Been a while since I posted but had no real news to share - Life has just been going along very nicely thank you, with mainly sunny days- we have had some cloudy and rainy periods but the weather tends to change quite quickly and we're back to blue skies. And talking of blue skies- Lynne and Tony returned a week ago and boy! are they glad to be back in amongst the palm trees- Lynne especially because she had spent most of her time in Peckham and it would be hard to find two more contrasting environments. And it is lovely to have them back especially as I have new places and bars to show them.
I think I have already told you about Sue, my next door but one neighbour- she has been here for quite a few years so is familiar with what happens where - on Monday she suddenly remembered it was the Bread festival in Lubrin so off we hurried. Lubrin is a typical Spanish small town way up in the mountains about an hour or so from here- not that far but the roads are very windy and narrow.
When we got there I was totally bowled over- it was all happening, the place was packed- little narrow streets leading from the very large and imposing church to a typical Spanish square- the flags were out, the band was playing ( not because we were there you understand) and the beer was flowing too in some quarters.
The festival is in honour of San Sebastian but what makes it unique is that they celebrate by throwing bread rings onto the crowds as they pass along the streets - it is total mayhem while everyone tries to catch as many as they can- people are pushing and shoving, leaping into the air, shoving with elbows- this is serious stuff; I tell you if Spain wants to build a good rugby team ( is there a national team??) there are more than enough contenders in this area. But we weren't going to miss out in all the fun so in we went and did quite well considering it was our first attempt though as you can see from the photo we've still got a long way to go.
But it was such fun, following the procession (if you look carefully you can see a very long loaf all the way up the back of the statue) marching along to the band and generally joining in with everything that was happening- a real experience. The town continues to party till well into the night but we decided to leave them to it and go and have a peaceful tapas lunch on the way home. And why bread? well, it started after the war - the town survived, the people felt prosperous so they showed this by throwing bread.
And do you know one of the best bits? No health and safety, no hard hats ( and I can tell you from experience it does hurt when you get hit), only two very causal looking guardia, kids running in and out - fantastico!
So thats all for today, hasta luego!
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