The end of year BBQ

For this last year we have been attending the local Spanish language class twice a week for 1½ hours at the school in Valderrobres and Margaret has been attending the village women's group every Saturday afternoon for painting, embroidery and "restoration" so we decided to have a BBQ and combine the 2 groups as both activities have come to an end for this academic year. This meant that around 29 people were able to come this afternoon, each bringing a "dish" and enjoy the food and drink in our bodega.

Pre-BBQ drinks...

...and Miguel, Beatriz's husband, who is a baker and fireman, is in charge of the BBQ...

.
..everyone brings a dish and the savouries and salads are set out on the table...

...seconds of lamb chops for the "small" table...

Margaret with friends on the corner of the "big" table...

...young and old, (the bloke at the top left of the picture), are enjoying themselves...

...the "big" table is in full swing...

...Beatriz was our Spanish teacher this year...

...those on the "small" table look fairly happy too...

.

..he's still got that hat on...

...and here it is again...

...it's not quite Wimbledon!

With thanks to Floyd for the use of some of his photos.

The fiesta of San Juan, 23rd June 2007

A glorious day with the mid-day service at the ermita, paella with 2 dozen of our pena in our bodega in the afternoon, dancing to a very good musical duo on the street in front of our house in the evening then back to our bodega for "supper" with 2 dozen plus.

Everyone is just so organised at these events and when it comes to the preparation of the meal, everyone finds something to do.

While the paella was being made outside, all of the other parts of the meal were
being prepared in our downstairs kitchen.

Meanwhile, others got down to the serious work of just enjoying themselves...

... in whatever way they found best.

Eventually it was time to add the finishing touches to the paella...

...and then into our bodega with everyone around the large table to have a
really good time enjoying the food and the company.

After the meal, a quiet siesta outside...

Later that evening everyone from the village turned up to the dancing
on the camino outside our house.

Must find out what Pablo uses as a hair restorer...

Then after the dancing we must be hungry again because it's back to have supper...

...and Pedro performs his party trick!

Pedro told me that he can only do this trick because he has incredibly small genitals!
We certainly can't see any evidence to the contrary in this picture

Holiday on the Costa del Sol

With the dog and the 2 cats in their kennels / cattery the previous day, on Saturday 26th May we set off to Doña Lola, our time share at Calahonda on the Costa del Sol.

After having a great week we had decided to return home taking 2 nights staying at 2 Paradores we had not been to before.

The first was at Jaen and was at the Castillo de Santa Catalina.

One thing is certain with the Paradores and that is they are always going to be in a good spot!

With this one having been a castle, it was on top of a hill with wonderful views. The olive trees in Andalucia give an amazing pattern to the landscape.

The next day we stayed at the Paradore at Cuenca which had been a convent.

Just opposite the Paradore, across a footbridge which spanned a large ravine, were these townhouses.

This was the view just before we set off on the Monday morning.

The GPS took us on some back roads, or maybe these were the only roads around there!
Not far down the road from Cuenca we came across this rather picturesque lake.

The journey back was very interesting and provided the perfect end to a most enjoyable "holiday".