West of the Town

Saturday 25 January 2014

Philippine Pictures

I have finally put some pictures on the web. Downloadable and printable, you will find them here:

philippines/index.album

159 images to amuse and excite you. It's ok, they appear quickly unless you chose "view full size" (recommended for downloads and printing).

3 cooks who cooked for 200 people

Most are in order until the final pages. Then they are not. Sorry. Too hard to sort for the moment! perhaps later?

They are 1/10th size so if you want the really big image, let me know and I'll send it by email.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Stuck in the Hotel Room

This morning there was a knock on my hotel room door. The maid is early, I thought and I called out that I was indisposed. Why does this always happen when you are in the bathroom?

But the knocking persisted and so I made myself decent and answered the door. It was the proprietor. He told me the problem in Spanish so I understood only bit by bit that the neighbour was stuck in his room.

There is a communicating door (picture) for which the proprietor had brought the wrong key. He tried the balcony. My neighbour wanted to climb over into my room but he was dissuaded. The right key was found and his room accessed.

I could hear the proprietor showing how to use the next door room's door. It worked fine. Having assured my neighbour he could leave whenever he wanted, the proprietor replaced my furniture and expressed his amazement at the problem. He showed me that even if I deadlock the door, it still opened from the inside with one pull of the handle. "For emergencies"- I understood that much.

He indicated his opinion of my neighbour using a finger to his head, then he shook my hand for being understanding and was gone. Peace reigns again in my hotel room.

Cordialement
Terry

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Sunday 19 January 2014

Santa Fe

Once a Spanish army encampment, and now a town laid out along the same lines, this town is on the spot where Columbus was given the charter to go of to what turned out to be America. Not that he ever knew that.

The king and queen of Spain were besieging the Alhambra at the time. There was a statue commemorating the event but that has been moved to Granada now. What remains is a replacement statue, a bust of Columbus, and this plaque on the church wall.

The original army camp was set in the form of a cross. There is a chapel at each point of the arms, and had they been open, they are apparently quite interesting inside. A large church is at the centre. We contented ourselves visiting the "Grace bar".

Since the bar is a favourite watering hole of my hosts, we, including me, were well welcomed. The town is agricultural, and the bar reflected this, but the owner also enjoyed bikes. So with the agricultural tools on the walls, there was also the occasional bike wheel. Not to mention the bike used as a sign outside, or the photo I was shown in the wall deprecating a race start. Every cyclist was female and none were advertising clothing of any sort. One way to keep cool.

So we had drinks. And of course some tapas. Sausage and chips was offered. And squid. And my hosts asked for some of the area's famous black sausage, tasty but very rich. I tried to make sure I had room for the paella that I knew would be later.

Out and along another arm of the cross, and another man was celebrated. This man invented the pudding famous for the region, whose recipe is still secret. Some was bought for desert, it tasted of moist Swiss roll in a pudding shape.

Normally, my host told me, these streets would be full of people, but the economic conditions mean that people are staying home and the bars are empty. Certainly we saw few people. In the bar, and the owner had denounced such attitudes. "It is dangerous to stay at home all winter", he told us. "People look at the 4 walls and they start to have imaginings. They need to put on a coat and come out to stay alive!" - and just possibly to keep the bar alive too.

We drove home and the rain only started in ernest once we were in the car. Once home the paella was heated to finish it. It was huge and quite delicious but with all the tapas and trimmings I was beginning to feel a little full. Thank heavens for the siesta tradition. Most helpful before my drive that afternoon.

So are the Spanish hospitable? Very much so! And you get a history lesson into the bargain.

Terry

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Photos
The plaque
The town centre
The bar

Saturday 18 January 2014

Skiing in Spain

So at last I have proved that it is possible to ski in Spain. And that it is cold enough. The weather was unusually poor but having not skied for 30 years I was ready whatever the weather.

The car registered -3•C as we pulled into the car park. The mountain was in cloud. And after the fist run down we both bought goggles to combat the poor visibility. The goggles had an amazing effect and my skiing improved dramatically.

There are 100km of piste in this area although not all was open. And some of the higher runs were a bit cold, but there was always plenty of snow and more fell all day.

By the afternoon I had re-learned to ski and was feeling great. Lots of fresh outside air perhaps, but also perhaps the packed lunch my host's mother had packed for us.

So we spent all day (9 to 5) on the slopes and came home happily exhausted. I wonder how my legs will feel tomorrow?

Cordialement
Terry

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Ps. The good looking bloke in the photos is me.

Friday 3 January 2014

Prayer Night

Prayer night is at one of the churches by the seaside. We arrive by tricycle after sundown.

The house is thatched, but not in the English village style. Most of the construction is concrete and bamboo. The floor and main walls are concrete, but the walls are not high- I find I have to duck a lot. The interior walls and rafters are bamboo, as is most of the furniture. It is all nicely done. And very comfortable.

There is electricity and lights, but also a television and, incongruously a 6500W sterio. On full blast it would undoubtedly shake the whole building.

But tonight the entertainment boxes are off. A few gather for prayer, partly because there is a funeral in the village. Since the meeting is in Tagalog, I understand little of what is said, but the pastor directs prayer subjects for each person present. Everyone takes part, which is always encouraging.

All too soon the meeting is over and we "bike" home. For the fist time since being here I feel a chill due to the wind.

Cordialement
Terry

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