Dust up

A truly memorable first trip to the Alpajurras valleys, tucked away in the mountains south of Granada. Ancient white villages of Arab origins on steep slopes, & ruins of Arab Baths & ancient water mills. We walked on cobbled mule paths in an area thankfully not scarred by tourism. (Photo: Sierra Nevada snows from the Alpujarras)

Another trip organised by Gill & Andrew L. up the valley towards Peña Escrita. The weather is really hotting up now so we took it easy up the steep country roads, picking up plenty of windfall avocados. We saw a mule with basket panniers being used to transport fruit from the fields.

We had our first bike ride for 2 weeks, up the Miel valley, terribly hot! The smell of herbs wafted all around. No traffic at all. The track on the return journey was very steep & slippery in places. We spotted lots of wild cerise orchids. (Photo: Head of the Miel Valley)

Gill & Andrew's friends have arrived to take their car back, so Gill generously took the last opportunity with her wheels to lead us up another local valley. Graham, following in his car to the start point, was taken off guard by the road's sudden change from tarmac to cart track surface. He hadn't time to temper his 'Jeremy Clarkson' motoring technique, so a passing little old Spanish lady was completely enveloped in a cloud of dust from his spinning wheels! Thankfully she emerged eventually unscathed, shaking several pounds of stone dust from her shawl. The walk was up a dry river bed & incorporated a disused quarry, to Mike's delight. The valley was dotted with derelict small farms & lots of active beehives. (Photo: a Compo & Cleggy moment - l to r Mike, Graham, Banny & Andrew).

We were taken to Ronda (northeast of Malaga) by our kind Danish neighbour, Nils (& his miniature Dachshund, whose name is unpronouncible to non-Danes!). Fantastic winding mountain roads. The journey was slightly marred by Saturday motorcyclists racing this challenging route. Ronda is in a stunning location straddling a very deep gorge. There are dramatic vertiginous views from the town walls & bridges, picturesque plazas, & beautifully preserved Arab influenced architecture in the church in the centre. On the cross-country return we saw many eagles & vultures wheeling around the cliff tops. (Photo: Nuevo Puente {new bridge}, Ronda).

Summiting

A week of glorious sunny weather for Janet & Ian's visit so we spent most of the daylight hours walking. The highlight was achieving our ambition of getting to the summit of 'El Cielo' (1503 metres). This was thanks to Ros H. & Mike T., who made sure we did not get lost, & Sue & Graham E., who also risked the undercarriage of their car to get us to the start on the very un-made up track. The views were incredible, including snow on the Sierra Nevada, & only a slight haze on the horizon which meant we couldn't quite claim to have seen the north coast of Africa. We had the mountain virtually to ourselves, apart from some young ibex & eagles. As we brushed passed pine trees, clouds of orange pollen floated off.

It was difficult to beat this high, but we also greatly enjoyed 'Pinto' the following day, & the walk led by Jean of the Walking Group, up the Miel (Honey) Valley. We passed little farms with incredibly steep terraces of vines, olives & avocados on our way to snow-capped Sierra views. Strings of Processionary Caterpillars crossed the tarmac in front of us, & we came across beautiful cerise orchids. This valley had not escaped the damaging September 07 rainstorm, with road edges washed away in many places, & a riverside house almost totally destroyed.

Up early on Thursday for Janet & Ian to catch the 6.30am bus to Malaga & their flight home. We think we'll spend the remainder of the day resting our feet!

On the hoof

On our local walk through the fields, we were met by a very large herd of goats, being driven down the river bed to new grazing. Nearby a Spaniard was calling through the gate of an avocado orchard. On approach we could see he was addressing 'Pepe', a very large pig, white with black spots. He also called it 'Guapo' (handsome boy)!

A fascinating lecture in English (by a Swede) about post-Franco Spain has inspired us to read more. A visit to the wonderful Nerja second-hand bookshop provided us with a book to be getting on with.

A surprise bank-holiday on Thursday, not mentioned on any calendars, turned out to be 'Andalucia Day'. The locals celebrated with a 'Dia De Pedal' Bike Ride around Nerja town. Every one of the 1,500 plus participants was provided with a yellow t-shirt & a event number. They ranged from tiny toddlers to a novelty bike with 7 saddles, & everything in between.

Janet & Ian arrived from Exeter on Friday. The plane was late as it had to have ice removed from its wings before take-off! A wonderful river & ridge walk with them on Saturday gave us several great views of eagles. We rounded of the day with a visit to 'Irish Annies', where Mike T (Walking Group Guide) & his musical mates were playing to a busy bar.

Really great to speak to Mum in Dorset by phone today (Mothering Sunday) - she is obviously in good form, & enjoying the spring Dorset weather & flowers. We are all hoping for good weather here for an attempt on the summit of 'Cielo' (1508 metres) tomorrow. Off now for Paella at Ayo's with Sue & Graham E., & the newly returned Gill & Andrew L - great to have them back.

Going down a Storm

This week's Spanish lesson was Direct & Indirect Pronouns - difficult; by the time we've worked out where they go & in what order in the sentence, whoever we're talking to has given up & gone home!

Jeannie safely back on early bus to Malaga & flight to Exeter. Shortly after, a very large black cloud raced across the Med to Nerja, developing into a thunder & lightning storm. On the News later, we learned that a local man operating a road drill had been struck by the lightning & killed. A house in Malaga also collapsed in the storm (probably only the noise of the thunder knocking down a shoddily-built property!).

In Nerja Cultural Centre we enjoyed 'The Bucket List' with the wonderful Jack Nicholson. There was an audience of approximately only 10. It was in Spanish, with no subtitles, but easy to follow the gist; not a dry eye in the house. Later in the week, in a bigger audience, we marvelled at Javier Garcia Moreno's classical guitar playing. He seems to have at least 10 fingers on each hand. After the performance, we bumped into him outside the theatre. He spoke no English, but with the help of Sue E. we cobbled together a conversation & now he knows he has English 'Groupies' (a word he seemed to like).

On one of our terrific hill walks we spotted eagles (short-toed?), an Egyptian Grasshopper (3 inch long flying locust like beast), & stripey geckos. There was an varied abundance of flowers appearing following the recent showers.

Intrepid Jeannie

Jeannie arrived safely at last, & very gamely joined us on several long mountain treks. She proved extremely observant, being the first to spot a metre long green snake (that we could not identify), a black squirrel climbing up a quarry face, & a very long procession of caterpillars (on a pavement in Nerja!)

We all enjoyed, at the local Cultural Centre, a performance of two classical guitarists, in the style of Segovia. We have no idea what pieces they played as there was no programme, & they only spoke Spanish.

It has been very windy from the east this week, resulting in crashing surf washing away some of the beach. It has brought out the entertaining kite-surfers. Rows of house-martins are sheltering on the window cills of our apartment block.

Their were 5 of us for Sunday lunch at Chiringuito Breine (a local beach restaurant) on the west side of Nerja. As we tucked into paella it began to RAIN!!! Undeterred, our waiter hauled an enormous sun parasol to our table, covering us all amply. We carried on regardless, consuming as much as we could eat, 2 bottles of wine & coffees for approximately 9 pounds a head.

Spanish lesson again tomorrow - more 'somes'!

Local Attractions

Jenny (Mike's sister) & husband Richard flew in from East Midlands Airport for the weekend.
We took them sightseeing around Frigiliana village & then wore them out walking them back down the rio to Nerja (Mike & Richard were hurrying too quickly as they were anticipating a San Miguel!)

We were impressed to see that lots of new full size palm trees have been planted along the edge of Burriana Beach, where we four joined Sue & Graham E. for our usual Sunday Paella. The restaurant (Ayo's) was heaving & generally the town is busier this week due to UK half-term hols.

We all joined in with Richard's delight at Mansfield Town's away victory (4 in a row!) when we saw the UK football scores Saturday evening.

The highlight of their visit was the last evening when we went Tapas-ing. Jenny attracted the attention of a young(ish) local chap in a very Spanish bar, who gave her his seat, & asked if she wanted a 'novio' (boyfriend!) He took it very well when we decided after one drink & tapas to move on, kissing both Jenny & Sue goodbye. Richard was oblivious to all this, as he was busy watching local football on the bar TV, but we were both impressed with Jenny's pulling power - possibly enhanced by the rarity of fair haired ladies in Spain!

They have both arrived safely back at home now, & we are eagerly awaiting our next visitor, Jeannie from Plymouth. As we write this she has texted to say she is currently stuck in Malaga Airport due to the non-appearance of the scheduled shuttle bus (well, this is Spain!)

Spanish classes are continuing to challenge us - this week's saw the introduction of the indefinite pronouns/adjectives for 'some' - there seem to be approximately 15 words in Spanish for this!!! Ah well, I expect we can learn some of them!

Processions.....

Saturday evening was Sue E's delightful birthday dinner at Pacomari's restaurant, with guests from far & wide (well at least Ruthin, North Wales!)

Yet another excuse in Nerja for a fiesta was the Lenten Carnival - three days of celebration prior to the dark days of Lent!!! This culminated in a procession through the town to the beach. The many participants all wore flamboyant costumes, including much elaborate cross-dressing. The theme was bizarrely the 'Funeral of the Sardine'! Accompanied by much wailing (whaling?) & the usual brass bands, a full-size coffin was carried through the streets, then towed out to sea behind a local fishing boat. It was then blown-up, accompanied by a large firework display!

Sue & Graham E. showed us the way through the farmland up to the Maro Torre (no wonder we missed the path when we tried as it was a tiny obscure track). The Tower is in a natural herb garden of thyme, basil, rosemary & lavender, with wide coastal views.

On a midweek evening at the Cultural Centre de Nerja, we enjoyed a very professional & funny tribute show to 'Flanders & Swann', including the famous Gnu & Hippopatamus songs. Our robust audience participation could have been due to the drinks & tapas we consumed prior to the performance. Knowing the words also gives away our ages!!! We have no idea how the Spanish people in the audience understood any of this peculiarly British humour!

The other processions we saw in the week were those of the previously mentioned poisonous 'Processionary Caterpillars' They are now leaving their nests in the pine trees. We rode our bikes over several long lines of the nasty little critters, & will have to watch out for them when walking in the countryside from now on.

We are now looking forward to our next visitors - Mike's sister & hubby (Jenny & Richard) for a few days, then our friend Jeannie from Plymouth for a week (she is temporarily a motorbike widow whilst hubsband Roly bikes the length of South America!)