A trip around the Ports de Beseit

This was meant to be a trip across the Ports de Beseit, (the National Park and mountain range between us and the Mediterranean). However, as we were not able to find the road which crossed the mountains (which was indicated on the map but was not "visible" on the GPS), we turned back having gone up the mountains as far as the road would take us and took the road around instead. Next time we shall try it from the other direction!

We had lunch in a small village called Poblo de Benifasà and while we were waiting for the restaurant to open at 13:30 we visited the cemetery.

Lunch was superb as usual then in the afternoon we headed into the mountains looking down on the Monestir de Benifasà which seems to be a "working" monastery only open to the public on Thursdays between 13:00 - 15:00, so you've got to be quick (and not hungry!)

After failing to find the road across the mountains we came back down and took the road around instead which was very scenic...

(You can tell this is me because that's my watch!)

...passing by the Pantano d'Ulldecona or the reservoir of a nearby town, in this case Ulldecona.

We travelled through 3 different autonomous regions and 3 different provinces of the country on this route: from Aragón, (Teruel) to Comunidad Valenciana, (Castellón) to Cataluña, (Tarragona) then back into Aragón, (Teruel). As for the language, Castilian, castellano, (Spanish), is only spoken in one of them with Catalan being the regional language of the other two.

Fantastic scenery - there's something very Scottish about this area, the only difference being the weather.

A day trip to Lleida

There are many places we have yet to visit and less than 2 hours north of us is the city of Lleida which is in the west of Cataluña. With today being our wedding anniversary, (36 years!), we decided to have a day out and so set off this morning on a very pleasant route through the countryside to Lleida.

One of the highlights of this city is the Cathedral which stands on the highest point.

Inside the church, various old relics of interest are displayed,
NB that comment refers to the picture below.

This is the type of fountain that we want as a feature in our garden!

Another great menu del día (at the Hotel Zenit) - I'm having the roast beef and potato crisps!

Lunch with the campers!

Got a phone call from Jordi this morning inviting us to join him and Floyd with Rosi and Pablo with their friends from Valdealgorfa who were camping by the river in a nice shady spot just outside our village. Although this was very short notice we knew what to expect as it would be just the same as last year when we did something similar.

Every year for the last 5 years Rosi and Pablo's friends, around 3 families, come from their village of Valdealgorfa to camp in the same spot. Valdealgorfa, by the way, is about 15 minutes from us. They set up their tents and a long table with side benches which is inside a netted area to keep the flies away. The very large net is one of those for gathering up the olives after they have been beaten from the trees at harvesting time in December and is very effective at creating a "no-fly" zone so that you can eat in the open air without being disturbed.

Last year we had a paella - this year there was a change to the menu and we had a stew of potato, bits of lamb and caracols, (snails), (freshly caught from the surrounding woods), and artichoke hearts.

Here's Floyd and me sitting inside the large netted area waiting for the snail stew to be served...

...and Margaret with tents.

"More snails for me please Rosi!"

And the legend of the Spanish Robin Hood is born.

I have eaten better/different snails, (in France already out of their shells and individually cooked in the oven with garlic butter), but these were quite tasty! What will they cook up for us next year? - possibly crickets or water rats if they could catch them!

The meal for the "mujeres"

The womens group had arranged to meet for a meal at the village restaurant / bar at 21.00 on Saturday 7th July to mark the end of the year for their painting and restoration classes.


It is just impossible to get 19 women all talking and eating to look at the camera at once!

So here's the view from the other end of the table - it seems that those furthest away from the camera seem to know what's going on at least!

Lola, Rosi and Margaret taking a break for the camera between conversation and eating!
¡Muy guapa!
And a very good time was had by all!!

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".