April 2011 - Back to the Nest

After our visit last month we were determined to come back to the Finca to see the eagles when the chick(s) had hatched.

Our friends Pete and Linda were visiting their apartment and Kathie's brother Paul was in Spain for a short while so we organized another lunch trip. Our friend Yvonne had said she would like to go again so we collected her on the way.

We had great fun finding the place as it is buried deep in the mountains and I could not remember the turning to take from the "main" road up to the finca. We found it eventually after a couple of diversions.

View from the bedroom window

Jane excelled again with a lovely lunch starting with her homemade tomato and basil soup, followed by chicken cooked in lime and mountain herbs with baby roast potatoes, and to finish we had a very light lemon pudding with cream and ice cream. It was all topped off with delicious coffee and a homemade chocolate. The wine was plentiful and only us designated drivers had to hold back.

The eagles were busier on this visit as they had young to feed, We saw more of them but only caught a glimpse of the kids as they were hunkered down in their nest.

A photograph taken by a previous visitor

The proud parents

Feeding time

Left ro right Joe, Paul, Kathie, Gordon, Yvonne, Linda, Pete

I think everybody enjoyed the visit and thanks once again goes to Jane and Colin for their hospitality and delicious food.

March 2011 – Eagle watching

One of the members of our Classical Music Appreciation Group, Maureen, suggested recently that it would be nice if we were all to visit a Finca she knows in the mountains above Crevillente from where it is possible to view nesting eagles. Maureen said it is best to view them in April when the eggs are hatched but as she will be back in England by then it would be OK to go now.

Maureen wanted to show us the way as it is quite difficult to find the finca and one could easily get lost.

Once again the day dawned bright and clear and sharing three cars we drove off into the mountains. Our hostess was preparing lunch for 1:00pm and we arrived by 12:15pm so we were able to take a good look at the nest whilst waiting.

(Click on any picture to view it full size)

I was lucky enough to see an eagle leave its nest and announced the fact to the Group after which we saw the glorious bird soaring around the cliffs.

The birds are Bonelli’s Eagles with a wing span of over 1.5 metres. They can be found in southern Europe and North Africa.

Library picture
(I'm not that lucky!!)

The following photographs record the rest of our visit quite well.







After our delicious lunch (compliments to the chef, Jane) we again saw an eagle soaring above its nest so I quickly prepared the camera and again was lucky as I was able to capture a picture as it landed on the nest. We were about 1km from the cliffs so the close-up pictures are suitably pixelated.


Jane and Colin welcome visitors to their finca and their details may be viewed here www.fincabonelliseagle.es.

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February 2011 – Hondón de las Nieves

Our Travel Coordinator at the U3A seems to be charmed in picking which days on which to have a day out. Here we are at the beginning of February and the day is sunny and warm enough that, by lunchtime, we can move about without jackets. We cast our minds back to February in the UK and decide once more that the Costa Blanca is a nice place to be in winter.

Our destination today is Hondón de las Nieves in the Sierra Crevillente. We took the mountain road to get there and this was quite eventful as halfway up our coach met an articulated vehicle travelling down the hill and we had some quite tight manoeuvres to accomplish in order to pass each other.

Arriving in the Hondon valley’s vineyard area we were met with the whole line of the valley shrouded in smoke. The farmers were burning vine clippings and with the day being so sunny and absolutely still, a pall of smoke several kilometres long hung over the area. It was a lovely sight with the sun shining through it.

Smoke on the landscape
(Click on any picture to view full size)

We are in Hondon to visit another Bodega, this time a fairly young one which came to life as recently as 1885. The premises in the small town are quite new but claim the heritage of the Bodega proudly. It is run by descendants of the founder. On our visit we met his granddaughter and great-granddaughter, the latter playing the part of the courier who showed us round the premises.

The beautiful new bodega

It was all clean floors and stainless steel tanks inside. We were shown all around the bodega including the storage cellar. In here it was explained that all the barrels are made from French or American oak and are used only once (the wine being matured for at least one year) before being sold on for other uses. Some to whisky distilleries. We finished with a short film, very well made and presented, which featured our courier in several scenes.

Our formal visit finished with a tasting and sampling session which we were able to take outside in the sunshine.

Open air tasting in February

We were able then to buy from the shop/museum where wine was sold either already bottled or by the litre from very large barrels. We purchased an expensive wine to save for a Birthday Treat.

Stained glass windows in the museum

As is usual with U3A trips we then visited a local restaurant for lunch before returning to the coach for a ride up and down the valley to see the lovely almond blossoms.

The Godfather overlooks us in the restaurant

The almond blossoms

After the ordeal on the mountain road on the way out our driver voted for a safer route home and we used the main roads followed by the motorway.

A grand day out.

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January 2011 – Caravaca and Calasparra

The Citadel at Caravaca de la Cruz

In the early part of January our good friends Linda and Peter were in Spain for a holiday and we thought it might be nice to go out together for a trip into the hinterland and visit a couple of places which they hadn’t seen before.

Caravaca and Calasparra are situated in the mountainous region of north west Murcia.

We chose Caravaca de la Cruz as our first stop.

This town was declared in 1998 as one of the Holy Cities of the world by Pope John Paul II, making it the fifth holy city of the Roman Catholic world along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Campostela, and Santo Toribio de Liébana. The latter is not actually a city but a monastery in Northern Spain where the largest piece of the true cross is kept.

The High Altar in the Citadel Church

The legend of Caravaca goes back to the times when the city was occupied by the Moors in 1232.

The Moorish chief ordered the local priest to perform Mass so that he could see for himself what this entailed, but the Priest refused. All the crosses within the Kingdom had been destroyed by the invading Arabs and without a cross, true mass could not be performed. Angry, Abu-Ceyt ordered him to proceed, but the Priest refused again; without a cross he was powerless to fulfil his office. No sooner had he spoken these words than the chamber was flooded with a brilliant light and two angels appeared, bearing a 2-armed cross, the Vera Cruz of Caravaca, containing the lignum crucis, wood from the true cross of Jesus Christ.

The main entrance to the Citadel Church

Other stories exist about how this famous cross came to Caravaca, but it was eventually stolen in 1934 resulting in the murder of the parish priest. The cross was replaced with a new one of identical design by Pope Pius XII in 1942. This is kept in a special vault in the magnificent church within the Citadel and is brought out during mass on special occasions. There are certain hours of each day when the vault is opened for people to be able to view the cross.

Today's Cross

Another famous story about the town again concerns Christians and Moors. Once per year there is the festival of Los Caballos del Vino.

On this day the Wine Horses recreate the legend in which the Knights Templar braved the Moorish armies besieging the castle to bring wine up the hill to the thirsty inhabitants, barricaded within.

The legend dates back to the days of the Knights Templar, who answered the cries of the townspeople, besieged by Moorish armies. The invaders had contaminated the water supply and those inside the protection of the castle walls were dying of thirst. Desperately seeking water, they were only able to locate wine, which was tied to the backs of the horses and the brave Knights ran up the hill before the Moorish armies realised what was happening, bringing the precious liquid inside. The Vera Cruz was bathed in the wine, blessing it before consumption, and miraculously the sick and wounded were healed, the weak restored and the battle could continue against the moors.

During the morning of the festival, the horses parade, showing off their exquisitely worked mantels, before travelling up to the sanctuary to compete in the Race of the Wine Horses . 60 horses are dressed in spectacular embroidered mantels, the fruit of a years work by dedicated pena members, and run up the hill with their four penas to the sanctuary one by one, in a race against the clock. It can be incredibly dangerous on wet days, as the hooves skid and horses crash into the watching crowds, thousands of people packing the run up to the castle as the crowds part, allowing passage to the thundering hooves of the animals and their runners, magnificent mantels glinting in the sunlight and the crowds screaming their support. Prizes are awarded for both the fastest horses and those with the most exceptional embroidery, and it really is an incredible honour to win either competition.

The highly decorated horses during the race

Bronze monument ably assisted by Peter

There is a bronze statue just outside the Citadel to commemorate the event.


Nowadays the struggle between the Moors and Christians is celebrated in festivals throughout the area and in monuments erected in town squares.

The route up to the Citadel takes you through the very narrow medieval streets of Caravaca and one has to know the roads, have a guide, or just get lucky. We made two unsuccessful attempts in the old town but ended up back where we started both times. We eventually parked at the bottom and made the very steep climb on foot.

We were glad we did as we got to see the interesting dwellings nestling in the sides of the hill and visited both the town square and plenty of shops along the way. This we would have missed if we had driven up to the Citadel.

Something we met on the way

The day was beautiful with a clear blue sky and temperatures in the high teens. This enabled us to have morning coffee in the square outside the church in the Citadel and to take some lovely photographs during our visit.

Calasparra

A half-hour’s drive from Caravaca is the town of Calasparra on the River Segura.

This is a tiny town with a population of on 10,000 or so but we had come to see the shrine to La Virgen de Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope).

This is a beautiful little place set in a gorge in the mountains through which the River Segura runs.

The entrance to the chapel

It has been a shrine since the 17th century and is now visited by thousands of people each year. Some come to pray for their wishes of successful births, cures for illnesses etc. and some to give thanks for hopes and wishes already granted. The centre has a Chapel, a Vestry or Dressing Room, a Gift Shop, a Religious Centre, and a Restaurant. The chapel is built into a natural cave in the rocks and the whole site is peaceful and calm with laid-out walks along the river bank and areas for quiet contemplation.

A solitary pilgrim

In the “Dressing Room” behind the chapel altar, one can view at close quarters the beautiful Madonna which is used in all the ceremonies and processions at the shrine. In here there are rooms containing clothes which have been donated in thanks, and small pictures, letters, models of babies, and thanksgiving cards left by pilgrims in hope or thanks. There are even photographs of baby scans indicating, I think, an answered prayer for a baby.



The clothes which are left by grateful people are used to make new clothes for the statue of The Madonna or are sent to third world countries for re-use or to make mosquito nets.

After our visit we walked back along the river bank, the Segura here was in full spate, having enjoyed a lovely hour of peace and quiet.

Kathie on a previous visit on the riverside walk

Linda enjoying a sunny January day

Kathie and Joe on the walk back to the car

The weather remained kind to us for the rest of the day and we enjoyed afternoon tea in the open air and a pleasant drive back home.

December 2010 – The Kindle

Some time ago Amazon started advertising their Kindle E-Book Reader and, whilst I didn’t want one at the time, I was impressed with its promise.

Books in English are obtainable in Spain but are usually found at book stalls in charity shops etc. as new books are quite expensive. With our venture into The Reading Group of our U3A (see previous post) we decided that it may be advantageous to have a more easily accessible library of books from which to choose.

In the Reading Group, the Leader issues a mutually agreed list of books which are to be read and discussed over the following twelve months. The members can then obtain the books by any means possible. In the current list I was able to get three in audio format, three in Kindle format, and had to buy the other six. I was able to get these all second hand from Amazon and had them delivered to an English address in time for our visit last October.

I expect to be able to get more and more books in Kindle format over the coming months as this format becomes ever more popular. Amazon have announced that e-book sales are now out stripping paper book sales and most books are now published simultaneously in both formats.

Over the weeks since I bought my Kindle I have downloaded from various sites on the Internet several thousand e-books in various formats. All of these are readily convertible into Kindle format and have supplied me with a personal library which I will never be able to get through in my lifetime, but the books are there and available to anybody who wants them but does not have the knowledge to be able to download them for themselves. In the library are books by modern authors such as Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Dean Koontz, Stephen King etc. and older books which have become classics by long-dead authors like Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Thomas Hardy, The Brontes etc.

I find The Kindle easy to use. It can be kept inside its leather case and then weighs as much as a very small paper back, or can be removed if you wish it to be even lighter. The battery lasts for many hours and the device switches itself off if it detects no use for an extended period. So if you fall asleep whilst reading it in bed you can wake up with it switched off and when you switch it back on again it has remembered your place. If you leave the book you are reading and start another, you can come back to the original and the Kindle will open the book at the same page you were reading when you left it.

Unlike a notebook or tablet PC, the screen is not backlit so, as with a normal book, it requires illumination to be able to read it.

If your eyes grow tired, or are not too good in the first place, you can increase the size of the font to a degree which allows you to read with ease.

In the sun, where a computer does not have the contrast to allow you to see the screen, it reads like a normal book.

I don’t wish to be a free advertisement for Amazon, and am writing this post purely as a recommendation to those who are thinking about buying a Kindle and need some encouragement. I would say however, don’t buy the more expensive version with built-in GSM technology unless you intend to travel a lot in areas where wi-fi is unavailable, and for such a long time that you will have read all the books on the device. As it will hold over three thousand books at once this is also unlikely.

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