April 16th - 30th 2006
Written by Geoff Forster
Easter Sunday. Again we're lucky with the weather. We walked down to the plaza to see what the children had robbed for their sale/auction.
We were surprised to see how beautiful the display was.
There were two goats, a sheep, hens, rabbits and a piglet. Lots of vegetables and flowers.
We found out later that the priest had told the children stealing wasn't allowed anymore and everything had to be given as a gift.
So we moved our plants unnecessarily.
Here's Jane in the plaza with Mount Porón behind her.
Benarrabá plaza.
We left the plaza to photograph the procession.
This cat was enjoying the sunshine.
We walked down to photograph the procession as it wound up Calle Pósito.
Our guests Chip and Barbara had been to the church service and were walking behind the statues.
We went to Café Bar Guayacán to get an aerial view from their balcony.
The men carried one statue the ladies another.
They went to the plaza to be reunited with the children's statue.
There were a lot of people in the plaza.
The auction began.
The fruit was sold first. The exciting stuff (livestock) was left until last.
Last year our neighbour Juan bought a goat and turkey chicks.
This year we thought that he'd bought the sheep but it was for his brother in law.
Chip and Barbara went to Gaucín to watch the bull run in the streets.
I did it last year. It was exciting. Perhaps next year ...
We went to Bar Andrés Sánchez for a drink. We sat with Eduardo who lives at the bottom of the hill from our house.
Here's Eduardo with his friend Jesús.
Later Onno and Marion came in for a beer.
We called in to see Dami before walking up to Café Bar Guayacán.
We had Pollo con salsa and a Serranitto each.
Flora brought me a large dish of Hibea which looks like a small octopus/squid.
We'd had a great Easter fiesta. We met lots of great people. The processions were very moving and the display and auction in the plaza was very beautiful.
A cooler day, a fresh wind is keeping temperatures down.
We went to Gaucín with Chip and Barbara, then to Benadalid. We stopped in Venta Aguayar for a coffee.
Then we went shopping at the Super Genal in Algatocín.
Back home I waited nervously for the Weir Tyne derby to kick off.
We played really badly and were losing 1-0 at half time.
But we were just toying with them. Tricking the mouthy Mackem's into actually thinking they were going to beat us! Sweet.
A 1-4 massacre and as always given time ... cream rises to the top.
We went out to celebrate.
Our neighbour Juan was in Café Bar Guayacán.
We had a good night.
We played pool.
I was doing well but lost a game to Juan.
Yolanda is training some new staff. This is Otto's son Naim.
Guayacán bar.
Here's Flora next to her tapas menu.
An early start.
I'm up before dawn.
We're doing a guided tour of Ronda and the surrounding area with Chip and Barbara.
We set off at 09:00h it was a fine clear day.
This is Barbara and Chip at a mirador with Ronda behind them.
We parked at the East end of Ronda and walked down. There are some great views.
This tiled plaque is on the wall of a convent.
We took them to a favourite bar for tostada's and coffee.
Chip bravely had jamon and manteca (a two coloured pork lard).
We did some shopping then headed on a tour of Historic Ronda.
We know Ronda quite well now so we took a circular route that takes in all of the major historic buildings, bridges and views.
This is a recent statue of a gypsy guitarist.
Here are Barbara and Chip with the amazing 'Puente Nuevo' in the background.
This is the tower of the Collegiate Church of Sta. Maria La Encarnacion Mayor.
It is 3 euros to go inside. It is well worth the money.
Here's just one of the many statues. This was part of the Semana Santa processions.
The Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) from the balcony of the Collegiate Church.
Our tour of Ronda over we drove to a Venta near Setenil de las Bodegas for a traditional Spanish lunch.
We then briefly stopped in Setenil to see the gorge.
Then we drove through some stunning countryside.
The wild flowers are incredible at the moment.
These are the open rolling hills around Olvera, which you can see in the distance. Torre-Alháquime is the smaller pueblo to the right.
we stopped to watch a colony of Bee-Eaters flying into their nests in a sandy bank.
Jane took this photograph.
We took the road to Montejaque.
Chip took the next few photographs.
There are some great limestone outcrops near Montejaque.
The road winds through some dramatic scenery.
We drove passed Montejaque and Benaoján. Through Cortes de la Frontera and onto the Pista Forestal to El Colmenar.
If you've never seen a Cork Oak forest you should try to at some time.
It is very beautiful and completely unique.
We saw a few cows and calves on the drive.
We stopped at the Meson las Flores for refreshment.
We drove up to Gaucín.
This is the view South over the campo de Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Sea.
We got to Benarrabá at 21:00h. A long twelve hour tour of some of the best parts of breathtaking Andalucía.
No Internet connection when we get home.
Iberbanda / Avired are failing to honour their contract to supply a fast reliable service. I'm not sure what to do other than to keep complaining and hope that everyone else in the area is doing the same.
Perhaps a pressure group is needed?
A lovely sunny day. We think that Barbara and Chip have gone to Gibraltar.
We still have no internet connection.
We drove to Gaucín to use a internet cafe. Their link was also down!
We went to the vets to get Advantix for the dogs and cats.
A second wave of House Martins have just arrived and were busy building nests just outside the window of the consulting room.
Jane bought a pretty white Aquilegia, a favourite flower in England. A pleasant surprise to see it here.
We sat in the sun outside the bar next to the gasoline station. It doesn't sound too pleasant but it was lovely.
Artists Marion and Onno Henke have started their season of Painting Holiday courses. This is a fine painting.
They were enjoying Antonia's wonderful tapas in Bar Barroso.
We walked to the Restaurant Kábilas which was closed. Hopefully it will start opening all day very shortly. The waitress saw us trying the door so we did get a drink. We walked back down into the village.
This is a very pretty part of Benarrabá.
There was a strong smell of perfume in the air. I traced the source to this Jasmine that was growing up through an Olive tree.
All this walking and photography is hot work ...?
We called into Bar Andrés Sánchez.
Here is Andrés near a large selection of Pork products and Alcohol that is being raffled in a couple of days time.
Jane keeps buying tickets. Hopefully we will win.
We called into Pub Bar Dami and had some Montaditos. This is a slice of pork in an small bun. All the bars do these but Dami's are excellent.
Next we noticed Disco Bar Embrujo was open. Pepa has closed Bar Porón and now opens the bar Embrujo at 16:00h. It is still a disco bar late Friday and Saturday.
It is beautifully decorated.
The cool disco room was now a domino school.
We noticed the walls were covered in suggestions for cocktails. Not long drinks but shorts that you knock back in one.
Here's Pepa adding a little magic to the brew.
We noticed cocktail numbers 17-26 were missing so we set about putting this right.
We tested a few different combinations ... I think this was number 24 a 'Juala' which comes from Juan and Laura, which Pepa insists on calling us. It is Grenadine, Tequila and orange.
We strolled (staggered) up to the plaza.
We met Monica on the way. She didn't want her photograph taken but we insisted. Her sister Claudia reads the blog. She lives in Canada but is coming to Benarrabá in two weeks time. We look forward to meeting her.
This is the beautiful plaza in Benarrabá. The Orange blossom smells wonderful.
We met Yolanda outside Café Bar Guayacán. Guayacán is closed on Wednesdays. She invited us in to see the new sun terrace. You will soon be able to enjoy a drink or ice cream up here.
The views are fantastic. This is looking North East up the Genal valley.
We came downstairs. Yolanda had left the door open.
This is Poppy and her boyfriend. Poppy lives in the campo near Benadalid. We'd met a couple of times before but never for long.
We had a good chat.
Suddenly there was a loud noise. Lola the Terrapin had decided to come out of her pool into the bar, knocking over a flowerpot on her way.
Here are Yolanda, her father Bernardo and her mother Flora. We had more of Flora's tapas and a enjoyed a couple of hours talking to Yolanda.
We got home quite late ... a good day out around the village. We even got into two bars that were closed!
A lovely day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and I feel better than I should after yesterday.
I've spent all morning doing the previous two days blog.
We have an internet connection today so I'm uploading lots of photographs.
I spoke too soon. The connection was so slow I couldn't upload more than two or three photo's.
I gave up and we put our shorts and boots on and went for a walk with the dogs.
Here's Benarrabá from the camino to the North.
Here's Jane with Jake and Sally.
This is the pretty pueblo of Genalguacil. Chip and Barbara drove across there today. You can walk there and back in a little under six hours. It's a great walk at this time of year.
Looking across the valley to Jubrique.
Jubrique
We saw a flock of sheep. They were an unusual breed. Their coat was long and straight. It looked like they'd been combed. Their faces and legs were brown. They reminded us of Afghan hounds.
Here's Jake and Sally taking a breather. They are inseparable.
We headed back. we met Florencio on the way. We always stop to exchange a few words with him.
Back in Benarrabá a couple of hours later, we walked passed Adelia and Paco's house. The flowers outside are beautiful.
I finally got the photo's for the previous two days blog uploaded.
We cooked a curry and started to watch a DVD. Jane was tired so I did a webpage for the school in Benarrabá.
Just a few photo's of the mural that the children had painted.
El Colegio de Benarrabá
A beautiful sunny day.
Chip and Barbara have just left for a drive to Zahara de la Sierra, Grazalema and then through Ubrique to the pista forestal. They are then going to drive through the Cork oak forest. They liked the forest so much they said they wanted to go there again.
Grazalema
Ubrique
Chip and Barbara have also kindly offered to cook a meal for us tonight.
They leave tomorrow, the week has just flown past.
We went to see Seraphim, he sells wood and we sometimes buy Cork Oak from him. We wanted a Cork Oak plant holder as present for Chip and Barbara. We found Seraphim and he told us it would be ready in an hour so we went to Café Bar Guayacán to wait.
I had a few games of pool with Germán.
We bought the Cork Oak and walked home.
Chip and Barbara were back and had left a note saying dinner would be ready around 19:30. We changed and went up.
The meal was great. Spaghetti in a tomato sauce with ground anchovies.
We'd bought Barbara and Chip a bottle of Cava to celebrate their arrival, they'd saved it to drink with us. Very kind.
The meal was great. Thanks to you both.
We walked down to Restaurante Kábilas.
Then we walked to Café Bar Guayacán.
We went upstairs to play pool.
We really had a good night with plenty of laughs as you can see.
Chip and Barbara were great guests. They really had a good time.
They kindly took this photograph of myself and Jane.
Here's Chip playing pool.
Here's Chip again.
He was trying some tactics new to me.
We use chalk in Europe ...
A bit extreme ... so I let him win in case he had any other plans for his cue!
Chip and Barbara headed home. They have an early start tomorrow.
We stayed until very late ...
We took lots of photographs of this family who are originally from Benarrabá they are all back for the weekend. More photos on www.benarraba.com ...
We said goodbye to Chip and Barbara. They'd had a great honeymoon.
They could have gone anywhere in the world and they said that Benarrabá was a perfect choice. We hope they get home to Framingham USA safely.
It was a lovely day. We noticed that the first Passion flowers were out at the front of the house. We put this down to our Honeymoon couple!
Jane took these photographs.
Jane spotted a Blue Rock Thrush fledgling taking its first flying lesson.
The male is watching its progress.
We quite often see Blue Rock Thrushes on the roof of Carmen's house opposite the apartment. They are pretty birds.
There was a cycle race in the area today. The Cortes 60.
Which I guess is a pretty tough 60km circular race starting and ending in Cortes de la Frontera.
It passed through Benarrabá. In fact they went passed the end of our street, so we walked down to watch a few of them struggling up the hill.
The mountain bikers must have been around halfway through the race, it looked very hard work. They'd just cycled up and down that hill behind.
This lad was enjoying himself.
We stood near a fragrant Jasmine bush and looked down the track.
We enjoyed watching the race in the beautiful sunshine.
We walked up to the house.
This window in Calle Cuartilla caught our eye.
I listened to Newcastle United win 3-0. We're climbing the table. Two tough games to come but we could get a UEFA cup place?
Jane's juicing fruit and vegetables, she makes some interesting blends.
I'm watching the FA Cup semi Final and trying to upload photographs to the blog.
It rained during the night which is good news, any rain is welcome at this time of year as it prolongs and increases the number of wild flowers on the hillsides, fields and verges.
We've been up in the apartment. Getting it ready for my mother who is arriving late tomorrow evening.
We went to Café Bar Guayacán to watch the motor racing Grand Prix on the large screen TV.
We had some great tapas. Chicken in almond sauce is a favourite. Plus a couple of huge Serranitto.
Jane went home to check on the animals and took some great photo's of clouds hanging in the Genal Valley.
Flora took Jane to see her house. On the way they called in to see a neighbour Juan. Juan makes incredible strange organic carvings out of wood and roots. His walls are lined with strange alien like shapes.
He also makes some pretty unique tables.
This is Flora's beautiful living room.
Flora brought some old photo's of the family and Benarrabá for us to see. She's letting me scan them so I can put them on the website.
She also gave Jane a beautiful serviette holder which she has crocheted. It is very delicate, it must have taken days to make.
It's Jane's birthday. Feliz Cumpleaños 'Pet'.
It's also our second wedding anniversary.
It rained during the night, quite heavy at times.
It is fine now, hopefully it will clear before tonight's drive to Málaga airport.
An e-mail from Chip and Barbara, they have arrived back home safely.
Chip has said I can upload some of his photographs to the website. So I'll do that later this week.
We have a little more to do upstairs. Flora has a small party planned for Jane this afternoon.
Jane got quite a surprise in Café Bar Guayacán.
Flora and Yolanda had ordered her a birthday cake.
The table was set with a large vase full of Philadelphus which the Spanish call Cilindro.
Jane and her Spanish mother, Flora
The music was turned down and a Spanish birthday song was played.
Everyone who knew the words joined in.
It was also our second wedding anniversary.
Here we are together. You'll notice that the age on the cake is now correct ...
The cake was a light sponge with custard centre and jelly topping. Almost like a trifle. It was excellent.
Many thanks to Flora, Yolanda and everyone at Café Bar Guayacán for making Jane's birthday so memorable.
Flora invited us back to her house. This is the view from her balcony.
We set off to the airport at 19:15h.
The flight landed ten minutes early. Val's bag was one of the first off. So we were back in Benarrabá before 23:30h.
It was good to see my mother again, its been nearly eighteen months since her last visit. This was before the building work was started on the apartment. She saw quite a difference. (I must do a before and after page)
We gave her a tour and left her to recover from her journey.
Many thanks to everyone who e-mailed to wish Jane a Happy Birthday.
Also we've had quite a number of e-mails from visitors to the website giving us encouragement and suggesting areas for us to visit.
We love getting e-mails so if you haven't written yet or haven't for a while. Please drop us a line.
e-mail Geoff & Jane
A fine day, the sun is breaking through some early morning clouds.
We're having a lazy morning before heading to Los Barrios to do some shopping at Carrefours.
We drove down the A369 from Gaucín, the fields and verges are beautiful with a huge diversity of wild flowers.
We went to Castellar, because it is flat and easy on Val's dodgy knee.
We had lunch in our favourite restaurante/bar.
Castellar is a new town but we like the layout. It has some lovely fountains, statues and green areas.
Next we drove up to Castillo de Castellar which is always worth a quick visit. We were only there a few minutes but the castle and the panaramic views are worth the drive up there.
Castillo de Castellar
We went to the shops near Los Barrios.
They were very quiet which is good. I'll have to remember to go at around 16:00h. on a Tuesday.
We drove back home and unpacked the shopping.
We quickly changed and went to Café Bar Guayacán.
We introduced my mother to Flora and Yolanda, who had kindly bought us a cake each. As usual the hospitality in Café Bar Guayacán was excellent. Such a friendly atmosphere.
A little later we walked to the Restaurante Kábilas.
On the way we met Salvador returning from the campo on his mule.
In the Restaurante Kábilas we had Salmorejo de carne, a plate of chips and a lovely dip called something like Alioli?
All kindly bought for us by our good friend Mercedes. Who was pleased to see Val again.
I got home just in time to see the end of the Villareal v Arsenal match. I didn't know who I wanted to win. I usually support the English teams in Europe. Even Arsenal, Chelsea , Liverpool and Manchester United.
Villareal have done so well for such a small town of 50,000 inhabitants. The football stadium holds 25,000. Half the population!
A beautiful warm sunny day.
We're off to Algatocín to the Super Genal to buy vegetables.
Nothing else is planned.
We went to Algatocín as planned. Then we went to Benadalid.
This is a view to the North.
There were lots of beautiful wild flowers everywhere.
This is looking across the Valle del Genal to Alpandeire.
A beautiful rose that was flowering.
It was a warm day, when we got back we juiced some fresh Genal Valley oranges kindly given to us by Carmen and Cristóbal.
We had a good healthy meal of fresh bread, cheese and tomatoes.
Later we had a steak fry up ...
A quiet morning around the house. The sun is shining in a blue sky.
It is a beautiful day.
I was sat on the doorstep in the hot sun drinking tea, when I noticed how beautiful the Acer Palmatum Dissectum Purpurea was. A long name for a little tree. It has survived two Spanish summers so far, but always looks at its best in April/May. An orange climbing rose 'Warm Welcome' is planted near our front door. A Gazania has self seeded itself in the Acer's pot and the white Aquilegia is growing near by. I thought it made a lovely picture and it did ...
Jane and I took the dogs for a walk up the track by the apartment.
The wild flowers have now been joined by many different types of grasses. With a slight breeze blowing through the seed heads they look wonderful.
This white flower is growing only in one small patch. We haven't seen it elsewhere.
Here is Sally with Ferdy behind.
Ferdy with Sally behind.
Benarrabá from the track above the apartment.
Later we went to Café Bar Guayacán for tapas.
We had Carne de pollo con salsa almendras (chicken in almond sauce), costillo en salsa (pork ribs in sauce), Salmorejo de carne (pork pieces cooked in white wine), Serranitos (buns with a pork fillet, fried green peppers and a piece of Serrano ham), followed by tarta de turron (a sweet with cream) then coffee. Quite a feast. We only ordered some of it. The ribs and Salmorejo were gifts from Flora, who likes us to try everything. We sat with Flora for a while and practised our Spanish.
A good night out.
I got back in time for the second half comeback by Middlesbrough. Our friend Otto won't be pleased, he supports Steaua Bucharest.
A beautiful day. We're off to Ronda today.
Val loves Ronda. She fell in love with Ronda on her last visit.
It has that effect on people.
On the way we photographed this Rock Bunting on a wall at the side of the A369 road.
We got to Ronda and parked in our usual spot.
We walked down into the town.
We called into the Hotel Macias for a coffee.
Antirrhinum in Ronda Gorge.
Jane and Val went shopping. I stood outside lots of shoe shops on the sunny side of Calle Espinel before they took pity on me and told me to go for a beer!
We met up later and had a walk around.
This is the Collegiate church we visited with Chip and Barbara.
This man was walking along the top of the wall above the gorge.
If he'd slipped ... it's a long way down.
If he hadn't got a good photograph ... I would have!
This bronze stag is on a road junction near Ronda.
We drove to Montejaque. The flowers between the main Sevilla road and Montejaque are spectacular.
These are wild Blue Lupin's.
These are a much rarer Yellow variety.
We stopped in Bar de Santa in Cortes de la Frontera for tapas.
We drove through the Alcornocales forest and then up through Gaucín to Benarrabá.
This evening we cooked a meal in the apartment.
We spent all day in Benarrabá. It was quite hot and very sunny.
Jane has been growing a variety of seeds in egg cartons. They needed potting up. We spent three to four hours planting and cleaning up pots around the house. Hopefully we'll get a really colourful display this summer.
I listened to a poor match between Birmingham City and Newcastle United 0-0.
Later we all went out to Café Bar Guayacán. We had a great night as usual with Flora and Yolanda. Flora excelled herself with her Albóndigas and Gambas al Pil Pil.
The weather continues to be perfect.
We're off out for a drive. The route hasn't been decided yet.
We decided to go Bee-Eater hunting. Val had seen photo's on the blog and wanted to see these beautiful brightly coloured birds.
We knew there was a colony near Setenil de las Bodegas so headed to Atajate. Across the Guadiaro valley near Jimera de Libar and passed Montejaque where we stopped to take some photo's.
The wild flowers continue their dazzling show.
We drove to near Setenil de las Bodegas. We stopped and saw a few Bee-Eaters they weren't too close to the road.
On to Setenil we drove through the gorge and back out. (Not recommended on a busy Sunday). Then we drove to Estación de Setenil. We expected to find a small pueblo or hamlet. Instead we found just a station in the middle of the countryside.
On to Cuevas de Becerro for lunch. A lovely bocadillo in a venta.
Next we drove passed Serrato on the road to El Burgo. The field in front of the pueblo was full of poppies. We got a far better view of more Bee-Eaters.
We drove to El Burgo. The road used to be terrible but now it has a lovely new surface.
We didn't stop in El Burgo but took the Ronda road and stopped at the mirador forestal.
There are some great views of the Sierra de las Nieves Parque Natural from here.
We drove to Ronda.
We filled our water containers from a fast flowing natural spring on the A369 road just outside Ronda.
Then a lovely drive through the magnificent Genal valley back to beautiful Benarrabá.
In the evening we cooked a delicious meal of minced beef, vine tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, onions, oregano. Served with creamy, well seasoned mashed potato and butter.
Later we watched TV.