Full moon in Xabía

Thursday 27th May: our last day in Spain! We had rain.... but the sky presented itself as a beautiful monochrome composition of moon-over-water as we sat on the front at Xabía (Javea) after a late supper. 
No electronic communication has been possible for a few days, but the sun, sand, sea and blue sky made up for it.
Prades next... :-)

Domestic Crafts

1. First fix the cistern so that it doesn't leak anymore, with a bit of string. Peace at last!
2. Find a lovely piece of blue and white check linen in the back of the cupboard and make a huge awning for the terrace, that can get up to 30 degrees C by noon.
3. Sit underneath the awning and remake the curtain to the door, to keep the sun out!
4. Continue by making a skirt by hand - something I've not done since First Form Sewing Class when the red stars on the fabric were dotted by bloodstains from needles going into fingers... at least I am more skilled now... when was the last time I had the time to spend an hour and a half sewing?
5. Look out at the view - the Sierra Nevada - breathe in the air... 
(look at the thermometer!
6. Find embroidery silks and design a little picture of the Patios of Cordova...
Is this retirement?   (Missed going to the beach though.... )

Sierra Nevada, Spain: the white stuff

Snow, blue sky, wispy white clouds, a car gauge indicating 36 degrees C! and a Dutch masseur who said I could get rid of my bad cold by gargling with a mix of spanish brandy and anis... :-)
White villages, from bottom to top... Pampaneira, Bubión, Capileira. Memories of a first wonderful Easter break in 2003, when Michael and I came up here together, and battled the cold, the rain that entered the house and flooded the bathroom, the frozen gaz bottles, (and no compensation from the travel company!) but also the first time I went to Granada and was openmouthed at the Alhambra... 


(Later...) the anis worked, I think... it seemed a pity to mix the alcohols...

A tale of two harvests

Between Cordova and Malaga we drove through kilometres of stunning landscape, meadows of red poppies and yellow alyssum, daisies, purple vetches, and a land covered in olive groves... well, groves is hardly the word - they spread over whole hillsides, clumps in straight lines, sometimes there were three or four trees in a clump. I read an article in one of those newspapers written by ex-pats in France who complained about the fact that windfarms in the south ignore the biggest asset the land has - sun... well, Spain has a lot of sun! And we saw a couple of the latest 'diversificacióne' for farmers... renting out south-facing fields to the electricity producers, to harvest another golden crop... solar energy. I'm not sure what the investment is energetically,but I would be surprised if the embodied energy of the equipment to capture this renewable source is more than the manufacture, transport and erection of the concrete towers and their sails on the hilltops. Sun Groves? 

Cordova - 3: En Buena Vecindad

The patio that I really loved was Chappara 3, where the six households have recreated the 'común' in a modern fashion. In 1986 a group of friends set out to create an 'experiment' in community living - a Casa de Vecinos. The friends work to share their patio-based life with each other. As well as creating a lovely peaceful garden, they eat together and celebrate holidays. Unlike the original patio-living (where up to sixty people might have shared the space) they have the luxury of their own kitchens and bathrooms and choose to be together. Co-Housing in Cordova!

Cordova - 2

Festival de los Patios Flores: the housing in the whole of the Cordovese old town is built around the idea of communal living... as labourers flocked with their families to the city, small 'tenements' with a courtyard in the centre housing the well, the cooking, laundering and other facilities. Gradually the patios (which means 'garden' in Spanish) transformed into little havens too... cerulean blue pots of geraniums, petunia, carnations, lobelia, begonia, ferns and trees in pots, sometimes a small fountain, and in 1933 the Festival began its competition. Famous now, like the Artists' Open Houses idea, so that thousands of visitors queue in the warrens of narrow streets to see the winners and the others... 

Cordova - 1

The arches on the left, of course, from Mezquita-Catedral, not photoshopped or anything, just taken from a fortuitous angle... turn one way and be faced with a long perspective of time and light, so much so that you think there must be a trick in a mirror. Then turn to another direction and catch sight of the double arches, redoubling themselves into another distance. Quiet and empty yet full of people also bemused, fascinated, contemplative and no doubt footsore...

The Catedral, built in its centre, is not so easy to see as a separate place of worship... it is all to the same end. The workmen who made it used much arab detailing in its christian decoration, and a great deal of baroque gold in which the striped buttresses are reflected. 

This other arch is in our patio apartment in Barrionuevo, bougainvillea spilling over the roof, tall white lilies framing the door, another haven... Embrujo de Alhazar (the enchantment of orange blossom)

Madrid - 2

Opposite our room in the hotel Castillias II (Calle del Marques Viudo de Pontejos!, almost as long as its name) the wonderful Amparo Merceria: haberdashery wholesale, with buttons, feathers, tapes, rouleaux, communion veils, pincushions, lace and lacemaking kits, zips, gold trim, lace stockings, sold to the general public as well ... in a whole street of fabric-sellers and other mercerias, and Borca SA, selling tablecloths, linen bread bags, window screens, and mantons, one of those very famous flamenco-flavoured embroidered shawls reduced.. to 1500€ !

Madrid - 1

I never knew there were so many styles of espadrilles!
I now have a Basque pair (the red ones) for the Sept Sauts, and Michael bought brown Valencian ones, for wearing to give authenticity to his talk about Miguel Herndandez in a few days' time..


... more to come from this Town of Mercerias...

Soria

Another lovely town, although it rained and rained... the church of Saint Domingo has the 24 Musicians of the Apocalypse playing on its main door's timpanum... though with 23 instruments as two people are playing this hurdy gurdy!

Gernika

Two very different images from the one usually associated with 'Guernica'... a poster for the Armagh Ramblers who had a concert in Gernika with financial support from the Basque regional government, and the Henry Moore sculpture Large Figure in a Shelter. Gernika is a lovely little place, a lively market with lots of small vegetable seedlings being sold in blocks at this time of year, cakes of ground almonds & oranges, and a dedicated man running the Euskadi Souvenirs shop... we bought a Kepa Xunkera CD, dance postcards and a T shirt!

Biarritz and The Bandstand series: no 2, Saturday 8 May

 Biarritz Plage on a windy day in May   

              The Bandstand in Saint Sebastian, attributed to M. Eiffel

Friday - a sixth form college Greek & Roman Myths competition

in Jublains... several really kooky and wonderful scenes from plays and myths acted by college students from surrounding areas performed in the Roman Amphitheatre, and enlivened our lunch... esp the three princesses in togas doing the Macarena!

Thursday May 6 - Ferté-Macé and Domfront

At Ferté-Macé is a wonderful brick and sgraffitti-ed church, with this saint holding his own head!
England was ruled from this area of France by Richard the Lion Heart for a number of years... and at Domfront there was a last ditch attempt to reconcile Thomas Becket with the Pope (didn't work...). 
We wonder how the UK election is faring? 
We have blue and cloudless skies... hope you do too :->

Wednesday 5 May - Gacé

We took a detour to Gacé found that the Hotel where I'd spent an uncomfortable night about 10 years ago, was still there, looking very much more spruced up. 
Also discovered that Mlle du Plessis, the muse for La Dame aux Camellias, was born here... TB got her at the tender age of 23... more to come

Clouds are looking good!

Jandy Warhol?

This was fun... a programme on Modern Masters (BBC) last night said you could "do a Warhol" using Photoshop, so I had a go....