See: Balmedie Beach

I went home to Aberdeen at the weekend and we took a day trip out to Balmedie which has the most beautiful sand dunes and beach. If you are in the area it is totally worth taking a 30 minute drive out of the centre as you can look back on the city and the main promenade strip and then out to the North Sea. I also recommend taking a picnic as you can sit in a dune bunker and keep some of the breeze off or just go for it on the beach itself and enjoy the views. I used to come here loads growing up, either with holiday playschemes or with family so it was nice to take Mark out and show him. It was a bit different from my last visit which was a dj night that you had to find by just following the music!

 

Travels: Granada part 1

I meant to post on my trip to Granada ages ago but time always gets away from you. Anyway here I am.

We went during their easter week religious festival Semana Santa, which is a time to mourn Jesus and reflect on the fact he died on the cross to save us from ourselves and to repent for our wrongdoings. As we're not Catholic we felt like guests looking in on some secret society and didn't fully grasp the meaning behind some of the parades and the costumes. That said we definately got the sense from the locals of the community coming together, honouring their traditions and the religious devotion that the parades represented and the visual spectacle of the parades created a great atmosphere for visitors like us.

Above and below are the Nazarenos in their tall pointy hats that look uncannily like the Ku Klux Klan , but apparently there is no connection, although they are no less unsettling as they walk slowly along in silence.

The constant drumming and the discordant notes from the brass bands that passed through the narrow streets gave me goose bumps, it was so loud and just went right through you. Some in the audience were crying and constantly crossing themselves, and the silence in between the drumming is heavy with emotion. The floats were so intricate and detailed and you had to admire the guys carrying them, around 50 per float, during the heat of the day and at such a slow pace. They stopped ocassionally to rest, and you could peek through and see them with towels on their heads and shoulders to take the weight and their adidas trainers just visible at the bottom which added a nice 21st century touch to proceedings!

Coming soon: Granada

I'm not long back from a holiday in Granada and still need to sift through the photos and get them up on here. In the meantime here's a tiny taster, wall mosiacs from inside the Alahambra Palace and a pimped out dolorosa (a float with the Virgin Mary). Out of all the floats that passed by this was the only tacky one, which was ironic since it was in the chapel within the palace; a monument to history, serenity, grandeur ....and as it turns out LED lights.