Bedrock

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So much has happened in the last couple of days – starting off at dropping off our friend at Murcia Airport – through checking out the local villages – then off to the beautiful Monasterio De Santa Eulalia overnight in Aledo, Totana… then visiting the most fabulous set of statues nearby and travelling onto Lorca… I’ve just for now put the whole lot into a slideshow below – hope you enjoy.

After a very nice evening at the pub with our new friendly neighbours (see picture left) We just took a couple of days away to drop our young friend Fay off at Murcia airport and do a spot of shopping and culture-gathering – but as it happens it turned out to be much more.

Sunday we went off to the local car boot sale in the morning at BAZA – I have to say, it wasn’t that good – some old second hand stuff, mostly not that good – very little dealer surplus (my favourite) – not something I’d do again frankly. Anyway, the weather was lovely so that took up a little time – we then got ourselves ready and went to the ORCE fair – now that was a different kettle of fish altogether – open fair, lots of dealers – people selling every kind of cheese or olive or ham, one guy – I can’t remember what he was selling but he was a master at making bird noises verbally and kept everyone amused. There were some birds of prey there and one of the local bars was doing great business with everyone sitting outside drinking and enjoying free Tapas.

First think on Monday morning we went off first thing to Murcia to the airport and dropped off Fay then went shopping but before that we had a drive around the villages near the airport – ok – touristy – and the developers were FAR too enthusiastic as there are a lot of empty properties – but the place does have a nice bright holiday feel to it. I’ve put a few photos here but the rest I’m banging up on FLICKR with descriptions when I get a minute as I took a LOT.

Here’s a novel shop name – well, I thought so – along the coast at the DEL MAR shopping centre up just from Murcia airport!  I’m sure it means something quite catchy to the Spanish.

We spotted this fellow on our trip back from Lorca this morning – sadly the proper camera was locked away in the boot and there was NO way I was getting out of the car because what looks like a vulture was half my size at least and I did not fancy dying out in the desert at 38 degrees and counting. The photo was taken with my phone and from a distance but this was the largest I’ve EVER seen by far – and he looked MEAN!

More later. We spent the night last night at a Monastery near LORCA and I’ve LOTS to say on that exciting adventure.

Yesterday we went off to the new swimming pool in Huescar. Next time we go I’ll take the camera in as it’s really very nice. Tip for anyone considering a trip – go early afternoon – the locals have all cleared off by then! There’s a nice sheltered area with a burger van for for 3 Euros or so you get a kitchen-sink burger (burger, bacon, egg, cheese, salad, tomato etc and chips)… just the right start to a healthy swimming session.

Today it’s looking like a repair day as I’ve spotted some paint coming off in the bathroom after my miracle cement repairs! Temperatures continue to hover around the 38 degree mark which makes doing anything practical mid-afternoon a challenge – however here inside Bedrock it is very pleasant indeed. I put a little movie together (see previous post) and now I’m off to tackle the people who sold me the PanoramaStudio software as I think I’ve been conned (they don’t tell you until after you upgrade that you need to pay even more for use on commercial sites – now that’s nasty).

Maureen and Fay have been out shopping, Fay is off to Murcia airport on Monday and we’re going to drop her off then have an overnight stay in the area. Meanwhile we’ve festivals and markets coming up over the weekend so it’s going to be a busy few days.

We’re in Spain and I’ve spent the first couple of days involved in conference meetings and tomorrow I start the holiday in earnest – with a trip to a Spanish location where they apparently made a lot of the westerns. Maureen and Fay have been taking advantage of the 38+ degrees and getting some sun – and tried out the new pool in Huescar which apparently is very nice indeed.

The one thing I did want to do was a nice panorama of the area here but for reasons beyond me the FLASH software simply isn’t playing game – so here if anyone is interested is a rather WIDE JPG file representing a 360 degree view from just above our place – on a little hilltop a minute away from here. Double-click on the image and you can see it in it’s full original glory.

Sitting outside this afternoon we were talking to a lady who we’ve spoken to via email but never met before, she popped in for a chat – she’s just gotten a place out here and we were just talking about how people talk about this but the vast bulk don’t do it – or maybe wait until it’s too late. Well, we’re here and we’re enjoying it immensely. I’ve just (I think) mastered getting cement to stick to walls – so by tomorrow I’ll either have a very nicely finished bathroom – or a building site. Time will tell.

Ironic really that after yet another awful summer, the sun is finally blasting on the day we leave the UK for our summer exodus to Spain! Sure, we’ve had some nice weather but most of the time it’s been raining – as usual.

I’ve been frantically beavering away to make sure I have all of my toys up to date… the Omnia phone now sports the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 along with the new sat-nav software – not to mention the all-new Skype 3.0 which FINALLY handles voicemail properly.

My new wireless IP camera turned up from China right at the last minute and appears to work a TREAT, I’ve upgraded the laptop to Windows 7 (NOT the final version which is out to manufacturers in the USA but not here yet, but the final release candidate) and I’m taking a decent webcam for Skype so I can still do my all-essential meetings (I knew 5 weeks of actual holiday was a pipe-dream).

The laptop is kitted out with some new 360 degree panorama software I’m itching to try out, as normal photos really don’t do justice to our place over there and finally it looks like Iberbandits have sorted out the broadband thanks to help from a gentlemen over there by the name of Roger Thory who’s been most helpful. We’re heading off at 11am with our friend Fay who’s with us for the first week or so, no sign of anyone having flu – and the temperatures in Spain promise a hot start.

Of interest I’ve been struggling with some less than ideal webcam software over there which was quite slow (I originally put it down to the broadband) until the idea struck me to setup Skype on a new identity, hook that to the webcam and simply set it to auto-answer only from known contacts – a simple double-click on my Skype here and I have video and sound from Spain! “Simples” as they say on the “Compare the Meerkat” advert! Saldy even the latest phone software can’t tackle the video – yet. At the last minute I’ve created some new accounts on Skype so I can keep an eye on the office while I’m away using the same idea.

A matter of hours now and we’ll be on that plane… I can’t wait.