The meal of the amas!

At this time of year the amas de casa, (housewives), of Torre del Compte have their annual meal in the village restaurant. It is customary for the members of the committee to serve the meal dressed as waitresses and also to put on some form of entertainment. The early rehearsals for the entertainment took place in our entrance hall in the week leading up to the performance.

Click left on any one of the photographs in order to view the image at full size.

Costumes were also made for the occasion...


...and the entire dance can be seen on YouTube by clicking HERE.


The ladies were a phenomenal success as the audience applause indicates.


Because of the serious nature of the dance by the ladies I felt that a more lighthearted approach to the same music was needed so along with a friend we performed our version. You can see it on YouTube if you click HERE. Whereas the ladies had spent days in rehearsals for their dance John and myself spent almost an entire hour!

However, it was very well received!

To Zaragoza with the pensionistas!

We were asked to join the pensionistas group in the village when it formed a couple of years ago and although we were not OAP's ourselves, although we are retired, we agreed to support them.

32 of us set off just after 8.00am from Torre del Compte by coach towards Zaragoza on what was going to be, according to the weather forecast, a very hot day.

To see the photos full size, click left on them.

Just after 10am we arrived at our first port of call at La Franca at the "International Centre for Water and the Environment", (or CIAMA in Spanish). This site, some 15 kms outside Zaragoza, was chosen because of it's proximity to the Rio Ebro, which is a couple of fields away, and it was already home to the Palacio de los Marqueses de Ayerbe, (XVIII), with the Convento de San Vicente de Paúl, (1884), right next door. The Palace has historic gardens constructed between the 17th and 19th centuries with a French influence.


A more recent structure created in 2008 for Expo '08 is the viewpoint with the rock gardens.


A model shows the layout best, convent top-left, palace to the right with very neat gardens in front. The real gardens were a bit overgrown but they were working on them.


The rocks were brought from different places throughout the region of Aragón. At least they don't take as much looking after as plants.


One advantage of being on a trip with pensionistas is that you can stop for a photo and still not have fallen behind the remainder of the group!


And so into Zaragoza where the coach dropped us and a group of us popped into the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar to catch the lunchtime mass - at least it was much cooler in there. Our lunch was at the Las Palomas restaurant situated in the Plaza del Pilar and what a lunch it was. Everyone did it full justice. Highly recommended!


At 16.30 till 19.00 we had a guided tour of the Museos de la Ruta de Caesaraugusta. Caesar Augusta was the Roman emperor who, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, gave his name to Zaragoza as it is now known.


The tour started in the theatre...


...where the seating area and stage have been excavated and covered with a roof...


...and then went on to the Roman baths, the river port area and the Forum. The only problem is that we weren't allowed to take photos with flash and all of these places were underground apart from the remains of the theatre, so you will just have to take my word for it that all of these places were fascinating. Thank goodness they were underground and cool, outside it was like a very hot oven! However, a fantastic day out.

Rosi and Pablo's 25th!

Rosi and Pablo are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary today along with 70 of their friends plus children. To make the day "interesting" they have to meet a series of challenges and then finally their "prize" will be unveiled if they succeed.

Follow the links to the videos on YouTube given below. The first is a series of photos of Rosi and Pablo taken over several years. Click HERE to see it.

To see the big photos, click left on their images.

At 13.00, after the mass in the ermita for the fiesta of San Juan, and Rosi returns to their house, they find the first of many envelopes which tells them they have to come to the ermita in regional costume for a staged blessing.


See the "highlights" on YouTube by clicking HERE.


Next up was one of the most important parts of the day - lunch - with nibbles to start, (prawns, snails, crisps, nuts), then a giant paella followed by BBQ lamb chops and finally melon. To see all of that, click HERE.

Lunch was followed by the cutting of the cake using the ceremonial sword...


...and a rousing rendition of the village jota! To see and hear it in every detail, click HERE. Then everyone had a piece of cake.


While the meal was going on, Margaret went around the guests taking photos - to see them, click HERE.


The next challenge was a bike ride for Rosi and Pablo. It was essential for them to be able to ride a bike as their final prize involves cycling. Click HERE to see them rise to the challenge.


Although the next challenge had nothing to do with their prize destination or activity, it was still good fun - dancing the waka-waka! To see and hear the village jota sung properly, Rosi and Pablo dancing the waka-waka and fun with a vuvuzale, click HERE.

As it was also the fiesta of San Juan, that meant there was a group playing and everyone dancing on the street in front of our house. To see the last few moments of the dancing, click HERE.


All of that exercise works up quite an appetite so when the dancing finished, it's back to Rosi and Pablo's for supper - hams, carved by Pablo, with Rosi's excellent rabbit dish, pizza and bread with tomato. Then it's time for the opening of the special presents. Click HERE to see what they are.


At last the time comes for the prize to be revealed and here we see how 2 ordinary but very special people, (who started the day quite sensibly but have given their all to providing spendid meals for their 70+ guests, encountered challenges that they knew nothing about, danced with all their energy for the entire evening, received presents which they may have believed were their main reward), react when they are overcome by the reality of the outcome. To see it all, click HERE. (It's one of Floyd's PowerPoint presentations!)

We can't wait for their 50th wedding anniversary!

The olive blossom's blooming!

Although the flowers are very small and the tree does not make a grand show of the blossom this is a very important time for the trees in this region as it is the start of what becomes the harvest in 7 months time.

Click with the left button of the mouse on any photo to see it in full detail.

Perhaps the most obvious sign that the olive trees are in blossom is the virtual carpet of petals which are on the ground beneath the tree.

Yes, that is the moon in the photo above.

What promised to be a bountiful harvest of almonds has thinned out to only a few on some trees with next to none on others. They should be ready in around 4 months.

Holiday time again!

This year in order to get down to the Costa del Sol for our timeshare week we decided not to use the coastal motorway as we have done in the past but to cut across country, (via Madrid), and also to take our time in doing so by staying for 2 nights at 2 places on the way down and 3 nights at 2 different places on the way back.

Click left on any photo to see all the detail.

The first stop was the Parador in Sigüenza, a 12th century castle which can be seen on the top of the hill above the town. The holiday had started in grand style. You can see Margaret relaxing with a welcoming glass of wine in the photo above. As you can expect with a Parador, the room was first class with the only problem being that the window was a bit on the small side - but what can you expect in an old castle?

Next day it was on to Zafra, this time a more modern castle, 15th century.

A walk around the town in the afternoon showed it to be a very relaxing place, just as well as the temperature had gone up several degrees!

Another early evening drink in the "courtyard"...

...and then later in the same place for a meal under the stars with the swallows screeching overhead.

And then to Doña Lola for our week - very little changes as this photo shows...

...and even the fig tree has grown very little since last year! To see the "Margaret in the window" photo from last year, click HERE and to see the 2008 version, click HERE.

After a week on the Costa del Sol it was time to head back, stopping off at Trujillo for 2 nights. This time the Parador is a 16th century convent.


Trujillo is a fantastic place and as well as having its full quota of screeching swallows it had white storks nesting on the high points of every building frequently having their bill clattering conversations.


The Plaza Mayor is enormous and has lots of cafés, bars and restaurants around it to cater for the constant supply of tourists. It is also the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro who conquered Perú in the 16th century - his statue can be seen in the photo above.


The castle which dominates the city was built by the Arabs as a fortress when they occupied Spain in the 10th and 11th centuries.


Cáceres, some 48 kms west of Trujillo, is the capital city of the region and dates back to Roman times. We paid it a visit on the Sunday. Once again it had many storks...


...as well as some very interesting buildings from the Middle Ages.

Our final port of call was the Parador at Soria, once again on the top of a hill and with fantastic views over the town and the surrounding countryside with the Rio Duero running through it. The photo above was taken from our room, (no small windows here), just a full 180° vista.


The mountains to the north, (La Sierra de Urbión, over 2000 metres above sea level), still had snow.

On the same site as the Parador are the remains of the 12th century castle.

On the return journey we just had to stop to take photos of the countryside - in one direction stone walls and fields of poppies...


...while in the other direction fields stretching out towards the distant hills.

Another fantastic holiday!!

BBQ at Fórnoles

Despite the weather forecast predicting heavy rain, we set off to the ermita at Fórnoles for their celebration and a BBQ.

Want the big picture? Click left on the image.

For details on the venue, see the entry on this blog for the same time last year. The ermita was in the same state of disrepair as 12 months ago...

...however, the altar was delightfully decorated for the service. Afterwards, we joined the procession to the outskirts of the ermita where the priest prayed for good harvests and benevolent weather.


Then it was time to get down to the serious stuff of the BBQ and Pablo had prepared the fire which was now hot embers so on went the lamb chops and cutlets.


Here we are getting the full benefit of the smoke and yes, we were spared getting wet - not even a shower!

During our meal, we were entertained by a gentleman on the next table who frequently broke into song - a local jota. Click the link HERE to see one of these on YouTube...then click HERE to see a second.

After the meal, the band turned up so it was time for dancing. Click HERE to see Margaret and Rosi's efforts!