Don´t fret about the missing WPC: Two Photo Challenges in Two Days!

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Marianne under CBBH Photo Challenge, Photo challenges

I wonder what happened to the WordPress Photo Challenge for this week?

If you like regular Photo Challenges and you´re tired of waiting, why not join in with TWO CBBH Monthly Photo Challenges in TWO days?

Today is the last day for entries in the CBBH September Challenge on REPETITION and, as tomorrow is the start of another month, October´s brand-new CBBH Photo Challenge will be posted first thing in the morning.

YOU´RE GOING TO LOVE IT – I PROMISE!

Find out how the CBBH Monthly Photo Challenge works here.

What are you waiting for?

Other photo challenges you might enjoy:

Travel theme: Curves

Sunday Post: From a Distance

Weekly Image of Life: Colours

Travel Theme: Foliage

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Photo challenges

When life gives you lemons …… these little beauties are only babies yet, but it´s wonderful to be able to go into the garden to pluck them from the tree to squeeze over freshly-barbecued fish!

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

CBBH Photo challenge: REPETITION

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

Welcoming the rain in Spain

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía

Our first autumn rain arrived today and it´s been a good kind of rain. I took the above photoraph this morning from the Mirador overlooking the village of Cómpeta, which shows a different kind of scene than the last time you saw it.

Often, at this time of year, after a hot summer, our first rains come in the form of huge thunderstorms and we are deluged with so much water that most of it runs off the parched earth without doing much good.

Yesterday we had grey skies, and this morning we were first of all treated to gentle rain which gradually became harder as the morning progressed. It´s stopped raining now, which is good because there is opportunity for the water to be absorbed into the earth before the next rainfall.

I only wrote about the water level in Lake Viñuela last week, and whilst there wont have been much difference made this morning, we are expecting heavy rainfall over the next couple of days.

Not only did we enjoy the rain, but this little chap had a great time too. He´s a regular visitor and usually hides amongst some plant pots near the house, often digging down into them, dislodging the contents.

UPDATE – 29TH SEPTEMBER: Yesterday (Friday 28th) we experienced very heavy rain, with lightning and thunderstorms throughout much of the day. The Axarquía area, east of Málaga, suffered less than surrounding areas, with up to 77 litres of water per square metre of land. Today has been cloudy with showers, but a normal service of wall-to-wall sunshine is expected to resume tomorrow 🙂

Click here to see videos and reports of flooding from other parts of Málaga province.

You might enjoy looking at these articles:

East of Málaga: The Weather in Autumn

Patatas a lo pobre: Poor man´s potatoes

Photographs I love …. and why!

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?: The One-Armed Lady of Málaga

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Marianne under Axarquía, Photo challenges, Places

Málaga Cathedral was constructed between the early sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries and has one very unusual feature.

Have you spotted it yet?

Although the Cathedral´s North Tower is 84 metres high, making this building the second-highest cathedral in Andalucía, after the Giralda Tower in Seville, the South Tower remains unfinished.

A plaque at the base of the tower informs us that funds raised by the parish to finish it were used instead to help the British colonies (which later became the United States of America) to gain their independence from Great Britain.

This unfinished state has led to the Cathedral being known affectionately as “La Manquita”, which translates into English as “The One-Armed Lady”.

This post is my response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary

When life gives you curves, flaunt them!

Travel Theme: Texture

In Plane View: Inside Out

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.