Hiking... the Spanish way

Now, usually when I go walking with the walking club here, it's a fairly serious affair, generally up a steep hill with much sweating involved. We often go for a beer and tapas afterwards and I invariably end up home at about 3pm, more than a little tipsy and completely exhausted.

But it's all done in the correct order: walk, drink.

However, the other weekend I went walking with one of my friends, Paco, from the club. His wife came too, plus another couple who are friends of theirs. We walked along the Via Verde, which I think I've talked about before. As an old railway line that's been developed for walking, running and cycling, it's easy walking. We walked to Torredelcampo, a nearby village, which is about 11 or 12 kilometres from Jaen. A reasonable distance to walk, and very enjoyable in the sunshine.

At Torredelcampo we went to a bar for drinks and tapas. We sank several beers, a glass of wine and a small glass of something which looked radioactive and was very very strong. The tapas was good and included some mature cheese, hand-cooked potato crisps and goat (I think!)

It was all very pleasant I began to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Shame about the 12kms we had to walk home... The journey passed quite quickly (!) but it wasn't ideal. By the time I got home I was fit to drop and had the beginnings of a hangover. Oh well...

Last weekend I visited Cordoba, a very attractive city which is famous for its 'Mezquita Catedral', a combination mosque and cathedral. I know, I was a bit surprised too. It's a very attractive building and it, and the rest of the city, are well worth visiting.

Portugal this weekend for a long weekend.

Hasta luego...

Adventures in urban running

As I was on the last bit of one of my favourite running loops yesterday, I pondered the hazards of urban running.

Now that particular loop is a relatively new one, but I like it a lot. It does involve some pounding the streets and dodging shoppers, but it also includes a good steep climb, some quiet bits below the castle, and fantastic views across the city to the mountains beyond. On a clear day (which here means most days) it really is beautiful.

However, the street bits do require some patience and concentration as there are plenty of potential pitfalls for the unwary runner. Here are some:

1. Sudden stoppers / direction changers;
2. Congregators (people who walk in a big group, taking up the whole pavement);
3. Drifters (often too busy looking at their mobile phones to steer a straight course);
4. Arm swingers (some people do this very heartily as they're walking!) and
5. Last but not least - that which dogs leave behind...

And on that note, I'll bid you farewell for now, except to say that I've had to purchase an oven glove due to a more than acceptable number of burns to my hands recently (see photo).