October 16th - 31st 2005
Written by Geoff Forster
A lovely day, a few clouds on the mountain tops but mainly blue skies and temperatures in the high 70'sF.
No plans for today really. I might walk the dogs down one of the tracks into the campo.
The track at the side of the house is covered in billions of small recently germinated seedlings. It's amazing how fast they germinate and grow. Some of the grasses are already a few inches tall.
It clouded over a little during the afternoon. So we had sunny intervals.
The dogs got a short walk into the campo.
Jane read a soppy book most of the day.
It really felt like a Sunday today, nobody was about. Nothing on TV.
I didn't feel like doing anything at all.
If the weathers good tomorrow I think we'll head out somewhere.
I still have a long list of places I want to visit. It just takes us longer and longer to get to them.
We watched a new TV Detective Series on TV.
Jane finished her book.
I made a start on expanding our hiking and walking section.
We woke up to the sound of rain falling.
I went to the pharmacy and to the pandería during a rare dry spell.
16:00h Plans for a trip out have been abandoned. The rain is constant, not torrential but steady.
The mountains opposite are wrapped in clouds which occasionally drift down. At the moment visibility is down to a few hundred metres, the mountains have disappeared completely. We are in the clouds.
I've added a walking route to the Hiking and Walking Section.
We haven't ventured out today, it is still raining.
We watched 'Giant' starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean on DVD. It had been sat unwatched at the back of the cupboard since June, when Jane's mother Esther brought out a big pile of DVD's from the UK.
It had been biding its time just waiting for wet Monday.
We cooked a sort of Ratatouille with some vegetables our neighbours Carmen and Cristóbal had given us from their huerta (vegetable garden) .
We're hoping something good is on TV, although the satellite reception is poor when it rains.
Not a very exciting day ... but it's good for the campo.
It has rained steadily for most of the night. There is 90% cloud cover, however it is higher than yesterday when it was actually in the valley.
I've been out up the track with the dogs. Day by day it is very rapidly greening up.
I'm not sure of our plans for today. We need to go to the coast shopping but I fancy doing one of the walks I've been looking at whilst doing the hiking pages. An easy one for starters.
We headed out of the village it was still quite misty. This photograph was taken looking across the Genal Valley towards Jubrique from the road in front of the apartment in Benarrabá.
We were heading to Benadalid to do walk PR-A 236 from Benadalid to Benalauría and back. 7,400 metres in each direction a total of 14.8km 9 miles it is supposed to take 2 hours going and 2h 30 min's returning.
It has a 'Low' difficulty rating.
As we headed up the Genal Valley towards Benadalid the weather improved. This is looking across the Genal Valley towards Alpandeire from Benadalid. It was taken twenty minutes after the one above.
Benadalid from the track to Benalauría.
Here's a photograph of me taken just after we'd set off.
Here's Jane down the camino (track) to Benalauría.
There was a strange mixture of autumn and spring which happens in Andalucía. Leaves and Chestnuts were beginning to fall, but all around millions upon millions of seedlings were appearing after last weeks rain.
After around 45 minutes we caught our first sight of Benalauría.
A little closer.
We got to Benalauría in 1h 45 minutes.
It was hot work the sun was coming out and temperatures were rising.
We sat in the pretty plaza and drank some spring water.
We've always liked Benalauría it's a very pretty pueblo.
It was quite steep in places. The sun was welcome as it brightened up the views. It did make it a little hotter for walking though.
It was now a perfect day for walking. We really enjoyed the peace and tranquility in the wooded mountainsides. We met no one!
We saw Jays, Wood Pigeons, a Robin lots of Blackbirds and a little bird that took off about a foot in front of Jane and made her scream.
We got back to Benadalid in 1 hour 40 minutes. Not bad going as we stopped a few times to enjoy the views.
On the way home we called into the Super Genal supermarket for fruit.
I'm about to soak in a hot bath.
It was a good day out. If we hadn't risked setting out when conditions were poor we would have missed out on a lovely afternoon walking in the Genal Valley.
We settled down for a night in front of the TV. Around midnight we heard a strange noise. Jane went to the kitchen to investigate and our little Spanish cat 'Moto de Oro' was sitting staring at the window.
I went outside with the dogs to see who or what it was ...
A pair of mules were up the side of the house eating out plants!
They'd wandered down from the campo and were tucking into our Zebra grass. Which as you can guess from its name isn't meant to be mule fodder.
As you can see I saved about half of it. They'd eaten all the flowering grass heads. It will survive but we're going to have to move it to safety.
I used to think slugs were bad ...
A beautiful sunny day. A few cumulus floating across the sky but it looks as if today is going to be very sunny.
I've just been to check what damage the mules did last night.
The only casualty was the Zebra grass. This bougainvillea was left untouched
We are going to go to San Luis de Sabinillas for a paddle in the Med.
Then were going to Carrefours to do some shopping.
Roast dinner tonight!
We're back from our afternoon out.
We did have a slight change of plan. Instead of going to San Luis de Sabinillas we decided to visit Torre Guadiaro which is just a little further down the coast
It was a beautiful clear day, great for photography, so there are quite a few photographs today.
This is the view across the Genal Valley towards Jubrique from halfway up the road out of Benarrabá.
On the A369 halfway between Benarrabá and Gaucín there is a wonderful view out to Gibraltar, the Mediterranean and Africa.
Today it was very clear.
The Sierra Crestellina is on the left. Gibraltar in the centre. Gaucín castle on the right.
A little bit of zoom and you can see ships on the Mediterranean.
The African coastline can be seen beyond Gibraltar.
A little closer, Gaucín Castle. Castillo del Águila. Castle of the Eagle.
We were just about to get back into the car when Jane spotted a Griffon Vulture above us. I got a few photographs of it. Here is a composite using four shots of the same vulture circling.
There is water in the Rio Genal below Gaucín. The river was only a few inches deep but it was ten feet across and flowing nicely. Which is good news for all the wildlife.
We stopped below the Sierra Crestellina to watch around ten Griffon Vultures circling the crag.
A strange photograph. The sky was blue?
I noticed a small bird sat on the wire. As I approached it fluttered a few metres along. The photograph above must have caught it in mid hop/flutter.
As you can see it is a Male Stonechat. Who pinched his perch?
A little further on and there are a group of wind turbines.
We got to the coast and drove to Torre Guadiaro.
It was a fantastic afternoon. We walked along the beach and enjoyed exploring what is a fairly undeveloped resort by Costa del Sol standards. There is a new promenade and some decking at the other end of the bay. There are also some reed beds which are good for bird watching, so we will have to spend some more time here in the near future.
A lovely bay with sandstone rocks running into the sea.
The sea was quite warm. We had a paddle along the beach. The beach was sandy near the ramp down but as we walked along it changed into a coarse stony grit. Good for your feet if you can stand it!
We walked back to the sandy end. We bumped into Wendy photographed here dipping her toes in the edge of the Med.
She was staying with a friend who has an apartment in Torre Guadiaro.
Unfortunately she was leaving for home this evening, so this was her last time on the beach this holiday. Its always sad having to go home.
Amazingly these apartment blocks stand close to the beach.
They dominate the skyline.
They had planning permission to build ... but went a lot higher than they were allowed to. Hefty fines were imposed.
Landmark or Eyesore?
We scrambled across the sandstone rocks and took this photograph of a bay and castle/beacon to the East of Torre Guadiaro.
Here's Jane sitting on a wonderfully weathered sandstone ledge.
We left Torre Guadiaro and drove passed Gibraltar to Los Barrios and Carrefours supermarket.
We bought our shopping and a new duvet for the winter.
We got home at around 19:00h.
I took this photograph this evening from the sun terrace of the apartment. It was taken looking North up the Genal Valley. The village in the distance is Júzcar. Our sun terrace is one of the few places that you can see Júzcar from Benarrabá.
The chickens roasting in the oven, Jane's preparing the vegetables.
The roast dinner was fantastic.
We watched a police - crime drama. We seem to watch nothing else there's one on every night at the moment.
Thursday October 20th 2005
I'm up early. The sun has just risen. It looks like it is going to be sunshine all the day?
Our neighbour Carmen has just knocked o the door and brought us a large dish of green olives (aceitunas), the first of this years crop to be ready. They have been split and soaked in brine with garlic, very finely chopped green pepper, oregano and a little vinegar. I thought they had to be soaked for longer but these are fantastic, I can't stop eating them.
We bought some yesterday (typical) loose from a specialist aceituna stall. The olives we bought had been soaked with garlic and green chilli peppers. Muy picante. These stalls have tubs full of different olives, some are huge and stuffed with garlic cloves, others are soaked with a wide variety of spices.
Carmen's are on the left, the bought chilli olives on the right.
We weren't huge olive fans when we moved here. We would eat one or two if they arrived as free tapas. Gradually we noticed we were eating five or six. This year, ten or twelve. Now if they are good they get finished! I do eat more than Jane. Other people have also commented on how the taste for olives develops over a fairly long period of time.
I've been meaning to start a 'Spanish Life' section on the website.
The olives jogged my memory and I've completed the first page of the section.
The Olive Oil page I created yesterday got corrupted on the Server. I'm trying to restore it from a backup.
Other pages to be included in the future are, Flamenco, Cookery inc. Tapas, Wine & Cheese, 'Horses, Mules & Donkeys', Gardening, Goats, Shopping, Feria's and Fiestas +++ suggestions are welcome.
No sooner had I typed that it was going to be 'sunshine all the day' ... it clouded over. It is now raining.
We're having a very quiet day. Jane's aching a little from the walk. I've been on the computer most of the day. Although I did listen to some of the Spanish language CD I'm doing.
We'll probably watch some crime, murder, mystery feature length episodes that are on one or more channels tonight. At least we don't watch soaps.
I was up just as the sun rose over the Genal Valley, there was some mist in the bottom of the valley. It looked very beautiful.
We had some rain during the night. At the moment skies are blue and the sun is shining.
We spent the morning cleaning.
We decided it was going to be a beautiful afternoon so we jumped in the car and headed out.
We bought bread rolls and cakes from the pandería in Benarrabá.
Jane saw a Great spotted Woodpecker pecking a telephone pole but it flew off before we got a good photograph.
We stopped at Gaucín to buy some stamps and post a letter.
This is the view from the North side of Gaucín looking up the Guadiaro valley to the Sierra de Libar and the pueblo of Cortes de la Frontera.
We took the MA-512 down to Estación de Gaucín also known as El Colmenar.
We decided to explore the Guadiaro valley here. It is known as El Cañón de las Buitreras. Canyon of the vultures. We followed the sign and drove down a narrow road. We came to a gate with a notice saying 'Privado' on it. It seemed to be the Hydro Electric Power station. We couldn't see a path up the valley so we turned the car around.
I did get a photograph of the pollarded Eucalyptus trees lining the road.
There was also a house near the Hydro Electricity Station. It has an Italian look to it. It is beautifully placed near the river. Shame about all the pylons and wires a few metres to the left..
We drove into the Alcornocales Parque Natural. We did this journey with Anne and Margaret last week in a torrential rain storm. Today however conditions were better. Although the Cork Oaks looked a lot duller.
We drove into the forest. I noticed a few naked ladies at the road edge but we didn't stop to photograph them.
Instead we drove up a track which we'd never tried before. It twisted sharply upwards in a few switch back bends. At the top was the cemetery de El Colmenar.
A lovely setting in the pine trees above the pueblo.
We had a quick look around, it wasn't very large, but then neither is El Colmenar. We drove back onto the main pista forestal.
A little further into the forest and we saw a group of cabras (goats) with some quite young chivas (kids). The mountain in the background is the Sierra del Hacho. Gaucín runs along a ridge behind this range.
A little further into the forest and we stopped in a large open area just below a cleared fire break. We had our bread rolls with ham and tomato. Followed by some very sickly puff pastry squares with custard and a huge dollop of a very sweet jam. Which was far too much sugar for either of us.
We'd just finished eating when five Griffon Vultures flew overhead.
We drove on through the pines into an area of Cork Oaks, where we parked and went for a walk into the woods.
We hadn't gone too far when a Great spotted Woodpecker flew out in front of us. It landed on a tree close by. It flew off before we could get a photograph. In the same tree was a Treecreeper it ran up the tree very quickly. We think it may have been a Short-toed Treecreeper from its call. We didn't get a photograph of this either ...
Jane took this of me on a track into the forest.
Just as Jane was taking this photograph, two huge butterflies were chasing each other around in a tree near where Jane was standing.
I managed to get this shot of one of them. They had quite a large wingspan. A lot bigger than anything I've seen in the UK. 10-12cm.
We walked back to the car. As we were driving I saw a deer running in a gulley. Around the next bend another deer was on the hillside.
I think it has a dappled back so it may be a Fallow Deer. Bambi.
It was scared off by a man in a white van coming the other way.
A little further on we stopped to look at some Cork Oaks. They are very beautiful trees. Especially when first stripped of their cork. We now know they look even better when they are soaking wet.
We reached the Cortes de la Frontera to Ubrique road.
The only naked ladies we saw were at the start of the pista forestal near El Colmenar. Next week the forest will be full of Colchicum's with their purple crocus like flowers.
We turned towards Ubrique. We know a place where Griffon Vultures congregate quite regularly. We got there and found absolutely none. A little disappointed with our luck bird watching today we sat in the car and had an apple each. Suddenly a black speck appeared above the Sierras in front of us. It descended in a direct line with the car. Jane grabbed the binoculars and I grabbed the camera and we jumped out of the car. It hung in the wind above us. Soon there were four more coming from the North. We watched them through the binoculars circling. They are a fantastic sight with their huge wingspan, 9ft from tip to tip. Suddenly more were coming in on an even lower flight path from the South. Soon the air was full of vultures circling above us. We got quite a few good photographs and enjoyed watching them soaring effortlessly.
They flew North up above the Sierra de Libar towards the Sierra de Ubrique. We got in the car and drove to Cortes de la Frontera.
We followed a diversion just before Cortes that turned out to be a useful short cut which bypassed Cortes de la Frontera and we drove across the Guadiaro valley up to the A369 then home to Benarrabá.
We're cooking a second roast dinner of the week tonight. Then we'll relax in front of the TV and vegetate.
A bit of cloud on the Sierra Bermeja has meant we've had sunny intervals from dawn. Now the sun has climbed above the cloud it looks like it is going to be a warm and sunny day.
I'm off down to the pandería for the weekend bread. Jane is going to make Gazpacho so we need a little more than usual.
Stuart Nicholls has just telephoned, he's escaped Stoke for Benadalid this weekend. We've arranged to meet in Benarrabá this afternoon at 2pm.
This is 'Moto de Oro' (Speck of Gold) our Spanish cat. She's quite a character. She likes eating bread sticks. She gets them right at the back of her mouth on her molars and crunches down.
La Crunch.
Stuart came up to the house. We had a chat. Played with the dogs for a while. Tried some of Carmen's olives. Then we went for a drink. Stuart had a beer, Jane a Coke and I had a coffee.
After the bar we went for a stroll around the village.
Here's Stuart in the beautiful orange tree lined plaza in Benarrabá.
We walked back to the house and had a cup of tea whilst the football results came in. Not good news for Stuart. Stoke City lost 0-1 at home to Reading.
We've just had a walk down one of the shops and bought some cakes, biscuits and chocolate. Jane's developing a sweet tooth.
A quiet night in. We started to watch a film but a heavy rain shower effected the satellite signal. We watched a stuttering digital mosaic for a while, then we gave up and went to bed.
It has rained quite a lot during the night but the sun is out in clear blue sky, so everyone is happy.
All we need now is a Newcastle United win in the North East derby at St James' Park.
A change of manager would also be good. Burley for Souness?
What a wonderful day. It was like a cat playing with a mouse!
We took the lead and then we let them back in the game.
We took the lead again and then we let them back in the game for a second time.
We score a third, then we taunted and teased them, we let them think that they had a chance, when all along there was only going to be one result!
I'll be smiling until Christmas and possibly into the New Year.
This is me at St James' Park just after the last derby match in 2003/4.
We won that one as well!
Here's me again with Jane, she didn't dare open her eyes in case she was dreaming! She's such a lucky girl! Getting taken to the footie.
Back to the present day in Benarrabá 29490 (Málaga) Andalucía Spain.
Jane made some Gazpacho. :-)
We stayed in and watched TV. Jericho a period detective series. Not very exciting. Jane got bored with it and went on the computer looking at ebay.
Later she watched a horror film 'Hells Highway' where a lot of American teenagers get hacked to pieces in the desert.
It didn't work as a film because they were all brats and you wanted them to get murdered ... sooner rather than later.
Hey dude... wazup man ... I went to bed.
A beautiful day. Temperatures are around 70F in the shade but a lot higher in the autumn sunshine.
Jane's sleeping the sleep of the living dead after last nights 'awesome' horror film.
I'm off with the dogs for a walk into the campo.
We've just got back from the Super Genal supermarket in Algatocín.
This is Algatocín.
We saw the Great spotted Woodpecker pecking the same telephone pole as the other day. A pretty Stonechat on a wire. We also saw a Kestrel feeding on top of an electricity pylon.
I bought some Kaquis in the supermarket (pronounced Car Keys). They are called Sharon fruit in the UK. They are in season and very sweet. 1.50€ /£1 for 12.
I cooked a beef casserole. Nothing much on TV.
7am. Up well before dawn The street lights in front of the house go out at around 4am so there is little light pollution here. The sky is black and full of stars, the moon is a little over half. The sky looks clear, it should be a good day.
We're off to Ronda this morning. I've got a dental appointment at 12.00h. I've looked up the Spanish for filling and extraction. Should be fun?
We got to Ronda for 11:00h. We went for a coffee in Café Carmelo, near the Estación de Autobus. It is also very close to the dentists. We met Antonio from the pandería in Benarrabá in there by pure chance.
I couldn't find my wallet so I had to rush back to the car. Fortunately it was balanced on the sill between my seat and the door. Lucky!
I got back to the Café. (One strange thing about this Café is you have to get buzzed into the tiny toilets, which aren't that special. Perhaps its to stop someone from going in there and cleaning them?)
My coffee was still warm. We said hasta luego to Antonio, who wished me buena suerte (good luck).
Next the dentists. Very spacious and clean. Slim line wide screen TV with music videos in the open plan waiting area. I was very impressed.
I had one huge filling done.
I phoned for an appointment yesterday evening and was seen and treated today. An excellent English speaking Argentinean dentist. Price 65€ / £45.
Here's a link to their webpage. Not much of a website but contact details are there.
Dental tourism, strange as it sounds is on the increase. One of our recent guests had some dental work done in Estepona, during his holiday. With very short waiting times, no registration problems and a smaller bill. Taking an hour out of your holiday to go to the dentist begins to make some sense.
After surviving the dentist I was then tortured in the pizza restaurante by Jane. I watched her eat her thin and crispy Roquefort pizza. The only consolation was that it wasn't in Da Vinci's. (Closed Tuesdays).
Well to round off a perfect day I was taken shopping to Plus!
I just love shopping for detergent and washing powder.
The consolation here ... it cost me 56 centimos less than the dentista.
Plus we did buy another chicken for a roast dinner tonight!
Hopefully I should be able to feel my lips by then and drink without missing my mouth.
20:00h We went on the sun terrace to photograph Benarrabá at dusk. The sky was a light pink not really seen in the photo.
This is the same photo zoomed in towards Genalguacil. You can see tendrils of cloud creeping over the top of the Sierra Bermeja.
Whilst we were up on the sun terrace our neighbour Juan shouted to us.
He had a box full of huge mushrooms.
We went down to look. Some of them were 10-12 inches in diameter. They had white gills that looked golden as you span the mushroom around.
He gave us a few of the smaller ones. We've never seen or tried this type of mushroom before.
It is a year today since 'Moto de Oro' our Spanish cat followed us home and adopted us.
Here she is, distinctly unimpressed with her birthday cake.
It seems that everyone has been mushroom hunting tonight. Carmen has just called me into their house to show me a huge pile of the same mushroom that Cristóbal has found. Maria, Carmen's mother is preparing them for frying in olive oil, garlic and salt. They are going to knock on our door when they are ready.
We're cooking our roast chicken and potatoes. Timing is going to be critical here!
Carmen knocked on the door just as we had finished a huge plateful of chicken and roast potatoes. Fortunately they had realised that we were cooking a meal ourselves, and they brought us a small plate of mushrooms in a tomato salsa to try. They are very kind and generous neighbours.
Another fine and sunny day. There are some thick clouds sitting on top of the Sierra Bermeja opposite.
A quiet morning around the house.
At around 13:00h we decided to go for a drive.
We filled up with petrol in Gaucín. Now at 1.03€/litre 72p/l.
We headed down to Estación Gaucín (El Colmenar).
As we crossed the Rio Guadiaro Jane spotted a Heron.
There were three in all. They looked thin and darker than the Grey Herons which we regularly used to see at Stodmarsh Nature Reserve in Kent. I've checked the books and it can't be anything else.
We got back in the car and headed into Estación Gaucín.
This donkey was in the road. we drove slowly passed.
We drove through Estación Gaucín without stopping. At the entrance to the forest I stopped to photograph the Colchicum.
We enjoy the forest as you may guess from the amount of visits we've made here recently.
When we first saw this male goat it was on its standing on it's back legs eating leaves off a tree.
we stopped and had a sandwich. I took this photograph through the pines.
We caught a glimpse of a group of deer. They disappeared quickly into the undergrowth.
There seemed to be animals everywhere today. this young calf watched as we drove passed.
A beautiful white horse grazing in the forest.
Next it was a flock of sheep grazing at the roadside. This one stopped eating and watched us drive by.
We drove out of the forest and turned towards Ubrique. It is a fortnight since the first rains of the year and already the hillsides and roadside verges are turning green.
We drove through Ubrique and on to El Bosque.
We had a drink in a venta, then explored the pueblo. Webpage coming soon.
It was a hot afternoon. I wished that I had put my shorts on instead of thick black denims.
We tried to get in the Botanical gardens but they were closed between 2pm - 5pm.
Here's a view down on the pueblo from near the towns cemetery.
After walking around El Bosque we drove on to Benamahoma. We parked near the small river at the bottom of the pueblo and walked up a fairly steep hill into the village.
It was quite a small village. We were surprised to find a permanent bullring. It was very small. A road runs through the centre of it. you can see the openings on either side. Cars drive through the ring and the pueblos church is on the far side. Very unusual.
Here's Jane enjoying the evening sunshine.
Here's Benamahoma from the road to Grazalema.
The grey limestone outcrops are incredible in this part of Spain.
Jane and the Clio.
A lovely afternoons drive.
This is Grazalema from above the pueblo.
We called into Montejaque to buy cakes but we must have just missed the pandería.
We got back to Benarrabá just after 20:00h the sun had just set it was nearly dark.
The forest was magical as usual, lots of wildlife today.
We saw the first of the Black Redstarts a winter visitor in large numbers.
Crag Martins were flying above Grazalema and a number of different sightings of Griffon Vultures high above the Sierras throughout the day.
We enjoyed our first visit to El Bosque and Benamahoma. Both are very tourist orientated, perhaps a little too much?
Jane has been on ebay.
I listened to Newcastle United beat Grimsby 0-1 in the Carling Cup.
Sheeeeeearer!
We watched an episode of Morse.
It is a little overcast. The sun is trying to get through.
I'm going to make a start on sifting through all the photographs we took yesterday for the El Bosque and Benamahoma webpages.
At 2pm we decided to take advantage of the good weather and go for a walk down one of the many tracks in the area. We walked about fifty yards to the bottom of the road. Handily, this is where the official signposted walk PR- A239 to Algatocín starts. We followed this walk for a while. However instead of heading over the ridge to Algatocín we carried on along the bottom track that winds around the mountainside to the North of Benarrabá. It's a favourite walk, it's fairly easy on the legs and the dogs love it.
Jane thought this photograph was funny and insisted that I include it.
This is the view East across the Genal Valley to Genalguacil.
You can see the bottom of the valley from this point.
There was water in the river last time we crossed the Genal below Gaucín. It was July the last time we walked down to the Rio below Benarrabá. It is about time that we did it again.
We reached the turning point in our walk. A large boulder veined with quartz. From close by to this rock you get a great view of Algatocín.
Here's Jane with our Border Collies. Jake (3), Jake's mother Sally (5) and by himself as usual Jake's father, Ferdy (Ferdinando) (10).
A better one with just Jake and Sally.
As you can see the mountainsides are covered in a variety of trees and shrubs. It was quite warm in the sun but a lovely day to do this pretty walk that takes around 1hr 30 minutes.
We saw a Jay, Goldfinches, Wood pigeons, an unidentified Hawk and two Griffon vultures. We also heard quite a few woodpeckers hard at work. The trees around us were all full of birds singing and chirping for the whole of our walk. I do like the heat of the summer months, but getting out and walking in the Andalucian countryside from October to May is wonderful.
We had a quiet night in. Jane was on ebay. We watched the new adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House. The original Bleak House which Dickens lived in, is on the cliff tops at Broadstairs, Kent. Jane has been inside, I've just walked passed a few times.
I'm up early 07:15h. I'd only been up five minutes when it started to rain.
A look out of the window confirmed we were inside a cloud!
It is good news for the campo, the trees, flowers and wildlife.
I was talking to our neighbour Cristóbal last night at the side of the house. He was going to put his horse in the stable because the rain was coming. I looked up at the sky thinking he was passing on some local knowledge about weather patterns in the area. He smiled and said he'd seen the weather forecast on TV.
We were thinking of going to Ronda today but there's no rush. We might as well delay our visit for a better day.
My early start means that I've finished the El Bosque webpage.
It has stopped raining, although it is very overcast. The mountains opposite look fantastic with the cloud cascading slowly over the tops like ghostly grey tendril like fingers.
Even when it rains here it is beautiful.
I've been out quickly with the dogs. I saw Cristóbal coming home for his 10:00h breakfast break. He didn't seem to impressed with the amount of rainfall that we'd had. 'Poca' he said looking up to the grey sky. He's right, if it's going to rain it might as well come down in sheets.
I'm going to go and do some more of the Spanish language course.
We had a walk to the plaza to see if the Friday morning market was on. It wasn't.
We noticed that the clock in the church tower is running an hour slow. Forward planning for Sundays change?
We went down to Bar Andrés Sánchez by a circuitous route looking at everyone's flowers outside their houses. A lot of people in Benarrabá make quite an effort with their flowers. It brightens up the whole village.
We sat in Bar Andrés Sánchez for a few minutes. We haven't been in any of the bars for a while. Jane had a beer. Then drove to Algatocín for more ...
It rained a little during the day.
We lit a fire downstairs the first of the year. Jane said she was cold.
There was nothing on TV so we watched a video 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'.
I worked on a website for a friend. I also did some more of the Spanish course.
A beautiful day. It is never grey for long in Andalucía!
I'm going to work on some webpages and then take the dogs out.
I'll probably get on with some more of the Spanish course.
i spent a lot of the day working on the computer. I'm redesigning some pages advertising the apartment.
I stayed up late and watched an old film "Return from the River Kwai".
I'm up really early. A couple of hours before dawn.
I'm making use of the extra hour.
Just before dawn I walked up to the apartment to stand on the sun terrace. Usually the views are incredible. Today I was lost for words. Wow!
A mist was sitting in the Genal Valley below the village. The sky was a beautiful pale blue with delicate pink tinges.
The view up the Valle de Genal towards the distant Sierra de las Nieves.
Dawn over Benarrabá.
Just after dawn. The misty cushion begins to expand and rise. It creeps up the arroyos and through the trees. It was a breathtaking sight. Well worth getting up for.
I worked on the website all morning.
I had a siesta in the afternoon. Jane went 'monitor shopping' on ebay. I'm not sure if there is a equivalent for 'window shopping' online?
Since moving here to Spain I've noticed that we seem to be missing out on changes in the UK with regards to language and fashion/style.
For example we just found out what a 'Chav' is the other day. Pleased we're missing out on that one!
Also that the word 'book' is now interchangeable with the word 'cool'. This is apparently due to kids being too lazy to text 'cool' so they send 'book' instead. It saves them two key presses!
If we ever do return to the UK we're going to be 'so not book'!
I listened to the West Bromich Albion v Newcastle United game. A good 0-3 victory to the Toon. Owen (2) and Shearer all in the second half.
It started pouring down at 19:00h. We'd just started watching 'Bleak House' when the satellite signal went. It really rained heavily for an hour. It has steadied a bit now.
It was still raining when we went to bed.
We woke up to blue skies and a lovely sunny Andalucian day.
Excellent weather. Rain during the night to soak the campo and sun during the day. Everywhere is looks and smells fresh.
We drove to Ronda and looked at some wood burning stoves.
We parked near the Police Station which is close to the Railway Station.
For some strange reason our car won't lock when we park here. It has happened twice and only ever here. All I can guess is that there is a really strong electrical signal in the area that stops the car locking. Very strange?
We had to park elsewhere. The car locked ... no problemas.
After shopping and having breakfast in a Café we decided to go for a drive.
We then drove along the A367 road. This is the view to the North of the road.
We turned off the A367 and took the MA479 to Cañete la Real. It is the first time we have visited this pueblo. This is the view South from just outside Cañete la Real.
As you can see the surrounding Sierras and farmlands are are very beautiful.
We parked at the edge of Cañete la Real and we walked up into the town. The church is very colourful.
The plaza was a lovely space with a couple of bars and the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall)
We had a good walk around Cañete la Real.
We both liked the pueblo a lot.
We walked up towards the castle through an area of town called the Barrio Alto.
At the top the pueblo is a limestone outcrop.
The old man in the photograph was shelling almonds. (Bottom Left!)
We went to talk to him. He kindly gave us a handful of almonds.
We walked down towards the castle but it was fenced off.
It is being reformed and was closed.
Disappointed we walked back up to where the old man was sitting. Another man had come out of one of the two bars opposite the rocks. Bar de Castillo. It was this mans father that was shelling almonds in the sun.
We called in for a drink. Large bottles of San Miguel 33cl cost 1€ on the Barrio Alto. This is the cheapest we've come across so far on our travels.
I had been detoxing for six weeks ... but a cool beer and a glass of good Rioja are a pleasure of life in Spain ... excuses, excuses ...
The barman told us that there were a couple of English home owners that travel to Cañete la Real for weekends and holidays from Fuengirola on the coast where they work.
He also showed us a hole in the fence where we could get into the castle!
This is the view South from the castillo. On the right in the distance is La Sierra de Ortegicar.
Cheese! What a view behind. We love living in this area of Andalucía!
If it does occasionally rain ... it just means it is more beautiful the next day!
Wow! We like Cañete la Real. Friendly people, great views and the cheapest beer in Andalucía.
A favourite photograph of a favourite pueblo.
Here's Jane extricating herself from the hole in the fence at the end of our covert visit to the Castillo of Cañete la Real.
It just shows that it pays to climb to the highest point in the pueblo, and find the last street with the most Spanish bars ... we wouldn't have got the photographs if we hadn't talked to an old man on sitting on a rock in the sun ...
On the way back to the car we spotted this cat that looks exactly like Daisy one of ours.
We just made it into a shop before it close and bought some cheese for a sandwich. We got back in the car, had a quick snack and headed towards Teba.
This is Teba approached from the Cañete la Real road.
We'd visited Teba once before, briefly on a trip to the Fuente del Piedra to see the Flamingoes.
We weren't impressed with Teba after our first visit.
Just as we got close to Teba a distinctive smell reminded us why we didn't like the place. PIG FARMS!
This photograph shows just a few of the many pig farms on the foothills below the town. It stinks. I cant say this enough.
IT STINKS REALLY BAD!
We warmed to Teba (just a little) as we parked and walked around the pueblo, our olfactory senses slowly recovered from the onslaught.
The town was quite large we had a good walk around.
Another more modern church. The old man thought we wanted him to move to take the photograph. We told him in Spanish to sit where he was.
We met him again a little later. He was Portuguese ...
Teba doesn't have many bars we passed by a couple that looked smoky old mens bars. We found one with a nautical feel in a plaza in front of the town hall. Whoever designed the fountain has been to the Alhambra in Granada!
We walked right around the town. The pig smell hit us once again. We headed back to the car and kept the windows closed!
However leaving Teba was going to be harder than we thought.
We went down a side street only to be stopped by building work and a sand delivery. We watched it being unloaded, then signed for. The lorry driver who had seen us waiting then reversed up to us and told us to reverse back 200m as the road ahead was closed. He isn't our favourite lorry driver.
Poor Jane had cars behind and a lorry in front it was a nightmare fifteen minutes trying to get out of Teba.
Jane now hates the smelly place so much we're never going back!
We called into the Plus supermarket in Ronda on the way home. We bought a fresh chicken. So we're busy cooking a roast dinner.
The roast dinner was fantastic, we ate it at 23:30, a little late even by Spanish standards.