Life Lessons

As we go about our lives, we learn the lessons life imparts to us. Sometimes, we learn the hard way, and it can be painful. However, we may be able to get a head start in life, and avoid some of these painful mistakes if we pay attention to the wisdom, the words of those who have been through life's hard knocks. Their wisdom comes to us in the form of aphorisms, maxims, axioms, proverbs.

Study the aphorisms. Learn from them to gain a head start in life, or to understand what life is all about. They will help you in your understanding of this existence, and how best to prepare yourself for life.

There is probably an element of malice in our readiness to overestimate people – we are, as it were, laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size. - Eric Hoffer

The world will change for the better when people decide they are sick and tired of being sick and tired of the way the world is, and decide to change themselves. - Sidney Madwed

Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed. - Abraham Lincoln

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. - Johann von Goethe

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. - Albert Einstein

You affect your subconscious mind by verbal repetition. - W. Clement Stone

Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself. - Lao Tzu

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects himself. - Publilius Syrus

Intuition is the ability to perceive the real problem through the clutter of data. - Unknown

Actions follow thoughts – consciously or unconsciously. Control your thoughts and the right actions will follow. - Unknown

Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible. - Thich Naht Hanh

The vast majority of human beings dislike and even dread all notions with which they are not familiar. Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have always been derided as fools and madmen. - Aldous Huxley

You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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San Juan Festival

There is a festival going on in Benalmadena at the moment. It is a week long of festivities to honour San Juan, or St John the Baptist, the patron Saint of Arroyo de la Miel.

The festival began with the 'romería' pilgrimage, followed by six days of partying from the 24th of June. Apparently, it is the biggest local celebration.

Every street has some sort of decoration put on and the bigger streets are decorated with colourful lights. There is a competition to see which street has the best decoration. There is also a fair. And in the bigger squares, there are live bands performances. Most restaurants in town and in the squares are doing brisk business.

All in all, this is a busier and livelier week in Arroyo than usual.

Click on the photo to see the bigger picture.

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Arroyo la de Miel

Arroyo de la Miel is a town belonging to the municipality of Benalmadena, province of Malaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia (Spain). It is one of the three urban centers and districts that make up the municipality of Benalmadena, along with Benalmádena Pueblo and Benalmádena Costa.” - Wikipedia

Here I am, in Arroyo – a familiar corner of town in an unfamiliar city (Malaga).

Arroyo is touristic – as any town center would be. On the main street, there are many shops and restaurants. The shops and restaurants are bigger, and the cuisines more international. Most of them do brisk business.

On the border of the main street, there are many little neighbourhood shops and restaurants – some are owned by expats, but they are mostly owned by the locals. They cater more to the local clientele.

Where I am, it is a five minutes walk to the town center. Supermarkets, shops and restaurants are all within walking distance. It is very convenient here.

Some photos of Arroyo taken when I was out and about.

This eye-catching Waiter statue at the start of the main street of Arroyo is fondly known as the ‘Waiter of Arroyo’. No one is sure of the history behind the sculpture. My guess would be that it signifies the beginning of a stretch of bars and eateries on the main street.

Click on the photo to see the bigger picture.

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Benalmadena

Benalmadena train station

Benalmadena is a small holiday town in the province of Malaga in Spain. It is made up of three urban centers – the Benalmádena Costa, Benalmádena Pueblo, and Arroyo, the town center. The main tourist attraction is the Costa del Sol which covers almost 20 kilometers of coastline of sand.

Benalmadena is also what people called a dormitory town. There is no big industry or businesses here, just a quiet town, but busy with tourists. Therefore, people have to go to work in the city, Malaga.

There are generally three groups of people in Benalmadena. The locals, the expats and the tourists. Locals are mainly in the Pueblos and Arroyo. Expats are mostly in Arroyo, and you find most of the tourists down on the Costa del Sol.

Benalmadena has many holiday apartments owned by Europeans who come here to escape the cold in Winter, or to enjoy the sun and sand in Summer. A big section of the people living here are retirees from the UK. Therefore, the pace here is slower, more relaxed and peaceful.

So, you can say that Benalmadena is a holiday town on the Costa del Sol – the Costa del Sol being Spain’s most popular holiday destination. It is a town of holiday makers and retirees.

This is Mount Calamorro, the highest mountain in Benalmadena. On a clear day, one can see as far as Africa in the distance.

The pueblos or villages on the foot, and side of Mount Calamorro

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The View From The Balcony

This is the view from Roger’s balcony. In the foreground is the neighbourhood and beyond is one of the many mountain ranges in Spain, and also Mount Calamorro on the extreme right.

Mount Calamorro is also a tourist attraction. It takes about 15 minutes in the cable car to go up there.

“The summit of the Calamorro mountain offers one of the best panoramic views of the Costa del Sol – on a clear day it’s possible to see around 150km in either direction, from Gibraltar in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Granada province to the east! - Source

In Summer, the cable car operates until midnight. The view at night will no doubt be very different from that in the day. But I am sure it will be just as beautiful with the lights in the distance.

The balcony is also where we have our dinners – a leisurely meal at the end of the day as we watch the sun goes down.

Click on the photo to see the bigger picture.

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Arrival In Benalmadena

So, here I am again – in Benalmadena, for the sixth time. My friend Roger retired here in 2017, and I have visited him every year during the summer, except for the Covid years. Each time, I spent six to ten weeks here.

I arrived on Monday afternoon, after over 17 hours of journey with Qatar Airlines. Since I can’t sleep on board the plane, I was quite tired by the time I arrived in Benalmadena. However, I managed to keep going until it was time to sleep at night. I had a good night’s sleep and feel a lot better today. I am still adjusting to the time difference and the ‘new’ environment. As you get older, you find difficulty in adjusting, especially if you are, like me, who are used to everyday routines.

Anyway, I will be here for the next six weeks and I will be posting about Benalmadena. So if you are interested to know what Benalmadena is like, stay tuned.

Since I have been Benalmadena before and post about it, older readers of my blog would have an idea what Benalmadena is like already. I will do my best to keep things fresh and interesting.

Anyhow, this is just to touch base. I will be back, hopefully tomorrow when I am settled into the routine here.

This is the plane that took me to Doha when I caught a connecting flight to Malaga.

Some photos of Doha airport.

Making my way to the boarding gate.

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Cheeky Humour

My post on humour is usually on a Monday. However, I will be somewhere in the air this time tomorrow, so I will post the Monday humour today instead. I am going to Malaga, Spain for a six-week home-stay holiday to visit an old friend.

I will have access to the internet. So, I will still be posting while on holiday.

**************************************** They say laughter translates into any language and is contagious. So, when possible, where possible, laugh. Your laughter might be the only ray of sunshine some people see for the whole day.

If, for whatever reason, you find it difficult to laugh at the moment, maybe the following will help to bring on a chuckle or two, or put a smile on your face at least.

Laugh when you can, while you still have teeth. May your days be filled with laughter.

You can’t be a Real Country unless you have a BEER and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER. - Frank Zappa

Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their colour. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their colour is unthinkable. - Unknown

Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves and, of course, each other. If girls dressed for boys they’d just walk around naked at all times. - Betsey Johnson

If quitters never win, and winners never quit, then who is the fool that first said: “Quit while you are ahead?” - Unknown

I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment. - Woody Allen

Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem. - A. A. Milne

Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand. - Mae West

I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise. - Noel Coward

Children in the back seat cause accidents, accidents in the back seat cause children! - Unknown

I don’t mind what Congress does, as long as they don’t do it in the streets and frighten the horses. - Victor Hugo

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip. - Jonathan Carroll

You know, sometimes kids get bad grades in school because the class moves too slow for them. Einstein got Ds in school. Well guess what, I get Fs! - Bill Watterson

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