brisca

Hi folks

Thought some of you might be interested to know what I got up to at the weekend!

Well, I went with the walking group on a "pilgrimage" route to Guadelupe.
We walked 27km on Saturday, stayed overnight in a hostel and then completed the route with a 18km walk on Sunday.

The Saturday walk was hard going for me! It was mainly uphill, and as I haven't been able to go walking for the past 6 weeks while O/H has been away, I was a bit out of practice!
Still, I didn't get any blisters - and after a few hours' sleep I was ready to start again on Sunday.

That walk also started with an uphill climb, as we went up to 1200m altitude in the mountains...............beautiful scenery
We were very lucky with the weather; dry, sunny and pleasantly warm (around 20-22 degrees) but not uncomfortably hot for walking.
In fact, both mornings were decidedly chilly - and on the Sunday, the wind was bitterly cold for a while!
Still, once the sun came out and we were a bit more sheltered, it was T shirt weather again - and I managed to catch a lot of sun on my face, and got a nice red nose!

One of the best parts of the walk was going through woods full of chestnut trees; where of course we took advantage of all the fallen chestnuts, and had a good old feast

The worst part was coming upon a group of hunters, which meant we had to do a long detour on tarmac, rather than continuing on through the forest.
It was horrible hearing all the guns going off, and wondering what poor animal was being shot
My (Spanish) friends were telling me about the horrendous things that can happen to the hunting dogs once they are "past their best"
Some people gave part of their lunch to the poor skinny dogs that had been left behind at the car park.
Several of our group were very anti-hunting, and were refusing to pass by quietly, in the hope of disturbing the prey

Anyway, we arrived in Guadelupe at about 4pm on Sunday, and posed for a group photo on the steps of the cathedral (there were about 60 of us)
There was a mass held for the group; but being the heathen that I am, I sat in the square with a lager and watched the world go by! (With some of my Spanish "lapsed Catholic" friends, I hasten to add!)

We left at about 6pm, and I was home at 8pm - tired but having had a great time.
My hips were aching quite a lot yesterday, but today I'm feeling fine

Here are a few photos, to hopefully give you a bit of a flavour of the weekend.

brisca

Here are a few more photos.

These are from Sunday.

brisca

Last few - in Guadelupe.

Check out the colour of that sky!! Not bad for the end of October, eh?

Rosemary

Fantastic to hear of your week-end. The photo's are wonderful and really show the mountains and greenery off well. Lovely to gain an insight into the beautiful area that you live in, I can see why you love it so much and have settled so well there. Your group all look happy and ready for another walk instead of worn out so it must have been enjoyable for all.

What was the highlight for you? Not the lager in the square I am sure.

Will send Karma if I am allowed to.

Rosemary

Rosemary

Just realised that this is in siesta, surely it should be in the Spain forum as it shows life and scenery in Spain.

Rosemary

brisca

Thank you for your lovely comments Rosemary

The highlight for me was just being with my friends, and enjoying the wonderful scenery around me.
As you say, I am very fortunate to live in such a beautiful area - so it's great to just have the chance to enjoy all that is around me.
Plenty of fresh, clean air and lots of fruit and nuts that you can collect whilst walking

Also, it was quite an achievement to complete the leg on Saturday!
At times I wondered why I was doing it, because I really did feel out of condition and a bit sluggish
So maybe the highlight was finishing with a flourish on Sunday

brisca

Mmm? Don't know

Maybe a Mod can advise, and move this if they feel it is appropriate?

MnM

Looks like you had a great weekend Sam (with the exception of running into the hunters) and thanks for sharing the brilliant photos with us.

I especially liked the picture of you and your friend and would just like to mention that I don't think you need any kind of diet....you look great Love your t-shirt with the German Shephards too

Much love
Martha

jdr

Sorted. ;-)) Nice pics, looks like you had fun Sam.

montgomail

Beautiful photos - your life seems idyllic.

brisca

Oh bless you Martha!
Thank you so much for your kind comments, but I can assure you that I need a bit of toning!
That's why I wear my T shirt outside my trousers - so you can't see the bulges!

As to my GSD T shirts; I've got a quite a few of them.
I've even got one with mine and Shiloh's names on

Glad you liked the photos
Yes, my friend Jenny is lovely. She's from Barcelona, so I'm learning the odd word in Catalan as well now.
She also speaks pretty good English (and she works in the Ayuntamiento ) so she's really handy if I get stuck with my Spanish!

How was your weekend?
Have you managed to ride your bike yet??

Love Sam x

brisca

Thank you!

Yes, I consider myself extremely fortunate to live where I do, and to be having the kind of experiences I'm having

brisca

Thanks for sorting it jdr!

Yes, it was great

MnM

My weekend was not the greatest because Michael and Pip (our dog) were both poorly and the weather here was not very nice

As for my bike, it's now in bits and pieces getting prepared for Michael to paint, so I won't be riding it any time soon, which is good because it will give my ankle a bit more time to heal.

Meantime, I will enjoy my rides with Michael when work and weather permits

Sending love,
Martha

brisca

Oh dear

That sounds like a weekend you'd rather forget then?
How are Michael and Pip now? I do hope they're both feeling a bit brighter.
You poor things...............you've all had a rough time just lately.
Still, things can only get better hopefully

Wow! Can't wait to see some photos of your bike when it's been painted
As you say, it's probably a good thing that you can't get out and about riding just yet, and then your ankle will have a chance to get stronger.

Hope you get an opportunity (and the weather!) to get out with Michael soon. I'm sure you could both do with a bit of a break soon (and not of the bone kind either!! )

Any news about whether your son will be over for Christmas?
It would be nice to have that to look forward to, eh?

Sending love and get well wishes,
Sam xx