Grandad does Granada

Saturday 27th December 2014

 

Jill, Martin, Gramanda and Grandad (Hi Fred and Stan – we do miss you!) were all looking forward to a grand day out in the provincial capital city of Granada.

We were going to pay a quick visit to The Alhambra, a Moorish Citadel and Palace that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Granada is 42 miles north of Salobrena.

Martin: Ignition on? – Yep………Check mirror? – Yep……….Tongue zipped in?…….Yep//……..// – Jill:  Ready to issue route/speed/lane/braking instructions?…….You bet!

 

Part of the outer wall that surrounds The Alhambra Palace

We weren’t keen to do the tourist bit and the layout and terrain around The Alhambra make it difficult to get a single picture showing the palace, none of us were over-fussed about yet another same old, same old, so we drove down into the city centre of Granada.

Here we found an oddly shaped statue of a man (clearly!) whose main usefulness had once been to serve the nearby cafe visitors as a hat-peg. Then some wit attacked him with a hacksaw – his role is now that of being a former hat-peg

Mickey Mouse was present, entertaining passing children

Did I mention that it was cold in Granada city? Folk in winter attire – It was just 5°c – Why are we here?

A pretty girl showed up to greet Mickey and his eyes almost popped out of his head – don’t trust her Mick, my man, she may have a hacksaw

Close by, a fully clothed statue wasn’t taking any risks

That is no statue, it’s a young chap dressed like a statue and, if I’m not mistaken, a female statue at that. City life, huh?

A boulevard in Granada that isn’t called a boulevard – in Granada

“Yes Roy, the new hacksaw is being couriered over” – hope he didn’t book with City Link

Once we ‘hit’ the ‘motorway’ about one mile out of Granada the temperature jumped from 5°c to 16°c very quickly – that was odd but we didn’t complain – we stopped on the return journey to see a large dam, presumably a Franco one

Martin & Jill posed for a picture at the dam

As did a number of gulls

Martin was planning his next dare-devil YouTube video

A Butlins representative ensured that safety considerations were complied with

I’m not going to say where Martin was or what he was doing when I took this picture

And then, to everyone’s relief (but mostly Martin’s), we returned to the hire car for the trip ‘home’ to Salobrena

The obligatory evening sunset picture taken from the balcony at the villa

 

Sunday 28th December 2014

 

Up at 6:00am as is often the case and there has been a big change in the weather here.

We’ve been reading about the snow blanketing the UK and expressing our concerns about the effect on those we know, especially our children, and especially William, he is a new driver with zilch experience of driving in such conditions. Forget the daily bread Will, stay safe.

To our right, the wind is howling down over the mountain in a low-pitched hum that reaches a crescendo at times as it comes over the top of the mountain and to our left, as the wind travels down the mountain, there is a constant reminder that this is a very powerful wind as it forces the mountain-side trees to lean towards the sea.

The weather forecast for the area has changed with the 10 day forecast showing a maximum of only 12°c on a couple of days before returning to 18°c on the 6th January 2015.

Rain is forecast at a 70% chance for one day only – tomorrow.

We have come to learn that the forecast, whilst being a general guide, is rarely accurate – we usually experience temperatures up to +3°c higher than the forecast.

We had a lazy day, expecting worsening weather (which didn’t materialise), so it was dog walking and hanging out at the villa plus another superb meal produced by Jill and Martin – they won’t let us cook (I can’t – which is probably why!).

I don’t have any pictures from this day so here is a smiley face

 

 

Monday 29th December 2014

 

Trip to Almunecar today……

Lunch on the seafront (expensive!!)

View to the west across the beach

….and to the east

Martin & Jill exercise their right to try and lose a few pounds of Christmas excess – some people need to and some people don’t

Another fatso trying to out-smile the smiley face picture that I put out on here for yesterday – loser!

Aaaah, now here’s a chap who is content to just sit on the exercise equipment, that’s proper – they should include a backrest though…..and an ashtray…..no TV there either …… don’t visit Almunecar folks, it isn’t well equipped!

“Oh and I need a cushion”

There is a castle-y thingy above this restaurant with a huge cross at the top (so big that you can’t actually see it in this picture). For those who have time in their lives to read-up on such things please let me know what it’s all about, on second thoughts, don’t bother – meanwhile I will try to find something within me that will spark an interest in such things – but don’t hold your breath!

OK, for anyone that did actually hold their breath, I immediately felt guilty – here is a picture of a statue thing

ps – he is now dead

Much better is this sculpture of no-one in particluar

Now this is real – Amanda informs me that it is a ‘Bird of Paradise’ – that saves me putting out the description that I would have appended here

Almunecar is quite a busy tourist town that no doubt has some redeeming features like an old town, a castle or three and maybe a botanical garden or two.

I wasn’t too keen on the place

Tuesday 30th December 2014

 

Blogging, lounging and sunbathing day – Jill & Martin went on a hike up into the hills and returned 4.5 hours later.

View from the Villa lounge – some days you just want to hang around & soak it all in

Salobrena beach below the villa

view to the west

View down to Salobrena from the balcony

 

Wednesday 31st December 2014

 

There is no doubt about it, we have been spoilt with our time in this villa, power shower, pc desk to work at, internet quality better than anything since we were in the UK, views that were very special to us 10 years ago and they haven’t changed, space to lounge, to be apart, to be together.

We have been spoilt.

Just one thing though……

The villa doesn’t have wheels!

We have determined that it would be a positive to have a place to dip in and out of during travels and we know that there are many different ways to achieve this.

We also know that our semi-retired status is due to the fact that, although we have savings, our income falls short of our costs.

We have encountered disappointments when not being able to ‘day-trip’ out from Twernt.

Plus, there are many other considerations like family, friends and health.

Given all of that, we would not change anything from the last 7 months living full-time in Twernt, we’ve had the most prolonged period of adventure and discovery than at any other time in over 33 years together – and we’ve loved it.

Memories galore and more to come!

On this final day of 2014, we went shopping, we walked the dogs on the beach, we drove around the hillside and then settled back to yet another of Jill and Martins gastronomical achievements – chicken cooked by way of 6 or 7 processes!

Todays pictures:

Jill & Martin reported seeing a villa that was falling down – I needed a picture of it and here its is – apparently it was a build fault and will be demolished and re-built

 

It was literally coming apart – almost all villa’s here have significant drops to the front as they are built down the hillside – something moved somewhere

One of the more condensed areas of build on the hillside – almost all villa’s have stunning views though

A stunning view of Tilley’s right ear

Wednesday 31st December 2014 -sailing in the Med

Amanda and I (plus Shakey & Tilley) wish everyone everything you’re looking for in 2015 as we all sail away into the future – many, many thanks for reading my drivel and we’ll be Twernting back here very soon

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!