The story about the ringing bells

Yesterday I mentioned that when we were in Granada there was a constant lineup of people ringing the bell at the tower of the Alhambra. And that the bell rang all day and you could hear it from pretty much anywhere. It was kind of annoying.

Well I just couldn't see that being the case every day, so Ruth did some research.

A day in Granada, Spain

The main attraction in the city of Granada is the Alhambra... an Islamic Palace built on a hill overlooking the city. The history of the Alhambra goes back to the 9th century, although most of the current structures were built between the 14th to 16th centuries.

My father had visited the Alhambra in November of 1954, and had taken two photos, both of which we were trying to match up.

A few details about our upcoming trip to Mauritania

Yesterday we drove into the big city of Granada (pop 250,000). There are no ideal places to park to explore the city, but the best option is a fenced compound that is trying it's best to be a campground. But really, it's just a gravel parking lot for motorhomes. 

It's €12 ($17.50 CAD, $12.75 USD) a night without electric so it's not cheap for what you get. But, it's a safe place to leave Max while we go explore the city today.

We were not successful

Happy New Year to you all!

Friday night had been spent in the big parking lot at Guadix. Not a bad night, considering it's just a big parking lot. Maybe a dozen other vans spread around. Not very scenic, but we were only there for the convenience of visiting Guadix. 

But I had seen a sign that said there is a Saturday market in the parking lot.

December Expenses and 2022 Expenses Review

We had a budget of $1,600 CAD ($1,180 USD) for the month of December and how much did we spend? 

We spent $1,598 CAD! I don't think we've ever come that close to being right on the money as far as our projected expenses for the month go. Of course you couldn't come much closer if you tried. So, we're pretty happy with the way we ended off the year, from a budget perspective.

Exploring Guadix, Spain

We got up and did some driving right at sunrise. It was only a half hour or so to Guadix on the main highway, so we figured that by the time we got there the sun would be high enough to keep us warm. Daytime temperatures inland are pleasant with the sunshine, but it's chilly enough overnight and it takes a while for things to warm up.

One of the reasons we came to Guadix is to match up another of my dad's photographs from his trip here in 1954.

2022 Year in Review

2022 was a good year for us!

We spent a lot of time touring in Max, in fact we pretty much lived in Max for about nine months of the year. And we had a really good vacation back to Canada that included four provinces.

We warmed up soon enough due to the exercise

Had to put the furnace on again yesterday morning. It was a little chilly due to the altitude. And although it was a beautiful spot, I knew that we wouldn't see any sun until about 11:00am because there was a big mountain ridge blocking it. But we had stayed there overnight anyhow because we wanted to do a hike before we left.

Once the sun appeared, we set off up the mountain behind us.

So nice to not have much of a schedule to keep.

We had showers and used the dump and fill facilities at the free motorhome aire in Casas Nuevas. We were in no rush, and we didn't get going until after 11:00am. Then we set off on the backroads heading southwest.

Not going far, and if we saw something worth stopping at then we would. 

Out for dinner in rural Spain

Just a relaxing day yesterday. Of course we did get out for a short walk in the afternoon just to stretch our legs. 

Along the way, we stopped in at the local pub to check and see if we could go for dinner. Turns out they close at 6:00pm, so we went for a very early dinner!

I think today will be a day of rest!

We were due for some exercise, so we set off walking directly from the motorhome aire and into Sierra Espuna Regional Park. 

Not much in the way of actual marked trails, but I saw a circular route on the map that looked like it might be a trail. Most of it turned out to be a gravel road, but we did almost 14 kms (9 miles) and never saw a vehicle.

We had a great Christmas Day!

After hot drinks and breakfast we got out fairly early for a hike before things warmed up too much. In fact, we needed our sweaters for the first part because it was only 12C (54F) and there was a cool breeze. But there was a lot of blue sky and sunshine.

And, we were headed uphill so it didn't take long for us to warm up.

Merry Christmas from Spain!

I was looking back at where we have been the past few years on Christmas morning. Last year we were in Greece, and Christmas day 2020 we were at the hospital in Antalya, Turkiye having eye surgery! 2019 and 2018 we were at different places in Mexico. 2017 in Texas, and 2016 we had returned to Canada for Christmas in the cold. 

This year, we are parked beside an orange grove in Ulea, Spain.

Palm trees and sunshine

Seems most of Canada and the U.S. are experiencing a major blast of winter for this Christmas weekend. Most have either snowing or ridiculously cold, or both. Friends in British Columbia just went through an icy deep freeze. It was -40C (-40F) at the park we used to work at in Cabri, SK. And our home town of Ottawa is having a major winter blizzard. Our daughter in Nova Scotia is doing well though with a high of 10C (50F) yesterday!

Not meaning to rub it in, but here in southern Spain, we are having our best weather yet. Palm trees and sunshine and a high of 24C (75F).

The sky was on fire!

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday. Max took a day off from driving, and he just sat in the desert enjoying the sunshine and blue sky. Ruth and I did get out for a walk though, just to explore the area and see some of the desert scenery.