Spain - Spring 2020

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Our trips to Spain are getting shorter!! This trip was only Sunday 5^th Jan – Friday 31^stJan and we had planned to re-paint the whole house as the weather isn’t usually that warm and there is more cloud in January!!

We also hoped to catch the Three Kings Fiesta on the 6^th Day but arrived late on the Sunday evening to catch the last of the Processions and to learn that the fiesta is 4^th and 5^th with the 6^th Being a National Holiday! This caused us a few problems as there were no food shops open on the Monday, after we arrived!!

However, despite the weather being warm and sunny, with blue skies, we made a good start on the painting, painting in the mornings with well earnt lunches or siestas in the afternoon, as well as a visit to the lakes and down to Parque de Paloma and the Port at Benalmadena.

We did a few of Rambling Als walks and caught up with friends and dogs, as well as doing a reccy on the Alhaurin mountain for a walk we are leading for the Senderistas later this month.

We also went to Ken’s Thai cookery course, which was excellent! Most of it was very chilliefied but I could eat some of the Yuk Sun – pork, duck, peanuts with black pepper, sweet chilli sauce ginger, garlic and onions and green curry paste with some lovely deep-fried rice noodles! Delicious! Lots of tips and ideas and really did learn a lot – even if I never get round to cooking any of it!!! It was lovely learning how to cook it, then sitting down with friends, a good catch up, eating it. With plenty of drink if you wanted it and enjoying the sunshine!

Also saw Fiesta of San Anton at Mijas on the 15th and on the 17^th at Alhaurin! The fiesta at Mijas is slightly different because after blessing of the animals (including a cockerel!!) the young women take turns in throwing small stones at the statue of San Anton above the door of the church! The story goes that if they hit the Saint’s penis (the stone statue is fully clothed!!) then they will get married and ‘be with child’ within a year!!

The Alhaurin fiesta involves the blessing of the animals in San Anton square! After the normal mass, the Priest comes out and flicks water with a palm leaf at the animals that are presented to him to be blessed! I don’t think the cats were very impressed getting drenched – I don’t know about the dogs, terrapins and budgies!!! After this the band gathers and the whole little gathering, including a trono (throne) of St Anton carried by young gypsy (?) girls dressed in white (they are not very good at holding the trono steady!!) as well as flower girls and boys, parade around the district before heading back to the square for the obligatory drink and freshly cooked paella for several hundred people!!

We had three days of storms and rain forecast for three days which put a bit of a dampener on leading our walk!! However, we went ahead albeit with a walk in the valley and managed to do the walk with very little rain! However, that night the rains began in earnest and I had very little sleep due to continuous thunder and lightening which was still continuing all the next morning! Fortunately we had arranged to see friends the other side of Malaga and the forecast was good there, so we left Alhaurin with its continuous thunder, lightning, hail stones, rivers swirling down the roads, creating large cascades of water when it hit obstacles, mud being washed across the roads – Chris said it was like driving in rapids!!

We drove out of the bad weather at Malaga and had a lovely time in the sun, a trip around the renovated Salobrena castle, and planned to go up to Granada and the ski resort the next day! It was fabulous!! The sun shone, there was loads of snow and just so different – well for me it was as I had never been to a ski resort before!!! Up a long twisty road ever higher to Pradollano the ski village that was covered in snow! Caught the cable car up to the ski slopes (quite pricy at 19.50 euros, but if you are over 70 years then its only 5 euros! I guess they figure that you are too old to ski then!!!) Loads of people on the ski slopes and we sat, soaking up the sun and atmosphere and gazed at the second highest peak of the Sierra Nevadas, Veleta at 3398 metres. Came back down via Monachil with fantastic views, as the clouds rolled in and had an intense Bridge Lesson in the evening!! Bridge seems very complicated and I’m not sure that I would get the hang of it. Supposed to not speak as well!!

Saturday morning reminded us of the bad weather we had left behind, with rain, thunder and lightening again and we got home to find that the house had flooded a little again, so the flood board didn’t work!! Plan b) Sacos de Arenes!

Also went to Kens cookery course again, only this time it was Italian so I was looking forward to eating it all!! It was very good (and the weather was a lot warmer and sunnier than last time!) although I actually preferred watching the Thai cooking!!

Going back to UK for 6 days, coincidentally, on Brexit Day!!



March 10^th – 21^st 2020

Well it was certainly a different trip. We came back to Spain on the Tuesday, after our cruise to South America and a further subsequent 7 days in the UK. Corona virus was around - the airport was quieter and so it was with a certain amount of relief when we arrived!

We were leading a walk up at the lakes on the Wednesday, which we did and met up with quite a few friends- it was just after we got back that we learnt that our other walking club had cancelled the holiday and the long walks. Worse was to come – Rambling Al then cancelled all his walks and as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths went up, Spain was beginning to panic! We went out walking on the Friday and Saturday morning but then learnt that Spain was going on a lockdown for 14 days. Bought a stock of rice and spaghetti from Mercadona where most people had four shopping trolleys full of food and shelves were empty. That was basically the end of all our plans.

Stayed in then! Plenty of activity on social media to stop you going stir crazy. Spoke to a lot of friends over in Spain as well as keeping in touch with family at home! Chris walked around the house to get his exercise in. Painted the window frames, did lots of housework, reading on the porch in the sun, pretty boring really!!

Learnt that Easy Jet had cancelled all their flights from Malaga so managed to book an earlier Ryan Air flight on 23^rd March. My sister obviously isn’t visiting us now and my other sister is cancelling her holiday to Crete next month and the holiday in June to Ibiza is looking very unlikely. My Mum and Dad (85 years and 88 years) are in Cyprus on holiday but I think Saga are returning them home early.

The Ryan Air flight on the 23^rd was also cancelled, so we booked another flight - this time with Vueling and we are due to fly back to the UK on Saturday 21^st March.

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[Home and Away]

Happy birthday!!
It is Brexit Day.