Category: Landscapes/scenery

Housework Continues, and Henry Houdini

The metal works folks came and installed the balustrade just in time as Colin’s friend from England arrived later the same day.  She’s bought a house at the coast and stayed the night with us before getting the keys.

The gate to the water pumps was also replaced, although we realized later that while it looks great the spaces between the bars are a little too wide as Henry Houdini can squeeze through and disappear behind the wall to eat last year’s rotten fallen almonds. Mo, who is much smaller, hasn’t yet tried to follow him but it’s only a matter of time.

For now we have to block the lower part with a barrier but will get it fixed when they come back to install metal bars outside the french doors in a couple of weeks.

In any case we had a lovely visit with Ann and Ernie, spending the evening in the sun room talking and some of us having a nice dip in the pool.

A few days later we took a day-trip to the coast to have lunch and see Ann’s new place.  It’s a lovely 3-bedroom 2-bath bungalow in a gated community and has three different outdoor spaces, including a roof terrace.

Lunch was nice – there’s a restaurant right on the grounds and it’s right next to the swimming pool, and not to mention about a five minute walk to the Med.

We’ve been on a couple more nice bike rides – the longest one being to Taberno, although the 42 km we covered was only because we took the ‘scenic route’ there.

Another ride was up to the village of Los Cerricos where we had a coffee before continuing on west towards Oria.  We only went a few km before turning back as it was starting to get hot – we’ll start earlier next time so we can go further.

We’ve ordered a beautiful claw-foot bathtub for my bathroom but once again are having problems with delivery.  The transport company insists on phoning before they arrive, but they won’t call a foreign number.  We finally got a spanish number this past weekend so hopefully will hear from them this week to take delivery.  Still waiting for IKEA to find us with the replacement wall lamp.

Having gotten tired of having no water when the pump continually turned off we got a new pump.  No water problems anymore!  But now we’ve had a couple of electric issues with breakers tripping, once in the middle of the night.  Maybe solar back-up would be nice, but we’ll see.

We also had some pool people out to measure for a winter cover, as well as a ladder at the far end.  We’re still waiting for the ‘gardeners’ to come but will likely have to find someone else to clear out weeds and brush behind the wall.  There are some nice aloe plants currently being overrun by the weeds, and also a lot of junk has been tossed over and needs to be gotten rid of.

I’m still having a running battle with the wasps, and I’ve broken another swatter. I like to believe I’m getting the better of them, but that might be only wishful thinking.

Water Woes and Wasp Wars

The last few weeks have been a combination of busy and slothful.  Colin took a little trip to the town of Murcia one day and got a bunch of household things from Ikea.  One of the wall lamps we got was missing a piece and when I got hold of their customer service they told me they’d deliver a whole new one in a few days and exchange it for us.  Unfortunately the driver couldn’t find the house, even after we’d what’s apped him our location to his phone.

We’ve done a lot around the house – Colin has hacked a bunch of weed shrubs from along the drive, and the carpenter has done several things including installing new locks on all the outside doors and putting up the new light fixtures in the foyer and the sun-room.

We’ve also had the hunky furniture removed from the sun room and some nice patio furniture put in, as well as doing a thorough cleaning of the floor, table and chairs.  The dust from the storm back in March is still almost everywhere but we’re cleaning it up bit by bit.

We’ve gone on a few bike rides, mostly trying to find our way around on the back roads without getting lost.  It starts getting hot fairly early now so we need to get going at a decent time in the morning to try to beat the heat.

On one of my solo rides I passed a field that may have been the site of the fire some weeks ago – all recently burned black right up to the road.

Getting the pool filled wasn’t as quick or easy as we thought – we had to call the local co-op guy every day to get our allotment bit-by-bit but it was taking forever so in the end a different fellow with a tanker did the final filling in no time, although for more money.

Then we had to deal with the sludge that was still left.  A quick lesson from the carpenter, then another from a friend of his that takes care of pools and we were finally on our way!  I can’t believe how much I enjoy going out and just jumping right in – it’s so refreshing on these hot days.

The Tour de France came and went and we watched every stage on tv – a much more interesting and exciting race this year than any I can remember.  No more of one robotic team controlling everything, and lots of surprises.  In fact on one hard mountain stage two Canadians were on the podium – Hugo Houle in first and Michael Woods in third!

We’ve got an ongoing problem with wasps – there was one nest on the ledge of Colin’s dressing room window, and another under one of the roof-edge tiles of the sun room.  They like to dip onto the surface of the pool to collect water and we’ve been killing them like crazy with our fly-swatters.  One of them got revenge on me yesterday, however, when it stung me on the upper neck right behind my ear.

Going by my reaction the last time I was stung I dropped my watering can and ran into the house shouting for ice.  I lay on the sofa holding an ice cube to the spot and praying that wave after wave of throbbing pain would not hit me like they did last time.  I was very lucky and nothing much happened but some redness and swelling.

In addition to the wasps we’ve swatted we’ve scooped hundreds of dead ones out of the pool that have died from some other cause – perhaps they drowned trying to get water, or maybe someone snuck poison into one or both of the nests.

The fellow that’s doing the balustrade/railing for the stairs came the other day to see if they were going to fit properly and should be returning to install them tomorrow – that will be great as they’re a bit scary right now.

I added a strip of white tape to the edge of each step so you can at least see where the next step is on the descent.

Another water issue we have is the pump to the house.  There’s an 18-thousand litre tank at the bottom of the property that gets filled from a pipe by the co-op.  That gets pumped up to the smaller upper tank that holds 3 thousand litres, which then gets pumped to the house for showers, toilets and sinks.

An ongoing problem is that the second pump sometimes shuts off and we can’t get any running water, sometimes for hours.  One of the many great ‘pleasures’ of having an older house that’s partly ‘off-grid’.

A Lunch, A Sportif and Another Lunch, and…The Ballet (Go Ukraine!!!)

On Saturday there was a meal at the bar that we really enjoyed.  It started with a salad that had pieces of meat in it – when I asked the english fellow that was sitting next to me what it was he said some fancy french name.  When I asked again – no, what is it? – he revealed that it was chicken gizzards.  I was a bit concerned that it would be like liver or kidney but it wasn’t at all – it was actually pretty tasty and reminded me a bit of pork.  I ate most of it, although did have a bit of help from both Colin and Mo.

The main course was duck leg served with creamy mashed potatoes and truffle – it was absolutely delicious, and probably the best meal I’ve had at the bar.  I couldn’t manage the cheese course or the dessert, although they both looked equally good.  We’ve met the english fellow before and he’s quite nice – he has a big old dog that’s blind and very well behaved, even when food is around.

The next day we attended two events.  The first was a sportif sponsored by the local cycling club – there were four different routes depending on how far each rider wanted to go.  We helped out at the food stop that was setup at the ‘lake’ near Luxe – we made sure all of the various food plates were re-stocked as groups arrived and devoured things.

After the last riders had left we helped pack up and take things back to the hippodrome, which was the location for the start and end of the four routes.  About an hour later all of the helpers regrouped for a lovely lunch of roast pork and a potato and cheese dish, along with a nice green salad and the usual crusty french bread.

The second event was very enjoyable as well but a bit more serious.  We’d gotten tickets to the Kiev ballet and the place was packed – I estimate there were probably 700 or 800 people there.

It was a fund-raiser for the ballet company as they’re basically trapped and unable to return to Ukraine because of mad-dog Putin and his insane illegal invasion and attempted genocide.

They started out with a demonstration of basic warm-ups and exercises, then got into the real show – and it was thrilling.

They did a lot of different numbers, and at the end got a rousing standing ovation.

We really, really enjoyed the evening, and it seemed everyone else did as well.

We packed lightly and got away again on Wednesday morning, crossing from France to Italy through the tunnel and reaching Susa in late afternoon. 

We’d booked a B&B and it was a nice little family-run affair with boys playing basketball in the courtyard and grandma and grandpa tending the backyard garden.

After settling in we went for a short walk – some nice little ponies next door and a couple of donkeys next to them.

Also back the other direction some very nice looking goats.

After breakfast at a decent time the next morning – including the best coffee we’d had in months – we were on our way again by about 8:00.  We made pretty good time for the first couple of hours, then started noticing how heavy the traffic was becoming.  We almost came to a standstill at some points, even though there were virtually no semi-trucks on the road.

We finally googled and found out that it’s a holiday in Italy and folks seemed to all be off to the Adriatic coast for a four-day weekend – bad timing!  Luckily as soon as we turned south towards Perugia the traffic died completely – barely any, although lots of road construction.

We arrived in Papiano early evening, stopping at the bar for a quick drink and to say Hi to Antonio.

Saliente to Mansle

Removal of the skanky jacuzzi contraption made the terrace look a lot better.  

And it’s lovely to have a garden that is well planted and laid out.

Leaving the house on a Sunday was a bit sad – we’d just started to get used to being there, but at least we’ll be back fairly soon.

We drove generally east and up the coast before turning inland just past Valencia.  Originally intending to stop around Zaragoza we ended up finding an aire well short of that in the town of Teruel.  The aire wasn’t too bad – right across from a guarda-civil station and next to a skateboard park.  Lots of activity and noise until a certain time, then remarkably quiet.

As usual when going a long distance we passed through lots of beautiful countryside and saw many sites of interest – although also as usual we didn’t stop except to let the dogs out now and then.

We originally planned a three-day trip but the second day’s drive went so well that we made it to the border and decided to keep going all the way to Mansle – stopping of course for a few things from the cheap shops right on the Spanish side of the border.

We hit the Hope Charity shop for more books and jigsaw puzzles, and the next day had a lovely fish-and-chip lunch with Tony and Joyce.  The owners of the restaurant have several dogs, and are caring for several others that were rescued from Ukraine – I believe they have 9 now!

We have, of course, visited the bar a few times and it’s so nice to see Edith and Sylvain again, as well as many of the other regulars.

There’s a fund-raising ballet in town tomorrow for Ukraine, and their flag is flying along the side of the church right across from the bar.

Snoopy is doing well – getting a little bit plump from all of the treats they give to all of the doggies.  Mo and Henry like going to the bar at least as much as we do!

Walking home the other afternoon after coffee I noticed a door-knocker on one of the houses.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve walked along the street and never noticed but interesting door-knockers are everywhere…

The hands are actually a bit creepy – reminded me of Thing in the Addams Family.

We’ve had some rain but also some lovely days and the spring blossoms are beautiful.

The birds in the neighbourhood are ravenous – we’re not sure how many fat-balls they’ve eaten, and the seeds in the blue ball feeder go down super quick.  I guess the birds are feeding their little ones right now so need all the extra food they can get.

The Giro d’Italia is on right now and for the first time in six years we’re not going to see any stages live so we’re compensating as best we can by watching GCN-plus on tv (via Colin’s phone).  Hopefully next year…

Settling in to Saliente

Settling into the house has been very easy in some ways, and in others not so much.

It’s wonderful to be in my master bedroom with the huge bathroom, but the hot water wasn’t working so we couldn’t have showers.  Also the washing machine kept stopping because of ‘not enough water’.

We got hold of a local plumber and arranged for him to visit.  We want to replace the gas cylinder water heater with a solar one, as well as the house heating system.  The current system uses red diesel and neither of us likes that so we’re going to get a pellet burner for the main living room that will act as both a fireplace and heat the radiators as needed.

The plumber’s wife does pool cleaning which we badly need – you can’t even see the bottom of ours through the algae and muck.  There’s also a crappy ‘jacuzzi’ on the terrace by the pool that we’ll have to empty and dispose of.

It turns out that the hot water does work, although the canister did need replacing.  The problem was that we kept testing the hot water in the kitchen, where for some very strange reason the hot water pipe was not connected (or turned on, or something).  Anyway I did get a very nice shower before we ran out of all water.

The plumber came up the next day with his wife, who said she could definitely rehabilitate the pool, while he went down to the lower, larger water tank and opened something up that allowed a bit more water to be pumped to the smaller upper tank that feeds the house.  He also arranged for another fellow to partially fill the lower tank from his tanker truck in a couple of days.

A few days later we went into Albox and had another meeting with our bank guy – he helped us setup our new cards, and we also arranged house insurance.

Back at the house we realized that the loud ‘cawing/squawking’ that we’d been listening to day and night was not a large exotic bird, but a small frog living in the pool.

I thought I’d rescued him and proceeded to scoop him out (on only my second try with our new net) and deposited him in a shady part of the garden in a bit of water.  Well – it turns out he didn’t want to be ‘saved’ or relocated, as the very next morning we found him once again singing his mating call at the top of his lungs from the pool.

We’ve seen other local wildlife such as rabbits, and this morning Colin saw a fox, who seemed to be interested in the rabbits, but I was too slow to get a pic.

Sitting on the terrace at any time of day is very pleasant, and there’s always a beautiful view to be had.

I’m also enjoying being able to do yoga again – my master bedroom is large enough that I can put out my mat with plenty of room to spare.

Another fellow has come to do some measuring for balustrades for the inside stairs, as well as fencing for the front yard.  It’s quite a large space so we’re only going to enclose part of it – the raised beds for our veggie gardens will be outside the fence, although we will have to ensure that they are rabbit-proof.

One afternoon we walked the dogs on the rambla to the nearby restaurant – it was just packed, and there was a bouncy-castle for kids and music playing.  We didn’t think it was an after-funeral party and decided it was either a wedding celebration or christening party.  There were lots of kids and the little girls were all dressed up with frills and bows – very cute.

When I sit on the terrace beside the pool it’s easy to envision how it will look next year with some strategically placed flowering shrubs in pots and a couple of nice large umbrellas – it’s going to be gorgeous and I can’t wait!

Getting the House!

We arranged a second visit to the new house in order to find out about where fuse boxes and water controls, etc. were.  The current owners were very accommodating, and while Andy (from the estate agents) did an inventory of the furniture that will be left for us we walked around with the owners and they told us all they could about everything.

There are two water storage tanks and the lady told us who to call when we need fill-ups.  She’s so nice and is leaving us a list of who to contact for everything we might need.

It was very nice to find that I loved the place as much on the second viewing as I did on the first – I can’t wait to move in!

We’ve taken a couple more drives around the area – we figure if we’re going to host the odd small bike group once in awhile we better know the best places to ride.

Yesterday’s trip was quite long, but some of the countryside was so beautiful it made the hours worth it.

On the way back we missed a turn in one of the small villages and ended up going for a few miles on a rambla, but we made it ok and ended up where we expected near the sanctuary.

We signed the deed for the house almost a week ago.  Waiting at the notary office for almost two hours was a bit nerve-wracking but in the end it was all ok.  Our lawyer had sent the funds for the purchase ‘the slow way’ and the sellers didn’t want to wait 3 or 4 days for the $ to show in their bank so our lawyer went off to the bank and had them recall the funds and re-send them ‘the fast way’.  No problem!

We were given the keys and I almost skipped for joy.  A quick run for groceries and we were on our way to our new home!

The next day we arranged for the wi-fi service, but all else will have to wait for three days as it’s yet another long weekend here.

The first thing we discovered was that we had no hot water – first on our list now of what we’ll have to deal with.  Next will be getting the water tanks filled, arrange for the pool to be cleaned before mid-June, and have the heating system checked.  Oh – the joys of home ownership!

Slow days over Easter and another step forward

We received the contract for the house by email from the lawyer late one evening.  We had a couple of simple questions that we emailed back to them but by then everything was shut down for the five-day Easter weekend.

Not able to do any business we had a couple of very slow days, taking only one day-trip back north to Chirivel.  Once again we commented on the beauty of the area, and doing the loop in a different direction we came back via Oria.

Sitting outside one afternoon at the campground we got a bit of a shock – we had the canopy out as it was nice and sunny and were surprised by a large thump above us and seeing some spray.

I jumped up and stepped away to get a view of the canopy and could see what looked like bird poo spread out all over.  Colin got the hose out and sprayed it off – it was gross.  I was very glad for the canopy as I’d been sitting right below where the worst of the poo was and might have gotten it right in the face!

A short while later when inside the campervan Colin noticed that some of the brown shit had come thru the open vent above his bed and was sprinkled on his duvet – since we had just done a bunch of laundry the duvet cover was hanging on the line drying so the poo/goo was right on the duvet itself.

It actually didn’t smell bad so we’re not really sure what it was – maybe mud and bits of grass or leaves/needles.  We couldn’t figure out where it came from – we hadn’t noticed any large birds, although it was very windy and could perhaps have come from one of the large trees nearby.  It’s a mystery.

Another day we drove up near the new house and while Colin sat with the dogs outside the restaurant and had a coffee I finally – for the first time this year! – got on my bike.  I rode up the nearest rambla and pedaled leisurely along below the house and north almost to the sanctuary.

It was a very nice ride, although I did have to pay good attention to the ‘road’ surface, which is a combination of dirt, gravel and sand, and having many washout grooves from all of the recent rain.

I think being able to explore the ramblas will almost make up for not being able to ride the canal paths in and around Worcester anymore.

The ride north was all gently uphill, and hardly noticeable – you could only really tell there was a gradient at all because going back south to the restaurant I hardly had to peddle – I might even have been able to coast the whole way if I’d wanted to.

After the long-long Easter weekend we got to do some more business.  A quick visit to George at the estate agent office answered most of our questions regarding the contract.  He printed it for us and we signed it.  We then popped into the bank, which we were lucky to get into as it was market day and the street was packed with stalls.

Our representative was with other customers so we made an appointment for an hour later.  When we saw him at noon he did a transfer for us of 10% of the house purchase – our bank cards hadn’t arrived yet and we also don’t have an NIF number so we couldn’t do it ourselves.  We gave him the papers showing where the large transfer of cash from the UK came from to back-up the anti-money laundering file on the account.

After the bank we returned to where we’d parked the camper van – about a km back along the road out of town because of all the extra parked cars for the market.  Next stop was to drop off the papers at the lawyers – a one-pager from the bank showing the 10% had been done, as well as the signed contract.  Another step forward!

Day Trips and The Shaggy Dog

A few days ago we took another day trip to the Sea, this time heading for Playa de Mojacar.  It was quite a pretty area but we could see that it would be infested with tourists in peak season – even now it was almost over-run by brits.

We did have a nice drink at a cafe, then took a walk along the beach back to the campervan before driving a bit further north to the beach near Villarico again.  We actually got the lawn chairs out and sat in the sun before having lunch overlooking the Sea.

Another day we took a little drive north, going through Taberno, then taking a smaller road winding through the hills to the town of Velez-Rubio.

There were very few settlements along the way but mile after mile of lovely  almond orchards. The distance was 32 km and it took an hour.

We took a short walk around and had a drink before heading home via a different route.  This time we went west to the town of Chirivel where we turned south – and was it ever a beautiful drive.

We ended up joining the road that goes past the Sanctuary, then on down to Albox.

Again we got to sit in the sun for a bit, and we watched as more and more campervans arrived – Pedro, the owner, had told us he was hosting a paella party and had invited some friends.  The place wasn’t totally full, but there were dozens and dozens of new arrivals.

Saturday was another beautiful sunny day, and the music started around noon.  The paella was served up mid-afternoon and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Although the ‘party’ ended quite early almost everyone stayed for another night.

Since Henry was getting very shaggy he was starting to look like a sheep so he got a grooming.

It took about two hours and he’s now half the dog he was before.

Now instead of looking like a woolly sheep he looks like a baby lamb.

Bacares and Sanctuary

Finally a warm and sunny day – I did a load of laundry and hung it on the line, then we decided to take another day trip, this time west to the town of Seron.  One of the houses we were going to view was just outside the town and George had told us how lovely the town centre was.  As we’d bought the other house on the spot we didn’t need the viewing of the Seron house but we thought we’d like to see the town anyway.

The drive west wasn’t the most picturesque as there’s a lot of industry and gravel pits, etc but the further we went the nicer the countryside got.

You can see Seron from a distance as it’s clustered around a castle at the top of a hill.  We drove along the base of the hill but decided not to take the campervan up into the centre as we were concerned about how narrow the roads were likely to be.

Since it was still early we chose to drive south a ways and do a loop back before going home.  The road wasn’t too bad as it wound up and up to the summit, with an elevation gain of over 1400 meters.  There were quite a few cyclists making the effort and it couldn’t have been easy.

The views along the way were fantastic but there was nowhere to stop and take photos from – a couple of view points would have been great, or even just a pullout.

Stopping in the village of Bacares we had a walk around – it’s not a bad little place, but very isolated.

After our walk we sat down outside the cafe/bar and had a coffee.  There were a bunch of birds in cages on the windowsill – the cages are so small the birds can barely turn around in them and they make little noises at each other.

It seems very mean to me – I wondered what kind of bird they are, and if they’re perhaps on the menu of the restaurant, or what else their purpose might be.

The sparrows come and land near the cages – wonder if they’re communicating with them or just trying to steal their food.

After leaving Bacares we stopped partway along the road north and had a nice lunch on a flat wide spot with a great view.

Nearing the town of Olula del Rio I actually got a decent photo of a sculpture that’s outside a museum/art gallery.  She’s called ‘La Mujer de Almanzora’ (The Woman From Almanzora) by spanish artist Antonio Lopez.

When we returned to the campground it was sunny and warm enough to actually get the lawn chairs out and sit outside under the canopy.  We weren’t out there very long before the wind became too much and we had to wind-in the canopy and retreat inside again.  I’ve still been wearing my winter coat and the lighter black jacket hasn’t been out once yet – so much for warm southern Spain!

We’ve now signed some papers at a notary’s giving our solicitor power of attorney to get our tax numbers and other house-related things for us such as sorting out utilities, etc.  We also met him at a bank and he helped us open some accounts so we’ll be able to deal with a local spanish bank – things are moving along rather nicely.

Rain, rain and more rain – spending lots of time inside watching YouTube videos.  Finally sometime during the night the rain let up and there’s actually a bit of blue sky this morning.

A couple of nights ago Mo fell out of bed and seemed a bit out of it when I hauled her back up.  We think she’s injured something on her right side – if you pick her up in the wrong position she yelps.  Nothing seems broken or anything as she’s walking fine, but just a bit tender.  She now has pink marks on the back of her head as I’ve been kissing her more than usual.

This morning we took a drive up to the sanctuary – El Santuario del Saliente – a work crew was clearing some of the rock falls caused by the recent rains but the drive was worth it.

The sanctuary is on a promontory with fabulous views of the valley below to the south.

I went inside and it was lovely – a tiled inner courtyard and then the ‘church’ part.

I was all alone and it was a very peaceful feeling – as near a ‘religious’ experience as I’ve ever had.

We stopped at the local restaurant on the way back to the campground and had a lovely lunch of fried calamari.  Back at the campground we watched two races on GCN – the Scheldeprijs and then the third stage of Itzulia Basque Country.  

From El Berro to Albox – Narrowing down for the House Hunt

We were lucky to get a small break in the nearly constant rain and took a nice walk through part of the village.

We could imagine that in better weather the views would be spectacular, and the campground was excellent in so many ways.

We did manage to get our laundry done, but it wasn’t fast or easy.  It poured rain all night and all the next day, and after putting the first load in the washer I went down three times before it was finally done – getting soaked to the skin each time.

In all it took 5 ½ hours to do two loads, but it was free, and we actually didn’t have much else to do.

Leaving the next day under slightly clearer skies we took the other road in order to avoid snaking our way through the village again.  We’d decided to head as far west as we might want a house and work our way back, crossing just into Almeria to start the hunt.

Picking an aire/sosta in the village of Canjayar we went on a bit of a diversion, passing several small mud/rock slides and ending up with a blocked-off road, then realizing we’d gone too far.

We pulled into a place where we could turn around, right after I’d said “what the f*** is that in the middle of the road?”.  Well – it was a giant Smurf, very dirty but right in the road – he was smiling but was not budging.

I got out to take a photo of dirty Mr. Smurf when I noticed movement on the hill above me – several large dogs had seen me and were starting to make their way down.

I quickly went to get back in the campervan but the side door has a stupid automatic lock thing and I couldn’t get in.  I pounded on the door and screamed but Colin was using the loo and couldn’t let me in.  I ran around to the driver’s door and jumped in just before the dogs arrived.

Taking a different route we finally made it to the aire, but it looked very bleak so we turned around and drove further down the road hoping to find a better place.

Luckily Colin saw a campervan sign several miles along at winery/bodega Fuente Victoria so we pulled in to their very large, flat and almost empty parking area.

We got out and went to the bar, asking if we could stay there.  The very nice lady said yes so we sat down and asked for two glasses of their red.  When Colin tried to pay she said no, no charge and we drank them outside while looking at the excellent view across to the hills.  We could see not one, but two distant peaks with snow still on them.

We bought a nice bottle of red and then moved the campervan to a different part of the lot – we originally were very close to another campervan that had three small children and wanted nothing to do with the noise – two dogs are enough!

After a very nice night we took time to decide where we really wanted to house hunt.  

We took another look online and zeroed in on an area that seemed to have everything we wanted – lower elevation (ie:  warmer in the winter), with several properties with what we consider essentials.  We sent an email to a local agent and drove to the general area.

Taking, as we frequently do, the ‘scenic route’ we went past the area where many of the old ‘spaghetti westerns’ were filmed.  It was hilarious – ‘Mini Hollywood’ which was packed with cars, followed a few miles later by ‘Texas Hollywood/Fort Bravo’.

We arrived in Albox at a decent time and found a very large flat parking area walking distance to the centre of town.  After lunch we took a walk around, and to find the estate agent’s office just so we knew where it was.

There’s a sculpture/display near the centre that bothered me – I believe it depicts a quarreyman and his mule pulling a load up a hill.  The mule doesn’t look very happy and it looked very cruel – I know that’s the case today in many places and situations and it’s horrible.

We found the estate agents office and headed back to the campervan for a light dinner.  There was a certain amount of activity in the large parking area we were in, but nothing that was too loud or lasted too long, thankfully.

The local church bells chime all night long and are very tinny sounding – not lovely and melodical like some.