Olives

Today was all about olives. The whole of the drive from Córdoba to Granada was through olive groves, some very old and some newly planted - with wider spacing between long straight rows to allow for mechanised harvesting. We visited the factory of Nunez de Prado, who ship their completely organic oil all over the world. It has been going for seven generations.





The factory courtyard was very pretty, with flower pots on the walls.
We were shown the production areas, traditional and modern, all quiet and still and clean now, since everything is finished for the year. We then went to the packing room where about 6 men were seated at a long table preparing a consignment for Germany. It seems that most of the vintage is pre ordered. A few of our group bought some, but it was a no-no for me unfortunately, because of the weight.
After this really interesting visit we jumped in our little black bus for a short drive into the Subbetica National Park, where we did an 8 km walk along a Via Verde: a Rails to Trails track to the tiny village of Zuheros where we had lunch.

We then walked for another hour at a rather fast pace as black clouds were threatening and a downpour was forecast. At 6.00 pm we arrived at our hotel in Granada. As we approached the city, the snow covered Sierra Nevada were clearly visible to the left and surprisingly close.
I have more photos of the day which will not load at the moment...

The following pics were added later, taken from a collection provided by Fresco Tours on a thumb drive at the end of the holiday.

Tour of the olive factory

Ancient oil storage vats

Pressing and filtering machine for virgin oil

Packing bottles for export

Barbara Bird and I on the Via Verde

Approaching our lunch spot

Zuheros Village

Struggling up the final hill; our bus driver on the left

Group photo after lunch

At the old railway station of Dona Mencia on the Via Verde

Cordoba Mosque

 With a local guide we had a grand tour of the Mezquita and the Christian Cathedral inside it.

 Mihrab or prayer niche
Outside is a large area now devoted to orange trees, previously where the ritual ablutions were performed.

In the street beyond, the bell tower of the Christian Cathedral can be seen. This church was constructed right in the middle of the Mezquita after the reconquest.

Street scenes, day and night.

Jeffrey, our guide on a narrow Cordoba street

Dinner menu:

Córdoba, 13 March

A cold overcast morning had me pulling out some warm clothes after breakfast, before going off to buy a Spanish SIM card at El Corte Ingles. I did a quick tour of the immediate surroundings of my hotel and then went to explore the Alcazar.

Inside the Alcazar are a number of Roman mosaics which have been rescued and preserved there on the walls.

The gardens are nice, but would look better on a sunny day.

The royal baths were on show below ground, and were not in a good state of repair, having been stripped of their tiling.

In the Jewish Quarter, I found that the Synagogue was closed for renovations, so I listened to a few tour guides with their groups who were thronging the narrow streets.

Statue of Maimonides, a 12th Century Jewish sage, a kind of Leonardo of his age.

Perth to Cordoba

C and E dropped me off at the airport to catch the 10.20 pm flight to Madrid via Dubai. Emirates had filled their plane to capacity as usual, so no chance of a spare seat next to me. I was seated near the back at 75A. I passed the 10 hour flight finishing off my Liz Byrski book and watching the film Darkest Hour about Churchill in WW2. It had a beautiful scene in slow motion of Londoners in the rain, and another of Churchill surprising commuters by riding on the Underground for the first time in his life and assessing their willingness to fight to the death.

In Dubai we were treated to a scenic tour of the airport to get us from one terminal to another: a bus trip that took over half an hour and demonstrated what an incredibly busy hub this is, with catering trucks and luggage trucks and maintenance vehicles whizzing around and crossing runways. The queues for the Ladies were longer than ever!

The flight from Dubai to Madrid provided me with some unwanted entertainment, when I was seated behind a harassed Indian woman with 2 naughty boys of around 5. They wouldn't sit still and were just too LOUD. She took no notice and watched Bollywood movies with ridiculous plots. She treated the cabin staff as if they were her own personal servants, demanding drinks, different food items, extra things for the kids until everyone was exasperated but still struggling to be polite. I was tempted to tell the boys to sit down and shut up!
Finally we reached Madrid. It took me a while to find the shuttle bus to Atocha Train Station (maybe a ploy to encourage taxi use?). This took almost an hour and cost €5. It was about 3.00 pm and the next train to Córdoba left at 4.00 pm. The fare with my Senior's Discount Card was €39.65.

The AVE high speed train did indeed speed along smoothly, but there was no electronic display to tell us just how fast. The landscape was quite wintry and the heavy rains of the previous week had left the fields and olive groves with great pools of standing water. In Madrid, the temperature was 10 degrees and everyone was wearing thick coats and woolly scarfs.

In Córdoba it was a bit warmer but I was too tired and jet lagged to care. A taxi took me the short distance to my hotel, the NH Amistad, in the old town via impossibly narrow streets, but we somehow squeezed through without incident and by 6.00 pm I was relaxing in a hot bath!

Pics from hotel website 

Cooling off

In Perth, it was "too darned hot" so we came down to Mandurah for a couple of days (30 degrees instead of 36 degrees) with sea breezes into the bargain. Our small room at Seashells was a come down after the luxurious penthouse we enjoyed in January, but we got good rates after the long weekend holiday was over.

JL about to have a Woolworths microwave dinner with Skuttlebut wine on our balcony:

More scenes along the Mandurah foreshore:

At lunchtime we had a nice meal at Flics Kitchen: crab crocquetes and gnocchi in mushroom sauce. JL enjoyed a Gage Road summer ale, but I stuck to water as I was driving home afterwards. On the way back we drove past Point Peron, where E has just been to the Camp Schopl (now threatened with closure as part of the Education Department's cuts). It was very windy out on the point, but we observed an osprey fishing. It took off before I could get a photo. JL is standing on the observation platform where the osprey had been a moment ago:

Last of the winter ice?

From the town made famous by Last of the Summer Wine comes a photo of a giant icicle:

And from the beach at Mandurah, where it's 27 degrees at 7.00 a.m.:

The only ice in Mandurah is in the sangria:

The Corsini Collection

Colourful exhibition guide

A Window on Italy: The Corsini Collection: Masterpieces from Florence

Botticelli: Madonna and Child with six Angels

Detail

We visited the Art Gallery of WA and were transported back a few hundred years as we looked round the exhibition of treasures that have never previously been seen outside Italy.

The Corsini were a powerful Florentine family from the time of the Medicis, and collected artwork for centuries in their palazzo on the banks of the Arno.

During WW2, the paintings were hidden away from the Nazi army in retreat, though one suffered bullet wounds in the process.

Page's costume

Costume worn by Anna Barberini Corsini for the celebration of the
 unveiling of the facade of the Duomo in 1887

Detail of bee embroidery

Barbieri: Saint Andrea Corsini (1630) with bullet holes
made by Nazi soldiers

Execution of Savonarola and Two Compatriots

Detail

Giovanni Santi (father of Raphael): Clio from the Muses
for the Duke of Urbino

Glassware

JL in the bookshop