Still learning...
The Balcony
And last, but certainly not least, we, very sadly, say farewell to our friend and neighbour, Penni, who passed away on Tuesday 19th November.
Enjoying life to the last moment and contributing so much to our community, Nerja has lost a shining star; we'll really, really miss you, Penni.
Ancient Córdoba with the Nerja History Group
A fascinating trip to see Las Ermitas and the ancient city of Madinat al Zahra ( the Shining City).
Las Hermitas, high above the thriving city of modern Córdoba are the renovated austere dwellings of hermits who set up the commune at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Fascinating - and a wonderful balcony and viewpoint, too. The full story's HERE.
The Church at Las Hermitas
The Church at Las Hermitas
The Balcony
Moving on to spend time at the heavily renovated (...and continuing) ancient city of Madinat al Zahra again reminds us of the outstanding and barely comprehensible engineering abilities of the Moors.
Abd al-Rahman, the Caliph, took twenty-five years to build Madinat al-Zahra and it was deserted at the end of his reign. To date, only around a tenth of this vast site has been restored. The story's HERE.
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Velez Málaga with the Arts Society
A fascinating morning looking at familiar Velez through the eyes of the Moors living in a thriving trading town of those times. Looking at history through actors' performances is always an illuminating experience for us as we travel but seeing it in familiar surroundings opens our eyes even more somehow.
Yes, this could be back then - or Morocco - with a slight suspense of the senses... and a mental photo-shopping of the power lines and air-con units. This really emphasises the Moorish roots of this place though, which is a powerfully evocative feeling.
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It's a while since we've explored Andalucía on one of our road trips from David Baird's book 'The Backroads of Southern Spain' and we must do so soon - but in the meantime it was great to meet David and to put together a PowerPoint for him of fascinating images from the days of the Guerrilleros during Franco's time here. His presentation for the History Group: 'The Last of the Guerrilleros' was an opportunity to understand the motivations of the Guerrilleros in those difficult times.
He was kind enough to sign our well-used copy, too! Thanks David.
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We find time to take a short trip back to the UK to see family and attend the Camping and Caravanning Club's Worldwide Presentation Day - a day of presentations and information gathering about the Club's escorted motorhome tours of far flung lands. It was also great to meet up with many like-minded friends made on past tours. Great Day. We've put a deposit on a motorhome adventure in China; more on that later.
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And last, but certainly not least, we, very sadly, say farewell to our friend and neighbour, Penni, who passed away on Tuesday 19th November.
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| Penni Wilson |
Enjoying life to the last moment and contributing so much to our community, Nerja has lost a shining star; we'll really, really miss you, Penni.
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