A little later than usual this year, the almond trees in the Jalon valley are finally out in full blossom. The valley is covered in a magnificent carpet of pink and white as far as the eye can see, contrasting with the green of the olive trees and the black of the vines, which have yet to start budding after having been pruned hard in the autumn. We drove through the valley today, marvelling at the depth of colour and the fullness of the blossom, yet to be blown away by the high winds we’ve been experiencing recently.
We drove on to Calp and walked around the huge Ifach rock and sat outside a cafe and enjoyed lunch in the sun.
View from El Mirabo - 700m
Today we went walking in the mountains near Benichembla at the top end of the Jalon valley. The instructions for the walk were not very clear and we missed a turning within the first 5 mins.
Having re-traced our steps, we were then chased by a dog guarding an old cattle shed and Celia was nipped on the leg. We then took another wrong path and after a further 15 mins. decided to give up (we noticed later that the walk was compiled in 1995 and it did say some of the landmarks may have changed!)
As we didn’t fancy going back past the fierce dog, we cut through some orchards where we came across evidence of a lot of recent wild boar activity – it would just have been our luck to be attacked by one of them as well! We eventually found our way back to Benichembla and retired to a bar for a well-earned beer.
El Tossalet viewed from far side of Valle de Almadich
Determined not to waste the day completely, we drove up into what we dubbed some time ago our ’secret valley’ and traced the far end of the walk. After a picnic lunch at 500m, we climbed to a ridge where Celia stopped to rest, whilst Vernon scaled the peak we had been aiming for, El Mirabo (700m). The view from the top was breathtaking, well worth the climb, and he could see right down to the coast and, if the weather had been clear enough, out to Ibiza. Close to where we had parked the car was a ruined finca dating back to Moorish times and on the way back down the mountain, a weasel ran across the road in front of us.
This week the F1 GP teams came to the Cheste circuit near Valencia to try out their new cars and give their drivers a chance for some practice before the start of the new season. We joined a partisan crowd of 30,000 on the last day to watch Alonso setting the fastest lap time, Schumacher familiarising himself with the Mercedes and Button driving for McClaren for the first time. The Williams, Sauber and Renault teams were also out on the track in the winter sunshine.
It was an exciting day – our first experience of seeing F1 cars ‘live’ – and the speed with which they took the bend at the end of the pit straight was awesome. You can read the official story of the day on the F1 web site.
Renault leads up to turn 2
Alonso sets best time of the day
Side by side coming up to turn 2
Jensen Button in the McClaren-Mercedes
Panto Programme
We have just taken part in this year’s pantomime staged by the Careline Theatre Group entitled “Beauty and the Beast”. Celia and I were members of the chorus – singing, dancing and being part of ‘crowd scenes’. Celia also took part in several tap dancing numbers, fulfilling the dream she had when she started taking lessons just over a year ago, and the Charleston, in which she looked very fetching in her ‘flapper’ costume. We also took part in an extremely well-choreographed version of “Dance the Night Away”.
There were 7 performances at the Alcalali Theatre between the 13th – 17th January. Saturday and Sunday were particularly gruelling, with matinees at 3pm, as well as the evening performances at 8pm.
The show was very professional, with wonderful costumes, great music and dances and special effects. The audience reaction was incredible and the feedback from many of the regulars was that it was the best panto that Careline has staged to date. The reviews of the panto in the local newspapers were also, without exception, very enthusiastic and flattering. Read more below:
Euro Weekly News – p38
The Post – p5
You can watch a video of Celia dancing the Charleston by clicking here and see more photos in the General gallery.
This winter we have seen for the first time snow on the mountain tops around us. This was the scene that greeted us on the morning of the 8th January, when the UK was experiencing its worst snowfalls for many years.
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