Marjal Peniscola

In Peniscola there is a freshwater Marsh directly behind the hotels on the seafront,  and it is a protected conservation area. The Marsh is fed by groundwater springs which form small lakes known as Ullals.

 
When these overflow, it forms the marsh. The area is managed by the building of drainage ditches which channel the excess water through the lower part of the town and out to sea via South Beach. The largest is the "acequia templera" or Templars Channel. Keeping the channel free needs a special sort of boat.

 The Marsh is home to the Valencian Samaruc which looks like a Goldfish, and is in danger of extinction. It's also home to another rare fish, the Spanish Toothcarp, known locally as the Fartet.


The heart of the marsh is now accessible on foot via a boardwalk. Visitors are urged to remain quiet while walking across and not disturb the many resident birds. There is a "hide" for birdwatching.

There is visitor information posted in several languages along the route. I'm guessing that the No Moped sign on the main map is aimed at local teenagers!

Plan B

The last time I was out in Spain, our nearest neighbour was kind enough to connect me to his internet router. This we achieved by dangling a cable across 3 houses. Fine in summer, but not so clever in winter, as his router was perched on an exterior spiral staircase, 2 floors up.

So our neighbour kindly offered to ask a good friend of his to call by and connect me via their secure system, to his Wifi. We'd decided to take an alternative solution with us, just in case there were problems! Computing wizz pal, arrives, does not speak a word of English, so dialogue is a bit patchy. So he takes my Netbook and is unable to connect me, something to do with the password length.

Never mind, after a suitable length of time, we walk up the street to our neighbours place, stand in the middle of the road, and make like locals by shouting his name! When his head appears, closely followed by his pal's, we shout PLAN B, and hold up a long roll of computer cable.
We now know that PLAN B needs no translation and is immediately understood in Spanish, as connection follows swiftly.

I'm supposed to be decorating, but the weather is just too wonderful to miss, so we take plenty of trips to the beach and seafront to soak up the views.

It was fairly unusual to be able to walk around the Old Town and see much more of the place. No matter how many times we walk over to the Castle there is something we've not seen before.

 

We'd assumed that we were there just between seasons, right up until we saw one of the Tourist Trains go past along the seafront, full. A little while later, another one passed by, also full. The town as usual, has carried on with it's cultural events, and the Notice Board is beside the Tourist Office which is open for business.

The town roundabout on the seafront was remarkably quiet, most unusual!

While at the supermarket I spotted the hugely confident local Geese, one decided to have a go at me. I grew up in the country, and I have yet to be intimidated by a Goose. Still, I have to admire them, strutting their stuff outside a supermarket, just a month before Christmas!

As for the decorating, once I'd started there was a little bit more renovation that I'd been expecting. Scraping and filling holes to be done before any decorating could be started.

Time to retire to a deckchair, with a glass of something decent!

La Cena

I make a pretty outstanding Tortilla de Patatas for a foreigner, and they turn out even better when I make them with an authentic view. I put the changes down to the local cooking oil, having a proper Tortilla plate, different potatoes and more time. The big shops do sell bags of potatoes specially selected for Tortilla making, and they do make a difference.

Having stuffed half of this Tortilla these two adults were like well fed Pythons, content and pretty well unable to move. The following day, we ate the left overs in a baguette and were so full we could barely walk. Seemed criminal to waste it!

Relax

It's Fiesta time, so a great opportunity to kick back and relax. Time to enjoy the late summer sun and soak up the views. There was one small technical hitch with the  plan.

Never mind, normal service was soon restored and we headed to a bar beside the Bufador in the old town. When the sea swell comes up a hole in the rocks, it sounds like a bull snorting - honest!

Next morning, sunrise was pretty spectacular, but there was clearly something stuck on my camera lens, just on the horizon out at sea. I checked with my neighbour and it's apparently a gas rig, spoiling the view.

Doing nothing is an art form, and I do need to practise. Pool time, followed by long periods of staring out to sea, more eating, drinking and snoozing.

 I had made a vow to stay away from Chufi as it's easy to drink lots and quite fattening. However on spotting a new blend in the supermarket, I soon convinced myself that I really should try some. It's wonderful, very creamy and I'm doomed!

We settled down into our Fiesta fortnight routine, with evenings spent on the seafront, or in the old town, soaking up the vibes.

Spain is in recession, and unemployment is high, though folks are still coming to the town in big numbers for Fiesta, with South Beach being turned into an impromptu carpark on Saturday night.

The Valencian Summer

This week, I have read that Valencia had it's third hottest summer on record this year. The sunshine brought record numbers of tourists to the beaches, and Peniscola was declared Spain's 4th most popular resort. May was not especially warm, and we had rain, but I can confirm that July was a scorcher.

The tourists utilised every possible place to park, including traffic islands and roundabouts, and the town, opened South Beach for parking. I imagine that this tourist did not arrive on Ryanair.


Here are the cars on the beach in the evening. Also in the image is frame for the Beach Cinema, which generally starts at 10.30pm.

Here is a queue of folks waiting for a table at a popular restaurant. It's about 10.30pm and they are queueing around the cars which are parked on the roundabout. The road was also open for traffic!

I took the time to go and explore nearby Benicarlo, which is not a tourist destination and has some great buildings, and the centre is quite smart.



I did my best to try some local specialities, and eat like a local. Some foods promised much and delivered very little!


I managed to see the beach early one morning, freshly raked and almost empty, so strange for high season.

There are always street performers on the promenade in the evenings. Some are more sophisticated than others.



Each September as part of the Fiesta, young bulls are set loose to run up the beach. The view here is of the safety fencing set up on the beach with the old town in the background. This was a very still, warm evening and it's about 10pm when I took this photo.

The weather was more humid than usual, and I've heard that this was typical throughout the region. We were not too badly affected, as the estate is on a hill and we always get a breeze. I did suffer my first local mosquito bite ever! Typically the insects blow past at such a rapid pace, we need no screens or spray.

Summer ended with the usual Gota Fria downpour, and nearby Vinaros achieved 20 litres per square metre of rainfall one day.

The Battle of The Beers

We were quite surprised to find our favourite Chimay beer in a supermarket 2 towns away. We made the decision to check out the flavour with the Med as a backdrop instead of the usual Swiss mountain. As it's 9.0% vol, it's potent stuff.

The next day our nearest Spanish neighbours called round and surprised us by presenting us with a case of a specialist Spanish beer called Ambar 1900, plus 4 Spanish wines.


These two beers were vastly different. The Chimay is a dark heavy beer, incredibly tangy and strong, when compared to the Ambar, which is exactly as described on the bottle, a Pale Ale! It's made only in Zaragoza, by one company, so is just as unique as the Chimay, with the exception of Chimay being made by Trappist monks!

The Chimay was a different beer to the one we'd been drinking earlier in the year, but brewed along the same lines. However it still does produce the same buzz. It's best not to even consider going out after a Chimay or two.

Ambar is a light refreshing drink, serve it chilled and it's perfect for a hot climate. Good job we were presented with a case!

El Noche del Fuego

The town has quite a few festivals throughout the year. We'd missed a Jazz Festival by one day on our arrival and I was around, for the series of concerts of Baroque Classical Music taking place in the castle each evening, at 10.30pm. Each night a large brazier was lit on the roof of the castle at the start of each concert.



To announce the start of the concerts, a large Firework Display was set to music, organised by the local experts Pirotecnia Tomas. I'd seen the guys setting up the fireworks on the beach over a couple of days. Lots of folks drove in from other towns and villages as this was quite a spectacle.

Everything in a plastic bag is explosive!



I headed up to the castle ramparts for a good view, and as they began at midnight, stopped at a shop to buy some water. My diversion meant that I passed by one of the speakers, which was powered up, and I wondered if the folks sitting nearby really understood just how much sound would come out of the tower, as it was huge.

Think rock concert.



The local police kept chasing me from each ledge I sat on, for being too close, and I eventually sat on one of the walls within the citadel, along with quite a few others.

When the fireworks began, I practically fell off my ledge, which would have been a bit serious. I thought I was used to the level of explosives in Spain, but these were bigger and better than any I had seen before.

I never did hear any of the music, and covered in the remains of fireworks and soot, I cycled back through the town at 1am, to see the temperature on an outside digital thermometer showing 25c. Perhaps I should have made it an all-nighter, there were still folks heading into the old town, instead I wove through the large traffic jam and headed back. My ears were ringing and I'm really not surprised!

Pintura Plastico

I'd headed out to Spain to get some much needed painting under way. I have to say, that it really didn't seem to be a big task, but as I took a first close look, the size of the job seemed a bit daunting. All I had to do was to paint a garden wall, which was on an incline, laid with membrane and covered with pebbles. The surface was the killer, it was so unstable, and the incline was 15 to 20 degrees, and the temperature was about 30-35 degrees!

Once I'd done some ground clearance, and found some really thick gardening gloves to push the neighbours ornamental palms aside I made a start.

Early starts were the key to success, as it became obvious why Spanish workmen down tools and head for the beach in July/August. I'd opted to try Spanish paint, and as I'd inherited a large can from the last workmen on the premises, I got stuck in, after buying a second can. The application method seems to be to load up the paintbrush and generally spread the paint out on the wall. To describe this paint as thick is quite an understatement. I would have confidently upturned the can over my head and looked up with my eyes open.

The gloves worked quite well, and I received only a few punctures in my hands, however it's really not nice to see a small army of ants marching up the glove heading for my arm, each time I disturb them.

The paint pots rapidly emptied, and I faced the prospect of buying more, (easy) and transporting it by bicycle (more entertaining). I knew I would find that there was a downside to deciding to manage without a car. It is entirely possible to carry 8 litres of external plastic paint on the handlebars of a bicycle in Spanish holiday traffic (and not fall off).

Of course, I had the locals pass judgement on my work.

Beta Tester



Quality Control

Chufi

I should really start this entry with an apology, because I have no idea why some of my photos are on their sides, or how to fix it! Perhaps a quick fix of Chufi is needed in the system. It's my weak spot, I can't resist chilled Chufi and I was a lost cause when I spotted a large chilled display just full of Chufi in the supermarket.

Of course I need the full-on version, the low calorie one just does not taste right. So there I am swigging enough calories to keep me fed for a week in one glass (or so my waistline tells me).

I did make the effort to get some exercise, and we played tourist one afternoon and climbed the Peniscola castle ramparts, and visited the little exhibition in one dungeon. This was hanging from the ceiling BTW.


This is a view we have never seen before, from the castle roof, over the old town and we were left wondering why the port decided to paint the town name on the roof of the dock!

If you have ever been to Switzerland, you may have memories of a well ordered, polite society. Well, here's an example of how the Swiss park when they are abroad. It's probably a case of "when in Rome, do as the Romans". This is a Swiss registered Subaru Tribeca parked outside a local supermarket in Peniscola.

The weather was a little dull, but we escaped being rained upon, until we were heading for the airport, so that was fine by us. We managed to do a little DIY and gardening and most importantly relax, which is what a holiday is all about.

Wellies and an Umbrella

I headed out to Spain for a week or so. I knew about the weather forecast before I set off, and it is Gota Fria season after all. Most folks understand the need to stay home when the rain comes, though, some of the locals decided to take their chances on local roads as the rainwater makes it's way to the sea. I turned on the local TV station to see some of the results.



This is on a local road, and it's between me and the supermarket, good job I had plenty of food in the fridge. Of course, when the road sign says, "Inundable" chances are that it will flood when the rains come.

The next day the rain stopped and the fire crews arrived in town to pump out homes and restaurants.
Some areas of the town were completely washed out, and I was surprised to see that this car had ended up as a part of a local water feature. Many hotels were flooded and coaches were unable to reach hotels as the roads were too deep in water.

If you have ever wondered what happens to all this rainwater when it reaches the beach, it does this.