Mexico: Tulum Beach

I haven't often blogged about walking along the beach - the walk around Shell Bay and Studland Bay is the only example which comes to mind. However, the beach at Tulum is rather fine and we had a very satisfying walk along it soon after we arrived.

Our hotel is towards the south end of the long line of hotels which are set at the back of the beach, among the palm trees. We headed south, with the Caribbean on our left, in the direction of the Sian Ka'an nature reserve hoping to get away from the built-up area. This was the view back after a while.

We came upon this sculptural piece of driftwood. Just as I was reaching for my camera, a couple appeared and she began to disport herself in various poses across the branches while he took pictures. Mercifully, they had vacated the spot by the time we got back.

Further on, another fine tree trunk enlivened the shore line.

After about 45 minutes walking we felt we had left the developed area behind. The density of washed-up seaweed was noticeably greater. It was tempting to carry on, but the afternoon was getting on so we headed back.

Soon a flock of birds passed us on the seaward side. They were soon identified as Sanderlings. Not being birders, we found it astonishing that the same birds can be found on Studland beach.

Rather wonderful, the flock then landed and flowed back and forth across the beach.

As it got darker, we saw some Frigate Birds and another flight of large birds passed by overhead which we could not identify.

Later I popped out to catch the sunset. It's always better going down over the sea, but here we had to settle for a landward setting sun.

Conditions: hot with a cooling breeze.

Distance: Perhaps 4 miles.

Rating: four stars. Delightful and varied.

Greece: Cape Sounion

The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion

Cape Sounion is the southernmost tip of the Attic peninsular, about 70 km south east of Athens. The drive there from Athens closely follows the coastline. We went there to see the Temple of Poseidon, which was wonderful, but we also found some interesting surprises. In the picture above you can see the remains of the temple with the island of Patroclus in the background. (This is not a reference to Achillles's Patroclus, but rather to an admiral in Ptolemy's navy.)

We walked up from the car park towards the temple to quickly gain the clearest view of what remains. The remains of the portico of the temple is on the left. It was constructed in 444–440 BC in the Doric style on the site of an early temple of the so-called Archaic period and dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea and protector of mariners. The very helpful Wikipedia entry says that the temple would have resembled that of Hephaestus in Athens which was built at about the same time. We admired the Temple of Hephaestus in our walk around Central Athens.

An unexpected feature as we continued our exploration was a small flock of grouse.

This is the view looking directly at the remains of the portico. The square column on the right has a lot of graffiti from past tourists ...

... of which perhaps the most notable was Lord Byron (just above the line separating the two stone block) who visited Sounion in 1810-11

We explored the surrounding area and gained a nice view over the nearby bay, where we learned from a very helpful information board that there would once have been been a port, shipyards and a naval base.

Further information boards revealed that the site was fortified in 413 BC (during the Peloponnesian War with Sparta) and was home to a garrison over a long period. This is the main street along which the garrison buildings were arranged.

Nearby there was a temple to Athena built in 470 BC. This temple was demolished in the 1st century AD, and parts of its columns were taken to Athens to be used in the South-East temple of the Agora in Athens.

I am always on the look out for butterflies, but it was perhaps too windy and I had just a couple of glimpses. I did snap a fine red dragonfly however.

Conditions: sunny, hot, windy.

Rating: four and a half stars. A great outing.

Barcelona: Montjuic

View from the top

When we visited the Sagrada Familia yesterday we noticed a large number of posters for an exhibition about William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement at the Muse Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). We thought that would make a nice outing for today - and what an amazing one it turned out to be.

We headed off to the Espana metro station and emerged into a different Barcelona to what we had seen so far. A gigantic roundabout was dominated by the imposing site of the Bull Ring. I hate bull fighting as an activity, but the building was quite dramatic. A lift carried people to the roof where they could walk around.

Even more dramatic were the massive towers that straddled the entrance to the road up to Montjuic.

We headed along the Avenida Reina Cristina lined by large, but curiously anonymous, buildings towards MNAC which turned out to be an enormous building high up on Montjuic with all sorts of other structures in between.

As we got closer we spotted a sign to the Mies van der Rohe pavilion and decided to follow it - I remembered reading something about it and adding it to my (long) list of buildings to see some time. But before we got there, there was a new surprise on the other side of the road: the former Casaramona textile factory, designed by the great Modernista architect Puig i Catafalch. It is now an exhibition space.

When we reached the van der Rohe pavilion, we were not disappointed. It is a long low rectangular structure which put us strongly in mind of Mies's wonderful Villa Tugendhat in Brno, in the Czech Republic, two years ago.

The pavilion was built for the 1928 Universal Exposition and demolished in 1930 after the Exposition ended. Here is a photo of the original.

Rather wonderfully, it was rebuilt in 1986. And from time to time artists are allowed to create alterations: for example Ai Weiwei filled the two pools with tea and coffee (why?). This probably explains the mysterious towels hanging up across the main window and round the back.

It is a wonderful building with characteristic use of beautiful and expensive marble (just like Villa Tugendhat).

We climbed up towards the Museum and I was delighted to find an opportunity to photograph one of the innumerable Green Parakeets which we have seen in every park.

We then explored the extensive surrounding area and looked at the Greek Garden and the Botanic one. Here I took a first photo of a beautiful species I had only ever seen once before, the Cleopatra. This is like a Brimstone, but with a vivid orange patch on the upper wing.

I spotted a curious structure over the hill and we amble over to investigate. It turned out to be the wonderful Calatrava Tower, once the symbol of the Barcelona Olympics.

Now, finally, we  went to see the excellent William Morris exhibition. Sadly, no photos were allowed. However, a visit to the roof terrace allowed a few final shots looking back towards the city.

Conditions: hot and sunny.

Distance: 3 or 4 miles.

Rating: 5 stars. Incredible variety and almost wholly unexpected.

Ilfracombe to Combe Martin (South West Coast Path 98)

Ilfracombe from Beacon Point

We start this leg of the Coast Path at the back of the harbour in Ilfracombe. Ilfracombe is an interesting place and I have done a separate post about it. We walked along the landward side of the harbour. The tide was out, but the inner harbour was still attractive.

The outer harbour looked even more bereft.

We then headed up hill along a road and turned left into what felt like a park to emerge at this small cove. We wondered if we had gone the wrong way at first as we couldn't see a path upward (you can in fact just make out a handrail to the left of the concrete shelter. Fortunately a couple of chaps enjoying an early morning can of beer in a sort of belvedere to the left put us straight.

We climbed steeply up from the cove and continued a steady climb through trees and then more open ground over what the map shows as Fort Hillsborough. It seems to be named for an iron age chieftain called Hele. There were lovely views back over Ilfracombe and I used one of then to head my post about Ilfracombe. The best view however came from above Beacon Point (at the head of this post).

Now we descended through woodland along a winding path to finally emerge at Hele. The village was apparently once had a gas works (it closed in 1963) which was for many years supplied with coal by ships which moored at the wooden post which can be seen on the beach.  By the 1950s it had become a popular holiday destination (the coal now being delivered by road) and it was normal to have 200 deckchairs on the beach. And as the photo shows there is a rather tasteful collection of holiday chalets there now. the beach however is more like gravel than proper sand.

We climbed up the hill on a footpath beside the A399 road which continued just the other side of a crash barrier. We eventually took a left which led to the low-lying Rillage Point and then climbed. On the horizon the coast of South Wales stretched out before us.

I spotted a rather lovely Peacock and was quite pleased with this picture taken with the lens I normally use for landscapes and buildings, rather than the usual big zoom.

Soon we had a great view of the west side of Widmouth Head. No doubt we would soon be climbing the steep path on the left hand side.

And so it was. This is the view from the top of the path. In truth it wasn't too bad.

The view east from the highest point of Widmouth Point was wonderful. The narrow cove is called Water Mouth (a bit generic as name, I thought) and the peninsula to the left is The Warren. Hangman Point can be seen in the background. The Great Hangman at 318m is the highest sea cliff in England.

We enjoyed a nice break on Widmouth Point and saw a couple of Painted Ladies, neither of which would pause for a picture. I did get a nice one of a Stonechat however - we have seen lots of them is recent days.

We descended fro Widmouth Head to follow a path through woodland above Water Mouth and emerge opposite Watermouth Castle. This was begin in 1825 but not completed until many year later. It is now a family theme park, although this is not too evident from the road.

A little further on we left the road and walked uphill through a large, but mercifully empty, campsite. We then followed a high level path with at one point a wonderfully beautiful small cove down below. We later saw an access path.

Later the path was diverted so that we had to follow a road for a while as we meandered into Combe Martin. This was our first view. Around the corner is a sandy, but not all that attractive beach.

Conditions: Warm and sunny.
Distance: 5.3 miles.
Map: Explorer 139 (Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple).
Grading:  Moderate, Strenuous in places.
Rating: four stars.

Brownsea Island

The landing at Brownsea

Our friends Dave and Chris have just arrived for a weekend visit and it turns out they have never been to Brownsea, so we head off down to Poole Quay and take the ferry to make a quick late afternoon visit.

On the approach we marvel at the size of the lagoon. Reclaimed as pasture in the 1850s, the lagoon was allowed to flood in the 1930s becoming a non-tidal brackish water lagoon offering a sanctuary to a vast number of birds.

We decided to head for the Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve and Dave, having wisely brought his binoculars, unlike me, had a field day with the birds including Avocet, Curlew, Jack Snipe, Godwit ....

I did get a nice picture of a colourful Shelduck, with the bonus of an un-noticed Mediterranean Duck, a new one for me.

We walked back past the church of St Mary (1853-4) although many of the fittings are older, having been brought there from elsewhere. Pevsner is very disapproving: "The church is interesting not as a building, but as a museum." A bit harsh.

Beyond the church is a large grassy area where there was a large (about 20) flock of peacocks. A fine sight.

I enjoyed this close-up of one of the two males.

On the far side we followed a path towards the cliffs, passing a large area of daffodils which had leaves, but no flowers: they are known as "blind".

From the cliff there was a great view across Poole Harbour to South Haven Point.

And that was it. Time had run out and the last ferry was due, so we had to limit our visit to a small corner of the island. But it was still great.

Conditions: bright but cool.

Distance: maybe a mile.

Rating: four stars. A short but excellent walk.