Wildflowers of Andalucía: Dutchman’s Pipe

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Marianne under Axarquía

When I was wandering in the garden the other day, I noticed these gorgeous wildflowers growing in the shade of some of the almond trees. Strangely enough, there is just this one patch of them, and I’ve never noticed them before! They are a purple/brown colour (some with a yellow/beige interior), have heart shaped leaves, and are a climber/vine.

I looked in my flower book, but couldn’t identify them, so I posted a photo onto Facebook and sure enough, someone knew what they were – Aristolochia baetica.

According to Wikipedia they belong to the Aristolochia/birthwort family, with their common names “Dutchman’s pipe” and “pipevine” being an allusion to old-fashioned meerschaum pipes at one time common in the Netherlands and Northern Germany.

“Birthwort” (e.g. European birthwort A. clematitis) refers to these species’ flower shape, resembling a birth canal.

I think they look like a bird’s nest full of baby birds with their beaks open, waiting to be fed! What do YOU think?

Last couple of days

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Marianne under CBBH Photo Challenge

This is the lovely view across the bay at La Herradura (which is the Spanish word for horseshoe).

Don’t forget, there are only two days left to get your entries in for this month’s CBBH Photo Challenge: MULTI-COLOURED. New challenge starts on Wednesday!

IKEA: It´s Swedish for self-assembly furniture

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Marianne under Places

OK, OK … I lied!

IKEA is really an acronym comprising the initials and location of the founder of IKEA – Ingvar Kamprad; Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up) and Agunnaryd (his hometown in southern Sweden).

The company is the world’s largest furniture retailer, with stores in many countries, including Spain.

I wanted to pop along to IKEA to pick up some photo frames for a forthcoming Art and Photography Exhibition in Torre del Mar, where I will be displaying some of my photos in June. I haven’t visited my nearest store in Málaga for almost a year, but since my last visit some rather excellent solar panels have been erected as sunshades for cars parked on the 1400-space free car park.

What a innovative idea!

IKEA has invested €4.6 million installing solar panels not only on the car-park sunshades, but also on the roof of the Málaga store, which will produce 2,821 MWh per year – 64 per cent of the amount of energy the store used in 2012.

Did you know that the IKEA logo is blue and yellow to reflect the colours of the Swedish flag? Well you do now!

So, if you’ve recently moved to the Málaga area, and are looking for somewhere familiar to buy your stuff – this might be the place for you!

The Málaga store has the usual frustrating one-way, anti-clockwise layout, typical of every IKEA I´ve ever been in, whereby you have to walk around the whole store (and it´s a long way) to get to the exit – unless you spot the craftily concealed short-cuts.

IKEA is situated in the Bahia Azul commercial area near Plaza Mayor. If you know where Málaga airport is – well, it´s close by, just off the same road – MA-21 at Exit 2.

Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 10am – 10pm (The store is also open some Sundays and Public Holidays, but it’s best to check the website before you set off)

Address: Av Velázquez, 389, 29004 Málaga, Spain

Phone:+34 902 40 09 22

Website: IKEA website for the Málaga store (in English)

Do you have a degree in IKEA self-assembly furniture? I know I don’t!

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

Spanish football: Estadio La Roselada, home of Málaga CF

AVE: Taking the Fast Track from Málaga to Madrid

CBBH Photo Challenge: MULTI-COLOURED

East of Málaga: Old men on benches

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Marianne under Photo challenges

Sometimes they will be wearing cardigans. Often they have on their hats.

Sometimes they sit in the shade and other times in the sun (depending on the time of year).

One thing´s for sure – if there´s a bench in one of the white villages of Andalucía – there will be some old men sitting on it!

Bless ´em!

Related posts:

Travel Theme: Benches

Wildflowers of Andalucía: Bloomin´ lovely!

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Marianne under Axarquía, Slice of Life

Particularly in spring and early summer, the hills around the Axarquía are a riot of colour, with a rich variety of beautiful wild flowers.

The blues and purples of the wild rosemary and lavender contrast with the golden yellow of the broom and gorse, which in turn make way for the pink Convulvulus and purple Vipers Bugloss. There are many varieties of wild Mediterranean orchids to be found, as well as irises, gladioli, stunning red poppies and pink and purple wild Sweet Peas.

The wild flowers reach their climax at this time of year in early May, as the oleanders on the hillsides and in the river beds signal the arrival of summer.

If you want to see wild flowers at their best, head off into the Parque Natural de Las Sierras de Tejeda y Almijara in the Axarquía.

Don´t forget to take your camera!

You might also like to look at:

Flowering snapshot of a January day around the garden

A Slice of Life: Garden and Plant Irrigation

CBBH Photo Challenge: Multi-Coloured