Ramblings in Retirement

October 2006

We started this month with a trip to the town of Nerja on the Costa del Sol. Penny’s cousin had invited us to his wedding which was taking place in a small town (Frigiliana) to the north of Nerja. The journey from Denia took over 6 hours and covered 530kms (the time was taken up by the part of the journey from Almeria to Nerja which is not motorway, yet). We had booked a lovely hotel (Balcon de Europa) right in the heart of Nerja.

The Journey was unadventurous, and in fact, quite depressing on the stretch from Almeria to Nerja, as the entire countryside was covered in plastic greenhouses in which grew all sorts of vegetables. I am told that there are only two sights visible on Earth from outer space, the Great Wall of China and the plastic sheeting of Almeria, a testament to our lifestyle to portray to the aliens?!

The town of Nerja impressed us, it was very clean, people were very friendly and helpful (even the locals) and we toured the back streets, shops and restaurants. In the evenings the area around the hotel (a small promenade and Plaza), played host to a variety of artisans who delighted us with their renditions of music, dancing and artwork. It was clear however that this was a place for tourists and I am glad we were not in town 2 months previously as it would have been chaotic. Nevertheless, off-season, it was a joy.

We joined up with Penny’s Uncle Ted and his wife Chris and with them did a bit of sightseeing. We visited the famous caves just outside the town and found that not only were they enormous but extremely interesting also. It was here where I had the chance to warn Penny about the dangers of excessive dieting!















Penny considers new diet! Chrissie, Penny and Uncle Ted






The Viaduct at Nerja


Next, we visited the town of Frigiliana to suss out the chapel in which the wedding was to take place. Again this was a delightful small town, all the buildings were painted white, and there were the usual narrow streets and steep climbs but well worth the trek.





































Inside Friiliana Church

In the evening, we met up with the wedding party who were holding a prenuptial get-together in a local bar. People had travelled from all over Europe to be at the ceremony so it was a good idea to have an opportunity to make introductions beforehand.



















Uncle Ted, Penny, Aunt Irene,
Aunt Chrissieand Lindsay Ian (the Groom), some bearded bloke, and
Carmen the Bride

The wedding itself took place at 5.30pm and was quite different to others we have seen. I could not say that this was a traditional Spanish wedding as the whole ceremony was carried out in Spanish and then interpreted into English stage by stage. Nonetheless, it was very interesting and one hopes that the groom had sufficient knowledge of the local language in order to understand what he was committing himself to!

The evening meal was held in a lovely restaurant where we all gathered on the rooftop eating canapés and drinking champagne. Once we had had our fill, we were ushered into the restaurant proper to enjoy a three-course meal! It was a great day and enjoyed by all.

On the Monday we went to explore the countryside and took a trip to a place called Alhama de Granada. This town was apparently an old Moor fortress and many of the ruins are still visible.

Our journey home was planned to go north and to visit some villages in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, onward to Granada and then East to a town called Purulenna where the original inhabitants were troglodytes. Well that’s an exaggeration, they were in olden days but now many of them have found the joys of proper housing, electric lighting, heating, plumbing etc.. Nevertheless, there are still quite a number of houses where they are built into the rock face and inhabited, some enterprising families have rendered the exteriors to look like modern houses whilst the interior is in the rock!

One true sign of autumn is that the oranges in the trees have stated to turn yellow/orange. Throughout the summer the small green oranges have been hiding in the foliage of the trees and now show themselves. We have done some routine tasks in the garden in preparation for the inevitable rainfall later this month. Little “EKE” has been busy, carting sackfulls of garden rubbish, to the tip.

As Penny and I are off to the UK on Sunday 22^nd I will cut this issue short for now. Hopefully, I will have something interesting in the next Ramblings.

Ramblings in Retirement

September 2006

I am pleased to say that the month started well with Penny returning from the UK with a clean bill of health. The specialist in Leeds explained what has been done to her and that they were happy with the result, furthermore, she need not return again unless she experiences chest pains. Although she will have to take medication for the rest of her life this is but a small price to pay.

As part of the celebrations on her return, we invited our friends round to share a meal with us a gesture of thanks for looking after me whilst Penny was away. We had a pleasant night, good food, good drink and good friends.

The weather has been very good throughout the month with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees at times. Little work has been done in the garden apart from hedge trimming which is a bit of a pain as it is so deep and tall. I intend to cut it down to half size or even get it out altogether as my neighbour has planted white Oleander on his side, which is much better than my horrible hedge.

I have decided at long last to sell my golf share, over the past four years I should have been improving yet it seems that I am not, indeed, I am probably worse! I seem to lack the consistency necessary and in a round I can play some magnificent shots only to follow them with a poor shot. I advertised the share at the club and within a week found a buyer who paid me full price (despite him wishing to haggle). From now on I will need to pay as I go but given that golf is only one of my interests it will not break the bank.

The computer club and various projects have kept me busy, it seems like “topsy” and demands on my time and expertise seem to come thick and fast. Nevertheless I enjoy producing videos and the like and I am improving with each project. As leader of the Video Editing Group of the computer club I am always searching for new material to keep the members happy and in September we had two sessions where presentations were made.

Penny and I decided to take a short break and mid-month set off for Cuenca. This is a town 200km north of Valencia and about 80km east of Madrid. We stayed at the Cuenca Parador (these are state run hotels of a high standard and we enjoy those which have some history). The Parador at Cuenca was previously a monastery in bygone years and many of the original features remain whilst the accommodation is relatively modern. Whilst partaking of an aperitif, we met another English couple and discovered that they had come from Denia, what a coincidence!

Cuenca is famous for its “Hanging Houses” (casas colgados), which have been built on the face of the gorge. There is an adjoining bridge so that one can access from the Parador to the old town but as luck would have it, it was closed for repair when we were there! I have no accurate information but I believe we were some 3000feet above sea level and it was interesting to see the change in the plant life and agriculture when compared to our part of Spain. We did all the normal tourist things, walked into the old town, took the tourist train and went into the cathedral (we seem to do this quite often and despite this I am still confused as to what all the little chapels mean. Frankly, once you have seen one cathedral….).

Close to the town there is an area called “The Enchanted Village” and we were intrigued enough to visit. In fact the “village” is an area where in some prehistoric times, a glacier moved down towards the sea and gouged out the gorge leaving behind interesting rock formations.

The tour round this area was one of the most tranquil periods I have experienced (similar to the visit to Fontilles leper colony which was equally peaceful). We rounded off our tour with a drive around the countryside visiting the “Venatanas de Diablo” (Devils windows) which was a vantage point overlooking the gorge and the river Jucar.

On my last visit to my Osteopath, he advised me that I had a serious dislocation of the first vertebrae in my neck (is this why my golf was so bad)? I had arranged to see a specialist in Valencia on our return from Cuenca so we overnighted and the following morning, visited the Oceanographic. The Oceanographic is part of a massive complex also housing the Science Museum and L'Hemisfèric (planaterium and Imax), all quite impressive architecturally and academically. Anyway, later in the day the specialist sorted my neck and, I can honestly say, I feel much better for the treatment. (I wonder if I can get my golf share back)?