We have been travelling for nearly four weeks now, and it’s been a constant procession of travelling, packing and unpacking. So we are really looking forward to spending a week with Lindsay and Dave at their house outside the little village of Iznajar.
It is a one hour bus journey from Malaga, which goes very smoothly until the final mile, when a motorway closure means that this section of road is clogged with diverted traffic and very slow. Dave is picking us up from the bus stop in the nearby town of Salinas, and watches as our bus sails past him without stopping to drop anyone off. The vehicle turns around a slow five minutes later to drop us off at the bus stop on the opposite side of the road to where he’s waiting
We are driven back to La Casa Seis Hermanas where Lindsay, looking after Alfie, is waiting for us. Alfie has just returned from the vet’s, where he has had an operation to remove a stone from his intestines. Apparently he likes to pick up stones whilst out walking, but this time bit off more than he could chew.
Cold beer, dive in the pool, or sit and chat? Tough choices, so why not all three
As the heat of the day eases off, Lindsay cooks paella on an outdoor burner and we eat around the outside table and talk into the night. It is a dark sky here and the stars shine bright. When Dave’s music stops the silence is also quite profound, interrupted by a distant cricket and more jarringly by the occasional barking of dogs at nearby properties
The following day dawn’s clear and bright. Here I am writing up my blog page for Malaga
That evening we go to the nearby town of Ruti for a meal. It’s an amazing deal for two people: a starter each, a shared main course, and a bottle of wine, all for €20. Times two for four people and we are sorted
A week is a long time to stay with someone. Or more accurately, a week can be a long time to host and entertain people, with fabulous meals and breakfasts
So we do try and make ourselves useful
We build a new Inukshuk for the entrance to the property. We built a group of six last year, but they got demolished in the olive harvest. This one is further from the trees so will hopefully survive for longer. Otherwise we will just have to come back and rebuild
We help Dave redo the gutter so that the downpipe discharges into the ground rather than across the terrace
This is a bigger job than it sounds and involves much planning and discussion. The gutter now has to fall in the opposite direction, and in the opposite direction to the fall in the edge of the roof. We rise to the challenge and it’s a very satisfying moment when a bottle of water is poured in at the end and it makes its way without leaking to the downpipe
I insist on cooking. We have been carrying two kilos of gigantes beans for over 1,000 miles, and I want to recreate the dish that Barbara cooked for us in Greece
Ones own cooking is never as good as other peoples. But this tastes amazing, so I know it’s probably even better. You can’t easily get these beans outside of Greece, and there is 1kg left to bring back to the UK. We will have to use them wisely
We have a trip out to Granada. I have been here before, many years ago, looked round the Alhambra palace and gardens, and dropped into the town for lunch
Today I am seeing a quite different Granada
We park at the top by the Alhambra and drop down to the town. So far so pleasant and so familiar. Linden trees line the route, smelling like honeysuckle
The streets of the town are busy. A Spanish hen party; Mario has managed to rescue the princess
We climb up out of the town, it’s hot, it’s steep, but the crowds have disappeared and the houses and views are beautiful
The houses here are built into the hillside, cave-like, cool in summer, warm in winter. These caves lay claim to the origins of Flamenco music and dance, and we soak up the atmosphere in this small bar
As we climb higher still, the streets gets narrower,
and the views across to the Alhambra palace get ever better
We look round another cave/house, €1 entrance fee. You can rent out some of these as an Airbnb, and it’s an appealing idea.
We eventually arrive at the top of the old town to find a plethora of bars and restaurants. We stop for a (yet another) beer before descending through the Arab quarter: small shops selling clothes, jewellery and assorted tourist memorabilia. It’s a nice atmosphere
Some nice graffiti
A change of plan. To get to our final city of the trip, Seville, plan A was to get a lift to the town of Antequera for a Tuesday 10.20 bus. Plan B is to visit El Torcal, near Antequera, and for Vera and I to stay in Antequera on the Monday night. As a way of avoiding a stressful rush on the Tuesday morning plan B is adopted with open arms
There is an additional crisis unfolds on Monday morning. Alfie’s stitches have come undone and intestine is visible. So he’s off to the vet’s and we await developments. Lindsay and Dave return without Alfie, who has been put back together and being kept in for observation.
El Torcal is a mountain top plateau with weathered limestone formations
I had pictured it as perhaps being similar to Brimham Rocks near Knaresborough, but they are far bigger
and much more extensive
We spend a couple of hours wandering through this landscape, occasionally watched over by wild goats
Butterflies abound, as do dog roses and a myriad of flowers, trees, and shrubs
Luckily for us the temperature has dropped in recent days to a very pleasant mid-twenties centigrade, so we are not too hot
But hot enough to relish a cold beer when we finally get back to the visitor centre
We bid our farewells to Dave and Lindsay at this small bar in Antequera, where we have a beer, some chips, and cheese. Lindsay had meant to order crisps instead of chips, asking for chips – the European term for crisps. We were obviously marked out as Brits abroad as what we received were some very excellent frites. Lost in translation
We have had a wonderful week, it feels a wrench to go our separate ways
We are staying in a fabulous little hotel in the centre of Antequera
Another simple but comfortable room
The town looks lovely, but we don’t have enough time to explore properly. We seem to be saying this a lot on this trip, but we will have to return
The tapas in our small hotel is to die for. An amuse bouche of stuffed sliver of pork is so good, as are the rest of the dishes that we order
We go out for a final beer in the local plaza. Vera tries to buy a bottle of wine at a local supermarket. But it is after the curfew for alcohol sales and the bottle, and money, is taken off her. The bottle is returned when the coast is clear, and she walks out with it hidden under her fleece
No comments:
Post a Comment