Oska's Dogblog can be found in full at:
Whilst one could never say that the sun always
shines in Andalucia it is true that we have seen a lot of it this
winter. The tall ones have taken the opportunity to go and explore a
little more of the region and have spent a couple of weeks touring
around Western Andalucia. Ella and myself, meanwhile, had a fantastic
time with our house sitters, out walking almost every day. A very
thoughtful couple from the UK who remembered once again to bring us a
sack full of dried pig and cow ears to revive us when our knees are
trembling with tiredness. Better than the dried biscuit we are used to.
So, western Andalucia was their destination
and to start with, the 'Pueblos Blancos', or famous 'White Villages' to
be found in the area around Ronda - it has always struck me that the
tourist board who grabbed the name 'White Villages' and thereby conjured
up the romantic notion of houses stacked like sugar cubes tumbling down
a mountainside - yes it has now become a cliché - certainly earnt its
money that day by giving the impression that 'white' was the defining
colour of the region, I mean, where can you go in Spain where the
villages are not? However, 'Los Pueblos Blancos' seems to define this
region, so what did they find?Their first destination was the fortress town of Jimena de la Frontera, from where they took day excursions walking in the hills of the Alcornocales National Park and marvelled at this ancient forest populated with twisted cork oak trees. Day trips also included a train ride to the famous town of Ronda, along with a car journey to Cádiz, La Rota and Sanlucar de Barameda, where they enjoyed a taste of the local Manzanilla wine, as dry as a salted herring, and a plate of locally caught fresh fried fish.
The second week was spent in an apartment at Estepona overlooking the Mediterranean sea and the mountains of North Africa. Apart from an short visit to the anomaly that is Gibraltar, everything was to be recommended, just look at some of the pictures they took! Spain in winter is a glorious place to be, I can never understand why it is the low season, give me January as opposed to August any day - make a note when planning your holiday next year, who wouldn't want to enjoy a spot of winter sun?
Now, closer to home, the garden is waking up once more and demanding attention. The heads of daffodil and crocus beam up at you when you take as stroll, and the cherry blossom flowers are slowly opening their pink bonnets. The tall guys are doing their best to replant the part of the garden nearest to the house, and chop back the dead growth from last year. The new Yurt accommodation has been fitted with its own solar panel to heat up the water and today; at about 10.00am and despite there being a partial cloud cover the water was flowing from the taps at a piping hot 60 degrees centigrade. We'll be having to cool it down for the summer! We'll be putting the yurt back up again in a few weeks time ready for rentals from Easter week onwards, so if you fancy trying it out, have a look at the availability calendar and get in touch.
Out and about, of course, the almond blossom is in full swing and this year it seems better than ever, almost as though the trees want to make up for the lost opportunities of last year's drought. And so the cycle of weeks and months starts to roll out, Easter will come and go and before you can say: 'Book that flight!' it will be summer once more. But before then Ella and I have a very important job to do. A the end of June a couple of walkers from Norway who enjoyed our fully catered walking package last year are returning with their friends for another full programme of trekking, so it is up to the two of us to check the old routes but more importantly, to discover some new ones. So, with walking boots a ready - no, wait, I am forgetting that I am a dog - we place ourselves in the anticipation of more walks. OK tall ones, did I make myself clear, more walks!
Yours, with trekking pole in paw,
Oska, the dynamic dachshund.
