Monday, November 19, 2007

Christmas Trip on November 29th to Rute

Our last trip before Christmas is to Rute. This is a small town on the borders of Malaga and Granada famous for some lovely things you can give as Christmas presents to the friend who has everything.
Starting from outside Solbank on the Mijas Road we will head off along the motorway past Malaga and through the mountains to the plains of Antequera. It will be back into hills and mountains until Rute - stopping of course for breakfast. Rute is in the Parque natural de las Sierras Subbéticas Cordobesas, set beside a large reservoir lake and surrounded by olive orchards. Like many Andalucian towns it can trace its history back to the Romans although there is not much more than a muslim castle to show before the Christian building of the late Middle Ages. It still describes itself as a white village with its picturesque central square next to the distillery. Rute has a lot of those and that is the first idea for a Christmas present. On offer is the main product of Anis but they also make Pacharanes (haven't found a translation) Morello cherry and Rose liqueurs. Our trip includes a visit to a distillery and if it is the same one as last time you will also see a rather good Belen.
If a liqueur doesn't tempt the Santa in you we will also visit a producer of Dulces de Navidad. The region is famous for Chocolates and for Olive Oil - a good extra Virgen Olive Oil has proved an excellent present in the past and who can resist special chocolates.
We are already half way to a full coach - and the Ronda trip filled the coach completely - so if you want to go on this one the desk is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It costs 30 euros

Christmas Bazaar
If you didn't get all your presents on the trip to Rute we have our Christmas Bazaar on the forecourt on Saturday December 8th. Margaret W has been busy making Cakes etc for her stall and there will also be homemade marmalade on offer. David will be selling his Christmas Cards and there will be a Bottle stall, White Elephant, Lucky Dip and Raffle. It is always a pleasant social occasion even if you don't buy - though we hope you will.

Cards
Having mentioned David's cards just another plug. David works all year to recycle Christmas, Birthday and other cards. The result is a greener world and very reasonably priced cards for all occasions. At this time of the year you will find him every morning in the foyer.

Lunches
We have just had a very enjoyable lunch at Casa Rustica where the standard of the food and service was lauded. Our next lunch will be our Christmas lunch at El Brujo in El Coto. The price is 20 euros and after the great way we were looked after last year places are going fast.


Sunday, November 18, 2007

Day Out to Ronda

I had wanted the report on our day out to Ronda to include some of the photos I took but technology doesn't always do what you want it to. They look great on the view screen on the camera but won't transfer to the computer. I guess I will have to learn how to set photos in this text if Fujifilm ever get round to replying to my e mails asking about yet another repair.
We were lucky with the weather which is a good start. The forecast had made us a bit fearful but it started well and stayed really good all day. The coach took us via an unexpected visit to La Cala de Mijas and then back through Churriana to Ardales where we stopped for coffee and a local bread with olive oil or the more English butter and jam. Ardales is a fairly typical 'white town' but the building development seen all around here is increasing its size all the time. Where the old town has a jumble appearance the new edge has the serried ranks of terrace housing . At least it is white and more or less the same size and scale as the older parts of town. We didn't go in which was just as well. Having done it previously in my small car the tiny streets are a nightmare.
Next stop was Ronda and we had a couple of hours there before lunch. It's a bit pointless commenting on the town as it is so well known and documented. The sun was out and visibility excellent so we had great views over the countryside. The local wildlife put on a good show for us with birds of prey (so I don't know whether it was a hawk or an eagle or a falcon!) circling round and disappearing back into the cliff. There wasn't enough time to do anything except wander through the town before it was back to the coach and on to lunch. The setting of the restaurant was excellent. The gardens were a little Autumnal but quite attractive and to the delight of many the trees were full of mistletoe. A little rehearsal for Christmas was considered necessary. Lunch itself was frankly a disappointment. Any further visit to Ronda will plan on having lunch in the town. There were some really nice looking restaurants in and around the town square which had a good menu del dia at moderate cost.
Then we were ready for the high spot of the day. The train is an ordinary service from Cordoba to Algeciras so nothing special there. What was very special indeed was the scenery en route. I was late on the train so finished up with my back to the engine sitting on the right hand side. Turned out to be perfect. As the train went through the mountains I could look up the valleys. By this time of the year most of Andalucia is brown even after the September rain. The valleys had their tints of brown and gold but were still mainly green except where the rock showed through which it did often. Lots of patches of cultivation and small villages or even just a Cortijo. It may not have lasted long (about one and a half hours) but I can quite see how it was included in some lists of great railway journeys of the world.
Finally on to Algeciras and home.
It would be nice to have posted some pictures. Even if I have to write to Japan I am going to get some here!