España - la fina (Spain - the Finale)
Hi All.
Spain is coming to it’s conclusion. Bugga! It is with real mixed feelings that we finish up this gig. Leaving here is going to be difficult, but heading to Turkey is a pretty exciting way to finish off our 6 month OS gig. Then going home to catch up with family is going to be wonderful. So leaving now, while we are on a high is a far better way to conclude than thinking it is dragging on. Never the less, we both have conceded that this place has got under the skin a bit and there are so many layers of the fabric of the Alpajurras to get through, which leaves us wanting a bit. Well - actually a big bit! It’s so big, so vast and so incredibly beautiful when you take the time to peel away those layers.
The seasons are changing as late summer and early autumn compete for the same time and space. There are still scorchingly hot days, with the odd cooler day, but the evenings are cooling off making sleeping much more comfortable and the odd dewy night is such a novelty. The local farmers are beginning their harvest of almonds and are getting the drying sheds ready for the figs. The grapes on the vines are becoming lush with ripening fruit and soon will become some wonderful wines. When we walk the dogs in the morning or go for a ride just as the sun comes up, it is such a treat to pick the grapes and incredibly sweet figs for breakfast. The smell of the campo with it’s rich earthy aroma and the ripening fruit - especially on the dewy mornings - is a one of those “gotta be here” moments (if your into that sort of thing).
With the changing season, we are finally getting some clouds, in what has up to now been mainly bright, blue, totally cloudless sky’s. Watching the really unusual “pancake stack” clouds as well as the dense cloud banks rolling up the valley’s from the coast in the 1st light of the day is stunning. When this has happened, we are above the cloud line which makes it so much more spectacular with the mountains poking through the cotton-wool like cloud. Seems strange that a year can go by without a winter - again. It was like that in Papua New Guinea 4 years ago. We could certainly get used to avoiding winters that’s for sure. There are a lot less niggly aches and pains.
Phil’s sister and brother in law, Ann Marie & Jean Daniel came down from Paris to pay us visit for a couple of days, so we took them to see the sights around “our" little bit of the Spain before they went off to visit Granada, Cordoba and Seville other parts of Andalusia. We will be catching up with them in Paris as they arrive back on the same day as we get there. We will have a couple of days with them to compare stories and probably whet the appetite for future adventures in Spain. It’s their 40th Wedding anniversary and Phil was their bridesmaid, so it’s great that she’ll be there to celebrate the occasion with them.
One day we headed back over the Contraviesa (the name for this part of the Alpujarra’s) to explore the back streets of the gorgeous little villages of Pampaneira and Capaleira. These beautiful traditional villages, clinging to the incredibly steep hillsides, with dizzying views across the vast landscape would have to rank as our favourites in the area. The traditional architecture on many of the houses date back to a time of Moorish occupation. The dazzling white, flat slated roofed houses with their quirky, turret like chimneys sticking up, are so unique and when back dropped by the mountains - OH WOW! We spent the day visiting the various shops, wandered the back alleys and ate at a divine restaurant which required significant walking - all up hill - to get a premium view with which to enjoy our Alpajurran fare.
Another day we headed back down to the coast to do some shopping, then headed up into a gorge complete with caves where apparently archeologists had found evidence of neolithic occupation. Thanks to our guide / neighbour Belinda, who showed us where to go, we wandered up into the gorge, but our inappropriate footwear stopped us from climbing up into the caves about 50 metres up from the gorge floor. Bugga! That would have been a great adventure.
Then it came time to say goodbye to the big girl Blanca. As the owners were not getting back for another 9 days after we leave, she was going to a friends place about 4 hours ride away. I saddled her up for the last time and set off just as the sun was rising over the mountains and then it really hit home. We are leaving - how sad is that? The big girl and I had clocked up some big kilometres over the time and for me - I loved every minute of it. From the elevated position on the back of that beautiful, big, powerful Andalusian mare, in a foreign country, across scenery that can only be seen to be believed was an adventure that I could only ever have dreamed of. Especially at my age. I've now lived that dream. Tick. I still pinch myself. As Phil said to me - treasure these moments. I certainly will dear.
We held a little soiree one night with the neighbours to say our farewells and to thank them for their kindness and hospitality. They were mainly Brit expats, but it was very special indeed when our immediate Spanish neighbours Rogelio, Ana, with their kids Rogy and Estella came to join us for dinner. They must have been a bit out of their depth with so many “Inglesi”, but they came and despite language barriers, stayed and joined in. It was just so special for us to have their company. As one of the neighbours remarked after they left - "Now that’s a first - you should feel very privileged. The Spanish don’t usually come to the Inglis’s parties". What ever - we loved it! We also got a few offers to come back to do more sits and to take part in next years Charity Endurance Ride. Hmmmm!! Might just leave the door open a wee bit. Who knows - never say never!
I took Phil down to town early on Tuesday morning so she could catch the bus to Granada the Capital of Andalusia to see the bright lights and sights. I opted to stay in the mountains to keep the dogs company. I also wanted to have some time to myself in the mountains and as much as I would have loved to have seen Granada, The Alhambra etc., I wanted the time and solitude to take in as much of the mountains as I could. It was our time to catch our respective breaths, all be it quite differently, before heading off to Paris, Turkey, back to Paris again, Dubai then back home to reunite with our families whom we have missed so much. So much to do in so little time.
Phil’s flying visit to Granada:
I left Cadiar on the early morning bus, it was still dark, I was the only non Spanish speaking person on the bus. The journey took me over the mountains and into a completely different type of landscape. More water here meant more vegetation and in the fields there was wheat and other crops, golden and ready for harvesting. The journey took about 3 hours and I arrived just outside Granada. Having already booked a hotel in the old Moorish quarters, I headed straight there. The area didn’t feel Spanish at all, it was more Moroccan style of architecture. The shops and markets all were very Arabic. As I didn’t have a lot of time here I joined in a 2 hour walking tour of the city. I was absolutely fascinated by the history of this area. Occupied for 700 years by the Arabs who built incredible palaces, fortresses and other public buildings, until taken back in the 15th century by the Catholic kings. For a while Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully. If only that were the case today!
The Gypsies who inhabit the area, originally migrated from India as far back as 600AD and still remain there today, living in caves, some elaborate and some very basic, in the nearby mountains. They originated the flamenco dancing and today put on the shows for the tourists. I went to one of these shows later that night in a refurbished cave, which was another first for me. Watching these gypsies sing, dance and play their spanish guitars was such a thrill. I could not stop my toes and heels from tapping all night.
Next morning it was up at 6.30, breakfast and off to the Alhambra. For those who know it, I don’t need to say more that WOW! WOW! and WOW! and for those who have not been, it’s an unbelievably beautiful. A palace, a small city and a piece of Spanish / Moorish history that I didn’t even know about. With it’s stunning architecture and amazing gardens the wonders of it all was very impressive. I was there for about over three hours and felt I was taken back in time to another world. I loved, loved, loved it. After my visit I had a few hours to spare before I had to head back to Cadiar on the bus. So I did what most women would do - I shopped - as one must. In just over twenty four hours I had packed in so much and was stuffed. A sleep on the bus back was a must and I returned to Cadiar and Volker who was waiting for me in the local bar.
And so this unbelievable adventure comes to an end. We answered an ad for a house sit in Spain, sent in a CV, got the gig and were rewarded with something so far removed from anything we have done as a couple so far. We finally created “our” own history. Neither of us had been to Spain before, so this was our 1st - together. There was absolutely no sense of a security net that comes with the familiarity of other places we had been to. This was us, here and on our own. It wasn’t all beer and skittles and at times we have got on each other’s nerves and annoying the shit out of each other. But we came out of it with an incredible sense of having done something so very special in a place that neither of us could have ever imagined. As we’ve said before, this sort of experience doesn’t quench the thirst for travel, it only whets the appetite for more. Just imagine there’s still South America, Africa, Asia, Central Europe all to be discovered, will we have enough years left to see it all? We certainly will try.
How does one try to explain the emotions this journey has brought us. Initially there was intimidation at the vastness and the size of the Sierra Nevada’s along with mucho trepidation on a number of scales. Then it all kicked in as these feelings gave way to a warm fuzzy semi familiarity. We had the time, the desire and the curiosity to let the Alpurjarran campo carry us away and absorb us into an adventure of such grand scale. Climbing the highest peak on mainland Spain, riding la hermoso caballo (the beautiful horse) over the campo, meeting the people, exploring the villages, being in awe of the inspiring sights, savouring the flavours, the smells and all of the things that make up the whole package that is life in this part of Spain is one of those experiences that we will bore people to death with for a long time. As you probably are by now. But for us - this was the life and we were living the dream!
A little bit of us will always be here in Spain and a little bit of Spain will always be with us. Gotta love that!
Adiós España. Usted está en nuestros corazones. (Farewell Spain. You are in our hearts).
Best wishes and lots of love to you all.
Philomena & Volker
PS - I found this piece while trawling the net one night. I think it pretty much described us the 1st week or so in Spain.
“that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don't want to know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.” ― Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Yep - we sure can relate to that!!!
