OT: Sierra de Francia

Located at the southern end of Salamanca province and about 70 km from Salamanca, the provincial capital, the Sierra de Francia is one of the mountain ranges belonging to the Sistema Central. Its forested mountain slopes (alder, oak, pine and ash) rise over the Northern Castilian Plateau, marking the geographical limit of its southwestern plains (Llanura Salmantina). Most of this territory, together with the valley of Las Batuecas was declared a natural park under the name Parque Natural de Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia in 1978. And together with neighbouring Sierra de Béjar it constitutes a Biosphere Reserve. (Information taken from Wikipedia).

Last Wednesday I went up to the Peña de Francia (1723 m) from La Alberca, by walk. There are 8 km only but there is a difference in height of 700 meters. Enclosed you can find the pics I took. At the top stands one of the highest Virgin Mary shrines of the world.

Last Laugh Award

The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2011. The nominees were:

– Declan Burke for Absolute Zero Cool (Liberties Press)
– Colin Cotterill for Killed at the Whim of a Hat (Quercus)
– Chris Ewan for The Good Thief’s Guide to Venice (Simon & Schuster)
– Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood (Doubleday)
– Carl Hiaasen for Star Island (Sphere)
– Doug Johnstone for Smokeheads (Faber and Faber)
– Elmore Leonard for Djibouti (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
– L.C. Tyler for Herring on the Nile (Macmillan)

And the winner was Declan Burke for Absolute Zero Cool (Liberties Press).

I have AZC in my Kindle and I’ve scheduled to read it soon. Stay tuned.

Information taken from CrimeFest Awards.