Another picnic in the pines

A tacit deal we have with the kids is that if we drag them out to view properties and they don't moan or make a fuss, we won't see a lot all in one go and we will have a nice picnic somewhere and probably an ice-cream too.

On Saturday, we had appointments to view two more houses. It doesn't matter where - we're not going to buy either of them.

After we'd viewed - both lovely and both with swimming pools, no less - we took a scenic route back towards home via Iznájar and the big embalse, or reservoir, that the town perches, rather precariously, above. (Can something perch above something else? Not sure about that but I´ll leave it for now.) Iznájar and its embalse are very impressive. As you approach from the south, the embalse - especially on a clear, sunny day - glistens turquoise blue, disappearing from view as you round the many bends in the road, only to reappear in a slightly different place. This effect is due to the many little inlets created along its shoreline, so it seems to be everywhere - sometimes to the right of you, sometimes to the left, sometimes straight ahead.  The town tumbles all the way down a hillside to meet the embalse and from the south, you have to cross a long straight bridge from which you can see a lovely beach area - and that's where we headed for our picnic.

View of the lake from our picnic spot

Set with pines at our back, we parked up the 'trusty' Volvo and settled down for a couple of hours. The weather made it feel like June and although there were plenty families with the same idea as us, it wasn't yet a crowded place to be and I liked it very much. After lunch, the children played some wild game in the pines - Ruy emerged with a stick and seemed to have regressed to a neanderthal stage of being - he stayed in character all the way home and even now, Monday, I caught him hunting a fish in the corridor of our apartment.

Looking down on the lake from Iznajar town

After ice-cream and coffee, we set off again via the scenic route, which took us into the province of Cordoba and the natural park of the Subbetica - new territory for us. It was a stunning and beautiful route and when we stopped briefly at the side of the road to have a little leg-stretch, I took what I think are some of the loveliest pictures of Ruy and Romy that I have ever taken. It was a bucolic spot, with the sound of hens and lambs in the distance and I felt that if we found a house just there, I couldn't be happier. (I'll have to look!)

We returned to Alcala from the west - a lovely way to come home as you have the view of La Mota for a good few kilometres, looking magnificent in the setting sunlight. And the town was very festive when we arrived home, with all the children (or a great many of them) playing in the plaza, jumping in and out of the fountains and generally enjoying the balmy evening. And yet again, it felt good to be home


  
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