Belen (Nativity Scenes) in Chocolate

It is traditional in Spain to make elaborate Nativity Scenes in town centres, shops and homes. They are called 'Belen', literally; Bethlehem. A couple of hours from here, in the small town of Ruta there is a chocolate factory, with an enormous Belen made entirely of chocolate. Photography is difficult as more light would create heat, which would melt the chocolate! Everything is chocolate - the houses and people, the palm trees and the sheep under them!




It is fascinating! Apart from the stable tableau that one would expect to find, the activities of the whole town town are shown in great detail. Paving is made with thin slabs of dark chocolate. The figures are in white chocolate. The vegetable plot has cabbages and carrot tops! Among the market stalls you can find the butcher with his selection of meats, and the cloth merchant with his bolts of colourful materials.

The Ruta chocolate factory has a shop where replicas of many Belen items can be bought, as well as other Spanish Christmas sweets and specialities. Watch out for the liquer cherries; potent and delicious!

What happens to the Belen in the end? It is divided up among local children.

Collecting salt off the rocks

The beach next to Bahia Dorada is crowned with a powerful square tower; the Torre de la Sal. Literally, it means the Salt Tower. Sea spray collects in crevaces and hollows. When dry, small amounts of pure salt can be scooped up. I'm doing it (rather inelegantly) in this photo!


The beach has pebbles of many interesting shapes and colours. Its impossible to walk along the shore without picking up a few curiosities! There are not many shells; a few little green sea urchins and some battered oyster shells. Just occasionally I find a gorgeous ormer! This is a type of abalone, with seven holes down one side, and a pearly iridescent lining. The question is; why do bi-valves have such showy linings? When the creature is alive the lining would never be seen, so what is their survival value?

Visiting an Aloe Vera Plantation

Hurray! I'm back! My computer needed a major upgrade. My computer guru is a genuis, and consiquently, is much in demand! I had to be patient and wait in the queue for his services! My life used to function perfectly well without a computer, but now I have much basic information stored on it, like addresses and family birthdays; so I'm lost without it!

Since my last post, our local Gardening Club arranged a visit to the nearby Aloe Vera plantation. The thick fleshy outer leaves were being harvested. The 'baby' plants around the base are collected and planted for the next crop.

For reasons of hygene, the girls working on the aloe leaves worked in a glassed off area, and wore overalls, plastic aprons, caps, gloves and rubber boots. We were able to watch each step of the preparation process. The leaves were scrubbed individually. Then both ends were sliced off before being passed to the next cubicle. There, the side spines are trimmed off.

Next, the girls used VERY sharp knives to 'fillet' the leaves, to remove the inner jelly from the tough outer skins on either side. The knife was used towards the left hand, so I was glad the girls wore a protective metal chain-link glove to protect it! The aloe jelly is put into a plastic box ready to be sent to Germany, for processing into medicinal and beauty products. The trimmings of the leaves are not wasted! They are chopped up, and are returned as an organic mulch to fertilise the growing aloe plants!

We were invited to taste the aloe gel cut into cubes. I had heard of aloes being very bitter, so I expected it to be quite unpalatable! I was surprised! It was quite bland, more or less tasteless. However is not put on the market in this form. Many products are made with it. We were invited to taste the delightful fruit drinks that have excellent anti-oxydent effects. We could also buy the skin care products, and the leaves or plants. Visitors are welcome, and the website of the SantaVerde company is http://www.santaverde.es/

Prickly Pears! (Chumbas)

The Prickly Pear is a formidable thorny cactus that makes a useful hedge. The fruits on the edge of the lobes are delicious. But beware! The fine hairs on them are painful and difficult to remove! I have an ancient pair of 'chumba' tongs for picking them.









Take care when skinning the 'chumbas' too! Cut off the two ends; slice top to bottom, and open them.
However the easy way to enjoy them, is to buy them from a street vendor! He'll skin them for you.

Prickly pears are perfect at this time of year! The fruit tastes sweet and juicy, but it does have hard seeds embedded in them. So mouth it gently - rather than chew!

Chocolate and Churros

This is one of the most delicious treats to have in the morning! Choose one of the chorros shops in Estepona where they squeeze the dough through a huge piping nozzle and fry it in hot oil. When golden brown the whole spiral is lifted out with what looks like a pair of huge chopsticks, and is snipped into long pieces with scissors. (Beware of being served the little hooped ones, as they may well be out of a deep frozen packet and taste anaemic!) You can dip the lovely crisp churros in coffee, but I prefer them coated with hot thick chocolate! They are probably full of calories, but I enjoy this decadent pleasure once in a while! Life is for LIVING!

Big Boys Toys and Glamour for Girls at Banus!

Instead of spending a day in the country, visit a haunt of the seriously wealthy! See their 'playground' at Puerto Banus. Most guys I know love to walk along by the harbour to look at the boats, and decide which one they'd like to own. The cars parked all along the harbour are gorgeous too! Watch out for these low slung snarling beasts!

Most women I know are more interested in window shopping there. All the big fashion names have a shop in Banus! Most of the clothes, shoes and jewelery are very beautiful, with very expensive price tags! But there are some reasonable places!

In between the shops there are restaurants and ice cream places. Relax and enjoy!

Fish on the Menu

If you enjoy eating fish, you have come to the right place! The photo shows the 'menu' of a little restaurant in Estepona. The fish will be freshly cooked for you. Personally I like a selection of mixed fried fish; some of everything they have! This will typically include calamares (squid), boquerones (fresh anchovies), merluza (hake), and perhaps pez espada (sword fish) or small leguada (sole). As this is quite substantial, I recommend a mixed salad as a starter.

Paella is eaten at lunchtime - never for dinner! It is basically saffron coloured rice cooked in fish stock with wine. Various pieces of meat, usually chicken and/or pork will be added, as well as fish chunks and shellfish, plus peas and strips of red pimento adding a splash of colour. It's a decorative dish - served with large lemon wedges. Warning! It is very filling! If there are six people in your party, a paella for four will be enough unless you have a very hearty appetites!