Wednesday, 30 December 2015

atrekinthesun

On top of the World on the New Diet

Did a lovely walk today up to the top of the Sierra de Loja which is about 1650 metres. It lasted about 3 hours 30 minutes and was sunny and clear all of that time. We met at Abadas services on the A92 motorway and drove to the electric substation and parked up. Followed the track up past Charco del Negro (black pond), which had just a little bit of water in it. Next came Cueva Hora with great views on the way.





After starting the walk, I shared my new diet plan with everyone and they were all in agreement that it was a great plan. Following the track past La Via Ferrata de Cueva Hora where there was no one risking their necks on the wires, we walked to the cliffs below the mirador of Los Lapiaz, where we took a path just afterwards ascending up to the boardwalk and mirador. That took us about 2 hours so we were ready for our healthy snacks.

View from track looking over towards Gibalto
Nice rock formation on the way up to the mirador

View from the mirador
Mirador and boardwalk
View from boardwalk

From there we followed the boardwalk back to the track which wound its way back down to the car, passing all the wind turbines which were going around at maximum speed, the going was easy but the strong wind pushing the turbines was also in our faces which made it a bit of a chilly descent especially when we posed for photos at the trig point on the top.


Slopes of Sierra Nevada in the background, not much snow?

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Sunday, 27 December 2015

atrekinthesun

REVOLUTINARY New Diet plan totally FREE

Join us on Wednesday 30th December at Abadas Services on the A92 near Loja at 10:30 from where we will drive up to the Sierra de Loja. The details of the diet will be revealed during a 3 hour walk in the Sierra de Loja shared only with the wind turbines. You may wish to bring a healthy packed lunch as we admire the views from the boardwalk and mirador at the high point of the walk before returning to the start and your cars.
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Sunday, 20 December 2015

atrekinthesun

Wednesday Walk 23rd December

This weeks walk will be on tracks around Villanueva del Trabuco and will last about 3 hours. Meet at Eduardos in Trabuco which is the first Restaurant/bar that you see on your right when you enter Trabuco from junction 7 on the A92M, at 10:30 to drive to the start of the walk.
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Saturday, 19 December 2015

atrekinthesun

Happiness Is A Journey

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough, and we'll be more content when they are.
After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.
We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our partner gets his or her act together when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice holiday, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
A quote comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said,
"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until winter, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink.... there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching
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Tuesday, 15 December 2015

atrekinthesun

Christmas lights in Granada and more

We have just been to see the Christmas lights in Granada. Arrived about lunchtime so checked into the hotel and walked around the city centre for a couple of hours to see where the lights were.







Then went back to the hotel to get ready to go out when it got darker to see the lights on. Left the hotel around 6:30 and we were too early as the lights were not on yet. While we were waiting we decided to go for a beer and a tapas, well the tapas was massive. Originally we had planned to go to a restaurant for a meal at around 8pm. By that time we had visited 2 bars for beer and tapas, so we changed the plan to go to the restaurant and had another beer and tapas and were then full. After that the lights were on and we managed to see them all and had a great evening.


Man playing piano trying to sell perfume

Merry Christmas




The next morning we went for breakfast to a place we really like Pasteleria Lopez Mezquita then made our way back home.


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Saturday, 12 December 2015

atrekinthesun

Wednesday Walk 16th December

This weeks walk will be from La Saucedilla down into Arroyo Marin and back out into Archidona where we will stop for refreshments, then back down into Arroyo Marin and return to La Saucedilla by a different route. The first section will involve a river crossing so bring something to dry your feet. Walking poles would be useful as there is steep descent to the river crossing. The walk should last about 3 hours and is dog friendly, although there is a bit of road walking involved. Meet at La Saucedilla at 10 am.









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Sunday, 6 December 2015

atrekinthesun

Walking at the coast

Day 1
For the first days walk we decided to do one from Charles Davis's book 'Costa del Sol Walks'. We chose a walk from Totalan  up to the top of Cerro de las Herrerias and back to Totalan. It was graded as easy and to take 2 hours 10 minutes, well I don't think it was that easy with the first 1 hour 50 minutes uphill then a nice ridge walk but then the path ran out and we were faced with a steep descent back to the track. All of which meant that it took us 3 hours. Nice walk apart from the last part would hate to think what his hard walks are like??


When we got back to the campsite had a swim and played scrabble before going for a lovely meal at Gastrobar las Perlas.

Day 2
Dogs waiting patiently to start the walk

Did a nice easy walk today from fabrica de la luz just outside Canillas de Albaida.We followed a path beside the Arroyo de la Cueva de Melero which crossed over the river a few times before passing Cortijo Chato with a great view of Cueva de Melero. We turned right to go round the back of the Cortijo following a good track where we eventually ended up at another cortijo which is called Buena Vista where we had fabulous views hence the name.
One of the river crossings
Cueva de Melero

View from Cortijo Buena Vista

Start of the path back to the car


Then we backtracked for about 5 minutes to find two cairns marking a track back down to the start which would take about 30 minutes during this time Scoobie disappeared. No sign of her when we got back to the car. We hung around for about 20 minutes and nothing so we went back onto Canillas de Albaida  where we had a coffee and a bite to eat then went back to where we had parked the car and there was still no sign of Scoobie.  We started walking back up the hill again after about twenty minutes we decided to turn round and try again the next day and guess what Scoobie turned up. So we ended up doing an extra 40 minutes walking. The road back to the campsite had a lot of bends so we could not drive very fast but we didn't expect to be overtaken by a cyclist which we were and he soon disappeared into the distance.

Day 3

Had the beach to ourselves

Seagulls sunbathing in Caleta de Velez


We had a rest day today. Walked from the campsite down the beach into Torre del Mar all the way along the promenade to Caleta de Velez had coffee and toast at Meson El Bodegon and then walked back to the campsite. Three and a half hours not bad for a rest day.
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