Amy of Aragon!

Amy of Aragon!
Originally uploaded by hussman60

Regards, Colin
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Hexadecimal 30

In computing hexadecimal is used to represent bytes. Zero through to 9 then A, B, C, D, E, F are used to count to 15 when working in hexadecimal (also known as base 16). So, 15 can be represented by four bits which is half a byte (also known as a nibble). You with me so far? If you want to count above 15 then you go up to a whole byte and use the same principal, therefore say 20 ( in our common way of counting i.e. base 10 ) is 14 hexadecimal. A byte can therefore hold 256 values (0-255). 255 is FF hex. Today, I am 48 years old or hexadecimal 30! I don’t really like either base, it’s still a big number. So I think I’m going to stick to my counting scheme of last year whilst touring Espana. Then I was 2.35, now I'm am 2.4 - Dave’s that is. Hasta Luego.

Advance fee scams, watch out Toon Army!

Ok it's been a while I know and no we're not travelling again - yet! Just tickled me the so-called bidders are from Nigeria, that well known location for people who regard scamming Brits as a legimate day job! So I was thinking when i read ..A Nigerian consortium planning to bid for Newcastle needs to raise an "extra £50m to £100m" to buy the club, with owner Mike Ashley holding out for £400m. (Daily Mirror) . . . . I'm wondering if the bid for Newcastle came in by email from this so called consortium? Perhaps they suggested that if £2,500 could be wired to their bank in Lagos then they would be able to free up the additional cash that was merely held up by technical difficulties or some such story. You have been warned Newcastle, advance fee scams with promises of greater sums down the line( Nigerian 419 ) have taken plenty of unsuspecting brits to the cleaners. Hasta Luego.

Veruela

Heading east towards the Ebro river we followed a brown sign for Monasterio de Veruela. Set in peaceful Aragon countryside it’s a place I couldn’t do justice to describe. Just note the name and go there if you ever go driving through this area.
As we got closer to the Ebro Valley the thought of fishing seemed uncomfortable. How could we go there and see Heiko (our guide) and fish so close to the area we’d shared a family holiday, possibly one of the best we’ve had – nah. Resetting the SatNav we headed north, through the middle of the Pyrenees, up through central France and a few days later a smooth ferry crossing to Dover. After 5 weeks home felt right so here we are. Hasta Luego.

Valladolid

Seeing Amy after 4 weeks was a joy. She came with John, Chris and Bethan and together we explored Valladolid, which came up trumps from low expectations. The city has a reputation as a centre of commerce but there’s more to it than that. The Vincci Frontaura hotel is a new build only 4 months old and took to heart my feeling that brown is the new black as all shades were on display. The staff were very varied, ranging from disinterested to most helpful so tripadvisor.co.uk will hear of this. The city has an old centre and new suburbs but has somehow managed to blend quite nicely rather than look nasty. Overall an interesting and varied contrast to our other stops.
In keeping with the earlier prediction Valladolid did indeed loose the fixture at home to Athletic (Bilbao) after falling behind to two early goals. They managed a fightback in the second half with a just penalty award converted, but were never quite good enough to share the points. The most exciting aspect however was before the game. Athletic fans from the basque country had invaded the Plaza Major and taken over the bars and singing for all they were worth. John and I joined them on a bus to the game and were treated to the full range of club songs, insulting the Policia and various dances that included bouncing the bus to its axles. We got chatting to some of them and they wanted ‘Kimi’ to win the Formula 1 as he liked beer and chased women which was, as they saw it, more in keeping with the values of a basque man than the down in the mouth Alonso who they didn’t like. I think I’m right in saying that he’s from Madrid and therefore they would not be well disposed to him even before taking his temperament into account. Also they appreciated that ‘Cesc’ Fabregas is indeed Fabulous and therefore for the bus journey and outside they stadium we were best of pals. I wished them Tiene Buenas Partido and off we went to our seats. The atmosphere was the best of the three games attended as about 5k had found there way into the ground and made loads of noise. The only problem with all the Spanish football is that it just doesn’t measure up to the standards of ‘the Arsenal’ and I am watching the best footy in the world already when at the Emirates.
Hasta Luego.

Rana de Salamanca

The frog story included a bum steer from the Sunday paper we read. The frog is on the Universidad not the Cathedral, eventually found it. Doesn’t look much like a frog to us. The University makes you feel it is a privilege to study there. An old tradition is to write your initials inside a V for Victory anywhere on the exterior walls upon graduation. Leaving ones mark like that is a posh equivalent of an ‘I was ere’ carving on a tree or bench. What mark does anyone leave on the world? What mark did Dave leave? What mark can we leave on his behalf? Together we raised over £5,300 for the Willow Foundation - is that it?
The Parador de Salamanca is a modern building with medieval details tastefully incorporated, the Parador de Zamora by contrast is a 15th Century renaissance palace steeped in history. We wanted to stay in a parador and now we’ve done two, both appealing for different reasons. Desayuno’s in both are brilliant; you can even have wine with breakfast! On now to Valladolid for a rendezvous with a beautiful woman – Hola, Buenas Dias Amy. Hasta Luego.

Carpa

From Salamanca, tracking the Rio Tormes west towards Portugal brings you to a big reservoir. Here we found an accessible expanse of water and I spotted carp a decent chuck from the bank. They spent the three hours until dusk taunting me and I didn’t manage to snag one. The afternoon was memorable for the bird of prey that was cruising over the lake that we’d love to identify (any twitchers out there?). Fork tail, reddy coloured breast, charcoal underside of wings with white patches in the centre and wing span of around 4 feet. The silence there was broken by a 700 strong herd of goats that we heard coming a long time before we actually saw them as a good proportion had big bells round their necks. We thought we were going to be mowed down by them as it so happened we were parked and sitting on one of the few patches of sort of grass that had grown where the reservoir level had dropped. We were surrounded for an hour and stared at by the goats, three dogs and a shepherd. One of the dogs chased a stray into the reservoir and the shepherd was screaming at the dog for nearly loosing the goat. He called off the dog and the goat swam back to land and rejoined the herd. The shepherd called the dog over, calmly lifted its leg and hit it’s underside so hard with his walking stick it flew out of his hand. The dog squealed in pain and ran away but it came back and kept a safe distance. A working dog’s life out here is a hard one. Hasta Luego.