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| Valle Dabdalajis - a mecca for hang gliders etc |
Well settled in Alora at Casa Bliss having been here 2 months now. Doesn't time fly when you're busy!
We're probably working too hard and not getting out enough, however we're happily occupied and its a nice place to stop and assess directions.
Last weekend was a holiday weekend with Mon & Tues being public hols . Tuesday being the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, and these holidays are taken seriously, not just viewed as we (I) do, as a day off, though we ourselves carried on working. However it is serious stuff with different activities to mark the feast days, quite religious, needless to say apart from restaurants all else shuts as we learnt on the Sunday having dropped Rosy at the Airport (she has returned to London to be with her family for Christmas). We moved on to the large format hardware (similar to Mega Mitre10), which was locked up on
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| Lunch time |
Saturday evening for the next 3 days, Go figure!!! I would've thought it would be a huge trading opportunity.
When we got back to the store on the Thursday after the Dentist it was trading well, I must say that building materials, hardware, tools etc through out our travels seem to be very reasonably priced not to mention the types of gear available, IE prehung doors and premade windows complete with roll down shutters (the norm) all sizes and colours straight from the showroom floor. The bathroom display areas also stunning with huge arrays of lovely vanities and showers etc. Amazing from my point of view. I enjoy looking through these stores and thinking what I could do were these products available in NZ!!
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| Antiquera with the sleeping giant in the background |
We are catching the local trains to get to the Dentist, it is easily the best option for time and money, good to see an effective service running well, I also get to look around which is good as it does take slightly more concentration to drive here ,what with every one (except me on occasion) on the wrong side of the road, Have recently heard from our friend Mark who has just completed a bike trip in India and seems we should be grateful that the traffic here at least is consistent.
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| Entrance into the Dolmen |
Last weekend we also took advantage of our staff car (Jeep Cherokee) and went to Antiquera, a town about 40 mins from here which has the 3 Neolithic Dolmens in the immediate vicinity. These are ancient burial mounds using megalithic rocks to form a simple corridor structure, then buried, the oldest and biggest being 5000 years old. All at the precise angles to catch the winter solstice rising over a distant mountain peak. This is all amazing stuff and when you see how they were built (at the interpretive visitor centre), the biggest rock at over 180 tons, you are left in awe as to how they organised the work and why?? This raises so many imponderable questions that will never be answered as there is no record apart from the structures.
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The size of these slabs - the biggest over 180T
Bigger rocks than Stonehenge |
These people the "Neos" were the first of settled civilisation IE as opposed to nomadic people and to think, they just got settled then they built these Dolmens is a curiosity to say the least.
Spain also is a curiosity (for us anyway), the country indeed Europe is old and very close to the start of civilisation, yet in many instances you feel that modernity has bypassed large parts of the country. The cities are fairly normal but with failings such as like.... wheel chair friendly is not a goer here. You can hardly walk round some footpaths let alone consider a disabled walker or wheelchair.
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On top of the Dolmen with the
entrance facing the mythical giant |
The towns still have very old, very humble dwellings and in the country side very, very humble dwellings, one suspects with little plumbing or other mod cons. This is not to say there aren't very nice homes also scattered amongst the country side as well. Spain has a very high proportion of second home owners and we suspect its rural dwellers getting work and apartments in the cities and retaining land and dwellings in the country.
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Lovely autumn tints reminding us of
Central Otago |
At the weekend the hills come alive with olive harvesting on otherwise vacant holdings, we watch as the trees are vigorously shaken to dislodge the fruit often with a mechanical branch shaker similar in appearance to a scrub cutter. The harvest is obviously worthwhile still as the vacant houses fill up with family over the weekend and spend the time shaking the trees then trailering away their hard earned spoils.
The country has greened as mentioned in previous blogs and looks like spring to our eyes, the dazzling array of flowers the wild bougainvillea is stunning. As the shortest day approaches we are finally seeing autumn tints in the trees, reminding us in some ways of central Otago with the rocky arid scapes dotted with old stone buildings.
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| Goats foraging amongst the olives |
Next door to us is a goat farm....This is a real goat farm in the sense a goat herder possibly in his late sixties tends them all day every day.They all have bells round their necks and you can always locate them simply by listening carefully, they come back to the pens late in the afternoon creating a cacophony of bells and the herder yelling and heckling them. He really yells at them often for extended periods for who knows what misdemeanours They walk the district amongst the olives and road verges foraging for feed. About 60 goats with many kids for the purpose of milking. A milk tanker calls daily to collect the milk. When the other couple were here Dawn went to him and purchased a litre of fresh milk which tasted much as cows milk and a round of fresh goats feta. This was not as we have at home, think because the cheese at home is normally cured in brine, however it was nice texture but bland. I ended up lightly frying it and having it cold with salad or as a filler in a sandwich. The restaurant down the road has a speciality dish Roast Suckling Kid which Sheryl is keen to try before we move on..... goat is often on the menus here.
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| Another project completed |
As in Italy there is little sign of livestock, apart from the local goats, on the train we saw a small herd of sheep on a small dirt run being fed waste citrus and undoubtedly they wander with a herder during the day amongst the olives and citrus while the grass is flush. This area is known as a pork raising area but yet to spot a pig so assume they're all pen raised. Don't know....Certainly in the shops there is no shortage of cured pork in any form you desire. The large legs are always on display with their special stands and carving gear to slice wafer thin cuts to order, and as for salamis and cured meats, truly vast array of gnarly grotesque but somewhat alluring sausage.
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| From this |
The Kitchen we renovated is largely finished bar the final dust out and must say am reasonably happy with the outcome, is great what can be achieved with a hacksaw blade, hammer, Swiss Army Knife and some kiwi cunning. In truth its not a sophisticated kitchen, being a rustic cottage food prep area but in keeping with the tenure of the place. Again fun to be able to do at our own pace ,like wise the paving areas now largely done an dusted.
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To this!
Kitchen in Rose Cottage |
Thinking in the new year once we have finished sprucing our cottage up we'll look for some thing else possibly in Portugal.
We fly to Copenhagen Thursday, to have 4 days with a lovely Danish couple that used to come out to Nelson for our summers, Max & Grethe. The cold temperatures will be a bit of a shock for us. Then onto Switzerland (Sursee) to Amanda & Rico's for Christmas with their two children Luna & Caio. Maybe a white one!
