Showing posts with label Torre del Compte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torre del Compte. Show all posts

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Fiesta!

Friday 18th August was the first day of celebration for the village fiesta with the Chorizada...

...BBQ sausages with friends.


In addition to the sausages which are provided, people bring their own contribution...


...to make the otherwise simple celebration into a splendid feast!


After the meal the musicians lead the people around the village from peña to peña where they consume a Catacrock - a gin and tonic downed in one. 


The only problem is that between the peñas other villagers are prepared with buckets of water and hosepipes to drench the participants!


Saturday 19th and there is a mass in the church at midday...


...and San Ramón is paraded around the village.


Sunday 20th: This year, as Margaret is still recovering from her back operation in June, we did not take part in as many aspects of the fiesta as we do normally.


However, one event we did not want to miss was the performance by the Jota group,...


...Mini Grupo del Bajo Aragón.


They were quite outstanding; accomplished musicians, excellent singers and superb dancers!


Their costumes were excellent and authentic.


To see them in action, click on the links at the bottom of this posting.


They gave one of the best performances we have seen over the years from various Jota groups.


Thursday 31st: At 12:00 midday another mass in the church in honour of San Ramón. This time, several members of the congregation wore traje regional, regional costume.


San Ramón was again paraded around the village...


...and through the Plaza Mayor...


...where we all met after the church service for the paella which was served for lunch.


The wine flows, people bring other delicacies to share...


 ...and everyone has a good time.


This year, we brought one of Margaret's raspberry cheesecakes - delicious!


A great end to another superb fiesta! Cheers! / ¡Salud!

Here are the links to the jotas:






















Tuesday, May 16, 2017

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!

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

San Ramón

It was a very special celebration for the fiesta of San Ramón this year as it was also the occasion of the inauguration of the church after more than a year of renovations both inside and out.


To mark this special event the service was conducted by the Archbishop of Zaragoza, Vicente Jiménez Zamora.


The inside of the church looked very good with new floor lighting and painted areas which had been dark and quite daunting previously.


The renovation had been carried out so that the church retained a lot of original character.


The detail on the inside of the domes looked really good.


San Ramón was given a tour of the village. This is where we went wrong last year when the service was held in the ermita and to seek his revenge for not being taken out the village roofs and cars on the street were destroyed that afternoon by an almighty hailstorm.



This was another one of those days where we were down to the village for the church service then back to get changed then down again for lunch - it helps to work off those extra calories!


The lunch was paella prepared and served to the hundreds of people seated in the Plaza Mayor.




The meal was thoroughly enjoyed by all including the cohort of priests who accompanied the Archbishop...


...who were all in a good humour.


Shade was provided by 2 enormous nets but as there was virtually no wind it was quite hot and rather like sitting inside a large greenhouse. Nevermind, you can't have everything.

Our friend Lola, who is the mayor of the village, had asked Margaret and myself if we could take photos and video the inauguration in the morning. 
You can see the inauguration by clicking HERE.
You can see the church service by clicking HERE. Warning - it is 67 minutes long!
You can see all the photos by clicking HERE.