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Archive for the ‘spain’ Category

After getting off to a bad start with more faulty electrical gear (I finally binned our over-the-mains ethernet units as only one was left fully working) we popped into Huescar to get some plastic covers and then back into the village for lunch at Pizza Posa. Our first trip to Orce pool – and not a bad way to spend a bank holiday Monday (not that this has any relevance in Spain). The pool gets pretty crowded at lunchtime but by 3pm the locals have all cleared off home! It’s just a small pool, maybe 5ft deep at most but has a gravel bottom which surprisingly is kind to the feet and most importantly is full of fish including some well over 12” long and they like nothing more than chasing after anyone who is moving the gravel around, presumably because of nutrients you stir up when doing so. 

At first I thought the fish might put me off but in practice it’s quite a laugh when you’re the only person in the pool, having an entourage following you around. These fish unlike elsewhere have no fear of humans at all and will quite happily come right up to you if they think there is food in it for them without being in any way intimidating. At the far end of the pool is a seating area and a small ice-cream shed which is nice. About the only thing I’d say is that the pool is apparently spring-fed. Whether this is true or not I don’t know – but the water is COLD!!

As it happened yesterday the air temperature was around 38 degrees C so we were quite thankful for the cool water.  After a couple of hours soaking up the sun and saying hello to a Spanish couple we met the night before, we finished off the day with another attempt at the rather under-funded but otherwise pleasant Pizza cave just outside of Huescar (referred to in an earlier blog – Fuencaliente). Once again, great pizza bases but the place really does need a a little investment.

On the way home we popped into our local bar in Galera for a quick glass of wine and a chat to fellow Brit Len and his wife, a pleasant way to round off an equally pleasant day

Today will be more of a maintenance day and up to now the sun has not appeared, it may even be a cloudy day… now there’s a turn-up for the books.. Temperatures could be as “cool” as 26 degrees! Meanwhile back home in Britain things are looking up, the next few days in Wark, Northumberland could be… well, a stunning 18 degrees… currently at 7.30am on Tuesday, it’s 5 degrees over there… how sad is that… it’s not even the end of August!

And that’s exactly what it’s been. I’ve written off to our neighbours to get some feedback on maintenance, I’ve fastened the drip pipe to the wall, now awaiting inspiration as to how to make it invisible… (wall is white, hose is black, not a good start) and after tackling suicidal wasps in the Jacuzzi for half an hour I’m now back inside pondering installing a second WIFI access point with greater coverage outside. The sun for now has gone behind clouds, not something you see very often here in the summer…  I’m hoping it will be back in full force in the morning… you can’t beat a sunny bank holiday Monday.

I’m on the lookout for a water treatment kit on Ebay (the water here is rather over-enthusiastically endowed with calcium), oh, and the spray we bought to keep the insects off me…. works, my legs look almost human once again. All in all not a bad way to spend a weekend, rounded off nicely in the evening as we were invited to spend an evening of Tapas and drinks with our Spanish neighbours Cosmo and his wife and friends. We had a really nice, relaxing evening over at their place though now I’m feeling really guilty about my poor Spanish – but we DID find out that contrary to what we thought, Spanish lessons are available throughout the summer, something I intend to make full use of next year. Meanwhile it’s back to listening to Michel Thomas who’s not the most engaging teacher in the world….

As promised in a previous blog, first thing on Friday morning, Maureen and I set off on the just-under-3-hour journey to Capileira, the most northerly of the 3 villages in the gorge of the Poqueira river in the Las Alpujaras district of the province of Granada.

The whole journey is interesting as, once you get past Granada you go through Lanjaron and other villages each with their own unique character and then start up the steep incline up the mountains to Capileira. Note in the map it LOOKS like Orgiva is on-route but actually you have to take a turnoff so that’ll have to wait for another day.

With temperatures rapidly approaching 40 degrees C we only briefly stopped off on the way at a restaurant in Calle de Eras Del Seleco in Lanjaron – you’ll see it in the new built-in street view in Google maps – simply says “restaurant” which we dubbed the “cafe for noisy people” as we couldn’t hear ourselves thing for most of the otherwise excellent lunch.

Once you get past Lanjaron you spend far more time going up and down mountains than travelling in a straight line so that part of the journey takes longer than it might at first seem. We encountered a road-slide where the entire right side of the road had simply dropped off into the valley – fortunately the road-crews had sorted out the mess before we got there.

Heading off it took us the best part of an hour to get up the mountains. Capileira is around 5000ft up but our hotel was even higher and about 1 km above Capileira. 

As we were in no rush we kept on going as I wanted to see just how high up we could go – but in the end, we gave up as the road went from superb to, well, something you might find on the moon perhaps – used only by logging trucks and insane cyclists but even then by the time Maureen finally insisted we turn around (the road at many points is on the edge of the mountain with very little between you and death) we were well in excess of 6,500ft above sea level – and it LOOKED that high. You have to do it once but take good tires with you.

The town is just superb and at multiple levels (as it’s up a mountain!) with lots of shops and restaurants to keep one busy and the whole feel of the place is very clean and of high quality (which is more than can be said of construction you might see elsewhere). One shop we went into had a very old wooden weaving loom in the back room and drink is cheap enough as you can see from the photo on the right. Maureen bought lots of bits and bobs and I bought a new t-shirt… well, you have to, don’t you.

The thing I can’t figure out is the snow on the mountains – we had temperatures of around 40 degrees C and going up to 6,000ft had no effect on that whatsoever – and yet – here’s the photographic evidence – snow – I just don’t see that peak being more than 8,000ft and yet…. there it is. I DID think it was just some kind of calcium but winter shots of the area show that peak being completely white.  If anyone knows the answer to this please do let us know.

The hotel – well, I’ll not say much here as we’ve already displayed our displeasure on the relevant travel website but when we got there after travelling up the only access path which was an assault course, all looked perfect – the pool overlooks the valley, it was wonderfully cool, scenery was great but the pool could have been cleaner and better maintained. A Spanish gentleman guy showed us to our room without giving any other information away.

The room was nice enough but FAR too hot and within seconds of opening the door we had a bunch of flies in there…

We headed off back down to the town and found in a small square a nice pizzeria simply called “La Pizzeria” and had a very pleasant pepperoni pizza – the Spanish aren’t that good generally at making pizza bases so this was most welcome. We spent the evening simply taking in the mountain air and enjoying a nice bottle of rose.

Back at the hotel after an enjoyable evening we got off to a bad start as one of the guests had far too much to drink and kept trying to sing – like us he probably had a room that was too hot and so with his door open we could hear him loud and clear.  After a very unsatisfactory sleeping night which included listening to presumably the same person throwing up in the morning… we got up at 8.30am only to see the very modern, efficient looking dining room empty and devoid of staff with last night’s dinner plates still scattered around, We simply left, vowing next time to go elsewhere – which given the potential is a great shame – maybe they’ll change in the future. We’ve been in touch to pay the bill but they’ve yet to come back to us.

The reason we came here on a Friday night was so we could travel back up through Guadix market which is held on a Saturday and that we did, arriving at Guadix around 11am.  Great market and large but a little short on food options (fried chicken or nothing) – as we’d had no breakfast this was important so we only stayed for an hour before heading off home, but not before Maureen bought a new quilt for the bed.

Note the spelling of “Lennon”….. just because someone CAN print on t-shirts doesn’t mean they SHOULD

and finally just outside of Guadix on the way back… a nice church…

Well, I think it’s a bank holiday in the UK.. I am counting on “email emergencies” dying off and on that note we’re off to a WIFI-free wilderness. but first… the BBQ… as you can see on the left, Tony the builder did a cracking job on the tiles and this morning I got up first thing (which in itself is an achievement considering how much wine we polished off down at Pizza La Posa last night with our neighbours) and got the paint pot out as the plaster isn’t QUITE white. Half an hour later the result is as you see on the left – lovely.

Just time to clean up, make sure the camera and phone are charged and we’re off, via Lanjaron, to Capiliera which at something like 4,500ft above sea level is a lot higher than we are – and the mountains above it are still snow-capped. The trip is well timed because the forecast indicates another 40 degrees – with luck we’ll be spending the day and evening with a nice cool breeze to offset the heat – I can’t wait. For now this blog will give you some information about Capaliera but I hope to bring back lots of decent photos. Tomorrow morning the plan is to head from there to the market in Guadix then back up here.

Right, it’s 9am, quick shower and we’re ready to go… here are some more photos from yesterday… the first on the right shows Maureen checking out one of the many partly completed buildings in the area around Embalse Del Negratin. I’m guessing that just before the recession they were in a massive building phase putting together houses near the waterside –and then it all just stopped as some of these places have been here for a couple of years now without change.

Quite a contrast to the new house on the left below which, well, if someone offered me this I’d snap it up – some of the house designs you see out here are absolutely wonderful. This particular one was in Friela which is near Negratin and though again parts of it are a building site, other parts are absolutely stunning – and not old stunning – new stunning. Comparing these to some of the new imagination-less crap they’re putting out back home in the UK … well, there is no comparison.

When we go somewhere we tend to take diversions just to get a feel for the place and Friela is well worth a quick drive around more to see it’s potential than where it is now – which is like everywhere else, at a grinding halt in a recession but when things recover – and given the proximity to the lake, this place has lots of potential (it’s also only a stone’s throw off one of Spain’s excellent motorways.

What grabs you in some of these towns is the sheer diversity of construction – even the row housing has an artistic look to it. More later.

A new record for our trip I think, the temperature today (Thursday) peaked 41 degrees – yes, that’s marginally hotter than you’d keep your hot water tank!

We got up this morning and Tony the builder turned up sharp-ish to sort my plant watering system and to tile the BBQ – you HAVE to see the BBQ (next blog) – he’s done a cracking job. Next stop we went to Huescar not for the market but to pop into the cafe in the square for coffee and “churos” which are basically made from fried dough.. you get a plate full of these curved dough sticks, pour sugar over them and dip them in hot chocolate if you have it, coffee if you don’t. Lovely.

So, in the process of doing that, we discovered a new hardware store with an amazing Fablon-type material for putting on the windows – electrostatically, that turns any window into a mock-stained-glass window.. but really, Fablon was a bad example – this stuff actually looks great. More later when it’s up and we get photos.

When we got to Huescar we were blown away by a guy’s parked HUMMER.. the photos say it all – one of the best movies of all time perfectly captured on a vehicle. Bear in mind that Arnold was the star of the movie and in real life drives a Hummer – and that this was his BEST movie ever and not to mention that the female co-star was Kristanna Loken who is – well, check out the link over her name, she’s not by any means the best looking female in the world but she has to rate as one of the sexiest… check this out – and if you think it’s boring – I can’t help you – Loken as the Terminatrix in Rise of the Machines, defeated by superconducting magnets – marvelous.

So.. .that was the START of our day, we then went off to lake Negratin just up from BAZA and once again we were not disappointed – the water is just superb… once you’re in there is a constant flux between cool or cold water – and these waves of almost HOT water, it’s difficult to describe but suffice it to say that just sitting there at 40+C up to your neck in the most beautifully blue water with an almost constant, light breeze going by – is, well, I could just stay there facing the sun all day… in reality we spent a couple of hours and then cleared off to visit nearby villages before returning to our cave for a while and then heading off to the village – the PLAN was to have a half at one of the local pubs, then clear off to Huescar – but as happens we met our pals Richard and Christine at one of the bars and that was it for the night – Richard is from Scotland with a business background and so personally being an almost-Scot (well, Wark isn’t THAT far away from Scotland) we have lots in common and after a couple of bottles of wine we solved most of the world’s problems.

At this point I’m going to give up and simply show you some photos I took today, none of which even REMOTELY capture the superb atmosphere down at the lake – you just have to be here… but I hope my photographic efforts at least give you a flavour…  tomorrow we’re off FIRST THING down south to what I hope will be my best Kodak moments to date… which I’ve already promised to share on the blog (and to those of you who’ve recently been kind enough to let me know you read this – THANKS – really – it’s great to know that someone appreciates my efforts.

Could this be a burns victim? Or perhaps a side of beef with a disease? No… it’s my right LEG after the insects have been digging into me… I’ve not a clue how they do it but I go to bed without a blotch and wake up in the morning looking like a serious accident victim… until a couple of years ago this NEVER happened to me but now the flies well and truly have it in for me. Some day I’ll remember to use the anti-bite spray…. or wear a haz-mat suit.

I should stress that while this photo shows only the LEAST severe of the bites I have.. none of them give me any trouble at all – it’s all visual… but if I was single, my chances of scoring would be ZILCH. Anyway as far as the water is concerned I have LOADS of new photos but I don’t have time until the weekend to put them up – the photos below however pretty much say it all – yes that greeny-blue really is the colour of the water…. and with fish… more later – enjoy the pics…

Well, not exactly wasted but most of our plans went out of the window.

It was probably around 38 degrees today – again… the insects are on top form and I woke up in the morning with my legs looking like they’d done a few rounds in Afghanistan… absolutely pebble-dashed with attacks. I can’t say they hurt but they look worrying, made worse by the stuff I have for them which turns white when it dries – no street-cred AT ALL. The thing is – we have mesh on all the windows. The buggers must crawl in at floor level…. today’s bedroom spray will hopefully put pay to any remaining nasties.

The external socket is now up and running – and my network wiring is now tidily fastened to the outside of the house instead of the inside!! Internal switching to control the rope-light is up and running (the plan next trip is to use more efficient LED rope-lighting and also light up the side of the steps so I figured I may as well get the mains part of it finished as there is no way I’m buying LED rope light here). I can do simple control via the cameras (which have on-off control systems) but the idea of asking the local hardware store for a relay is just beyond my imaginative capabilities so that’ll wait until October.

We never made it to the lake, I took most of the morning to get my jobs done – along with another round of “absolutely urgent” Federation emails to handle – I’m doing this VERY differently next year, the organisation will manage if I die so they can manage if I’m on holiday…  and so we spent part of the afternoon chatting to our neighbour and the rest in the jacussi playing “catch the wasp”. I’ve done a spot of painting this evening – the cheap paint we bought in BAZA is just that, cheap – helped immensely by a shovel of plaster (in the early days of business, my business partner Aidan and I moved into a place with absolutely atrocious walls and we were broke – so we got some cheap paint, mixed it with plaster and simultaneously covered all the cracks and painted the walls at the same time… I’ve not forgotten that trick). The house in the photo? Oh, that’s just something we passed on the way home yesterday… we decided to take the country route just outside of BAZA and BOY did we find out how the other half live…  some lovely properties, no more than 3 or 4 of them in a kilometre drive WAY up in the hills… someone has money.

Tomorrow morning, Tony our builder is coming over to tile the BBQ and hopefully put my drip feed timer inside the lean-to (to protect it in the winter). Maureen and I are planning a trip to the market and perhaps the lake thereafter and Friday (I’m getting quite excited) we’re off down south to stay at a (hopefully) lovely hotel at something like 5000 ft above sea level – I’m hoping to get to the top of the mountain armed with camera as it’s above the lowest cloud level and with SNOW on the top – Kodak moments are just waiting for me!!!