Showing posts with label â. Show all posts
Showing posts with label â. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 April 2017
San Jose and Almeria – Sailing the Costa de Sol of Spain
We cast off from the fuel dock at Garrucha with a full tank of diesel which was a very good thing as we again had to motor sail along the coast to San Jose as the wind gods still didn’t want to play the game. We did put the mainsail up and got a little bit of a lift out of what breeze there was but with just over forty miles to cover trying to go by sail alone would have never got us close within daylight hours. We were getting a bit tired of the sound of the engine but that’s life.
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| We couldn't leave the mainsail in the bag any longer. |
We saw a few flying fish along the way which was nice. They’ve been few and far between in the Med and it’s always very entertaining watching how far they can glide over the waves before splashing down.
We also spotted a huge, development onshore that had been very obviously stalled for quite some time and now well and truly plastered with a huge ‘Ilegal Hotel’ sign that covered a number of floors. It was out in the middle of nowhere and daubed with all sorts of graffiti including one sign saying ‘DEMOLICIAN - YA’. We’ve heard all sorts of tales of buildings going up without anyform of planning approvals and could only guess there was an interesting story behind this one too. We’d loved to have known the facts but given the size of the massive resort it’s a fair bet to say some bank somewhere that financed it has taken a serious hit to their balance sheet.
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| Maybe this was Christopher Skase's final project. |
We rounded the headland and entered the shelter of the bay at San Jose in the late afternoon. It was a very attractive little spot with an interesting looking town stretching away behind the beach. There was a small marina but as we expected conditions to stay reasonably calm for the night we elected to anchor outside near the beach. As we began to relax with sundowners in the cockpit we counted 34 small boats come out of the marina in a one hour time space and headed all over the bay fishing. We couldn’t believe so many boats could fit behind the breakwaters in the tiny marina but it was obviously a bit bigger than it looked. About 8.30pm someone must have sounded a dinner bell because all of a sudden they were all coming back in at once creating some serious peak hour traffic at the harbour entrance.
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| San Jose looked like a nice place to explore. Next time hopefully. |
On Sunday we had planned to have a look around the town but after checking the forecasts we decided this may not be a good place to be in the 15 to 20 knot south-westerlies predicted for the evening. It was time to go so San Jose went on the list of places to stop at on the way back east next year. Up came the anchor and we set sail to Almeria. Yep. We actually got the white bits up and had a fantastic sail around the cliffs of Cabo de Gata and then right across the big bay all the way to just off Almeria itself. The wind strengthened and turned through the afternoon and we were able to go with it only needing to tack out from shore at the very end. With the wind now sneaking up above 20 knots we were getting a bit overpowered. We could have reefed the main to reduce sail but as we were only a mile from the harbour elected to simply drop it and motor the rest of the way in.
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| A great sailing day to Almeria had us all smiling |
Almeria is a very large commercial port with a lot of big shipping, particularly large ferries. There’s a marina just outside the inner harbour but when we rang them asking for a berth they at first said OK then a minute later decided they suddenly had no room. This was despite us being directly outside the entrance looking at empty berths inside. Apparently they primarily cater for permanent berth holders and aren’t too keen on casual visitors. We must not have seemed important enough for them.
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| We cheekily anchored between the marina and inner breakwater. |
By now the wind was gusting in the 25 to 30 knot zone with quite a lumpy sea so we had no desire to be heading back out in it. No anchoring is permitted in the inner harbour but we decided there was room between the inner breakwater and the marina so we simply dropped anchor there, made sure we were well hooked in and let out plenty of chain. We were very happy to be behind the protection of the main, big breakwater. but even so, a fair size swell was finding its way around its end making things a little less comfortable than the marina would have been but such is life. We were dancing around a bit on the end of the chain but at least we were safe and this was free. We just hoped no one came along and told us to move on.
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| With 30 metres of chain out we swung in a 60m arc but there was room |
Fortunately the wind dropped out a little after midnight and Monday morning dawned nice and calm with clear blue skies. It was time for a day ashore checking out the city. First stop was the Vodafone shop to get Marc and Karen’s internet data topped up. Marc goes into severe withdrawals and may be found in the foetal position whimpering if he can’t download his London papers each morning while Karen’s IPad has all our weather forecast apps on it so this was definite priority.
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| A beautiful morning in Almeria harbour |
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| Almeria is a very attractive city to wander around |
We then wandered the streets and checked out the excellent fresh food, meat and seafood markets in the city centre before settling in for lunch at a very cool old restaurant/bar. Eventually Karen managed to get us out the door and off on an ABC tour (Another Bloody Castle). Her tourist guide said that next to the Alhambra in Granada, the Alcazaba of Almería is one of the main castles in the south of Spain. It was constructed in the X century by the Califa Abderramán III. It offered shelter to 20,000 people at one time so we had to have a look.
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| Off for our ABC Tour (Another Bloody Castle) in Almeria |
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| Ameria's cathedral started life as a mosque before being christianised. |
It was a fair walk through the streets, past the cathedral, up the lanes all guided by Karen’s IPad’s maps to get to the base of the hill. Here we found a sign proclaiming the castle open 10.00am to 8.00pm on weekdays. Cool. It was only 2.30. We could see a set of closed doors ahead so deduced that the entrance must be up the steep road that ran beside the castle and off we went.
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| We went right up to the top of the Alcazaba of Almería, on the outside. |
Reaching the top we discovered another set of locked doors so after a short break to get our breath back we set off back down to the bottom where we now found the doors open. A bit weird but what the heck. In we walk and straight to the ticket window manned by a man in uniform who we ask for three tickets. ‘No tickets’ he says. We immediately think it must be free but our illusion was shattered when he followed his opening statement up with. ‘Is closed’. It was now five past three. Go figure. So much for the sign outside proclaiming opening hours till Eight PM. Oh that’s right. This is Spain.
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| It looks nice from the entrance, which was as far as we got. |
Sergeant-Major Karen, then marched us back through the streets down into the old town where the troops mutinied and headed to a cafe for a bottle of wine. As we were finishing our tipple we noticed some very ominous looking dark clouds appearing over the ranges so high tailed it back to the boat in case the approaching thunder produced any nastiness. On our return we found another yacht had joined us in our little anchoring spot and we immediately started calculating chain lengths and swing room making sure we had clearance. Our wild experience in Santa Ponsa on Mallorca was still fresh in our minds so we were more than happy as the storm rolled by to the west without as much as a spot of rain falling on us. Another bullet dodged.
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| We're a bit gun shy when we see skies like this since being belted in Santa Ponsa |
For more about our travels and lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail facebook page at
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Monday, 27 March 2017
Part Two Two Days to see Florence – a definition of totally inadequate
June 11-12, 2013
Day Two: After a huge first day in Florence, our second day actually started earlier than we planned as a very early morning text message from our daughter Yasmin informed us that our fifth grandchild had just arrived back in Australia. Harry James Chrzescijanski was born 2.11PM Eastern Australian time at 8lb 5oz and within an hour of his birth we were introduced to our newest grandson via Skype. It certainly wasn’t anything like being there for Nanny and Poppy cuddles but it was still fantastic to be able to see the new bub and share an hour or so via computer screen with Yasmin, her husband, Rob, and a very impressed big sister to Harry, two year old Lyla. Rob’s father’s name was Harry, so he was particularly moved regarding Yasmin and Rob’s choice of name.
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| Proud parents Rob and Yasmin with Harry and his big sister Lyla |
Of course by the time we got over all the excitement our Gallery booking had come and gone so we grabbed some breakfast and by late morning were headed for the next must do on our list instead. Founded in 1294, the Basilica of Santa Groce is one of the finest Gothic churches in Italy. It also rivals the Duomo in size. We expected to breeze through it in half an hour or so but we were soon to find out we seriously underestimated how much there was to see. It is impossible to list the masterpieces which are housed within Santa Groce’s walls. It is also the burial place of such luminaries as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini along with many other important historical identities from Florence and other parts of Italy. Each tomb along the main walls of the Basilica features magnificent Funerary Monuments created by the outstanding sculptors of the day. Despite not actually being buried in the church, equally impressive monuments are included for Leonardo Di Vinci, the writer Dante, inventor Marconi and a number of others. No doubt the city fathers felt these famous Italians should also be spending their eternal rest here in Florence.
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| Michelangelo lays within this marble funerary monument. He actually made it clear he wished to buried in Rome and even sculptured his own memorial but the Medeci family would have none of that and spirited his remains back Florence and commissioned this monument instead. |
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| The remains of Galileo in Santa Groce |
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| Dante’s funerary monument is extremely impressive. The city fathers didn’t let a little detail like him being buried elsewhere stop then from installing this magnificent empty tomb in his honour. |
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| From the floor to the incredible timber ceilings everything about Basilica Santa Groce is impressive |
Sante Groce also has a number of alcove like chapels that were sponsored by the wealthiest and most influential Florentine families who spent large fortunes commissioning incredible frescos, sculptures and other artworks to decorate their chapel in an effort to outdo all the others. All in God’s glory of course. Nothing to do with ego at all. The end result though is incredible and has to be seen to be believed. Then there is the sacristy where the clergy dress for mass surrounded by more priceless art and ornate decoration. Oh and there’s the cloisters with more of the same, and the storerooms which are now a museum. These were once packed with all sorts of art treasures that fell from favour for whatever reason and were stored away while there place inside the church was taken by some new masterpiece.
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| Just one of the magnificently decorated chapels within Santa Groce |
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| The sacristy of Santa Groce |
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| Florence’s Basilica Santa Groce was an unexpected highlight of our visit. |
While the exterior of the Santa Maria del Fioreor Duomo (Cathedral of Florence) is truly breathtaking the interior is fairly plain and fifteen minutes is plenty enough time to spend inside. Sante Groce Basilica on the other hand is a place you need to allow yourself plenty of time to do it any justice at all. We spent three hours there and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it, particularly with the aid of the self guided audio tour that provided the history of not only the church but also over eighty points of interest within.
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| Santa Groce suffered incredible damage from huge floods in 1966 and a massive international restoration effort took many years to bring many affected artworks back to life |
By the time we’d wandered a few streets unsuccessfully looking for a reputedly very impressive library building designed by Michelangelo with an amazing set of steps, given up and made a café stop for a bite to eat it was near Four PM. As we’d missed our 9.15am reserved entry into the Galleria degli Ufizi, we gambled that maybe the line up may have thinned at little by late afternoon so made our way to the impressive building that houses the collection to join the back of the cue. Despite the lateness of the hour it still took fifty minutes before we made it through the doors, metal detector and cloakroom to check in our backpack and with Rob’s camera.
The Uffizi building was originally designed as administrative offices in the 1500s but the all powerful Medici family gradually used more and more of it to store and display their ever growing collection of artworks. The last Medici heiress negotiated for it to become one of the first modern museums. Opened to the public in 1765 the Uffizi is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world with works dating back almost 1,000 years.
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| The Galleria degli Ufizi building itself is well worth a look let alone what it contains |
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| All Ufizi images were obtained from the web |
Once more we made use of one of Rick Steve's free audio tours which explained the history and features of the most important paintings and sculptures spread through almost 50 rooms in the magnificent building. These included Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus, da Vinci’s The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Raphael’s Madona of the Goldfinch, Titian’s Venus of Urbino , Carravaggio’s Bachus and Sacrifice of Isaac and a couple of Rembrandt’s self portraits to name just a handful of the most famous. Because the museum closes at 6.30pm and we didn’t begin to make our way through until Five our visit was a little rushed but it was still an incredible experience to see the works of so many masters in one place. It was extremely impressive to say the least. Under normal circumstances you could easily spend hours wandering the halls and different rooms of this incredible building.
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| Michelangelo's Doni Tando |
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| Leonado da Vinci’s The Annunciation |
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| Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus |
We made the most of the two hours or so of daylight remaining and ambled around a number of the streets of the old areas of Florence simply finding what was to be found and enjoying no longer having a plan or schedule. After a quiet dinner two exhausted sailors flopped into bed trying to work out what made us ever think we could ‘do’ Florence in two days.
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| It wasn't all museums and churchs in Florence. Karen found these amazing boots for the Harley when we go home in a second hand store |
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| Another dinner on the streets of Florence |
If you only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway! We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
TV Beds – The Ultimate Bedroom Cinema Experience
TVs are now common place in bedrooms across the country. Usually fitted to a wall or placed on top of a cabinet or chest of drawers, watching TV in bed can be a great way to spend a lazy Sunday, watch a late night film or catch the early morning news when you wake up.
If you like a minimalist design in your bedroom however, a TV, along with their many wires, can make a room look rather untidy – not to mention that finding a space in your room where the TV is at a good angle to your bed often providing a layout nightmare!
However, with a TV bed you can have your TV built into the bed itself. So with just the touch of a button you can have your TV appearing at the end of the bed ready to watch and, when you’ve had enough, you can make it disappear just as easily. TV beds are a minimalists dream; sleek, stylish and discreet, they provide the ultimate entertainment experience in your bedroom without the unwanted clutter.
TV beds are available in all manner of shapes, sizes and styles, with cheap TV beds easily available to buy online, including great beds on finance options available from specialist providers, such as TVBed.co.uk.
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