Esteban de Cádiz

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The end of the World?

Might as well continue in English, just in case I have returning visitors...

Just finished reading a book called ‘Fingerprints of the Gods’ (‘Het Ontstaan en het Einde van Alles’ in Dutch) by Graham Hancock. Written in 1995 and I bought it around that time but never got to reading it completely (and now, with all the rain from the last few days, time was on my side...).

A remarkable book where Hancock investigates ancient civilisations, both in South-America and in Egypt, and finds lots of similarities in the myths that were passed on through the years. Leading from that, he investigates the structure and age of large buildings that were left behind and discovers that they may have been built thousands of years earlier than scientists have led us to believe so far.

And what’s more, he states that some of the buildings, like the Great Pyramid in Gizeh, are built to pass on scientific information from that civilization (as advanced as we are today in some areas) that could have lived as long ago as 13.000-10.450 BC, just before the last ice-age started (instead of 4500 years ago). Another thing is that the position of the pyramids (in Gizeh) and their sizes compared to the others, actually provide a map of the universe, more particularly of the groups of stars of Orion, in a position they could only have had in the year 10.450 BC. In short, he believes there was an advanced civilization long before what people have always considered to be the first one.

He explains that the Great Pyramid may be constructed to give us information on how the planets move and in which era the people that built them lived, the architects showing a remarkable knowledge of the universe and about time and seasons. There is also proof that the Sfinx was eroded by heavy rain (as opposed to sand) and that the last era where Egypt had such a climate was earlier than 10.000 BC.

The part that is most worrying though, is that in all the myths that are told (and the signs left around the world supporting the theory the myths are accurate), the end of the world as we know it is predicted... As far as the ancient people are concerned, the 5th Sun (South-America) or the 4th World (Egypt) will end on 23 December 2012 by a natural disaster and there will be few of us left to pass on the knowledge that we have now, just as the civilisations we know so little about did by leaving behind those large buildings full of mysteries...

The book is fascinating, whether you believe in some of the myths or not. But I suggest you make the most of the years to come, Live Life to the Max!!!

Hasta pronto!

Esteban

PS. I am in Benahavis now and will continue travelling to Holland tonight, arriving on Monday (am actually at home already, too much energy got me to keep on driving ;-)). For all that were involved in making this a great vacation again, thank u very much!!! CU all soon!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

La Boda

And some wedding it was!!! Writing in English this time to make sure the people I met during the last week can understand it as well... (and maybe fill in some blanks of what happened during the last 4 days and nights ;-)).

We all started on Thursday evening at the bar of Hotel Senator, where most guests were staying. Then on to club Nahu, got back (I think) at around 6 in the morning...

On Friday, the wedding festivities started at 16:00 in the Irish pub, where I was the only one present at that time for a quick drink before the ceremony. I was trying to remember if someone had informed of a change of venue during the past evening but luckily, some other guys wearing suits were arriving not much later...

The ceremony was very nice, in English and Spanish, then time for a quick drink while the happy couple got some pictures taken and then on to the magnificent location where we had the reception, speeches and diner, and alcohol... lots of alcohol... – the ‘Gibraltar’ table will not easily be forgotten...





On Saturday, lunch at 02:30, and team Gibraltar proved that the best way to treat a hangover is to just start drinking again (it’s all about results!). But honestly, we did enjoy it, great fun again!
After lunch a beautiful time on the beach, 31 degrees, then back to the bar, and from there back home, to the bar at Hotel Senator... it is so hard to capture the fun we had and I will leave a lot to your own imagination (and for the ones that were there, your own or other people’s memories....).




Most people left on Sunday morning/evening so the die-hards who were still here had to be rallied up for one more night on the town (after a much needed SPA experience at the hotel – I think we were all sweating pure alcohol in the sauna), for a final diner and YES, more alcohol to see the happy couple off to their honeymoon and thank them for the best wedding party ever!!! We all had a great time, all 4 days :-)

And then... just one more drink at the Irish pub...

(a crash course on how to drink a bucket full of Amaretto)

Hasta luego!

Esteban

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Update vanuit Cádiz

Op dit moment niet heel veel nieuws vanuit het zonnige zuiden, doe hier weinig behalve veel wandelen, de lucht een beetje opsnuiven, enorm veel lezen, probeer ook nog de Spaanse lessen een beetje te herhalen voor mezelf (geen enorm groot succes, daar moet je toch echt les voor nemen denk ik); behalve dat staat een druk feestweekend voor de deur...

Zoals al eerder aangehaald gaan de Engelse vrienden David en Cathy a.s. vrijdag trouwen en dat gaan we vanaf vanavond (donderdag) vieren... borrelen met wie er ook maar zin heeft (van de genodigden dan uiteraard). Een hele groep Engelsen komt voor deze bruiloft een aantal dagen op bezoek (in totaal komen er dacht ik zo’n 90 deze kant op); Vrijdag begint het feest vanaf 16:00 uur, wanneer de kerels met de bruidegom even een paar biertjes gaan pakken in de pub; vandaaruit naar de kerk. Na de dienst, de tussendoor-borrel wanneer het paar foto’s gaat maken en de receptie volgt het diner, waarna zo rond 23:00 uur het feest goed zal losbarsten. Ben benieuwd hoe laat (en hoe) dat gaat eindigen zaterdagochtend ;-).
Zaterdagmiddag worden degenen die nog kunnen lopen en zin hebben om aan te schuiven verwacht voor een lunch aan de boulevard, en wellicht kunnen we daarna nog wat nagenieten op het strand. Dat belooft dus een goed weekend te worden, denk niet dat ik zondag iets moet plannen! Foto’s volgen ongetwijfeld na het weekend...

Voor de komende week heb ik wat uitstapjes op het programma staan. Wil o.a.. naar Portugal rijden, naar het zuid-westen, wat in vroeger tijden werd beschouwd als het eind van de wereld.
Ook wil ik hier in de buurt wat nationale parken bezoeken (ten westen van Cádiz, vanaf Sanlúcar de Barrameda tot Huelva. Vervolgens door het binnenland nog even op bezoek in Benahavis; was afgelopen zomer al eens via die weg (van hieruit naar Jerez de la Frontera, Arcos de la Frontera, Ronda, Benahavis) teruggereden maar toen regende het en ben ik maar zo snel mogelijk doorgereden zonder van de hoofdweg af te wijken; hopelijk is daar nu een betere mogelijkheid. Verdere plannen zijn er nog niet maar dat kan nog komen.

En dan zitten we zo alweer in de laatste week; denk dat ik op 22 october wederom naar Benahavis rijd om dan ’s avonds door te rijden naar Nederland, dan ben ik op 24 october weer in Almelo! Zal ook tijd worden om dan eindelijk de nieuwste telg van WJ&Syl te kunnen begroeten in deze wereld: Micki heeft afgelopen vrijdag op de valreep haar gezichtje voor het eerst laten zien!

Ik hou jullie op de hoogte! (jullie mij ook?)

Hasta pronto!!!

Esteban de Cádiz.