moments and adventures waiting for my Andalusia treasure box.