We're in the newspaper yet again!

On Saturday evening, after the meal and Lina Morgan performance, we had been invited to the opening of an art exhibition being staged by our friend Andrea. It was in the museum of Juan Cabré in the nearby village of Calaceite. Juan Cabré was the the famous archeologist, born in Calaceite, who led the excavation of the Iberican settlement next to the village in the early 1900's.

To see the article full size, click left on it.

Andrea's work is amazing, she has been very busy this year producing so many new paintings. The museum is an excellent venue for art work to be exhibited, it all looked wonderful!

Birthday lunch and Paüls

It has been a very busy, but most enjoyable weekend this weekend. It really started on Friday when we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary with an outing to Benicarlo for the day. On Saturday we had the womens' lunch followed by the "Lina Morgan" sketch and Andrea's art exhibition in the evening. On Sunday we saw the contemporary dancing at Valderrobres. To finish off the 4-day weekend, we have celebrated my birthday by having a day out to Tortosa for lunch then to the village of Paüls, (pronounced Par-uulz), in the afternoon.

Wot, no chips!

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Paüls is tucked away in the mountains or Els Ports as they are known, 9 km from the main road. It is not a village you go through because it is at the end of the road! However, it is certainly worth a visit as it is so picturesque...

...and the view from the top of the village is amazing.

It is also very tranquil with only the sound of goat bells clanking in the distance.

On the way back, on the other side of the mountains, I couldn't resist taking this view, or rather 3 views, which have been stitched together. Breathtaking scenery at it's best!

Contemporary dancing at Valderrobres castle.

This evening we went to see a performance of contemporary dance in Valderrobres castle.

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Each performance took place in a different part of the castle so we all moved around and sat on the floor or leaned on the wall to watch.

Two of the performances involved pairs of dancers, however, this guy danced with the wall!

Being in the castle really added to the atmosphere.

All of the dancers had lots of energy, hence the lack of sharpness to the pictures as they moved quickly in the fading light.


And then outside, the local young group of dancers gave their performances, the first with the castle as the backdrop...

...and the second dance on top of a hill. All thoroughly entertaining.

Yet another meal for the "mujeres"!

It's Saturday afternoon and the women of the village of Torre del Compte, around 65 of them, have assembled in the hall next to the bar/restaurant for their meal and entertainment.

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The meal is traditionally served by the committee who then perform as can be seen in the photo above, each wearing traditional peasants dress for this song and dance.


So popular was the "Lina Morgan" routine when it was first performed in February this year, that it had been requested to be seen again as part of the entertainment after the meal.

Floyd and Margaret, above, as Lina and Lana. Once again it was very well received!

Distant smoke...

It hasn't been quite as hot or windy today and the fires near us appear to be under control which is a relief.

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However, as the sun sank there was evidence that fires were still ablaze to the west of Torre del Compte as this view past La Fresneda, just out of picture to the far left, shows. However, you can see the village church tower in the bottom right hand corner. Very picturesque but a little bit scary!

¡El incendio!

It has been very hot here for the last couple of days, our outdoor thermometer, which is in the shade, recorded 39.2°C yesterday afternoon, that's 102.5°F, it has never been this hot while we've been here. In the news has been the issue of fires in the area, 20 in Aragon and in one quite near here, 4 firemen lost their lives when they were caught in the flames as the wind changed direction. Click HERE to read more on this incident.

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Then yesterday afternoon, across the hill over the river on the north side of the village, came the smoke and flames fanned by a very brisk, very hot wind.


Fortunately, it wasn't coming in our direction!


As the evening wore on, the flames spread further to the north away from Torre del Compte...


...all it would need would be a change of wind direction and for the flames to spread across the river and we would be in it's path!


This morning however, we are still here and there is currently a helicopter flying around taking large buckets of water, (from the village swimming pool I think), to put out the fire which is still burning on the side of the hill.

Another meal for the "mujeres".

The women, mujeres, of Torre del Compte certainly know how to enjoy and entertain themselves.

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This year for three hours every Saturday afternoon from February to June, they have met and have been involved in a patchwork class. In previous years, they have met for restoration and art classes, always on a Saturday afternoon. The outcome of their labours is exhibited in the town hall during fiesta week in August.



In addition to these classes they have one day every year when all the women of the villages in the Matarraña region visit one village which plays at being the host for the day.


It is also the women's organisation which is responsible for the annual village trip so even though this is a very small village it has a very active social side.

Other social events involve wonderful gastronomic meals at the village bar/restaurant and this was the case yesterday evening, a thoroughly enjoyable occasion.