Go see it for yourself - it's amazing!!Forgive the over-zealous Christians for the mess they made of the middle of this extra-ordinary building.
Good quality, inexpensive place to stay;
http://www.hostalsantaana.com/
Jayne.
25 diciembre 2005
Mezquita, Córdoba
Go see it for yourself - it's amazing!!Forgive the over-zealous Christians for the mess they made of the middle of this extra-ordinary building.
Good quality, inexpensive place to stay;
http://www.hostalsantaana.com/
Jayne.
21 diciembre 2005
La canción de la semana #33
Not La Cucaracha as everybody knows it, but La Cucaracha as sung by Lila Downs. Check the lyrics for Victor Jara, Ché Guevara and la Junta de Naciones (United Nations).
¡Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo!
Kirill
19 diciembre 2005
Spanish Diary (Part 5)
December 17th, the day we were both due to fly back to the UK, came and went. Pam is now in March but I…am still in Spain! Guess what? the builders have not finished. I'm now coming back on the 24th by the way.
It all started so well: at the beginning of November Rafael said that he would definitely be with us around mid-month…oops, make that the 30th!
Day one was great, 4 men all working like Trojans. Day two dawned bright and clear but unfortunately we had a 3-hour power cut. Day 3, it can't get any worse can it? Yep, we had a 6-hour power cut. Day 4, it rained and there was no mains water [mind you the fates hadn't noticed that we had 30 cubic meters of water in the pool so: "Nah nah ne hah nah!"] From then on things have gone much better, well could they have got much worse? The work really should be completed before Christmas…just…I hope…
Our next-door neighbour is, as we used to say, "a few pence short of a shilling". As he has no one else to talk to he just pops in, uninvited, and interrupts the builders with his ramblings. I know, I'll wait till he goes out, and then bolt the gates. Gottcha…Nope! The next thing I see is Antonio on his own roof, complete with broom, sweeping up - and interrupting the builders again! He may not be bright, but he is inventive.
We know a local singer who invited us to go to a dance where he was performing. I kid you not; it was just like the old village-hall dance of our youth…but entirely populated by wrinklies, all smooching and snogging to the slow numbers. It was a bit unnerving, talk about a blast from the past.
We've been here for about a year now, so what how is it all working out? The answer is: great. We really are having a wonderful time. The weather and the country are a bonus, but it is the people that make our stay here such a pleasure. They are so open and friendly, it's unbelievable. We have been made so welcome and their generosity of spirit is unbounded.
They will do anything to help…even if they do get a bit carried away at times. Josefina [a very sprightly 75-year-old] is very concerned that we have our car in the street during building work [a valid concern I have to say], so she offered to put our car in her barn…unfortunately it wasn't actually her barn, it was her sister's and her sister had rented it out and there wasn't really any space for my car anyway… Josefina has no children of her own so she has sort of adopted us. We have to go round and see her regularly or she gets a bit miffed. I went last night and she offered me a coffee. I thought the packet looked a bit odd so when she was out of the room I checked the use by date – 2000. "This coffee is great", I said. "Do you want another?" she asked. "Not just now thank you."
Their generosity extends to the bars as well. We happened to meet four local couples in the street and went to the bar with them. We had 4 drinks but it was literally impossible to pay for a round, even when I pressed money on the waiter it was still not accepted. Today, I went to the Women's Association Christmas meal, even though Pam had gone home. The husbands have to pay, but as Pam wasn't there they said I was having her meal so…I still couldn't pay. Contrast that with the only English couple we have met in the village. [Pam's idea not mine I assure you…] We went to the bar as arranged; they came late, sat down and waited for us to order them a drink [twice] and then looked the other way as I went up to pay. That's them off my Christmas card list…
The main reason that we have been so well accepted, of course, is Pam. She is more Andaluz than the locals; they all love her to bits. The other reason is that we both speak Spanish. None of the other English families here even try. So guess what, we have integrated and they haven't, can't, or simply don't want to. I much prefer our approach to theirs, they are missing so much.
With a bit of luck, next year we will be able to sit back and enjoy the new pool and patio but, the way things have gone so far, I'm sure that one way or another there will still be plenty of material for future Dear Diaries.
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
Rod
It all started so well: at the beginning of November Rafael said that he would definitely be with us around mid-month…oops, make that the 30th!
Day one was great, 4 men all working like Trojans. Day two dawned bright and clear but unfortunately we had a 3-hour power cut. Day 3, it can't get any worse can it? Yep, we had a 6-hour power cut. Day 4, it rained and there was no mains water [mind you the fates hadn't noticed that we had 30 cubic meters of water in the pool so: "Nah nah ne hah nah!"] From then on things have gone much better, well could they have got much worse? The work really should be completed before Christmas…just…I hope…
Our next-door neighbour is, as we used to say, "a few pence short of a shilling". As he has no one else to talk to he just pops in, uninvited, and interrupts the builders with his ramblings. I know, I'll wait till he goes out, and then bolt the gates. Gottcha…Nope! The next thing I see is Antonio on his own roof, complete with broom, sweeping up - and interrupting the builders again! He may not be bright, but he is inventive.
We know a local singer who invited us to go to a dance where he was performing. I kid you not; it was just like the old village-hall dance of our youth…but entirely populated by wrinklies, all smooching and snogging to the slow numbers. It was a bit unnerving, talk about a blast from the past.
We've been here for about a year now, so what how is it all working out? The answer is: great. We really are having a wonderful time. The weather and the country are a bonus, but it is the people that make our stay here such a pleasure. They are so open and friendly, it's unbelievable. We have been made so welcome and their generosity of spirit is unbounded.
They will do anything to help…even if they do get a bit carried away at times. Josefina [a very sprightly 75-year-old] is very concerned that we have our car in the street during building work [a valid concern I have to say], so she offered to put our car in her barn…unfortunately it wasn't actually her barn, it was her sister's and her sister had rented it out and there wasn't really any space for my car anyway… Josefina has no children of her own so she has sort of adopted us. We have to go round and see her regularly or she gets a bit miffed. I went last night and she offered me a coffee. I thought the packet looked a bit odd so when she was out of the room I checked the use by date – 2000. "This coffee is great", I said. "Do you want another?" she asked. "Not just now thank you."
Their generosity extends to the bars as well. We happened to meet four local couples in the street and went to the bar with them. We had 4 drinks but it was literally impossible to pay for a round, even when I pressed money on the waiter it was still not accepted. Today, I went to the Women's Association Christmas meal, even though Pam had gone home. The husbands have to pay, but as Pam wasn't there they said I was having her meal so…I still couldn't pay. Contrast that with the only English couple we have met in the village. [Pam's idea not mine I assure you…] We went to the bar as arranged; they came late, sat down and waited for us to order them a drink [twice] and then looked the other way as I went up to pay. That's them off my Christmas card list…
The main reason that we have been so well accepted, of course, is Pam. She is more Andaluz than the locals; they all love her to bits. The other reason is that we both speak Spanish. None of the other English families here even try. So guess what, we have integrated and they haven't, can't, or simply don't want to. I much prefer our approach to theirs, they are missing so much.
With a bit of luck, next year we will be able to sit back and enjoy the new pool and patio but, the way things have gone so far, I'm sure that one way or another there will still be plenty of material for future Dear Diaries.
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
Rod
16 diciembre 2005
10 diciembre 2005
La canción de la semana #31
...is Chinchivi performed by the Peruvian band Novalima. The track you hear appeared in last month's WFMU radio programme.
Kirill
Ay! Ay! Ay!
This, and many more sounds at Flamenco Festival London, 10-25 February 2006. Say no more.
Kirill
03 diciembre 2005
La canción de la semana #30
And now, for our 30th Song of the Week, something completely different: Bulerias by British-American '70s prog-rock outfit Carmen. Cool, eh?
Kirill
26 noviembre 2005
La canción de la semana #29
Canción del Minero interpretada por Víctor Jara (1932—1973).
Voy, vengo, subo, bajo,
todo para qué
nada para mí.
Minero soy,
a la mina voy,
a la muerte voy,
minero soy.
Kirill
19 noviembre 2005
Salif Keita en Barbican
El viernes pasado fui al Barbican a ver el concierto de Salif Keita 'la voz dorada del África'.
Kirill
Spanish Diary (Part 4)
As we had a spare weekend, there being no sign of any builders…again, we went to Cordoba. It’s a wonderful city to visit for a couple of days. Cordoba has the cathedral [Mesquite] with hundreds of supporting columns, almost as far as you can see. Beautiful. The city has a very rich history with lots of magnificent buildings to visit. Anyway, we booked into a 3* hotel for the night; lovely setting with the promise of dinner from 20:30 onwards. So we made ourselves ready and went down:
“Is the restaurant open?”
“Er…it opens at 20:30.”
“That’s OK then, it’s a quarter to nine.”
Yeeees, I’ll just check……. OK, please take a table.”
The waiter arrives: “There’s no salmon, no steak…oh, and there isn’t any cheese either.”
Pam then said as a joke: - “We’ll have some rabbit then.” The waiter looked a bit sheepish and more than a little confused and said “Actually I do have a rabbit in my car, I’ve just shot it.” He’s still trying to figure out how Pam knew. He then went away for about half an hour; we were getting a bit restive.
“…Er, we don’t actually have a chef either… We can do you a sandwich.”
You would have thought they’d have noticed they didn’t have a chef a bit sooner wouldn’t you. We found out later that they hadn’t actually had a chef for several days; apparently she left in a huff! Basil Fawlty, eat your heart out. We went out for dinner.
After me demonstrating my expertise by destroying the barbecue, Pam decided to get in on the act. She chose the microwave for her demonstration. She put a small piece of bread in to defrost. Not for her the defrost button for a few seconds, oh no, full power for 5 minutes! Then she went out into the street for a chat with the neighbours. You would not believe the amount of smoke one small piece of charred bread generates! The whole house stank for days and we had to totally spring-clean the kitchen!
The pool was finally finished today when they fitted the canvas winter cover. I mentioned before that Jesús, was working for us, today we had a demonstration of walking on water! The pool was full and the cover fitted in place: - to demonstrate that it was safe if you fell in, he walked across the cover just to prove it wouldn’t tear! A very impressive demonstration if I may say so.
Seven weeks ago we persuaded a local factory to make our reinforced concrete patio beams and pergolas really quickly, as Rafael said he would help take them off the lorry and start work immediately. ..They were ready 3 weeks ago – unfortunately the beams are still at the factory ‘cos Rafael is currently working in Granada and doesn’t have time to fetch them!! He rang us yesterday to say that we should place the order for the patio tiles…mind you he still won’t actually give us a date for when he is going to start work. We live in hope!
Rod - Retired
“Is the restaurant open?”
“Er…it opens at 20:30.”
“That’s OK then, it’s a quarter to nine.”
Yeeees, I’ll just check……. OK, please take a table.”
The waiter arrives: “There’s no salmon, no steak…oh, and there isn’t any cheese either.”
Pam then said as a joke: - “We’ll have some rabbit then.” The waiter looked a bit sheepish and more than a little confused and said “Actually I do have a rabbit in my car, I’ve just shot it.” He’s still trying to figure out how Pam knew. He then went away for about half an hour; we were getting a bit restive.
“…Er, we don’t actually have a chef either… We can do you a sandwich.”
You would have thought they’d have noticed they didn’t have a chef a bit sooner wouldn’t you. We found out later that they hadn’t actually had a chef for several days; apparently she left in a huff! Basil Fawlty, eat your heart out. We went out for dinner.
After me demonstrating my expertise by destroying the barbecue, Pam decided to get in on the act. She chose the microwave for her demonstration. She put a small piece of bread in to defrost. Not for her the defrost button for a few seconds, oh no, full power for 5 minutes! Then she went out into the street for a chat with the neighbours. You would not believe the amount of smoke one small piece of charred bread generates! The whole house stank for days and we had to totally spring-clean the kitchen!
The pool was finally finished today when they fitted the canvas winter cover. I mentioned before that Jesús, was working for us, today we had a demonstration of walking on water! The pool was full and the cover fitted in place: - to demonstrate that it was safe if you fell in, he walked across the cover just to prove it wouldn’t tear! A very impressive demonstration if I may say so.
Seven weeks ago we persuaded a local factory to make our reinforced concrete patio beams and pergolas really quickly, as Rafael said he would help take them off the lorry and start work immediately. ..They were ready 3 weeks ago – unfortunately the beams are still at the factory ‘cos Rafael is currently working in Granada and doesn’t have time to fetch them!! He rang us yesterday to say that we should place the order for the patio tiles…mind you he still won’t actually give us a date for when he is going to start work. We live in hope!
Rod - Retired
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