Thursday 24 October 2013

A new beginning..,,again

I've been away; out of work, LF and I headed to Spain in the car to get some sun. First stop was the tiny village of Almonaster la Real in the mountains north of Seville near the Portuguese border. An English couple I've been corresponding with for years have a small farm outside the town where they’re experimenting with self-sufficiency, I wanted to visit and get a flavour of that lifestyle. However, the day visit was enough for both of us – using a bucket for a toilet, by choice, isn't really what I want to do! It was a nice village though, so we stayed in the area for a few days to explore.

Ancient monastery - Almonaster la Real
Church in Aracena
Next stop was down to the coast; Tarifa, beside Gibraltar is one of my favourite towns. It's popular with windsurfers due to the strong winds funnelled through the straits of Gibraltar; we stayed in a little bungalow in the tropical gardens of a hotel on the beach, relaxed during the day then visited the lively little walled town at night for food and fun.

Vegetarian restaurant in Tarifa - who'd have thought it?
Hotel gardens

That's a sandy beach
Yoga!
Windsurfing and Kite surfing
After a couple of weeks the funds were starting to run a bit low, so we started back for England. On the way I decided to stop off in Holland - I had a brief trip to Dordrecht a couple of months ago to visit a fabrication yard, and wondered if there might be an opening there; luckily there was, so now I'm based there (here) for a while. LF carried on home to London, I'm staying in a hotel here while I look for an apartment to rent. I've been strolling around each evening getting my bearings, and have to say this is a picturesque little town. Now I just have to get the Triumph over here so I can start exploring the area.
                                          Peaceful waterway in front of cathedral




Barges
The last windmill left in Dordrecht