The Buddhist Stupa of the Eastern Costa del Sol

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Laws and Customs, Places

If you are visiting the eastern Costa del Sol, you might not anticipate that there is a beautiful Buddhist Stupa within easy reach of the Mediterranean coast.

The first Buddhist Kalachakra stupa built in the western hemisphere can be visited about 40 kilometres east of Málaga, north of the town of Vélez-Málaga, near to the Karma Guen Buddhist meditation centre.

The stupa is not easily seen from the surrounding countryside, so where is it?

About a forty minute drive east of the city of Málaga along the A7-E15 Autovía del Mediterraneo to km 272, take the exit signposted A 356 towards Vélez-Málaga, Viñuela, Colmenar and Zafarraya. Stay on the A356, bypassing the town of Vélez-Málaga and, after about 7 kilometres, turn left at the junction signed towards El Trapiche. Approximately one kilometre further, (opposite the Jardines del Trapiche) there is a small sign on the right for the Karma Guen Buddhist centre. Take this concrete and tarmac road for two kilometres, and then the unmade track up the hill for another two kilometres.

Park and walk through the avenue of pine trees and, all of a sudden, there it is!

Within Buddhism, the Stupa is a symbol of universal peace and unity. It is claimed that they have protective powers and bring about compassion, love and happiness, as well as social, physical and spiritual well-being.

The Kalachakra is the rarest type of stupa. At the present time, there are only five Kalachakra stupas in the world and this one, near to Vélez-Málaga, was the first to be built in the West. It was hoped that building this stupa would help to protect Europe against negative energies.

Just like the famous Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu, this Kalachakra stupa has eyes painted on it, which is a Nepalese custom.

The journey to see the Kalachakra stupa at Karma Guen is a relatively easy one (bearing in mind the mountain roads) but the views on arrival both towards the mountains and the sea are magnificent.

I often take visitors to see the Stupa because it´s an unusual and memorable place to visit.

Where do you take your visitors that surprises them?

This peaceful post is my contribution to this week´s Travel Theme: White and to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the UN International Day of Peace.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like to look at:

Bus Services: East of Málaga

A Weekend Away: Santiago de Compostela

Slice of Life: Spanish bars

La Viñuela reservoir: Water levels

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía

This webcam has a view over Lake Viñuela, which is a 15 minute drive inland from the coastal town of Torre del Mar, in the heart of the Axarquía region. Situated 285m above sea level, the camera points in a general NNW direction, giving spectacular views across the lake towards the mountains beyond.

Lake Viñuela takes it’s name from the nearby white village of La Viñuela, close to the point where the Rivers Vélez, Guaro and Seco were dammed to create this spectacular man-made reservoir. The reservoir has a capacity of 170 million cubic metres of water, providing drinking water to thousands of homes in the area. As the lake forms part of the local drinking supply, only non-motorized boats are permitted on the water, adding to the general tranquility of this beautiful region.

According to embalses.net, La Viñuela reservoir (Embalse de La Viñuela) is currently full to 70 per cent capacity, which is 3 per cent less than this time last year, but 20 per cent more than the average for this time of year. To be honest, when I saw it on Monday afternoon (17th September), it looked lower than that.

We have had a particularly hot summer this year, and the impending autumn thunderstorms will bring welcome relief for the parched ground. The normal pattern would be that these first autumn rains arrive anywhere from mid September to early October. Only time will tell.

Prior to the creation of the reservoir, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out, producing evidence of Neolithic and Roman settlements, demonstrating the longevity of this area’s historic legacy.

It is possible to almost circumnavigate the reservoir by road, and there are several picnic and barbeque areas along the route, all with spectacular views of the lake and mountains.

Where does your water come from? Do you rely on town or reservoir water, or do you have an independent supply?

Whilst you´re here, why not have a look at:

Sweet memories: San Joaquín sugar mill

Competa´s Noche del vino: Night of wine

A Celebration of Fried Breadcrumbs: The 30th Annual Migas Festival

Autumn: It´s a Game of Three Halves!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía

Even though the intense heat of summer has now passed, the throngs of August tourists have finally returned home, the evenings are getting darker just that bit earlier, and the X Factor has returned to our TV screens – nothing says “autumn” to me more than the start of the rugby season!

When we lived in the north-west of England, we were season-ticket holders at Fylde Rugby Club, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with ex-England captain, Bill Beaumont, on the terraces at the Woodlands Memorial ground for every match. Season after season we stood in the rain and cold, with pride and passion, shouting support for our local club.

But, when we moved to southern Spain and based ourselves east of Málaga, we thought our live rugby-watching days were over.

Of course, we can still enjoy the excitement of the Six Nations tournament, or an emotionally-charged Haka performed by the mighty All Blacks, in glorious close-up on the huge TV screens in many of the local bars, but there´s nothing quite like watching rugby in the flesh, so to speak.

Imagine our delight when we discovered (by accident and at the last minute) that rugby was indeed alive and kicking in La Axarquía. The poster advertised a match taking place between the Axarquía and Málaga Rugby Clubs at the Fernando Ruiz Hierro stadium in Vélez-Málaga on Saturday afternoon at 17.30, with free entry, so we went along to find out what it was all about.

We witnessed a physical and entertaining game of rugby, fought out between two great rivals, in front of an enthusiastic and vocal crowd of around a hundred people. With squad members keen to impress their respective coaches ahead of the new rugby season, both teams put on a spirited display.

Without a scoreboard, it was difficult to keep track of the points and, even though Málaga appeared to score more tries (and some of the conversions of both kickers looked rather dubious to me), it was eventually agreed by the powers-that-be, that a 33-33 draw would be a fair result! Well, it was only a pre-season friendly match.

What was even more curious was that at the end of the second half, when we naturally presumed that the match was over, both teams congregated for another huddle on the pitch – and then resumed with a third half! At least this allowed more time for the players waiting on the Substitute´s Bench to take their turn to impress.

I later mentioned about it being “a game of three halves” to the club´s Press Officer, and when he sent me a copy of the Press Release yesterday, I´m sure you can guess the title of the article written for the Costa del Sol News – “Rugby Season Starts – It´s a Game of Three Halves!”. You read it here first, folks!

The Axarquía Rugby Club provided us with an afternoon of good sport, friendship and a club shop (well, more of a club table) selling cool drinks, tee-shirts and where social memberships can be bought for the princely sum of €15, which includes free entry to all games.

We´ll be back to watch more of the fastest growing sport in Spain.

This post is my contribution to the Sunday Post: Autumn

Other articles you might like to look at:

East of Málaga: Following in the footsteps around Comares

Cheeky Monkey: Now you see him, now you don´t!

Back to the Future: An Evening at the Medieval Market

Travel Theme: Texture

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Marianne under Photo challenges

Botanical gardens around the world are often well worth a visit while travelling, and Málaga’s La Concepción Gardens are no exception. Just to the north of the city, the stunning Jardín Botánico-Historico La Conceptión has justifiably attracted a reputation for being amongst the best in Europe.

I´d been meaning to visit for a while, but somehow never got around to it, but this beautifully-coloured tree bark was just one of the many reasons why I´m so glad I did. I´ll share the rest with you in another post, very soon!

This post is my response to this week´s Travel Theme: Texture

When life gives you curves, flaunt them!

Travel Theme: Silhouette

Travel Theme: Signs

Easy No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Marianne under Recipes

I haven´t posted a recipe for a while, but I´ve got a delicious treat to share with you today. It´s not a Spanish creation, but you do get to see a photograph of some Spanish ingredients – does that count?

These cookies are quick and easy to make, using just one pan. Waiting for them to set is the hardest part!

It´s a good job the oatmeal needs chewing or otherwise you could just inhale these little beauties!

Although I´d heard of no-bake cookies I´d never made them, but when I saw these chewy, sticky bundles of goodness at Sweet Dreaming I just knew I had to make them straight away!

They take only a few minutes to prepare and are great to make with kids if you have any little hands eager to help in the kitchen. I’m sure they’ll love scraping the saucepan afterwards, (which is quite safe as there are no raw eggs to worry about)!

I´ve photographed the whole process, so if you just click on each of the photos in the gallery you can follow, step-by-step.

Easy No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies (Galletas de avena con chocolate y crema de cacahuete)

½ cup (1 stick) butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats

1. Add the first four ingredients (including the cocoa powder) to a large saucepan.

2. Stir, whilst bringing to the boil, then let the mixture simmer for 1 minute only.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.

5. Add the oats and stir until coated.

6. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets.

7. Use the back of the spoon to smooth them out and flatten into more of a “cookie” shape.

8. Set aside to cool until set, which takes about 45 minutes. I usually pop the trays into the fridge because they don´t set so well if it´s hot in the kitchen – and I do live in Spain!

This mixture will make around 25-30 cookies depending on how big you make each of them.