WbtA - part 2. Orgiva and Pitres

We stopped for a picnic near Orgiva and some little birds were singing so joyfully but so elusively that we had to scan around quite a while to find them. To my northern ears, they sounded like skylarks - which sing on the wing - so I'd spent a long time looking to the skies to try and find them- but then I finally spotted them in a tree. Any ideas what they are?


We love picnics. This time, we had one of my tortillas de patata, chorizo, cheese, yogurts and lots of lovely fresh bread, all of which went down pretty well.




Then, the children went exploring.



Mateo started pretty near to base having turned over a stone and found a wealth of living creatures to investigate.

And then later I noticed all three of them deeply engrossed in some other fine detail of ant hill, millipede or insecty thing.

We love pine forests!









However the call of a coffee after lunch was too strong for us to stay too long and so we pottered back into Orgiva.

Recently made more popular by Chris Stewart's book, 'Driving over Lemons' - which I enjoyed reading - Orgiva nestles in the lower hills of the Alpujarras, though by the time you arrive there, you feel as though you've already trekked up and round some pretty impressive mountains - and if you have no idea as to what else there is out there, it's a real find in itself.

Some describe it as 'scruffy' or 'quirky'; 'alternative' and 'new-age' comes up time and again too. We did see quite a lot of young folk in dreadlocks and/or dungarees - familiar to us and most of them English. (I don't mean I actually knew any of them but they looked familiar and I could understand what they were saying). And there was a wide range of other people about too - old and young Spaniards; people in cars with licence plates from Germany, France, Holland, the UK and Italy; old folks chatting in the street; friends sitting in the bars; women unloading bags from cars - the usual bustling Saturday street life in a village that felt to be alive and full of good will. 



The streets are narrow and the buildings quite tall - difficult to photograph from any angle but the church, with its two towers stands out as a landmark. I thought it was untypical of Spanish churches until I looked again at the church here in Alcala and I can see the same spire with its blue slate tiles and white dotted trim - this could be typically Andalucian then. I will investigate further!



And then round a corner in one of the side streets, we found a little mosaic fountain - not pushing up much water, but rather sweet nonetheless. And yes, I know, it's a pretty bad picture, carelessly snapped, doesn't quite capture the scene at all. I apologise.

And these two just wanted to be captured anyhow before they tumbled off their perches.













The coffee was absolutely delicious. If you look carefully at the trees outside the church, you can see they are full of oranges.
I like that.

We liked Orgiva.
And from there, we headed into the Alpujarras for real - with some of the images shown in part 1 of being wowed. What a drive, what views, what wonderful scents of almond and cherry blossom, what amazing villages built on sheer mountainsides, what sky, what perfect blue sky!

And then, well over 1000 meters up into that sky, we came to Pitres to see a house there.

 This is the main square and a market is held here every Friday. Pitres is the 'central' point for a number of Alpujarra villages collectively known as 'La Taha' and it has schools at primary and secondary level - a crucial selling point! Although the house we saw was not what we were looking for, the couple who showed it to us (not the owners) were absolutely charming and full of information about the place. It has a strong musical tradition and an active choir, a music school and is often visited by orchestras who perform 'music in the mountains' in the open air. It also has a few more conveniences such as shops and a local town hall as well in comparison with some of the other villages around. 

It was all rather lovely.

Yes, we were wowed by the Alpujarras. And keeping eyes and ears open to find out more about it.
(There's a part three to follow!)

Wowed by the Alpujarras - part 1

It's silly really. About 18 months ago, when we went on holiday, I bought Chris Stewart's book 'Driving over Lemons' and really enjoyed reading it, though not without considerable envy even then. And that was before I knew we were going to live in Spain ourselves and that writing a book about it would have been my dream!
 
When I went to England for a week back in October, I bought his second book, 'A Parrot in the Pepper Tree' and enjoyed that too. And I realised a very strange thing this weekend. I had been avoiding going to the area described in these two books - even though I knew somewhere deep down that it was exactly where we were looking for - simply because I had read them. I didn't want to go there because of what I'd read in a book.

And oh, how I am kicking myself now! This weekend, we decided to go and look at a property in Orgiva (which I find very difficult to pronounce correctly...try it, with the emphasis on OR/heeba - I always want to say Or HEE ba. It's not 'Orgy' anything, so don't try that.) The journey south of Granada is always stunning - and we turned off at one of the most beautiful areas with the Lecrin Valley and Beznar to the right of us and the route across the Alpujarras to the left.




We drove along the winding mountain road, past Lanjaron, as famous here in Spain for its bottled water as Evian is in France, to Orgiva, which boast the title of 'Gateway to the Alpujarras' - and it's certainly a wonderful entrance to what is to come.

We met Eva, the agent in the centre just outside the impressive church. The town was full of people who clearly came from many places other than Spain - lot of new-age looking folks too. It had a very friendly feel and Cesar and I instinctively liked the place.

View from the land

The property, a couple of kilometres outside Orgiva, wasn't what we were hoping for though the land it had was absolutely stunning. We got the chance to talk to the neighbours and the children explored the various plants and wildlife (and a bit of 'dead' too as they found a sheep's skull in the grass!) and so it felt like a positive experience and we weren't too disappointed.





We decided to have our picnic in the area under pine trees, where the birds were singing their little hearts out and the views were gorgeous. Then we went back into Orgiva and drank a very good coffee in one of the bars on the main street - again, a sense of being laidback and relaxed was prevalent in the surroundings.

We had another appointment at a village called Pitres, further east along the Alpujarras and so we set off on what was one of the most wonderful journeys I've ever been on.

Leaving Orgiva, we climbed quickly and steeply up a good road, but one where there were a few scary moments - particularly when we came face-to-face with a big bus - and we were the ones at the 'drop off the edge of the cliff' side!

We didn't, of course, but Ruy will remember the moment forever as he has a strong sense of the dramatic!












We kept stopping to take in the views, smell the air - full of cherry blossom - or to buy oranges.

The road continued to wind past little villages and to climb up and up and up...

This view looks across the valley - see the little road clinging to the mountainside - we'd just travelled along there.






We drove past the picturesque town of Pampaneira, with even more colour added to the place by the sale of brightly coloured rugs - I was very tempted and we stopped off on our way back from Pitres when I discovered a most wonderful chocolate shop... but more of that later.

Eventually, we arrived at Pitres, which at 1,297m above sea level had a chilly nip in the air, but oh my, what air it was to breathe! We met a lovely lady called Imma, who had offered to show us the property that belonged to someone she knew and her husband, Pedro, joined us. Again, the house wasn't what we were looking for but we stayed chatting to this lovely couple for about half an hour - maybe more - and they told us all about the village and the community and it all sounded so perfect! We exchanged email addresses and Imma promised to see if there was anything else for sale in the village and then let me know. I would love to keep in touch with them - and we certainly want to go back to Pitres again! Who knows..

I cannot possibly do justice to this area in photographs. This is only part one because there is so much more to say and describe and I will do that in my next posts. I just have to say again that it is a most 'wow' place and one we all really want to go back to again as soon as possible....though, poor Ruy, who suffers a little from travel sickness, will need some pills to get him there and back again!

Cold Comfort

Laughed out loud on the way back from viewing a property this evening. Then had to try and explain - in Spanish - to Toni, our newest favourite estate agent - about 'Cold Comfort Farm'. In case you haven't read it, it's a novel by Stella Gibbons that I can recommend most highly if you enjoy parody of any sort. I couldn't possibly provide you with the plot here as it's just far too complicated - and all the funnier for it - but Wikipedia does a good job of not making it sound silly, providing a rather sensible explanation as to where it all came from..and went to.
I always loved this book and know I have met many characters from it in my life thus far!

Today, Toni and I were met by a character with big whiskers running the width of his face and an accent so thick I struggled to catch a word. Let's call him Amos or Urk; he led us along 2km of potholed dirt track before yelling at Toni to turn left at the almond tree. A large black dog barked furiously on a short lead - he'd worn a deep circle of earth away all around him - and we got out of the car and entered his farm. Which was lovely, in a ramshackle sort of way. I was strangely too intimidated to take photos...not sure why...and unless I go back, I will never be able to remember the layout.

What I do remember is a door rattling closed as we entered the farmhouse and Toni and I eyed each other quizzically. Amos/Urk explained that was one of his brothers in the shower - obviously wasn't expecting us. (Or was he?!) There were at least six bedrooms in the house and Amos/Urk informed us who slept in which room - turns out there were eight brothers!! As we came downstairs again, youngest brother was out of the bathroom and ...let's call him Seth..was lurking moodily by the fireplace. He didn't speak to us.

(This is Rufus Sewell as Seth in the BBC TV series..)






I tried to ask Toni whether all the brothers wanted to sell the farm, or just Amos/Urk but her English wasn't good enough and I didn't want to ask in Spanish in case I offended Amos/Urk or even Seth. We politely went into each of the animal sheds and the place where Amos/Urk hung his chorizos...
But even though she's an estate agent, Toni made it clear that there was nothing to be gained by hanging around longer than necessary - and so we made good our escape before any other brothers should emerge. Not that we said that to each other, of course.

And as she drove off at speed over the potholes, that's when I thought of Cold Comfort Farm and started giggling. I hadn't thought to look in the woodshed, thank goodness!

La Mota - the beautiful!

The longer we live here in Alcalá la Real, the more I grow to love the views of the fortress on the hill known as 'La Mota'. More or less from every place in the town, if you look up or along, you will see it.

It's a stunning sight from any angle but glimpsed from various points of the town, it becomes a most comforting thing to look at. This is the view just leaving our apartment:

(This is just another view of our fifth floor apartment - all the balconies you can see on the top level are ours - where I precariously peep over to look for Mateo coming home from school or to hang out the washing - I haven't sussed out the complicated lines that go across the inner courtyard area... must try that soon!)
















Back to La Mota and another view from the little plaza behind the apartment, taken as I was walking to the supermarket:

And looking 'up' from the supermarket itself, which is on the 'bottom' road to the south of the town.















It's everywhere you look - see how it is from Ruy and Romy's school - how wonderful to see that as you arrive and leave each day!









And turning around is the view of the school. On certain days, year 6 are out and driving around in go-karts on a track that runs in front of the school - learning traffic sense and road skills. (I suspect this might be a relatively recent addition to the curriculum judging from the state of the cars and the amount of 'parking by ear' by the bigger ex-alumnos!) Still, both Ruy and Romy are very keen for their turn at go-karting in school time! And on Tuesdays, this space is where the weekly market is held where there is some wonderful stuff to be found - my favourite stall is the herbal tea man - if only I could blog the amazing scents that come from his stall!


That blue sky is today - it's a very beautiful day, still with a nip in the air, but a sense of what heat there is to come. When the awful bug that has got most of our family gripped at the moment has gone, I am going to venture up to La Mota again (walking this time) to have a closer look and see what Alcala la Real looks like from up there.

Flu, flu, not quite flown

Romy is poorly with the 'flu. She wasn't right when we went to Almeria on Saturday and I have a photo of her lying on the beach, covered up with everyone's jumpers and towels as she could not get warm. It was 23º C, which is a wonderful temperature (especially for an early February day.) But the sun didn't get through to her at all. She was brave but just wanted to go home. She won't let me put the photo here - didn't want me to take it in the first place - so I won't.

Since then, her temperature has flared violently and often - leaving her shaking and terrified, begging me to go away from her because I'm 'going too fast'. It's been dreadful not knowing how best to console her. It's happened so often that at least now, she knows when it's starting again and that it will pass quicker if she lets me put a cool flannel on her brow and stroke her with my (usually) chilly hands. And we're sneaking antibiotics into her juice, which also makes me feel bad but there was no other way to get her to take them. A usually obliging and sensible girl, this flu has made her resistant to pleas to her better nature.

But it is passing and she's getting better every hour, spurred on by the knowledge that next Friday is her big school trip to Granada, where the children will go to a concert and to the Science Technology Park. It's a very exciting thing to look forward to and I do hope she'll be fine again by then.

I thank goodness yet again that my children are usually strong, healthy and well and hope that continues for the rest of their lives.

And how lovely, she's just come in to ask me if I've nearly finished - because she wants me to play with her! Hurray!!

Town, Village and Country Houses

I wouldn't want anyone to think we were just sitting around down here, soaking up the Andalucian sun, tapas and atmosphere. Oh no, we have been very busy looking at houses.

We've looked at town houses:

with impressive views

and impossibly steep access

Lovely tiles and features

Quirky kitchens

Bedroom

after bedroom

and wonderful staircases

right in the centre of town.

 And we've fallen in love with the look of country houses...

til we find they are actually right on the main road...

 And with village houses done up to perfection

with gorgeous features

wonderful views

and lovely houses that were just too small inside

or had too little outside space

 

despite having interiors to dream in

or for...

Or wonderful, peaceful views

cosy lounges with woodburning stoves

and kitchens where the food just had to taste good

..oh, and how well would we sleep here!

There are some beautiful ones out there - and I wish their owners all the very best of luck. Thus far, though, however gorgeous some of the houses have been, we have yet to find just what we are looking for. We are reassured by what we've seen that the right one is out there somewhere, waiting for us to find it.

Doorway

I was looking through some of the pictures stored on the computer the other day. I couldn't think where this had come from but found it rather fascinating..it had the title 'Doorway'.

I was struck by its simplicity. It's one of Mateo's. I like it.