Spanish Holiday Day 12

Day 12:  Hiking in the Sierra Nevadas in the Alpujarras Region

Today, we are hiking in the Alpujarras, a little known area of Spain in the southern face of the Sierra Nevada mountains (Spanish not Californian-Sierra Nevada means "snowy mountain range").  Due to snow melt, the region is very fertile  and with creative terracing,  farmers are able to plant a variety of crops.  Our guide, Roberto, was a phys-ed instructor as well as a guide, so we knew we were going to get some exercise today.  The weather predictions, thankfully, were again way off, and we had good cloud cover for the climb, followed by bright blue sky for the descent.  The drive to the start of our hike was somewhat reminiscent of cycling in Mallorca, with steep climbs and descents and many hairpin turns.

 

We began our hike in Pampaniera, a beautiful tiny hill village full of artesian shops and restaurants.

Every village needs a church

There were very few flat areas in the town, definitely NOT ADA compliant.

There was a communal laundry in town, though we suspect most people had washing machines.

Our hike continued up through the town into groves of a variety of trees, gaining elevation very quickly.

Our goal was the next village up the mountain, the town of Bubion.

Views of Pampaniera from the trail

The hike up was short, distance-wise, but we gained about 1200 feet in elevation.

On arrival in Bubion, we first encountered the Church of the Woman of the Rosary.  The story associated with this church involved a Catholic boy and Muslim girl who fell in love. The girl's family locked her in the tower of the mosque to keep them apart. In 1568 there were mass forced baptisms of muslims, and many fled to avoid persecution.  The girl's family left her locked in the tower, and her Catholic lover rescued her several months later.  The story is a combination of Romeo and Juliet and Rapunzel.

Dave befriended a pup in Bubion

The walls of all the buildings are painted  white with quicklime to keep them cooler in the stifling summer months.  Many buildings are a reddish tan color, stained from a severe sandstorm in 2017 that blew in from the Sahara.  Some people have just not pressure washed their homes since then.

Along the trail on the way down, we sampled the local flora.

Walnut trees and fig trees lined the trail.  I found out that walnut oils permanently stain your hands.  I will be lucky to have clean hands by the time we come back to the US.

Walnuts

Figs

The first evidence of our return to Pampaniera was their cemetery well separated from the rest of the village.

Finally back to "civilization". We spent an hour or so exploring the village, stopping in some shops and enjoying the ambiance.

We were pretty hungry after all our hiking and stopped for Tintos and Tapas before heading back to Granada

Tomorrow morning we leave Granada for the big  Catalonian city of Barcelona.