Spain 2009
Tuesday, 13. October 2009, 07:39:00
Piccies here.
Nicky & I have just got back from Spain where we spent a week up in the mountains near Malaga staying in a house right up in the clouds (or would do if there were any). The house is only accessible by helicopter or by a long & twisty dirt track with a sheer drop/astounding views on one side.
I live in a very green & verdant village, in a green & verdant county of a green & verdant country, so the desolate scorched landscape of southern Spain was very new & actually very beautiful to me. I liked walking through the scrub & seeing glimpses of blue wings in my peripheral vision followed by an audible tap as the numerous Cicadas jumped from my path. There were also lots of interesting dragonfly like insects hovering around the various wildflowers, & I spent quite a bit of time chasing after the really beautiful Spanish Festoon butterfly.
We took a trip to Gibraltar, after beating our way through the taxi drivers hawking their tours (part of their sales pitch was to "save" us a 3 hour walk, I personally think that a 3 hour walk over a really stunning mountain is a plus point) Nicky & I took a ride on the cable car to the top of the Rock then walked our way down. Nicky thought the Barbary Apes were a bit ugly but I thought they were fantastic, especially the one sitting in the ramparts to the gatehouse to the Moorish castle. St Michael's Cave was fantastic, making the caves at Cheddar Gorge look pitiful in comparison. The caves at Nerja were even better with a breathtaking column as the centrepiece in the immense Sala del Cataclismo (Hall of the Cataclysm).
The nearest supermarket to our lodgings was a Mercadona, I picked up & carried my basket as normal until I was shown that the baskets have wheels & you could extend a larger handle & drag it round the floor. I found it quite silly & amusing taking a basket for a walk.
I did like the way the Spanish operate the menu del dia, or menu of the day which is advertised outside of most restaurants, few actually stated what the menu would actually be so it was often a surprise what you would actually get & for those Brits worried about the poor exchange rate with the Euro at the moment, 3 or 4 of us were eating out for the same or less than what Nicky & I would pay for the 2 of us at home.
A number of people spoke to me in foreign, I responded by reflex in foreign. Unfortunately the foreign they were speaking was Spanish & the only foreign I know is French so you can imagine how far that got me.
It must be very confusing for postal workers as at least half the houses are called "Se Vende"
I disappeared off on one of my wanders & my feet took me a short way up the mountain along the dirt track, before I found a more interesting looking path which obviously supported a vehicle many moons ago but is now quite a way along nature's ongoing reclamation process. I followed the trail, picking my way though the pioneering scrubby plants, stopping to look at the local insect life, stopping in the shade of the odd tree to take in the views. I disturbed a very large bird (probably a buzzard) out of a tree. The trail switched back, then switched again, & again until eventually I was at the foot of the mountains where there was a dried river bed. I jumped down onto the bedrocks & followed the river upwards until I was blocked by someone's fence & a sizeable face of rock. I turned round & followed it back again.After quite some time I realised I must have passed where I entered the river. Before long I realised I was lost & stuck in a ravine.
I quickly reasoned that I had not been gone long enough by my standards for anyone to be concerned where I had got to, I was not in a place where I would be easily found, I only had a small bottle of water with me & it was still getting hotter. I thought it would be better to climb out while I was not tired or dehydrated so I found a good spot & did a bit of mountaineering, it would have been a really easy climb, less than 20 metres with really solid holds, except for the fact that it was a dark grey southern facing rock that was too hot to touch for more than a second. It was like climbing up the side of a frying pan.
I made the climb safely but had very sore hands one of which seemed to be stabbed full of spines from one of the cactii I was warned not to go near. I was exhausted, plastered with sweat & wheezing like a pair of bellows, so I must have been quite a sight to the Spanish goat herder who gave me an odd look as I stopped to take a photo of his herd.
Nicky & I have just got back from Spain where we spent a week up in the mountains near Malaga staying in a house right up in the clouds (or would do if there were any). The house is only accessible by helicopter or by a long & twisty dirt track with a sheer drop/astounding views on one side.
I live in a very green & verdant village, in a green & verdant county of a green & verdant country, so the desolate scorched landscape of southern Spain was very new & actually very beautiful to me. I liked walking through the scrub & seeing glimpses of blue wings in my peripheral vision followed by an audible tap as the numerous Cicadas jumped from my path. There were also lots of interesting dragonfly like insects hovering around the various wildflowers, & I spent quite a bit of time chasing after the really beautiful Spanish Festoon butterfly.
We took a trip to Gibraltar, after beating our way through the taxi drivers hawking their tours (part of their sales pitch was to "save" us a 3 hour walk, I personally think that a 3 hour walk over a really stunning mountain is a plus point) Nicky & I took a ride on the cable car to the top of the Rock then walked our way down. Nicky thought the Barbary Apes were a bit ugly but I thought they were fantastic, especially the one sitting in the ramparts to the gatehouse to the Moorish castle. St Michael's Cave was fantastic, making the caves at Cheddar Gorge look pitiful in comparison. The caves at Nerja were even better with a breathtaking column as the centrepiece in the immense Sala del Cataclismo (Hall of the Cataclysm).
The nearest supermarket to our lodgings was a Mercadona, I picked up & carried my basket as normal until I was shown that the baskets have wheels & you could extend a larger handle & drag it round the floor. I found it quite silly & amusing taking a basket for a walk.
I did like the way the Spanish operate the menu del dia, or menu of the day which is advertised outside of most restaurants, few actually stated what the menu would actually be so it was often a surprise what you would actually get & for those Brits worried about the poor exchange rate with the Euro at the moment, 3 or 4 of us were eating out for the same or less than what Nicky & I would pay for the 2 of us at home.
A number of people spoke to me in foreign, I responded by reflex in foreign. Unfortunately the foreign they were speaking was Spanish & the only foreign I know is French so you can imagine how far that got me.
It must be very confusing for postal workers as at least half the houses are called "Se Vende"
I disappeared off on one of my wanders & my feet took me a short way up the mountain along the dirt track, before I found a more interesting looking path which obviously supported a vehicle many moons ago but is now quite a way along nature's ongoing reclamation process. I followed the trail, picking my way though the pioneering scrubby plants, stopping to look at the local insect life, stopping in the shade of the odd tree to take in the views. I disturbed a very large bird (probably a buzzard) out of a tree. The trail switched back, then switched again, & again until eventually I was at the foot of the mountains where there was a dried river bed. I jumped down onto the bedrocks & followed the river upwards until I was blocked by someone's fence & a sizeable face of rock. I turned round & followed it back again.After quite some time I realised I must have passed where I entered the river. Before long I realised I was lost & stuck in a ravine.
I quickly reasoned that I had not been gone long enough by my standards for anyone to be concerned where I had got to, I was not in a place where I would be easily found, I only had a small bottle of water with me & it was still getting hotter. I thought it would be better to climb out while I was not tired or dehydrated so I found a good spot & did a bit of mountaineering, it would have been a really easy climb, less than 20 metres with really solid holds, except for the fact that it was a dark grey southern facing rock that was too hot to touch for more than a second. It was like climbing up the side of a frying pan.
I made the climb safely but had very sore hands one of which seemed to be stabbed full of spines from one of the cactii I was warned not to go near. I was exhausted, plastered with sweat & wheezing like a pair of bellows, so I must have been quite a sight to the Spanish goat herder who gave me an odd look as I stopped to take a photo of his herd.
WIDGETIZE