Saturday, August 20, 2011

Grupo de la Jota "La Calandria"

At 19:00 in the school yard the jota group "La Calandria" gave their performances to a large audience of the people of Torre del Compte.


The costumes were splendid but could not have been all that comfortable as it was quite a hot evening even though the group had based themselves in the more shaded part of the school yard.

The dancers were very energetic as they showed their prowess with castanets, tambourines as well as sticks and some very fancy footwork.

The vocalists performed a couple of solos each as well as some numbers as a group...


...when the dancers performed their pieces.


Another well received part of the fiesta celebrations.

To see 5 of the dances and 2 of the solo vocals, click on the links below.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

La rondalla or "jotas" around the village.

When you think of traditional Spanish music you automatically think of the Spanish guitar and Flamenco singing and dancing. However, the jota is just as popular in many regions in Spain. Click HERE to find out about jotas.

La Rondalla
, or group of minstrels, played and sang their traditional songs known as jotas as part of the festivities provided by the Amas de Casa to complete their special day.


To give the group their official title, they are "Grupo de Jota de Valdealgorfa, La Natividad de Nuestra Señora".


They started playing and singing in the main street of the village...


...then made their way playing and singing as they went, to 3 different locations where they performed more songs..


...before ending up in the Plaza Mayor for several more songs. At each place where they stopped, the committee of the Amas de Casa provided the ever increasing audience with cava to drink and lots of cake.

To see and listen to each of the 28 jotas performed that evening click on the links below. Each clip is quite short, less than 2 minutes, apart from numbers 2, 6, 11 and 17 where the group are walking between locations.

Jota 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzjwwRMwF0k

Jota 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZp2R1N0Fg

Jota 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjRTHfe4AyQ

Jota 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvQiSlobU80

Jota 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srBosAhuEm8

Jota 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS84C5oaplM

Jota 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYXr1WZ3y_w

Jota 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLuSv9V7Cdo

Jota 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SF3IEZ3UGM

Jota 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6eUFYql_R4

Jota 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp8Q11kfHvc

Jota 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKTGb4yotPY

Jota 13 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHnNyVqpfII

Jota 14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRMT-jGAvvo

Jota 15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djBORSsuGDg

Jota 16 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5G9GjFpqJE

Jota 17 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqVPOhjvLwE

Jota 18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDtBpmh0Zxo

Jota 19 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW8fnELtitU

Jota 20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLtY-P3kSvk

Jota 21 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wH5pDA6fVM

Jota 22http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R1O4gRqFaI

Jota 23 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KPGa5aWrjc

Jota 24 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZqCxG6rZus

Jota 25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FFvyJOAW9o

Jota 26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZr01x2bOvw

Jota 27 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpnGwgy2GBM

Jota 28 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJawsWSBUyM


The Amas de Casa's annual meal

Traditionally the committee serve the meal and this year they were dressed as "serving wenches".


The first course known as "entremeses", which translates into "English" as "hors d'oeuvres", is cold cuts of meat garnished with salad. Then chicken was the main course followed by ice cream.


Wine, water and bread are on supply throughout the meal.


Entertainment followed in the form of a Can-Can dance performed by the committee.


To see the video of the dance, (which is not to be missed!), click HERE.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Land Rover Discovery


Land Rover Discovery 3 HSE TDV6 automático, en muy buen estado, (enero 2006).


Haga clic en las fotos para ver la imagen a tamaño completo.



Faros Bi-Xenón y retrovisores de plegado eléctrico.


4 neumáticos nuevos (octubre de 2010). Llantas de aleación 18".



Ayudas para una conducción segura, que incluyen: Frenos Antibloqueo, (ABS), Asistencia Electrónica de Frenado de Emergencia, (EBA), y Control Electrónico de la Tracción, (ETC). El Control Dinámico de Estabilidad, DSC), y el Sistema Anti-balanceo, (ARM), funcionan con el sistema de frenado para obtener un correcto sobreviraje o subviraje en las curvas para mantener la estabilidad en todo momento.


Revisiones periódicas pasadas en el taller oficial de Land Rover.




Consumo: 9.4 L/100km, (medio) i emisiones CO2: 275g/km.


Maya Gold - metalizado, un color ideal para no mostrar la suciedad.



6 cilindradas, 2720cc, potencia máxima 190CV/4000rpm


Los ceniceros nunca se han utilizado.



Aceleración: 0 - 100 km/h en 12.8 segundos


1ͣ Fila de asientos con 6 airbags, (frontales, laterales y de cortina, este último para proteger la cabeza)).
Airbags de cortina en la 2ͣ fila y 3ͣ fila de asientos.


Faros antiniebla delanteros, faros delanteros de encendido automático y lavafaros térmicos.
Detector automático de lluvia en los limpiaparabrisas.


Suspensión neumática de altura variable.


Columna de dirección ajustable en altura y profundidad.



Transmisión automática que incorpora "CommandShift", lo que proporciona al conductor un control manual completo en los cambios de velocidades.


Sistema 4x4 "Terrain Response" de Land Rover.



En octubre/noviembre, menos de 87.000 kms.



Cargador de 6 CDs, con radio, MP3, pantalla de 7", GPS,
control de velocidad de crucero, climatizador de temperatura automático.


Asientos eléctricos con memoria para tres posiciones.



Asientos de piel en color "alpaca".



Alta especificaciones de alta fidelidad "Harmon/Kardon", con 8 altavoces + bafle pasivo.


Siete plazos de fácil acceso; los dos asientos traseros, sólo se ha utilizado uno durante una semana.



Luces de protección de puertas.


El freno de mano electrónico se puede accionar con un suave movimiento de palanca y se suelta automáticamente cuando se inicia la marcha.


ITV hasta enero, 2012.


Con 7 plazas, un poco de espacio en el maletero.



Pero con dos, un maletero enorme: 2558 litros.


Con 5 plazas, espacio más que suficiente: 1260 litros.



Con una cobertura de 3 plazas.


La famosa división del portón trasero.
La rueda de repuesto de tamaño completo está debajo.


Conector de alimentación de 12V en la parte trasera, así como
en la parte delantera y en la 2ͣ fila de asientos.



3 luces de cortesía en el interior y retrovisor interior antideslumbrante.


Sensores traseros de aparcamiento y barra de remolque.
Ahora lo ves.

¡Ahora no!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Birthday treat!

You know when it's kids birthdays and all they want to do is to go to McDonald's - well, that is exactly what we did on my birthday.


We don't have a branch around here, thank goodness, but seeing as we were out for the day and there was one nearby we thought we would treat ourselves for lunch.


Not that we could be called regulars - the last McDonald's junk food we ate was last February on Gran Canaria, So this was a special treat.


And to round the day off, when we got back, we shared this delicious fruit tart - only as a special birthday treat of course!