arvinder: Spring at last (2015) and an appointment with a river!

It has been a rather wet and cold two months, even though we managed to avoid being here in February but the last few days have come as a welcome change..with sunshine and warmth. So when our friends Kato and Isa suggested a walk in the woods, around an area known as the Waterfalls of Lamiña, and specially since Marisol had also made a note of doing the same walk, we jumped at the chance. It turned out that it was only an hour away, more friends (Montse, Fonsi, Pepe and Pili) also joined the venture and last Sunday we all set off early in the morning to do this walk.

The GPS was programmed for the small town of Barcenillas as suggested by the online advice (and not because it sounded familiar - smile - for our worldwide friends the name Barcenas has been much in the media recently for reasons not very favorable) and we arrived and parked easily. The walk was not difficult though it did involve long uphill sections to exercise the parts other walks might not.

So far so good including a stop for a quick swig of the wine then down the hill, lunch (Beans! Cocido in Spanish) and then a bit of sightseeing!

Now we come to my appointment with the river. There happened to be a small river flowing through the town of Ruente just up the road from Barcenillas, and there after lunch we decided to look at the rather beautiful emergence of the waters of the river from a rock outcrop.

Kato and Fonsi

Here you can see Marisol and Fonsi looking at the emerging waters. Someone said that there was a local belief that a fairy lived inside the cavern. Well I have to tell you that these were the last photos my camera took, perhaps because the fairy took a dislike to me. Can you see the little steps near Marisol's head in the last photo? And a round stone in the river just below the steps?

Well, a couple of minutes after this photo while crossing the river I slipped on that step and fell into the river!

With my mobile and camera safely tucked into my pocket. The witnesses to the scene remind me that Kato tried to come the other way and while I tried to turn around, I slipped. Still no excuses..

Somehow I managed to keep my head above water!