Posts

All the zip lines lack empathy

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  It is a day where it feels so quiet, with gentle sun and a purity to the air. I suspect the Streetview boys and girls got up early when they went out in October 2019 to take these shots. High up amid the pines we come, early on in our trek to Aventura Amazonia, because nothing says rain forest like Southern Spain. To be fair, the website does day Multi-adventure in trees so we won’t worry about the lack of rain. https://aventuraentrepinos.com/actividades/multiaventura-en-arboles/   Almost 1000 people have reviewed the place and give it 4.6 stars. The top words are screen, zip line, activity, circuit, security, earrings and harness.  Six days ago Eva gave the full five. ‘My 8-year-old daughter really enjoyed it. She couldn't do level 4 because of her height, but otherwise it was fantastic. Bring fingerless gloves (like cycling gloves), they're essential, although you can buy them there.’ Now, I like direct translations. Sometimes they do things to English which are amus...

May fortune bring you the left footed dog of happiness - because owls are bastards.

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  Whoops!  Ok, turn round and back up the track.  We are going up a bit, down a bit and up a lot more. It is a descent track and we don’t have a lot to look at, save beautiful nature, so let’s get superstitious in a nature sort of a way. Owls.  Well, it is day time but we can note Granada has Eurasian Scops-Owls, Eurasian Eagle-Owls, Little Owls, Tawny Owls, Eared Owls of both Long and Short varieties.  Owls are symbols of wisdom or mystery. An owl hooting at night foretells death or serious misfortune.  If an owl stares at your house someone will become ill.  Clearly owls are bastards. We don’t have a dog with us. This may be a shame but it does mean we are safe from the random nature of dog-luck.  Fido, apparently, is able to issue fortune from its bum.  Should you tread on doggy doos with with your left foot then luck will be your lady tonight.  If, however, you place your left shoe forward you will be literally in the shit. While we ...

Death and attempts to halt its progress - ended by war

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  We going to have to positively run backwards.  The way ahead is only by detours and/or motorways.  Being good people we won’t dash across the dual carriageway but go back.  I’ll have to put in some extra kilometres to compensate. Mind you, we will be traveling less in the city of Granada itself so it will probably all work out. This is a day to be skirting round hiking areas.  The roads tend not to be.  The tracks obviously get motor traffic but not much.  Occasionally google pops up and tells you this is the Cerro del Muerto.  I think they are overworking the end of life stuff.  Norbert said ‘Beautiful landscape with hiking trails that require a good level of fitness’    Gregorio added ‘A beautiful spot in the Huetor mountain range for a hike, with an area populated by pine and scrub oak trees.’ We are near the Cerro del Pulpito.  Jose reckoned ‘A very beautiful place, like the entire area. You can pass by its base while exp...

The unexpected saint

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  It is a day for appreciating the rolling road and the magnificent hills.  We will try to squeeze all the excitement out of what is to hand such as La choza del santo Manuel. Saint Manuel has taken a bit of putting together because most sites seem to suggest you already know about him, so why explain.  It seems that Mauel Rubio Sanchez turned Venta del Molinillo into a pilgrimage site in the last decades of the 20th Century, claiming the spring water bought about miraculous healing.  A month ago Miguel wrote ‘I had never been to a saint's shrine other than a church. Entering that sanctuary, all filled with flowers, you feel an enormous peace and tranquility. I recommend you go and visit Saint Manuel.’  Sandra reported ‘This is the farmhouse where Saint Manuel del Molinillo lived. He died in 2001, and his followers still maintain it. It has three shrines, a living room with a lit fireplace. You can visit both the exterior and interior without any problem. CASH I...