A friend of mine, here in Cadiz, has recently designed and released a clever game for the i pod and i pad called Fleece Lightning. If you are into games, download the game now! Ross is a great guy and deserves to do well with this game that he has put so much effort into making.
Steve and some friends of ours spent last week making this hilarious and fantastically edited video to go along with the game. We would all appreciate your comments and support.
Go Fleece Lightning!
During Easter week Cadiz is awash with holy processions. This show of sombre emotions lasts all week and makes getting to your house or anywhere else for that matter nigh on impossible.
Each day, various enormous floats with Jesus statues perched on top, (each pulling a different face) leave a random church and slowly make their way around the old part of the city. Following each of these floats are the penitents who, to anyone not Spanish, look disturbingly like the Klu Klux Klan. For foreigners living here, the first Semana Santa can be a harrowing experience. Those of you have witnessed this will know that this is no exaggeration.
When one of the processions came down our street last week, I managed to get a few snaps. The more interesting ones turned out to be of when the floats stopped for a while in the street in order to give the men, who are hidden underneath them bearing all the weight, a break.
Freaky
We love you Jesus, we do!
I cant take any more of this!
That's devotion. Or madness.
Stay tuned.
So this week’s new budget saw a 2o% VAT put on hot pies and pasties in the UK. The “pasty tax” has caused outcry amongst the British public, not least, the angry readership of the Sun newspaper who have started an online petition against it. Gregg’s food chain has seen the value of its shares drop significantly as it is speculated that the price of a pasty could increase by as much as 50p.
I, however, have my own solution to offer. Why go to Gregg’s and pay £1.50 for a generic pasty with an over salted tasteless filling when for a couple of quid more you can make a batch of your own with fresh ingredients and to your taste? Veggie, lamb, beef, spicy, cheesy….you name it. Once you learn how to make the pastry and do the crimp, the possibilities are endless.
Take a look at this video that I made shortly after I discovered the art of pasty making in Bogotá, Colombia.
Let me know how you get on making your own pasties!
Cadiz is a special city with a distinct feel to it. For this reason, the city attracts all different types of people from all over the word. You never have to look far to find interesting and talented people.
Take a look at this sand art done on la Caleta beach a couple of weekends ago. I imagine it only got washed away today as we’ve had the first rain in weeks.
impressive detail
March has brought about a change in the weather. We no longer have to sleep clinging on to each other or shiver when a building blocks out the sun for a few seconds. This temperature change can only mean one thing…..beach time! Now, being ginger and all, I’ve never been a huge fan of the beach. I love the sea but I don’t make a habit of spit roasting myself all day.
It’s at this is the time of the year when you can go to the beach and still have tons of space between you and your fellow beach goers (principally guirris) as it’s still too cold for the locals. We have recently been taking advantage of this space by mounting a volleyball court to play on because in summer you’re lucky if you can find a bit of free sand to mount your beach towel.
If you’re in Cadiz, come and join us for a game!
Stay tuned.
In Cadiz we live in la viña. To anyone not from or living in Cádiz, this means very little. So here’s the deal. Our “barrio” is one of the oldest and most traditional in the city and also one of the main focal points for carnival activity. It was for this exact reason we spent last weekend in the mountains avoiding the throngs of people from all over Spain who make the trip for the opening weekend.
Thanks to Carnival, this past week has been loud louder than usual. There have been crowds of people around our street for 7 days straight with the noise finally fading out at around 5am every morning. The gaditanos are hardcore. So hardcore that although Carnival finished on Sunday, the next 2 weekends we will see “Carnaval de los inhartibles” which roughly translates as Carnival for those who don’t get sick of it.
We have had some great fun over the last few days. Not to mention two extra days off work! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get many photos as I seldom carried my camera due to the debaucherous nature of the party. I did, however, get a few.
I hope you get an idea from the pictures. These singers spend all year writing witty and hilarious lyrics to entertain the people during the 10 days of Carnaval. And even if you can’t understand everything that they’re saying because they sing the punchline of the songs too fast (dammit!), you can still soak up the atmosphere and have a great time. See you here next year!
Carnival finally arrived in Cádiz this weekend after weeks of anticipation. Knowing from experience the amount of people about to descend on our tiny little city we booked a car and got the hell out! It’s not that we don’t like Carnival, it’s just that our house in in the epicentre and 10 days of it could drive a person round the bend.
Our weekend was spent in the Sierra de Grazalema amongst the spectacular mountains and the atmospheric “pueblos blancos”. We walked for hours, dined in the picturesque plazas and spent a night in a farmhouse hotel where I drank port by the fire, had a massive bubble bath and slept in one of the most comfortable beds ever! Bliss.
moody mountains
lonely tree
Grazalema village centre
Grazalema
Hiking
Stay tuned for Carnival action coming soon.
 | Annie Robinson (@Mrs… on Semana Santa 2012 |
 | pieandgravy on Semana Santa 2012 |
 | Chris Donovan on Semana Santa 2012 |
| pieandgravy on Who needs Greggs anyway? |
 | bananaskinflipflops on Who needs Greggs anyway? |
