Lichens in Hiruela, Madrid

Map of Madrid

Early this month, I went with Ron, Beatriz and Mel to visit a nearby town, north of Madrid,  called Hiruela,   where we saw different kinds of lichens, which are fungi in artforms of nature. The lichens were all over not only on trees but also on the ground. I got some of them attached in small twigs and branches for my decorative purposes.

See samples below.

This town is a tourist spot with some recommended paths to follow within rows of trees.  The whole town was almost at our own private tour.  We chose a route that indicated walking for three hours, but we did not finish the route as it became complicated for me along the way with difficulty of crossing from one end to the other.  I had to cross a stream to be able to go to the other side.

Another older group that were behind us opted not to cross the stream but I think that the cold water did me well since it removed the tiredness in my legs and feet. It was like a cold massage and I did like it after all although the water was really very cold and I had to be careful less I slip over the pebbles.   Luckily, it was a clear,  sunny day and even if the temperature was cold,  as we walked,  the weather mellowed down.  Here is a glimpse of the town and its river.

Trip to Malaga

On our last day Maundy Thursday April 22nd, we decided to leave early for Malaga.  Mel had some friends there that she wanted to meet.  At first it was difficult to meet with them because of the crowd due to the procession and being some of them British, they are not used to such a caotic situation.  But we had no problem visiting what we could of Malaga in the meantime.  It seemed to be a bleek day with heavy rains and  all the arrangements for the procession like seats unlikely to be sold to watch the procession, threatened  to ruin the business of some.  We managed to find a cozy and excellent bar to have a quick tapa lunch with the famous fried eggplant dipped in flour with cane honey on top.  Hmmn deliciously done.  I was in a hurry because I wanted to visit the newly opened Thyssen Modern Art Museum just around the block.  And I managed to see it with Ron.  Such a pleasure for the eyes!  Mel in the meantime preferred to take a walking tour of what she could by herself.

Here are some pictures of Malaga.

 

 

Trip to Torrox

After the procession, Ron thought we had enough time to go to a nearby town called Torrox.  It is a very quaint small town but it has its enchanting decorated floral streets and they actually have won prizes for such decorations.  The visit although short was gratifying specially because the people were nice and accomodating telling us that we can take all the pictures as we pleased.  Here is what Torrox looks like.

 

 

 

Parking on our way back to Nerja became a problem because of the procession.  Ron could not find any place to park after making several rounds so Mel and me decided to get off and buy our dinner for take out.  It took a while before Ron could park and even so it was not a convenient place since the next day we needed the car to be near the apartment to have our stuff loaded.  But then he decided to wake up early the following day to be able to park it closer for Mel and my convenience.  That is a gentleman!

Last day in Nerja

In  our last day in Nerja, Norma a friend had invited us for lunch which we willingly accepted.  We  went around to discover more of Nerja while we waited for lunch  time.  We were hoping to go to  the flea market but instead we were led to  the Plaza Verano Azul,  inaugurated in 2001 in honor of a famous  Spanish TV series in the 1980's and being  filmed in Nerja, made the town known all over Spain.   Of tourists interests, we saw the boat "La Dorada" that appeared in the television series. 

Time for lunch.  Norma prepared some anchovies and potato chips while she was getting ready with the rest of the meal consisting mainly of grilled fish and vegetables.   Ron kept  himself busy with the help of the appetizers.  

 

Norma's Dog

Cooking with Norma

Mel trying to help with the cooking

We had a very good lunch after which we went for a siesta while waiting for the procession to start.  Then we went to see the procession where Norma participated.

I was amazed to see how the children had been so well-behaved while they took their own loads. I never have seen children participate before in this type of processions. I also observed the gaits and the elegance of how the young adults, both men and women separately carried the floats on their shoulders. It was a memorable sight to always recall.

Trip to Frigiliana

Ron took us to Frigiliana on the third day.  Frigiliana is within the municipality of the province of Malaga.  From this town you get a unique  panoramic coastal view.  We saw several interesting places in Frigiliana.  We had a bad experience though with a lady that owned the shop that sells pretty aprons.  While Ron and Mel were posing behind the aprons, a lady approached reprimanding them because they did not ask permission to pose behind her aprons.  (She probably thought we were going to copy her designs).  Ron and Mel did not know how to react but apologized immediately.  I did too.  The lady accepted our apologies and told me to continue to take the picture.  We really were no longer in the mood, but what the heck, after all she gave us her consent.  If not for that, the day in Frigiliana would have been perfect.

Here are more pictures of Frigiliana:
 

 

 

Trip to Ronda

On the second day, we went to a nearby town, Ronda.  It was quite a rainy day although the sun would try to peek every now and then to get a good glimpse of what we were doing.  Luckily, we found an abandoned French made umbrella which became very useful for us when the rain started to pour...     Although Mel was always  on the alert in case the owner would see it and claim it or much worse, say that we stole it.  But nobody did.  Here is what we saw in Ronda.

 

 

 

 

 

The way  back to Nerja was more difficult than going  to Ronda  since there was heavy fog that affected visibility very much and  worse is that we were on rough curves on top of the mountains.   My oh my, and I hate the curves specially the sharp bends!!!  But then,  I looked at Ron and I did not see him losing his calm so  then I looked more eagerly ahead and I realized that there were bright lights illuminating our

way and that was because there was a  heavy duty van in front of us that seemed to be guiding us.  It was quite a long time that we were in this weird situation  maybe and hour or so and yet I no longer felt afraid just somehow impatient to get out of the fog.  When we finally did, we saw that there were a lot of other cars ahead of us, but surely not the same heavy duty van that we had in front of us.   That was quite a blessing, first the umbrella then the guiding light.  I knew that somebody was there to protect us from harm.   What a relief!!!