Bedrock

Archive for the ‘sunbathing’ Category

A new record for our trip I think, the temperature today (Thursday) peaked 41 degrees – yes, that’s marginally hotter than you’d keep your hot water tank!

We got up this morning and Tony the builder turned up sharp-ish to sort my plant watering system and to tile the BBQ – you HAVE to see the BBQ (next blog) – he’s done a cracking job. Next stop we went to Huescar not for the market but to pop into the cafe in the square for coffee and “churos” which are basically made from fried dough.. you get a plate full of these curved dough sticks, pour sugar over them and dip them in hot chocolate if you have it, coffee if you don’t. Lovely.

So, in the process of doing that, we discovered a new hardware store with an amazing Fablon-type material for putting on the windows – electrostatically, that turns any window into a mock-stained-glass window.. but really, Fablon was a bad example – this stuff actually looks great. More later when it’s up and we get photos.

When we got to Huescar we were blown away by a guy’s parked HUMMER.. the photos say it all – one of the best movies of all time perfectly captured on a vehicle. Bear in mind that Arnold was the star of the movie and in real life drives a Hummer – and that this was his BEST movie ever and not to mention that the female co-star was Kristanna Loken who is – well, check out the link over her name, she’s not by any means the best looking female in the world but she has to rate as one of the sexiest… check this out – and if you think it’s boring – I can’t help you – Loken as the Terminatrix in Rise of the Machines, defeated by superconducting magnets – marvelous.

So.. .that was the START of our day, we then went off to lake Negratin just up from BAZA and once again we were not disappointed – the water is just superb… once you’re in there is a constant flux between cool or cold water – and these waves of almost HOT water, it’s difficult to describe but suffice it to say that just sitting there at 40+C up to your neck in the most beautifully blue water with an almost constant, light breeze going by – is, well, I could just stay there facing the sun all day… in reality we spent a couple of hours and then cleared off to visit nearby villages before returning to our cave for a while and then heading off to the village – the PLAN was to have a half at one of the local pubs, then clear off to Huescar – but as happens we met our pals Richard and Christine at one of the bars and that was it for the night – Richard is from Scotland with a business background and so personally being an almost-Scot (well, Wark isn’t THAT far away from Scotland) we have lots in common and after a couple of bottles of wine we solved most of the world’s problems.

At this point I’m going to give up and simply show you some photos I took today, none of which even REMOTELY capture the superb atmosphere down at the lake – you just have to be here… but I hope my photographic efforts at least give you a flavour…  tomorrow we’re off FIRST THING down south to what I hope will be my best Kodak moments to date… which I’ve already promised to share on the blog (and to those of you who’ve recently been kind enough to let me know you read this – THANKS – really – it’s great to know that someone appreciates my efforts.

Could this be a burns victim? Or perhaps a side of beef with a disease? No… it’s my right LEG after the insects have been digging into me… I’ve not a clue how they do it but I go to bed without a blotch and wake up in the morning looking like a serious accident victim… until a couple of years ago this NEVER happened to me but now the flies well and truly have it in for me. Some day I’ll remember to use the anti-bite spray…. or wear a haz-mat suit.

I should stress that while this photo shows only the LEAST severe of the bites I have.. none of them give me any trouble at all – it’s all visual… but if I was single, my chances of scoring would be ZILCH. Anyway as far as the water is concerned I have LOADS of new photos but I don’t have time until the weekend to put them up – the photos below however pretty much say it all – yes that greeny-blue really is the colour of the water…. and with fish… more later – enjoy the pics…

When we got here a couple of weeks ago, there was an area of grass etc maybe 50ft long up the hill that was totally burned out..  in temperatures of 38 degrees it does not take much to start a fire.  

This morning I fixed the broadband then we headed off to see a couple we chatted with last night – I said I’d go look at his HI-FI as he was having a spot of bother with it. 

On the way, we spotted another fire starting just down the road… we saw a lady with a hose apparently unable to do anything with it, quickly followed by a guy with a hose who did know what to do – and quickly he and others put the fire out – but it could have been bad! 

As you can see, much of the shrubbery is dry as a bone and hence ready for a fire – it just takes one idiot with a cigarette…

Anyway, it’s been a good day, WIFI is working, we got to meet locals, found a new (for us) swimming pool and restaurant just outside of Huescar…. and there’s some thunder coming on which means probably a quick burst – and that’ll clear the humidity up!

Yesterday we got an early start and went off to Huescar market… super hot outside approaching 38c at lunchtime but the market had lots of shade and so once we were done there, we popped over to Embalse Del Negratin near Freila which in turn is a little west of Baza…. and spent the rest of the afternoon in the water…. absolutely marvelous… a quiet evening in EL PARADOR near Galera and after waiting in vain for the celebrations to start in the village, eventually gave up around 11pm. This morning I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to sort simple database problems out back at work…  more sun needed to calm the nerves… it’s 30c already… clear skies – lovely.

Another day, another trip to Embalse Del Negratin. This time Jonathan had some stomach issues and so there was just the three of us while he stayed back at the cave. We took a packed lunch and lots of suntan lotion. This is going to be a new regular trip for me, just a short distance away from BAZA, this lake has the most wonderful colour and although a little chilly when you first get in the water (which is chocker-block full of sizeable fish!) you don’t want to come out.

We took a cheap Chinese blow-up with us and could have stayed there all day. We met an Australian couple who were camping and had a good chat with them but largely simple enjoyed the sun. There’s a nice restaurant there of course but if you’re just out to sunbath all you need is suntan lotion, some grub and the weather and we certainly had that.

Rather than rant on about what was entirely a visual and tanning experience, here are a few photos here just to give you an idea of the place….