The Sun Goes Down...

... on 2009. And on the noughties.
As I drove back to Camposol this evening the sun disappeared behind the mountains for the last time this year - and this decade.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year and peace, love and prosperity in 2010.

From Mazarron to La Pinilla

Today I travelled along the little-used mountain road between the town of Mazarron and the inland village of La Pinilla.
The road is narrow and twisty and the area is beautiful and remote. There are derelict, abandoned fincas all along the route, but no sign of life and I only met one car on my journey. The road is so narrow I had to pull in on the grass verge to let him pass. The landscape reminded me of parts of Donegal or Kerry back home in Ireland - well, except for the cactus and olive trees. I really love the old houses and I couldn´t help photographing lots of them.

Mountains and Fincas

And more...

La Pinilla

Finally, I arrive in the sleepy little village of La Pinilla. There are dark clouds and rain threatens (but it is not cold - in fact it is 19 degrees)

El Cafe Bar

Time for a coffee in La Pinilla´s only bar

Old Casa

On Wednesdays I go to the street market in Totana and on my way there I always admire this beautiful old and derelict house. It´s out in the country on it´s own and looks sad and lonely, but I can imagine that it was once a happy home filled with laughter...
The Sierra Espuna mountains are in the background.

La Fortaleza del Sol, Lorca

Today I visited a fabulous castle - La Fortaleza del Sol (The Fortress of the Sun) perched high on a rocky mountain above the town of Lorca. It dates from the Middle Ages when the Moors ruled much of present day Spain and over the past few years much of the castle and it´s walled gardens have been restored. Actors in period costume and audio visual displays bring the castles rich history to life and added to this the views from the top are simply amazing.

The views are simply amazing. During excavations the remains of the castle bakery were discovered and reconstructed.

Graffiti

There seems to be a lot of graffiti/mural artists in the Mazarron area and some of their work is quite brilliant. I liked this one depicting Muhammad Ali.

Jessica meets some Roman soldiers

And finds ...

a beautiful ceramic piece on the beach.

A rich and fertile land...

Where oranges still grow in December...

A rich and fertile land...

Red lettuce and green lettuce growing near San Javier in Murcia region.

Sunday Market, Puerto de Mazarron

Sunday Market, Puerto de Mazarron

Walk on the beach

Evening, Bolnuevo

Christmas Eve

In Espana there are many weird and wonderful creatures that I am not familiar with, like this little green visitor who arrived at my Casa today. It´s Christmas Eve and I have visitors and my place is full. It was looking for somewhere to sleep tonight and when I said "sorry - we are full" it settled for the bolt on my gate to rest it´s weary feet.
I think it followed a bright star to get here and I am not sure how long it will stay....

Wishing all my blogger friends a happy and peaceful Christmas!

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Where am I now? Well, as you can see from the sign in my collage - and from the bluer skies I have migrated south from cold Dublin to sunnier climes in the south of Espana.

Mei & Xia

After a hectic few weeks at work what better way to relax before Christmas than to enjoy coffee and Apple Pie with my friends Mei and Xia in the Church Cafe Bar & Restaurant in Mary Street.

The Church

Hallelujah Concert 2009, RDS, Dublin

Warszawa, Polska

Photo by Maja
(Maja please don't be mad with me )
but - it's an excellent shot!

Ford Cortina

I spotted this lovely Mark 5 Ford Cortina on Burgh Quay in the city centre. From the Y reg British number plate I think it's a 1982 model, which was in fact the last year it was produced. Ford produced the first Cortina, the Mark 1 in 1962, followed by Mark's 2, 3, 4 and 5. They were all a very different design, apart from 4 and 5 which were quite similar. At that time Ford had a penchant for using Spanish words when naming their cars - Cortina, Fiesta, Granada, Mondeo, etc. In Germany the Cortina was actually called a Ford Taunus. Sadly after the Mark 5 the Cortina was discontinued and was replaced by the Sierra (another Spanish name).
My own favourite was the Mark 2, although I never had the pleasure of owning one. In it's day it was the wheels of choice for "boy-racers".

Flooding

Record rainfall over the past month has caused extensive flooding in parts of Ireland, especially in Cork, Galway and the Midlands. Many homes and businesses were flooded, causing millions of Euro's worth of damage. My collage shows the river Shannon (Ireland's longest river) overflowing it's banks at Athlone.
The experts, like those meeting at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen blame "Global Warming" for freak weather conditions that are causing havoc around the world. Global warming - in this case surely a contradiction in terms!
(I'm back - light at the end of a very long tunnel)