Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Pfänder (in Austria)

On Friday 29th April I travelled from Baza to Granada by bus (90 minutes), then from Granada to Malaga by bus (another 90 minutes), then a third bus out to Malaga Airport. My flight left Spain at 1730 and arrived in Memmingen, Germany, at 2030. Taxi to my accommodation and I arrived there 12 and a half hours after I left Caelli's apartment. The rest of my journey to Lindau is waiting until tomorrow.

Gasthof zum Lindenbad
It's definitely spring in Germany
I left Memmingen on the 9 o'clock train and arrived in Lindau (dau rhymes with cow) around 10.30. Lindau is on an island in the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and near the border with Austria. Given that it was sunny and the weather forecast was lousy for the next couple of days, I got my suitcase to my hotel as fast as I could and caught the next boat to Bregenz (Bray-g'nce) so I could go up a mountain. The Pfänder (rhymes with sender) is not very high - only 1064 metres - but it's easily accessible and has good views over the Bodensee.

My boat arriving in Lindau Harbour
Quite a few people on the gondola
Schön
The Austrian Alps
Snow!!
Looking at Austria and Switzerland
Lindau is the island in the foreground (connected to the mainland by bridges)
There was an animal park on the mountain, with five mountain species in it.  It was free and made a nice walk.

Steinbock (Ibex)
Wildschwein (Wild Boar)
Murmeltier (Marmot)
Mufflon (Bighorn Sheep)
Rotwild (Red Deer)
"And halfway down we met the other gond'la once again" to misquote Murphy
Apparently in Bregenz that morning, there was some sort of festival involving the passenger boats on the Bodensee. I took this pic on the way up.


Monday, 2 May 2016

Baza - out and about

A last lot of random photos from Baza.


Baza has some interesting monuments at large intersections on the edge of the inner city. The first here is a copy of the Dame de Baza - an old statue that was excavated in the vicinity.



She sits at the end of a long, green avenue
Note the hills in the background
The large, square building is the library
Yep - hills and mountains in the background
This statue is near the Parque de la Alameda
It's less than 10 minutes from Casa Caelli
Fountain in the Parque de la Alameda
Caell's bookclub ladies walking home together. Note Caelli's reaction when she realised I had the camera out!
Iglesia de San Juan (Church of St John)
Iglesia de la Merced (Church of Mercy)
Plaza Mayor (Main Square). The church is off to the left
Plaza Mayor again. Now you can see the church! (Iglesia Mayor - Main Church)
Iglesia Mayor from above
Iglesia Mayor from below. Almost every roofing tile has a House Martin's nest underneath
Iglesia Mayor from the inside. It's quite dark and gloomy
This amused me one morning. The van (about 4 cars down) had parked in the middle of the road to unload (which is not unusual in Spain). It caused quite a traffic jam, not only in this single lane street, but on the main road where I'm standing - and in both directions, too. Avenida Jose de Mora is the main thoroughfare heading south out of Baza, but it's single lane in both directions. Cars were banked up behind other cars waiting to turn into the street blocked by the van.


These cars on the main road were stuck behind another vehicle which was waiting to turn left into the van-blocked street. Cars in nearby side streets were also stymied.


On the 21st of April, Caelli's school celebrated 400 years since the death of Miguel Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. Seeing that it's a bilingual school, they also combined it with Shakespeare's birthday. Starting at 8am and going through to 8pm, they had people (students, teachers, parents, and even the visiting mother of the Auxiliar de Conversacion!) continuously reading from Cervantes (in Spanish) or Shakespeare (in English). Caelli and I went along, and they jumped on the opportunity to have Shakespeare read by native English speakers. Both Caelli and I read some of Much Ado About Nothing for about 15 minutes combined.


Shots from the Parque de la Alameda. This first one is for Hadyn. The park changed with every visit I made as spring growth rapidly turned bare trees green.


New growth is a gorgeous red
Taken on my first visit - 10th of April
Taken on the 18th of April
Taken on my final visit - 28th of April


In Australia you'd expect to see a possum in a hole like this!
Two weather shots on the balcony at Casa Caelli. Hailstones and a sunset.



In my final week, Caelli and I went on an excursion with the year 9s, organised by one of the year 11 classes. Bikes to get there, then three activities - more biking, walking and horse riding.








There were some friendly dogs there
These two magnificent stallions were ridden by the owner and one of his employees. The horses are dressage trained, so they gave us a demonstration. Magic!



A fountain with four brass taps - quite an important monument
Old cinema projectors in the town's cinema
One of the many crosses in squares in Baza. Spain is still a very religious country
I loved this succulent hanging from the balcony of one of the apartments in Caelli's building