Saludos desde Andalucía - España (Greetings from Andalusia - Spain)
Hi All.
Hope this finds you all going well and that life is treating you very kindly. We are now doing our 3rd house sit here in Spain and a further contrast from Scotland is just unimaginable. Our heads spent the first 24 hours trying to figure out how we got from gushing waterfalls, green shady glens and crossing snow on Ben Nevis to hot, dry and dusty Andalusia within 5 hours. Unbelievable!
Upon our arrival, the owners of the property picked us up from Malaga International, then took us out for a divine lunch before winding our way up the hills to their place to show us the ropes with the solar power (it’s off the grid here), water pump, animal husbandry and took us to the closest town about 30 minutes away to show us the places for essentials and etc. They are a wonderful couple of expat Brits who have made this amazing place home. On the second evening here, they introduced us their circle of friends, also expats who have also settled in the region. Wonderful people who have offered us any assistance as required which I’m sure will greatly assist green horns like us.
We are looking after a small finca (house on a rural property) in the La Alpujarra region of Andalusia way up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In fact the house is situated almost as high as the summit of Ben Nevis at just under 1,300 metres ASL. This gig comes with 2 dogs - Minny and Seamus, 2 cats - Cat and Kitten, who come and go as they please and one very big and beautiful, part Andalusian grey mare - Blanco.
The whole thing is on a far bigger scale than the sits in Switzerland and Northumbria. The vastness of this region, dominated by the mountains is to be seen to be believed. The mountain range boasts the highest point in Spain with Mulhacen towering above us at 3,497 metres. Despite the full summer heat, a few isolated patches of snow can still be seen. Regarding this peak - Mulhacen as mentioned above, this is locally called the Pregnant Lady - or something like that. With not much imagination, the towering sky line is the shape of a lady lying on her back with her pregnant belly being the highest point. Now I have the imagination of a dormant house plant, but even I can see it. Check out the attached pic and see what you think.
Phil’s 1st night in Spain was so exciting that she spent most of the night in the little room with an overexcited tummy that misbehaved causing ………. well I guess you don’t want the details! Next day she was still a bit washed out, but came good later in the day when we entered a tapas bar. Now here’s a very good reason to come to Spain. Buy a drink and get a feed. Not your microscopic thing they call a tapas in Oz, but a decent plate full of food to share. Buy another drink, get another plate. No extra charge thank you VERY much! And this is not something that comes out of a packet thats been micro waved of deep fried - so far this has been a home cooked goody that is divine. At 1st we thought this was just THIS place. Not at all. We have been to a couple of others - same deal. Tapas means lid and originally a beer or drink was served with a piece of bread as a lid, to keep the flies etc from helping themselves to your drink. They started topping this bread with various toppings, such as cheese, chiritzo, potato or olive spread. Well that’s the story we got and it sounds fine seeing as the bars are quite competitive and try to out do each other. Big time bonus.
Before we knew it we were on our own and getting on with it. And so we did. But the 1st thing was to take a very deep breath. Scotland and the arrival here had been full on and just kicking back, getting the feel of the place, bonding with the animals and taking it all in was our priority. We were stuffed.
A few things hit you as soon as you get here. It’s Spain and they mostly speak Spanish as one would expect - especially way out in the rural areas like where we are, so that is a challenge for non speaking Spanish green tourists like us . Next - they all drive on the other side of the road which is another challenge if your new to going round a round-about on the other side of the road. And to make life interesting - water restrictions are real water restrictions. They just turn it off - randomly - for about a week so we are told, so you had better be prepared. But we love a challenge - that’s why we came here. And to date - after a week we have not been disappointed. This house sitting stuff is such an amazing life style. You just never know what your going to get. Being open to it all can bring the most unbelievable experiences - such as this one. Who would have thought!
One of the owners priorities is to look after the big grey mare which Volker has taken to with gusto. Riding about the steep hill sides dotted with almond, fig and grape groves, along creek beds surrounded by a rugged landscape on the back of a horse of this calibre is one of those dreams come true. This big, powerful, beautiful grey takes the incredibly steep hills, with drops and rises of up to 200 metres all in her stride. Thankfully I hadn't forgotten about riding in steep terrain. It’s been a while though and it was a bit intimidating at first, but this horse knows her stuff and I was soon pretty comfortable even on the edge of the drop offs or heading up / down the steep inclines. It is just an amazing experience to take her out and get a face full of mountain scenery - the likes of which we have never seen - that just blows you away. It’s hot and it’s dry and it’s everywhere around you. There is nowhere that you are not immersed into the vastness of it all.
Volker’s second ride in the hills resulted in a meeting with a very frisky mule with a full compliment of boy parts who was roaming the countryside in search of anything that resembled a mule, donkey - or in my case a horse with a full compliment of girl parts. This caused a bit of a stir to say the least. It resulted in Volker being side swiped into an almond tree by a big girl horse trying to avoid the little boy mule. Dismount, throw large rock to deter frisky mule, lead horse with frisky mule close behind to a yard, lock mule in, give it a farewell kick up the arse as payback then beat a hasty retreat. Nice one! I had to chuckle a bit when it had all settled down though. This little fellah would need a step ladder to get his bit anywhere near her bit. What was he thinking??
Mules are still used in this area to cultivate the steep hillsides apparently. A tractor would just disappear down the sides due to the steepness. Small caterpillar tractors are also used by those who can afford one. I know I keep banging on about the steepness, but these are seriously steep hills to farm on. Hat’s off to those people who do it. They earn every cent they get.
Phil is also starting to climb up into the saddle and when I say climb - it is a climb for oor wee Phil. This horse stands at 16 hands, is built like a brick shit house and towers over her. She takes a stroll up the road then a small track to a high point where you can see an uninterrupted view of the mountains. It was a bit intimidating for her being on the back of this incredibly powerful horse, but she has such a beautiful nature that soon Phil felt more relaxed and was able to take time to appreciate the scenery.
The climate is hot. Each day is about 30 - 35 degrees and it cools down to about the mid - high 20’s at night, but the heat is so dry that it is actually pretty good as long as you avoid the hottest part of the day. Hence - the siesta. Nice way to break up the day and so very practical. Each evening when it has cooled off a bit, we sit out on the terrazzo, sipping a very chilled beer with lemon where we get a grand vista looking across a valley that rises steeply up the other side to a peak and have to slap ourselves to actually believe we are here. Then as the day expires we eat our dinner watching the hillsides change colour as the sun sets and the dusk sets in and still have trouble taking it all in.
The owners have very generously given us the use of their 4x4 jeep to explore the countryside with, but to date our only trip has been to Cadiar, the closest town, where we stocked up on a few supplies and walked about the town getting the flavour of rural Spain. It’s all so new and all so exciting. Going into shops where English is almost non existent is a great fun way to learn how a place ticks with plenty of laughs at our expense. Love it!
This ends our 1st week which seems to have gone by at a blurring pace. We have experienced something totally different, met some wonderful people and more importantly for us - created our own piece of personal history together. Australia, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland have all been visited by one or both of us previously. There is a sense of familiarity despite seeing new places within these countries. Where as here - it is all new and it’s all ours - totally. We are out of our comfort zone, only have each other and we are creating a brand new set of memories from scratch. That in itself adds to the adventure, the excitement and the creation of something that we can call our own. The adventure rolls on!
Best wishes and lots of love.
Philomena & Volker
