Would you know what this was if you were shown this? Not sure that I would. And might you guess that it would grow up to be like this? The baby barn owl was taken in Benalmadena Costa at the top fot eh cable car ride and the adult barn owl at Painshill Park in Cobham
Baby Barn Owl
Adult Barn Owl
Corpus Christi is the Catholic holiday in honour of the presence of the body of Christ in the holy water. It is celebrated throughout Spain and is held in either May or June depending on when Easter occurs. To calculate the next Corpus Christi date, look for the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday (the eighth Sunday after Easter) and you’ll know when the fiesta is set to begin in towns and villages throughout Andalucia.
This is a painting from Benalmadena Pueblo by Vincent Van B from Corpus Christi 2016. Today it is still typical to carpet the streets of towns and villages with greenery for the solemn Corpus Christi processions. This adds a special ambiance to the processions. The Corpus Christi parades also tend to attract all the local authorities, and in some cases, military personnel as well.
What can be seen here is not the petals that adorn the smaller streets but the greenery that is essentially decorative only.
1. You can see 3 day old Baby Barn Owls after going up in a cable car to the top of a mountain. You can also see incredible views
2. You can see Leopards in Funegirola Biopark. One of the few zoo type environments that I might bother with.
3. You can see Kestrels also at the top of the mountain
4. The fresh oranges taste like….fresh oranges. buy them daily.
5. The artists along the promenade do amazing portraits for really a low price and their speed is incredible
6. The night cruises from the Marina are fairly cheap and the feel of the summer wind on a boat in the night time is a lovely feeling
7. The nuts cooked in Mijas smell divine and taste just as good. A small bag costs only a few euros
8. Mijas is an example of a pueblo, and although a little touristy if you go at the wrong times when the coach parties descend, there are many occasions when you can almost have the town to yourselves. Coffee in the square is a nice treat
9. The exchange rate with the Euro is good currently and Spain is a cheap country to visit for UK folks
10. Mijas at night is an interesting place
Anyone who has travelled to Spain knows that “mañana” culture is the norm giving a happy relaxed feel to the place. Wherever you go there are examples however of quirkiness, oddness or even madness/stupidity. Lets take the Miracle Bar in Benalmadena Costa where you can drink Paint. Vehicle registrations that consist of the number 0000. The most eveil appalling food in the so called ” VIP” lounge at Malaga airport. Enough, I thought so. The try some Rocked salad…….
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Miracle Bar Benalmadena Costa
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Miracle Bar Benalmadena Costa
Having been coming to Spain for almost 50 years there have been a number of clear changes that are visible to the naked eye. It is clear that with unemployment rates being 50% in the under 24 year olds and 26% in all, things are not good. There are however islands for hope. Firstly many of the British have left and areas like Benalmadena Costa have been at least partially reclaimed by the Spanish. Resultingly there are fewer dreadful ” English Cuisine” restaurants on offer and far more traditional Spanish restaurants. Secondly prices have fallen dramatically. A pint of beer in a decent beachfront bar is rarely more than 1.95 euros. Three course meals tend to be anything from 10-15 euros and often throw in half a bottle of wine. Thirdly, the ecology is changing. Far more birds and far fewer cats. Parakeets abound as do pigeons. This has become a decent holiday destination, flights to malaga are less than 3 hours from London and cheap. Crime is not visible, surely it happens but safety seems better than say in London. This is a place to re-visit. Lastly, the Spanish do things in different ways. Only the Spanish could have equipement outside their bansk that potentially could be used to break in.
An unusual finding while walking around a swimming pool in Southern Spain. At first I thought it was leaves and twigs in an odd pattern but then when I picked it up realised that it was a fossilised dead bird, totally preserved and totally dried out. I have a number of photos and will post a few more later this week but one to keep you going.
Fossilised Dead Bird
View from Bedroom window. Sheets or large underwear?
This post I have to admit is a little unfair as being there for 2 days spent most of it underground in a conference room, cut off from the world seemingly. Awful telephone reception and little better wifi connection ( which at least was free). And then when one factors in a 12 hour sleep, to recover from missing a night, you can agree that my views of Milan are not exactly complete.
On balance I was not enthused about the city. The trip from Linate airport to the hotel did not inspire me and neither did the driving ability of the taxi driver, who gave a decent rendition of having ADHD. Those who are not familiar with ADHD just need to understand that the key symptoms of impulsive behaviours and/or inattention are not ideal qualities in a taxi driver in a busy city centre. The first learning was that pedestrians who step onto a crossing should consider a few things. Making a will would be obligatory and consideration to not crossing would also be a good judgement to make.
The streets were not full of colourful fashionistas nor shops and the restaurants did not make me want to jump out of the taxi. The same process was repeated on the return journey. The positives? Well certainly not the costs. Lets talk cocktails, not that I was offered any. In Spain where I was sunday night, a Pina Colada would cost 3.50 euros, and in the hotel here 11.50. The fact that they were advertising their drinks and prices in the elevator suggests they considered these prices reasonable.
On a positive note the food was good. A large lunch buffet and a meal of Salmon in breadcrumbs with aubergine that got me thinking it might make a good dinner party dish.
Rooms are always small in Italian hotels but this one really was. The view from the bedroom window was not exotic but did make my mind question whether what was hanging out was sheets or rather large underwear.
So I make my biased and unfair decision that Milan is off my holiday destination list. But lets give it a second chance as I am returning on friday and hopefully may see a little more. I may even take my camera.
As always these things happen just before going away, so I suppose thats good, better than happening when away. I do recall a visit to a Greek dentist 20 years ago, whose surgery was the living room and having to trample over people, family maybe, to get in. So,an excruciating pain equals an emergency visit. Three hours of drilling, sanding and filling, with huge sighs. Essentially though he wanted to take the tooth out and give me an implant, and having had an implant that for me was not an option. So Root Canal work it was. As one lies there things flit through the mind. Why cannot the drills be silent? Why does the dental nurse always get moaned at? Why does it cost so much…..but as the pain recedes none of these matter at all. He even tried to explain the dental x-rays to me. I am sure that a chest x-ray or a bone,I might reasonably still interpret, but teeth? were medical students ever taught about teeth? I do not recall such a thing…..
In three weeks time I have Round 2 and he is muttering about using lasers and poking wires into holes, sounds more like Angry Birds to me, now there is a thought. A new App. Angry Dentist……..what a great idea.
In case you are wondering, here is an Angry Bird, a baby owl up the top of a mountain in Benalmadena Costa in Spain
An Angry Bird. Baby Owl in Spain
chris1957
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