Ski Sunday Afternoon

I should have told you about the skiing. In the event I was up late Sat & Sun but on Sunday I decided to go just for the afternoon.

On the way back down

This should be a view of the village below.

I thought I would get in on the shot. Just as well I did.

Lower slopes & lowering sun

At the top, by the "radio telescope" lift.

Some people like to take off.
Here they could do it without having to know how to land.

Click on the photos for a larger view.

It was a lovely sunny day, one of the few I was told afterwards. Which may be why all of Spain went skiing that weekend. On the upper slopes this posed no problem, but to get there you had to park and that was full.

The police helpfully stopped anyone driving into the village. They sent us on a detour that I assumed was to an overflow car park. It was getting further and further away so I assumed also there would be a bus to the village. The road turned sharp right, headed through the snowfields, and ended up at the top of the village.

The village is narrow and a one-way system steers you down to the village exit. I think a lot of people just drove on and went home.

But I found a place in the upper square for my little car, and after checking for restrictions and finding none, I went skiing.

The lower slopes were packed but the upper slopes were open and no queues for the lifts. I stayed high. The views were spectacular- far better than the photos show. At times the wind was cold as this is the highest mountain in sight, and I was on the top. Despite the lovely sunshine, I needed my warm clothing, and for a time, my goggles. (And my fingers froze as I took photos, but the views were too good not to try)

I suppose this blog is just a chance to share the photos and I will leave it at that. A few of you will know of the parking ticket I picked up, and the difficulty I had paying it! But I guess it was that or to continue driving home like everyone else!

Enjoy the photos as I enjoyed the views.

A ps:
Because I forgot to tell you of the journey home, or at least the start of it. Those who had managed to ski all wanted to go home at the same time. There is only 1 long winding road down and it took ages. Not too bad after the first few km, after all there are almost no junctions, just a continuous line of traffic in free-fall.

Here is a photo I took whilst standing still.

Cordialement
Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Rock Castle, Martos

This week I worked out that I had worked 6 days in the 5 I have been here, if you go by the hours that is. So it is not a big surprise that I was late up this morning. The hotel proprietor commented on it! 

It is a sunny day with little wind. But it is late to set off for Granada, so I relax over breakfast and wonder what I should do instead. 

Behind Martos there is a hill. And on top of the hill there is evidence of an old castle. From the town it looks like a single tower, but work colleagues assure me there is much more than that. 

On earlier visits I had found a road that appears to be the closest point to the top and I know that it is not on my gps. But there are signs and I find it easily. 

At the parking place there is a notice. I understand "prohibito" and "300 euros" but not the words in between. A quick check on my dictionary and I find I can park but not dump the car. 

So I set off. I have packed my rucksack with food and warm clothing but my jacket is soon off because it is a lovely sunny day. 

First there are horses. I make sure I tread carefully. Then as I go up there is a path made by adding concrete to the rocks. I must be on the right track! 

Further up 2 cyclists are coming down. The first is riding the the second daren't. By the time I have my camera out and after 6 attempts to "swipe" the camera app into action, the cyclists have gone. 

But the views are expansive. 

More path, and I realise I have meandered up the steep hill some 2 or 3 times as far as I saw the direct path would be. But it is not too long before I am up among the ruins. 

The view of Martos town is impressive. Look for the bullring and the hotel is next door. Where I work is on the left, a big manufacturing centre on the edge of the industrial estate. 

The ruins of the castle walls are scattered round the hilltop. Much has crumbled but what remains is solid enough. There is evidence of underground chambers but all filled in with earth and rubble now. Just the top of an arch gives the evidence of a more extensive building. 

This surely must have been an unassailable castle. But then who would need to? I decide it is a magnificent lookout!

The window, or is it just an oval hole? is enticing and a short scramble up gives an impressive view. In fact, all around there are views of countryside and very few towns. The main road winds round Martos and remote factories belch smoke, a surprising number of them. But now I am stopped for lunch before I get the rest of my daily exercise by walking down again. 

After a lazy lunch, and tour of the battlements (what's left of them), and a telephone call from Evangeline to say her internet was down, I followed the longer path down. I found I had short cut the first bit by scrambling up directly from where I parked the car. Even the long way down was much quicker than going up. 

The sunroof on the little car now came into use again. The thermometer registered an initial 27 degrees, but that soon dropped to 23 in town, and 16 in the shade by the hotel. So take your pick, either way it's good for February.

From the top I had seen what looked like a market. It was close to the hotel so I wandered down on my return. I had been so concerned to have enough shirts for work that I had forgotten weekend shirts. I found what I wanted at much less than the shop prices and, I think, better quality too. 

All in all a successful morning. Clearly it is good to start in the high place. 

Photos

Path half way up. 

Panoramas 

- Martos town from the top

- countryside view & a shadow of myself

Flowers were plentiful

Bonfires and factories were plentiful too

An oval window, door, or fallen wall?

The castle from the market

Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Decoration

It's a slightly quirky hotel but I like it. The water pipes make a noise when they heat up and that tells you when hot water is available. The owners are friendly and business is slow. I have seen the boss asleep behind the desk.

There is an odd mixture of decoration in the halls but all the rooms are the same- I have stayed in many of them. They are a fake antique look, the baths are enamel not plastic (some are chipped so I know) and the tiles are often loose. Every room has a tiny "Juliette balcony" half of which is taken up by the air conditioning heat exchanger.

The photos are from the top of the stars and of the "inlay" on my wardrobe door just to give you an idea.

Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Gestures

Perhaps it was the early start; but I fell asleep this afternoon. I woke up again at 10pm, the preferred time for the Spanish to eat. So I popped down to the hotel restaurant.

The big hall that I have walked through only once has people in it dining. It resembles a private party and the glass doors are shut so I pass on to the usual dining room. It's empty.

In the bar there are 2 people. I can see the proprietress in the kitchen. The 2 at the bar call her by name.

It appears that today there is a special menu. It has hearts all over it and I realise the other diners are (1 day late) Valentine couples. I stay in the bar.

The special menu appears to have 4 main courses. I chose one but my hostess offers me all 4. I can't face that and agree to the last 2 which appears to start with coronation chicken- or at least that's my guess. The proprietress asked after Evangeline. At breakfast time she is usually on my screen since it is her lunch time and it's our chance to chat. I explain it is 5am for her and I think I made myself understood!

The "coronation chicken" arrives as cream of chicken soup. Unexpected but quite acceptable. The 2nd course is more like I expected (photo) and I have a glass of the house wine- literally, it has the hotel logo on it and I am told "we brewed it" (ok I am guessing the Spanish again).

Communication is by speaking and gestures. The speech indicates a statement or question by the tone, and the gestures tell the subject. That's how I can tell the couple on the game show on TV have just got engaged. The audience is clapping and cheering and he is on one knee.

In the same way I think I ordered cream caramel for desert. What arrives is a sort of gateau and a bottle of Cointreau. The waiter (just for today) indicates I pour the Cointreau over the dessert. The proprietress confirms this, I understand "si". Perhaps that's why I was offered this liqueur the other month but with no glass I failed to make use of it.

It's after 11 now, and my black coffee has arrived. I wonder if I will be able to sleep tonight. Still it is Sunday tomorrow and I can get up when I want.

I expect it would be foolish to be early for breakfast.

Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

A good day for the cafés

Saturday and my chance to ski at Sierra Navada. And it's sunny!

So I got up early for breakfast but it's Saturday and breakfast is late. There is nothing on the times that says breakfast is late at weekends (my phone has a torch function so I could read the notice), it's just late today. It could be for the same reason there is no hot water for a shower this morning. That and that I seem to be the only guest.

Undaunted I eat some of my stash from the supermarket and set off in "my little car".

The little car does well. It had trouble on some of the motorway hills but all in all a good ride for a small car. And the road to the mountains challenged the busses more than me. I arrived before 10 at the car park and found a space. The car park was busy, but I found a small spot suitable for my size!

A There are lots of people in the square but not much of a queue for ski tickets. I joined the line to pay by card. The one man in the queue, however, was not queuing. 'Serrie' he said and I understood the lifts were closed. Since he was American it was easy to discover the lifts were closed because of the wind and that the 10am update had been pushed back to 11.

As I write this, I am still waiting. I have had my hot chocolate and pastry and now I am milling around with everyone else.

Photos:
Of the central square
Of the lift queue
And of a few who walked up the first slope to ski the 100 yards back down

And a ps - I gave up shortly after 11. There was no sign of a letup in the wind so I thought I may as well go home.


Terry

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Fwd: My little car

>
> There was clearly a problem at the car hire place. It does not normally take an hour to rent me a car. "She has gone to find it" I was told. She came back without it!
>
> The next offer was a different car "at the same price". So I took it.
>
> What she meant was 'but I can't reduce the price'. I failed to get my suitcase in the boot it was so small.
>
> But it was new and bright red. Easy to park with a 'city' button to make the steering light round town. No cruise control. No aircon. Both the hotel owner and the security guard at Valeo commented on it- in Spanish but with big grins so I could guess!
>
> But today the sun was out. The car reported 24 degrees- summer if you are English (but the Spanish had coats on). Then I noticed 2 buttons above my head. I pressed one and the roof rolled back.
>
> Not so bad after all.
>
> Cordialement
> Terry
>
> Envoyé de mon iPhone- inside photo a poor montage of snaps taken with difficulty (no room to move!).