Dancing in the Alpujarras, Granada

The Alpujarra region of Granada is widely acclaimed as an area of outstanding natural beauty, where wooded hillsides cascade into bubbling rivers, snowy mountain peaks preside over leafy olive groves and whitewashed villages are strewn on craggy outcrops. Such an landscape has an irresistible attraction to Artisans, Painters, Writers, Musicians and such like creative spirits, so it comes as little surprise to find the area used as a backdrop, or rather a stage, for the convening of a 'start of summer' Dance Camp! 

Not a Dance Camp in the usual 'pack off the kids' type of way, but a coming together of people from infinitely varied backgrounds, ages, creeds and cultures, to spend a few day celebrating nature, dance, music and life!

The event, Dance Camp Spain, has been organised buy a small group of residents with a passion for nature, music and dance........... 

 

Dance Camp spain will run from Wednesday 4th June thru till Sunday 8th June. you will require a tent and sleeping bag or you are welcome to sleep under the stars, tent hire may be possible, contact the organisers. 

There will be a variety of activities offered and will include Swing, Salsa, Hip Hop, Ecstatic Dance, Creative Dance, African Dance, Belly Dancing, Magnetic Tai Chi, Reconnective Dance, Bollywood, Tango, Sevillanas,  to name but a few.

Workshops will also be run during the event and will include Hula-hoop, Poi, Yoga, Poetry in Movement, Singing, Trapeze and Salsa. 

With performances and live music throughout the event there will be plenty to keep the whole family entertained. 

Contact info: 

Tel. 0034 958068045

       0034 620886639

Website. http://www.dancecampspain.com/

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dance-Camp-Spain/861661057181345

Watch Out! There´s a Blogger About!

A Blog

A truncation of the expression - Web Log.

Is a discussion or information site published on the world wide web and consisting of discrete entries or 'posts' typically displayed in reverse chronological order.

So what makes a Blogger Blog

On 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public Blogs in existence.

On 20 February 2014, there were around 172 million existence worldwide.

Bloggers come in all shapes shapes and sizes, from all backgrounds, classes, religions, creeds, casts and cultures, but are united by the common obsession to publicly record the events, places, times, quirks, oddity and most off all people that they encounter on life’s journey

But beware you could have one living right next door to you

Bloggers are the observers of our times and are ever on the look out for their next Blog, they are not easily recognised as they come in a myriad of disguises. The quiet gent reading in the corner appears a first glance to be fairly harmless, but as he occasionally glances up from his book he is mentally storing the information of his surrounding for future use. The engaging sophisticated lady relating humorous stories in the heart of a cocktail party does not miss the incident occurring way up on the left hand margin, and with a click and a flash the Blog is half written.

Bloggers are the social commentators of our cultures, pastimes and habitats, and the mild camera toting pensioners aimlessly wandering around the sunny resort could both be planning the next post, and it could be about you!

The camera is clue as most Bloggers seem to be quite apt at capturing an image, after all it is the images of the mind that they seem to effortlessly convert into words. And they do with aplomb;

where as you might write ..
“it was so refreshing to come in out of the sweltering heat¨”

The seasoned Blogger will touché you with...
”Inside was as cool as a lychee! Outside was as hot as a wok!

So Bloggers of the world Blog your blogs, leave no stone unturned, no beauty indescribable, no rarity unrelated and no characters unheralded, because if the extraterrestrials out the looking down on us want to understand humanity........

We´ll just send them a link to your Blog!

 

My Personal Paco de Lucia.

It was an incredibly bazaar set of circumstances that led me to the small mountain village in the contraviesa.
A liberating quest of discovery in 1980's Spain; 
The warnings of mad mountain men and murderous gipsies from a brash arrogant estate agent.
A drive through a rapturous landscape surrealistically backdropped buy a snowcapped Sierra Nevada...... and that huge sky!
The steaming hissing radiator that forced me to coast down hill, around torturous bends that led me to a dark foreboding bar, the bosom of a village and my destiny.
And Paco was there, in the bar, serenading that first encounter, filling the gloom with his strains of pure emotion. 
Paco de Lucia laid tangable bridges between myself and the warm friends that I lived amongst. We would pass chill winter evenings sharing the feelings that he gave us as he effortlessly bathed us with the sounds of his soul, he led us on a journey threw the ebbs and flows, the sharp and the soft, the complexions that make a life. In turn we would stand, wail our own contributions, and in doing so, reveal a soul of our own.
The love that these simple folk had for the man was as evident as the volume he was played at and even passing a doorway that was exuding his tones would be met with a stamp, a pose, and rhythmic clapping.
Paco de Lucia was omnipresent in the life of the village and taught me so much of the character of the people I had chosen to share time on this planet with. The depths of raw emotion that smoulder in a Spanish heart can be disconcerting to people of colder climes  but Paco felt it, lived it and expressed it.
This world has lost one of its true gems but Paco will live on wherever there is pain, love sorrow or joy.
 Hasta siempre! Amigo de mi corazon.

Weather That’s Stunning Even When its Bad

Here in Malaga we're blessed with an average about 300 days of sunshine a year and that is exactly what attracts the  millions of tourist to both the city and the province. It is also a large contributory consideration in the decision of many thousand of European who throw caution to the wind and take up residence here. 
So logically that leaves a couple of months during which we experience varying degrees of inclement weather. 
As any resident will tell you when it rains here it buckets down and the wind can blow a hooligan so here is a photographic essay of the beauty of bad weather as taken by our own Flipside Flanuer 





 A lone surfer enjoys the gusty conditions

            






 Sea and sky can fuse into one reflecting each others angry mood and at sunset the sky can burst into dramatic colours

The Cathedral spire stands boldly defying the elements

Into every life a little rain must fall but a pinch of sun brings rainbows 

 

The tapas will have to wait for a better day

Distant snow reminds us of our how privileged we really are

Málaga - Dying in her Ruins

The city centre is full of unique buildings abandoned and dilapidated, with its decay we are losing the heritage that belongs to this city

Watchful eyes bear witness to a Málaga that lies dying in its own ruins. Broken windows, boarded up doors, tiles and balconies detached. A distant splendour is fading year after year, a result of the owners negligence and an apathy of governing institutions.

In the historic centre of the city, dozens of unique buildings are abandoned and dilapidated. The Planning Department has forced owners to repair the outside of the building to pass the Technical Building Inspection (ITE ) . However, there are many others which are slowly crumbling.

Antonio Vargas, Dean of the College of Architects and professor of 'Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Málaga' states “you only have to make a brief tour through the streets of Madre de Dios, Dos Aceras, Alamos and Carreteria to check numerous examples of this lack of action, these properties are privately owned but also belong to the community”. 

“We talk about heritage but we should look for a more intense surveillance system before reaching total ruination, more frequent inspections, regulations with greater demands and controls not only on the livability but to also maintain the architectural value of these buildings" added Antonio Vargas. Citing a specific example, El Palacete Barroco de Trinidad Grund. the baroque palace.

Amongst La Calle Tejón, Calle Rodríguez and La Plaza del Teatro, there has for years been rising scaffolding skeletons supporting buildings with nothing more that vegetation inside. "These are more obvious cases," says Vargas and suggests that developers are purposefully leaving the properties to come crashing down to make way for redevelopment projects.

For the architect and university professor, in certain cases "compulsory purchase would most suit the common good ". However, the dean of the College of Architects believes that " the authorities are very wary and provide guarantees to the individual rather than the collective, denying the right of citizens to enjoy their heritage." he goes on to stress that “In all this lies the culture of high prices and the want to get the maximum return”.

A key factor in the abandonment of these properties is the ownership structure. Sometimes the owners are elderly or their heirs don't want act responsibly. In Calle Madre de Dios, No10, a unique building does not look to have passed the statutory inspection, Another, had the openings on the ground floor windows boarded up but has been broken into and stands open to slowly corrode.

 In Dos Aceras and Alamos façades are propped to hide the empty interiors. In Carreteria No 31 moldings have fallen away and police had to act to prevent injury due to falling cornices.

The Professor continues " Public space is not only the soil of the street, the cobblestones beneath our feet , it is also are the buildings that line those streets ,"

another example of neglect in Pasaje de Chinitas, floors that form the fabric of buildings has been torn off and gutters are so unstable that a metal plate protects pedestrians from falling material . 

 

In this proud city the Malagueños are now used to walking through its dying streets and so to must the visitors who pay to come and see this Malaga, this 'paradise'

quotes from interview by
 C Ristina Fernández málaga Hoy |

Rowing - An Exercise in Integration

      

Integration is fast becoming a buzzword in ex-pat circles but still remains a most satisfying exercise, and one we all try with varying degrees of success. Whilst we celebrate the differences that add interest and intrigue, we also find that when we combine this with a common interests a real coming together of cultures emerges into a memorable occasion.

Such an event took place on El Palo Beach, Malaga one sunny Sunday in January.

A visiting team of traditional Gig rowers from Cornwall met up with their equivalent Jabega rowing club of Malaga.

 Members of the Mounts Bay Gig Club, Cornwall, met up with members of La Espailla, Asociacion del Remo Traditional, for a joint row in Malaga Bay.

After convivial and enthusiastic introductions were made on the paseo the visitors were shown the boathouse and more importantly the boats. The ladies presented their hosts with the Cornish flag explaining the connection with St Piran the Patron Saint. In return the hosts presented the ladies with T-shirts bearing the club's emblem, it was then time to get down to the job of launching the boat, by manual labour.

They then rowed in unison following the shoreline to the lighthouse by the port. Augutin at the helm would at times steer the boat into the breakers as an added challenge, attracting the attention of Sunday walkers along the Paseo, who waved and cheered to the intrepid team

the atmosphere on board the Jabega was buoyant and banter was exchanged in both languages.
After a gruelling two hour row the joyful but exhausted team returned to El Palo for a well deserved lunch at El Zagal Chiringuito. 


The lunch was traditional fritura, a mix of fried fishes and squids, washed down with cold beer. Convivial conversations Broke out spontaneously as stories of both countries were related, questions asked, explanations given and understanding grew! laughter and ribald humour abounded as the two backgrounds settled comfortably in one jovial group. 
      


Carmen, a street hawker, that sells roses to enamoured couples, appeared and Augustin magnanimously bought roses for the ladies and bade or rather bribed Carmen to sing a Spanish sea shanty which thrilled the visitors into rapturous applause who in return sang a Cornish ayre.
Talk then turned to a return visit to Cornwall and was agree in a quickly convened meeting and Easter was set as the date for the trip.

Video from on board the Jabega and other jollies  

 The day ended with hug and kisses and promises of future reunions, altogether time well spent.

Information on the clubs and the members: 

Mounts Bay Pilots Gig Club
Founded in1986 the club spent two years of fundraising to raise £10,000 necessary to build their first boat 'Lyonnesse' named after the legendary 'Lost Land' between the Cornish Coast and the Isles of Scilly. The Lyonesse was built by Ralf Bird and launched in 1988. Later in 1990  second boat 'Sally was launched.
The Mount's Bay Ladies are called 'The Tackies' due to the colourful, flamboyant dress code of the '80's.
Participating today;
Zoe Payne - Chairperson.
Sandra Barbiero -  Broken Pin Winner.
Jo Culley - Gold Medal Winner, Veteran Class.
Becca Harvey- renowned Artist
Barbara Tremaine - English Teacher & Multi talented Flipsider.

Club La Espailla

The club was formed over40 years ago and row the traditional Jabega style boats and promote the culture of this type of boat at events all over Spain. At times they fish from the boats wearing traditional costumes

  Participating today;
Agustin 'Reverts' - Patrón, Chairperson
Felipe 'Ipe'             - 1st Rower
Paco  'Kiko'.          - Row Hand
Francisco de paula 'paua - Row Hand 

More information along with videos and fotos can be seen on 'Malaga on the flipside' Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/malagaflipside?ref=tn_tnmn