Adventures in Andalucia

Hola,

Sorry about the delay. We have no wi fi for our laptop and have to rely on the local internet cafe to open which isn"t often as they have siestas all the time. Also we have been out from fairly early in the morning each day.

We vacated De La Indepencia 350 Barcelona Wednesday morning for our train that would take us to Andalucia. The first part of our trip took us initially along the coast and then onto the flat wastelands of Aragon - a landscape so devoid of features it would be rejected for spaghetti westerns because it was too bleak.

Ancient fortified structures could be seen from the train around Calitayud and just south of the town minature meses and buttes abound. Fields of solar panels competed with olive groves for primero situacion.

After travelling at more than 300 kph we reached our destination, Santa Ana Antequera railway station on time and were met by our host in Rio Gordo, Shane. After moving into our accommodation we undertook a familiarisation tour of Rio Gordo (Fat River) noting the various bars and restaurants. The old but renovated white casa we are staying in has a third floor rooftop balcony overlooking the whitewashed houses, church, olive groves and surrounding mountains - perfect.

For dinner that night we went to Bar Molina sharing the hospitality with local townsfolk intent on following Barcelona´s progress in the UEFA Cup. Skewers of garlic prawns and fried octopus were washed down with bottles of the local beer and a bottle of the house red. Satisfied, we wandered home along the pebbled, narrow street.

.....to be continued