For the third time in as many days, the water bombing helicopter pilots have been at it again in our valley. The first warning we had was seeing a helicopter trailing an empty water bucket past our balcony towards the…

According to the Rough Guide to Spain, the Alhambra Palace at Granada is: … one of Spain’s architectural wonders and most visited monuments … The Alhambra was on Francine’s bucket list so, being only about 90 minutes away by car…

All our previous Explore trips have been spent at several locations but this was a so-called centre-based trip at a single hotel for the duration. Here it is, on the left side of this square. On the right of the…

Fauna, it has to be said, had been notable mostly by its scarcity back up in Jalón prior to our Andalucian visit. Dragonflies had proved particularly difficult to find, despite my best efforts. Also, rather curiously since we had quite…

As I mentioned previously, I wasn’t a great fan of trudging along, especially up, wide stone 4×4 tracks in the mountains but it give Francine some good views of the flora and gave her time to pause without getting lost…

This was our 10th trip with Explore!, many of which have been walking trips, though a few were more cultural (e.g Thailand, Peru). This trip was centre based, in the white Andalucian village of Canillas de Albaida, whereas some trips…

We left the Spanish desert and its fake Paella Western sets in Olé-wood behind us and headed for Almería on the south coast of Spain. We like deserts and driving through that was quite interesting. Then we hit the south…

Our main event for this visit to Spain is our Andalucian Moorish Trails walking week with Explore!. Our ultimate destination, Canillas de Albaida, is about 350 miles away, roughly southwest, so we could do it in a day if we…

Several years ago, while we were looking after el perrito in Jalón, Francine and I found what looked like a modest walking route starting from Senija, one of the Spanish villages close by. The walk climbed a hill behind Senija …

We were continuing our familiarization with the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers terminology today, as well as continuing our exercise in preparation for our impending Andalucian walking trip with Explore!. Overhearing a few conversations between longer standing members of the CBMW,…