Culture Vultures, Birthdays and Railways...

Culture Vultures is an organisation set up by a lady called Annie Busch to enable people from Bolnuevo, Mazarron and Camposol to have a cultural treat in Cartagena, Lorca or Murcia without having to worry about the driving.  It also means you can have a drink whilst out without worrying about the Guardia Civil.  On Thursday we went with T and D to the Teatro Romea in Murcua for a performance of Madama Butterfly, sung in Italian with Spanish surtitles. The company was from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine which is very much in the news at the moment.  I don't know if they were Russians or ethnic Ukrainians and frankly it didn't matter.  They soon warmed up and the performance was most enjoyable.  Some of the arias were particularly moving.  We had seats in a box which afforded an excellent view of the stage and of the theatre itself but the chairs, albeit movable, were a little on the hard side.  Maybe take a cushion next time?

And next time will be La Boheme on 4 April.  There isnt a coach, at least not at the moment, so we'll be driving there in the Volvo.  Which means we should be able to have a nice italian meal at our favourite restaurant just opposite the theatre.

कैरोल कि जनम दिन ! (Carol's Birthday)

Let's just say it's 21 again fort memsahib and, to celebrate, we went to the Spice Villa on Camposol for a magnificent Indian meal.  Camposol is not exactly our favourite place but the Spice Villa is an excellent Indian restaurant and, so far, the best we have found in Spain.  

Bradshaw's Bolnuevo

The Ferocarril de Bolnuevo is coming on slowly but surely.  We have a mountain with tunnel, a new station and some track ballast down and tomorrow we are making a trip to the model shop in the Thader centre in Murcia.  And just maybe some spaghetti at La Tagliatella!

The Bolnuevo Model Railway

(sometimes known as the Charlie ChooChoo Express!)*

With the change in the weather the management board took the decision to construct a new line in the picturesque seaside village of Bolnuevo.  Track and rolling stock has been transported to Spain courtesy of Stelios Ezyjetopoulos and essential building supplies contracted to L Merlin and Co as well as Messrs Ikea, Visanfer and Pinturas Tavi.  After some initial problems with on site (garage floor) screwing causing severe pain and anguish to the work team the basic trackway board was finally completed in January 2014.

So here it is: legs courtesy of IKEA at 2 Euros 50 each, lounger cushion from the chinese chop ( to save my knees from getting sore).  Oh and grey paint from Tavi's in Mazarron.

A basic green was then added for the 'grassy bits' - the grey being for track bed.

Now construction begins in earnest, the right hand corner being a mountain with tunnel for 2 tracks leading onto an incline for one track and then a bridge over 2 other tracks and down a decline.  This facilitates a third circle of the  line.  The other two tracks lead on to a main station with island platform.  Anyone got a footbridge? And anyone got room in their luggage to bring the station out from England?  A second station with terminus will be located in the bottom rh corner in due course. 

No, none of it fixed down properly at this stage but by 10 March 2014.....

We have background colour...

Ignore the pool pipe - it's not a permanent fixture...

and the inside of the tunnel is now painted as well and the floor covered with sand glued to the base to form a track bed.  The track will now be laid there so that the roof (a papier mache construction) can be fixed on top.  Obviously if the roof were put on first it would be difficult to lay the track even with the most modern engineering - which I don't have.  I do have some tiny tiny sheep somewhere and a farmhouse to sit on top.

So what's next?  Well, fix that roof on and finish it off with some plaster of paris to give it a rugged effect and then put some fake brickwork on the ramps and bridge.  Then polywhatsit glue a layer of sand onto the proposed trackbed - and start laying the track.....

*the charlie choo choo express leaves each night at approximately 0100hrs and reaches its destination at 0101hrs.  It is a sleeper service.  It returns the following morning directly to the terminus.  Timings are flexible.  There is usually only one passenger - Charlie (our cockatiel) who has a cage on wheels.  He got frightened on his own in the living room and now sleeps with us (but not in our bed). 

 

 

Tempus Semper Fugit !

It occurs to me that it has been some time (April 2013) since I last blogged here and I intend to put that matter right straight away.  Call it a New Year's Resolution of you like - or perhaps wishful thinking.  So it's catch up time...

Well Mrs P went back to the UK in April to look after sister Dianne who had broken her leg in several places - no doubt not looking where she was going but there you are - and no sooner had she got backto Wales than Mrs P decided to have a nice trip and break her wrist - so between the two of them they had three arms and three legs - slightly not enough, but they got by and she eventually returned to Spain in June in time for my birthday and a trip to Avila, Slamanca, Segovia and Toledo.

Each one of those places was magnificent but, for me, Salamanca stands out as the loveliest place I have visited in Spain so far...



....closely followed by all the others!

That is to say:















 - the walled town of Avila



- the Roman aqueduct in Segovia



- and Toledo.

Later on we went firstly with Alex and Sandy and then with Dianne, Simon and Sian up into the Sierra Espuna which, during the week and 'off season' is really beautiful.  When it's busy however driving around a two way narrow road with hairpin bends and sudden inclines can be a little stressful.  Fortunately on both occasions the traffic was not only minimal - it was mainly non existent!



We also had a couple of days exploring Murcia - the regional capital and our nearest big town.

Murcia Cathedral











Then in the Autumn we visited 'Green Spain' - the area around Bilbao,
San Sebastian and Santander...



This is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao - a fantastic city...



...and this is typical countryside of 'Green Spain' (Cantabria).

Here endeth the catch up, for now, more (perhaps) later...

Hoots mon there's a Haggis loose...

Hoots mon there's a Haggis loose...

Burns night last night and the expat community did it in style at the Playa Grande Hotel in Puerto Mazarron.  The Haggis had been flown in specially from Scotland and was piped in by a piper.  It was a good one - and addressed in the usual ‘saunsie’ manner.  There was a magnificent feast with Neaps and Tatties and the blanco and tinto flowed in abundance.  Then Keefy was invited to address the assembled company with a rendition of A Man’s a Man for a’ That – in his best broad Scots accent.  Well, neither the Scots nor the Sassenachs could tell that he wasn’t really from north of the border until at the end of the poem he confessed that he was in fact from Sarf Lunden.  Anyway it went down well.  After various toasts to the lads and lassies, the dancing began and went on until long after midnight.  Copious amounts of wine – and whiskey – were consumed and, fortunately, the Guardia Civil had not twigged this year that it was Burns night and were therefore not waiting by the roundabout with breathalisers in hand….

So you see, no matter where you are in the world, the great man is celebrated with great gusto – and not a little sadness that Scotland might soon be going its own way.

Today the sun is shining, it’s nice and warm and the blue Mediterranean is sparkling like diamonds.  ‘Oh to be in England’?  Not likely – viva Espana!