Anne and Clive visit

We met Anne and Clive in 1970 when Margaret and Anne taught at the same school. We have kept in touch even when they moved to Canada a few years later.

This was their first ever visit to Spain and we were able to show them parts of the real Spain which exist around us.

A visit to our neighbouring village of La Fresneda and the ermita were first on the agenda so they could see our village across the Matarraña valley.

One of the most important things when you visit Spain is to enjoy the food. We did plenty of this and lunch that day was at one of our favourite restaurants, Fonda Angeleta in Valderrobres.

After lunch, a walk up to the castle...

...and then a walk around our own village of Torre del Compte.

Next day, a journey through the mountains down to our other house at Vinaròs...

...stopping off at L'Antic Molí for lunch.

We didn't actually have a BBQ, we were just posing...

...but we did visit the harbour...

...and Anne had a paddle in the Mediterranean.

Lunch was at the Hotel Rey Don Jaime in Morella...

...followed by a walk around the town.

Next day, Sunday, a visit to the viaduct which carried the railway from Tortosa to Zaragoza but now is a Via Verde, a walking/cycle track, through the Val de Zafán, ...

...with lunch al fresco.

Our excursion on Monday took us to the Torre Cremada, an Iberican lookout tower built 4 centuries BC where they could signal warnings of possible attack to other communities,...

...the Greenwich Meridian line which passes very close to us,...

...the beautiful ermita of Santa Barbara at Valdealgorfa,...

...lunch at Restaurante Meseguer in Alcañiz...

...followed by coffee at the Parador.

To round off the day, the last supper of the visit. Hopefully Anne and Clive will return as there is much more to see!

Sunset and moonset.

We have had some very clear, sunny days with no wind recently. However, today was foggy and very cold.

I took these photos a couple of days ago from our terrace. 

The village in the distance is La Fresneda with the ermita to the left 

and the "castle" ruins on the right.

And here is the same village with the sun setting to the left. The sun will set a little further to the left for the next 10 days and then work it's way well to the right of the village in the coming months until June.

We were also treated to a beautiful moonset. Unfortunately the floodlights for the ermita had been put out but the "castle" and the church floodlights were still on.

I took this photo just as the moon touched the top of the hill, you can see the silhouette with the trees, and then very quickly disappeared.

Around and about!

For the last few days we have had my niece staying with us and we have been showing her around the local area. She has lots of photos for memories - here is a selection of them.

Click left on any of the photos in order to be able to see it full size.

The old olive mill down by the Matarraña river in Torre del Compte is the summer home of our friends Andrea and Marc.

The original mill not only used to press the olives in order to release the oil, it also used to grind the corn.


On Saturday we were with our friends Mari Carmen and Raúl in Alcañiz for a splendid lunch with typical food of the region...

...followed by a peach tart made by Margaret. Delicious!

This weekend was the big weekend for bikers throughout Spain and beyond who had descended on the town for the racing event which was taking place at Motorland just outside Alcañiz.

70,000 were expected but I think I counted a lot more.

The new by-pass had been opened for the occasion but is closed now while it is finished off.


The roofs of the houses in Valderrobres are always a picturesque sight, here seen from the castle.

And here is the castle itself, or at least, one corner of it.

I'm sure that this room in the castle could have been the inspiration for one of Escher's paintings.

The arches make great shadows at this time of day...

...while through the arches themselves, the view is stunning.

Another arch but this time leading onto the old stone bridge across the Matarraña...


...and on crossing the bridge a glance to the left reveals the backs of all the houses.

A rare sight as the bridge is deserted.

Up to the ermita de Santa Bárbara at La Fresneda and a view looking towards Calaceite...

...plus a view of the old railway bridge crossing the river...

...and the village of La Fresneda from the same vantage spot.

A drive up the Valle del Silencio to the Sanctuario de la Virgen de Gracia, a 16th century convent...


...with interesting views from the outside through the decorative windows to the countryside beyond.

"I'm sure I'll find salmon in here one day".

We live closer to the Greenwich meridian line here than we did when we lived in England. This photo was taken in the western hemisphere, by a matter of inches.


Our friend Emilia's mosaic bench. She is a very talented ceramicist and we have been working with her on a mosaics course. More of that later!

The village of La Fresneda as seen from our newly tarmacked road.

The ermita de Santa Bárbara at Valdealgorfa. Santa Barbara is the Patron Saint of Workers at Risk and Sudden Death so that is why there are several ermitas with her name on around here.


A view of Torre del Compte with the Puertos de Beceite behind, (the mountains between us and the Mediterranean). You can see our house if you know where to look!


And of course the village of Torre del Compte itself with the ermita de San Juan,...

...the church,...

...the fantastic views down the Matarraña valley,...

...and one of the remaining entrances to the village.

It's no surprise we love living in this region!