Friday, March 14, 2008

Genal Valley amongst other things.


The Genal Valley is our substitute for the cancelled trip to Ubeda. The area from around Ronda back towards the coast has long been famous as the 'White Villages' of Andalucia. Whatever the origen of the 'whiteness' it is now a source of fierce pride to have the village looking immaculate. Woe betide the housewife who doesn't make sure the walls are sparkling in the Andalucian sun. The villages climb up, often very steep, hills and mountains and usually possess at least a fort from Arab times. Sometimes even a picturesque castle knocked about a bit by Ferdinand and Isabella and Father Time. Some pictures to whet your appetite:


Above is Olvera. The Church and the castle dominate the town and both are worth exploring.
To the right is Algar.










This is Grazalema which has the distinction of being the wettest place in Spain. We will keep our fingers crossed no umbrellas are needed.

At the top is a picture of Sentenil de la Bodega. On our last trip to the white villages Juan, who is our usual driver, had the most incredible driving problem here. The street was very narrow and someone had parked inconsiderately (I know it is hard to believe that such things can happen in Spain) He got through with literally a centimetre to spare on either side of his coach but halfway through the manoevre most of us thought he would get stuck with us inside the coach and not enough room for even the skinniest of us to get out. I don't know who felt they deserved a drink the most when we got down the bottom. The bars here are made out of caves and so unusual we just had to go in. So, too, are many of the houses. A fascinating and very pretty town.








There may even be a Roman ruin for you to see.


As usual Gina will be stopping for a breakfast break of tostado and coffee and lunch is included. The trip is a very modest 25 euros.



Other news and plans

We have had some really successful lunches recently both in terms of the numbers of members attending and the general quality of the meal. It was especially nice that a new (to us) restaurant in the middle of Fuengirola proved to be a hit. Take a bow 'Casa Dori' and if you feel like checking them out they are just by the entrance to the underground car park opposite the Tourist Office.
Our next lunch is at the Primavera on April 3rd. Over 40 members gathered too for a great evening out at the Kon Tiki in Los Boliches. . There was general agreement that this should not be the only time we went for an evening 'do' and at the last Committee meeting we decided to investigate a beach side restaurant for early June. I have a feeling that even with so many members heading back to the rain and cold(!) we'll have a good crowd.

The trip for April
will be to the Lobo (Wolf) Park. The park is just outside Antequera and we will spend some time there in this ancient and important town. Date is April 17th.




We had a FOTA trip to see the Wolves at night and hear them howling.
Absolutely fascinating.









I've told you about the Fashion Show before and now the date is definitely fixed for May 17th.
A note for your diary.

As the point of FOTA is to keep the theatre going here are some dates for you to set aside:


28th March to April 1st - An Inspector Calls

11th April to 15th April - Uncle Vanya

25th - 29th April - a Lizz Freeman Musical Revue

9th - 11th May - one for the younger members of the family - The Railway Children and note two important things here. The show finishes on Sunday so no performances on Monday or Tuesday and I'm in it.

23rd - 28th May - the final show of the year is Nunsense.

Everyone on the Committee looks forward to seeing members on the theatre terrace and we hope that will include you soon.







Saturday, March 01, 2008

Saturday March 1st

The trip to Jaen has had to be cancelled. Quite simply we couldn't get the numbers needed to make it viable. To those who booked we can only say sorry. But we have fixed up a day trip to the Genal Valley and the White Villages, particularly Gaucin and Manilva for March 27th. Full details at the desk.

Thanks to those who came and bought at the booksale. It went well but we have plenty of books left for the next one!