Eldership 2025 Spain - Away Mission Novelda (Not Quite) & The Sanctuario Santa Magdalena

After our successful time with Mayte at the Campello Tourist Information Office, we were anxious to take the mud covered away vehicle out to the wonders of the Alicante area countryside. I chose the town of Novelda. Novelda has a lot going for it and looked like our kind of place. But I was especially excited because there was supposed to be a church that was build in the style of Antoni Gaudi (best know for his Basilica da Sagrada Familia.). I am a huge Gaudi fan. 

I won't say driving in this part of Spain has become second nature, but I will say that I have a lot more comfort with how things work from having come now for three years. We made our way to the center of town and plugged in the tourist information office. A few street turns in and we realized we were renewing our experience with an entire maze of very narrow, one way streets. We did make our way to the Tourist Information Office, and we could see a lot of neat things to photograph. What we DID NOT SEE were any parking places or parking lots. So we kept driving until we finally found a parking place. But it was a long way from where we wanted to be. 

So, I did a quick map research and found the church we wanted to see was a ways out of town. I plugged that into the GPS, and in 10 minutes we were there, on a hill with plenty of parking.

 Arriving

 

View of the Valley below. This was the major route from ancient times between the central plateau and the sea. Hence why lots and lots of fortifications.  

 

 The castle ruins were not much and some, highly rebuilt. A story the same as most here. Original fort, Moorish. Captured by the Christians. Changes hands numerous times via dynastic struggles, Gets caught up in modern wars. Now is being rebuilt.

 

 

 But I digress. Can we get to the REAL reason we are here?

 

 

 Sanctuario Santa Magdalena

It is such an interesting piece of architecture in a place you would hardly believe it could happen. It was the brainchild of an engineer, Jose Sala Sala, who went to study architecture in Barcelona and became a student of Antoni Gaudi. This project was started in 1918 and was built in stages finally completed in 1946. To me it is one of the great examples of why cruise/tour travel system is so perverted. No one doing a cruise is going to end up in Novelda. Even we had to dig to find this place. And yet here it is, a stunning example of Barcelona modernist architecture with practically no one visiting it.

 

 

 Espouses Fotograficus contemplates 

 

 

 Interior - the organ is unique in that it is made from marble (this area being known for marble mining)

 

 

 SIGNS OF THE WORLD

Keep your Dutch / Swedish bicycle culture out of here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Elderbase Campello Mellow

A key aspect of our Eldership mission this time and our establishment of Deep Elderbase Campello is to get Wife and I to slow down. Our choice of El Campello for our first Deep Elderbase, is that its basic ambiance and physical beauty resonate with the us. So today, we did nothing special but just took the walk we usually take along the the water front and through the lower part of town. It was a cloudy day. Things are very definitely way past peak season. And there was still stuff that attracted our photographic eye.

I liked the juxtaposition the minimalist outbuildings and the skyline

 

 Embodiment of the Off-Season

 

 A Sole Photographer Makes Her Way Into Town

 

 The Universal Spouse Awaiting Partner While Shopping

 

 Outside the Wine Store

 

We went to Tourist Information. So often you get people who are just going through the motions. Not here. 

 

Mayet - Short for Maria Theresa

 

A treasure. I fountain of information. All done with enthusiasm. If you are in El Campello, seek her out.

Eldership 2025 Spain - On The Kindness Of Strangers At Elderbase Camello

There is so much crap going on in the world that it can be very easy to become totally cynical and just assume everything is going down the tubes. 

Then something happens that blows you away and fills you with wonder about your fellow man. 

On Sundays and Wednesdays there are big markets here in Campello. Wife was on the hunt for some nuts/snacks. It is a reasonable trek up a hill from our flat to get to the market and with Wife's recovering foot we decided to drive up there. Parking is difficult but we were aware of a non-paved parking lot close by. As we entered, I dropped Wife off so she would not have to walk any longer than necessary. I moved into the parking area and noted it was way more deeply rutted than I remembered. PLUS, it had rained and there were some very big looking mud holes. 

I kind of forgot I was driving a vehicle much lower than my one at home. I was trying to maneuver between the ruts and sure enough got myself totally stuck in a deep mud hole. I mean the front bumper and the side of the vehicle right to the ground stuck. I knew I was in deep trouble (pun intended). This is when the amazement started to happen.

A number of people who were walking from the cars to the market immediately stopped, pointed at me and came over to try and help. Many were women. They pushed. I tried to see if I could get traction but I was just in too deep. More people came. Much talking. All in Spanish. Various ideas floated. Some tried. No progress. No one leaving. 

A man went to get a shovel and he starts digging around where the bumper and side were fully grounded. Then another man comes. He seems to know more about this than anyone else. He takes charge. Directs some people. Indicates to me what he wants me to do. We all go into action. The car is freed up. 

AMAZING

The guy goes off. I barely have time to thank him. Everyone else is giving high fives and saying a bunch of stuff in Spanish. the guy with shovel is giving me detailed instructions to go to somewhere (I think a service station, maybe to get the car washed?) but I barely understand a word. Wife and I still have to negotiate a 90 point turn to get myself off the small bit of dry land and onto the way out. 

We went to a different parking lot and still went to the market. Will need to get the car washed.

 I'm not sure this would happen elsewhere in the world. I am still pretty blown away that people would put in all this effort for a complete stranger and not even one from their country.

Eldership 2025 Spain - Chilling At Elderbase Campello

We are in total chill mode at the moment here at Elderbase Campello. There hasn't been a desire to do much of anything. We've been getting into a routine of doing our walks (me in the early morning, Wife in the late afternoon). There may be some errands during the day. I make breakfast and most of the time our late afternoon dinner. We both have projects of various kinds that we are working on the same as if we were back in Albuquerque. And we are totally soaking up the ambiance of this place that is the first we've ever found we want to come back to. 

 And the sunsets and the sunrises are as spectacular as ever. Serious, there is hardly a day when you breath isn't taken away. I will discipline myself to not post a billion pictures while here.

 

The Joys of the Menu del Dia

I have written so much about these. But there is a place I mentioned back in 2023, Bar Restaurant Lami. It was closed when we were here in 2024. I was anxious to get back. Most times a menu del dia is three courses - a first, a main, and a dessert or coffee for the third. BRL adds a fourth course, a soup as well. And the food is solid. Not always spectacular but solid. And the MdD includes a drink as well. So we had our four courses, a class of soda and wine and walked out paying $30 total.

Forgot to take a picture of the soup which was a cold tomato soup thickened with bread.

But the next courses were

Mussels

 

 And a chicken salad that looks like Ensaladilla Rusa but has orange and carrots in it and no potatoes.

 

Wife had a lasagna

 

 While I had roast chicken with orange sauce

 

 Wife had ice cream and I had a coffee. Seriously, I can only do this one or two times while we are here or I'd turn into a blimp!

Madrid Throw Back

Our Niece RMG shows what a REAL galley kitchen looks like.

 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Home In Deep Elderbase Campello

On Wednesday, Wife and I drove from Madrid to our base for the next month, El Campello. This is our third year visiting this town outside the city of Alicante on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Coming here last fall, I commented on coming back here 'felt like home'. I wrote about how special the particular rental was. I waxed rhapsodically about the quality of the morning light.

As we approached the town, I was wondering, "Had I built things up too much? Would this be like so many things where you have a great experience but then come back only to find that the circumstances are not quite the same and it is not that same vibe." As we were let in, we looked around. What had changed? Was it still this same gold standard of a rental as before?

It literally only took maybe an hour to be totally settling, arranging everything as we'd had it before, enjoying the pleasures of the fully equipped kitchen. Today we did a big shopping and the major Costco/Walmart like hypermart, Carrefour. I didn't even need to use the GPS. I remembered where almost everything was in the store. 

We've been enjoying the air flowing through the apartment, the sound of the of the ocean, taking the walk along the waterfront. 

I wondered if we would ever be able to just 'relax and chill' in a place. Evidently, the answer is yes. 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Total Family Indulgence

I don't know if people who have family close by taken it for granted. Or maybe they think it is a negative to have so many close to you who are in your business. But for our family, that has been flung across the globe for a generation, getting time to be with one another is a precious commodity. So our sole focus during our time in Madrid has been seeing each other and hanging out. 

In all my traveling in Spain, I have never actually spent any time in Madrid other than arriving, departing, and staying over at the airport. Between where RMG lives, where our Airbnb was, and where 2.2 lives, we were spread over a fairly wide swath of the city. But OMG the city is huge! The area we are in and that of RMG are massive, primarily residential areas that are pretty innocuous looking. On the other hand, starving student 2.2 lives in a flat with five roommates right in the heart of the city, the Centro. When we visited her, I could see what a monumental city, central Madrid is. I could see us spending a couple of days 

Since RMG and 2.2 both are in school, we organized our times having them visit us and us visiting them around their schedules. Having 3.0 staying with us meant that even when we were not with the two Madrid based relatives, we were still spending time with family. 

It has been delightful. 

Fotografica

Our local neighborhood did not have much to recommend it nor did RMG's. And we didn't spend a whole lot of time in Centro. So slim photo pickings for this post.

You have to love a country that has stores devoted to providing 'JOY'

 

 You also have to wonder if there is actually a market for commercially provided 'JOY'

Evidently there is.

 

 3.0 is committed to ascending the corporate ladder

 

 While Wife contemplates her daughter's career choices

 

Since we visited 2.2 in the heartland of Centro, I wanted to go to a nice cafe for drinks and maybe a bite.

She directed us through the Asian Quarter that surrounds her flat to a more upscale but not too touristy cafe off the crazy busy main drag with nice environs.

 

 

 So Grandpa, is this satisfactory?

 

 We ordered our drinks and I started to peruse the menu. I found a bunch of things I wanted to try. The others said they weren't really hungry.

 

Until I mentioned I was treating

 

 A much higher degree of enthusiasm

La Comida

Tortilla - despite having just had it for lunch at RMG's apartment, we were all down for it again because Spanish tortilla (potato and egg) is the bomb.

 

 Teriyaki Chicken with Popcorn Dust (It's real name on the menu)

 

 Wife and I somehow had in our mind's eye that this would be chicken wings. Nonetheless it was quite tasty. Though the popcorn dust was just meh.

This was the surprise dish of the evening

 

According to our resident Spanish speaker (level B2 candidate), the dish, Huevos Roto (which translates directly to be 'broken eggs') was to be scrambled eggs with truffles. Well I love truffles in eggs. Except this was no 'broken egg', It was two poached eggs, breaded and fried on a huge bed of truffled cream sauce with gobs of cured ham on it. It was really great!

 

Classic Croquettas

 

 

I thought I'd ordered five dishes but had actually forgotten one. Everyone said they were full, but I really wanted this for RMG, our vegetarian.

 

Grilled Vegetables

 

 

Just as in Italy, a simple dish like this is divine and a perfect foil for the fat heavy dishes we'd had previously.

Resident Vegetarian shows her approval