March 22nd: The Alhambra

The Alhambra Palace is part of a huge walled complex that was started in the 9th century with the building of a defensive fort, the Alcazaba, that occupies a commanding position on a rocky headland directly overlooking the city of Granada. Jane, on the bench, is playing the part of the weary and confused American tourist. "I'm real sure it's Edinburgh castle...."

The bell on the highest tower in the Alcazaba was used to signal the market gardens below when it was time to change the water flow in the irrigation channels. The Moors had sophisticated water management systems that continued after they were deposed, in some cases right up to modern times.

The Alhambra palace was built by the Nasrids, the ruling dynasty,in the 13th century as a massive castle, close to the Alcazaba fort but separated by a deep ravine that has now been filled in. The palace was repeatedly improved and refined right up to the end of the Moors’ occupation in 1492. The lion courtyard below shows the typical quality and harmony of the buildings.

A close-up of some carving demonstrates the overall superb workmanship.

Water was used extensively in Moorish design to promote peace and relaxation, and the photo below shows one of many examples of its’ use. The water was green and murky but did support goldfish so you would probably survive if you fell in.

As large as the palace is today, only a part of it is left. Carlos V, the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella who ousted the Moors, demolished large areas of it to build his own palace. He no doubt felt that he needed to make his own statement. The photo shows the circular interior courtyard looking very much like a bullring. Actually for many years it was used as a bullring. Carlos’ palace is solid and imposing but looks crude in comparison with the design and decoration of the Alhambra.

The remaining area of the walled perimeter is now filled with gardens and a 5* hotel, but at its peak it housed a town of some 40,000 inhabitants. There are a few foundations left of the dwellings but it’s difficult to imagine where they would all have fitted in.

The Generalife
We’re not finished yet! The Nasrids also built a summer palace called the Generalife on an adjoining rocky outcrop. I can’t quite see why the Caliph built his summer palace just round the corner as the climate is hardly going to be any different, but maybe he liked to wave to the folks left behind. Anyway you didn’t question the Caliph’s decisions. The end result, though, is very beautiful, and the gardens and water features emanate peace and tranquillity.

Unfortunately, at the time we were there, the gardens were overrun by a party of unruly French school children and a large Japanese guided tour, so peace and tranquillity was not the association we were left with!

March 22nd: Granada 2

Granada has a large Gitano, or gypsy, population many of whom still live in caves in the hillside on the eastern edge of town. It isn’t quite as Flintstone as you might imagine because the caves mostly have a house type frontage with rooms quarried out of the rock behind, as per the photo above. The Gitanos have a strong flamenco tradition and have produced some world-class performers in guitar and dance. Capitalising on their reputation, some of the caves have been converted into flamenco clubs but tourists are warned to beware of being fleeced for a second-rate performance at inflated prices.

There also appear to be a number of alternative lifestyle folks around so we were not surprised to see someone taking their pig for a walk. The pig was clearly keen for some petting and rolled over for a passer-by to scratch its’ head.

This attractive cobbled walk along the river leads out of town towards the Gypsies’ caves with the old Moorish quarter on the hill to the left and the steep crag of the Alhambra on the right. The Moorish quarter doesn’t contain many original arab-style buildings but is a maze of narrow alleys, and as it climbs up presents great views of the city, the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

March 18th: Granada 1

Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors and held out until 1492 when King Fernando and Queen Isabella of Spain expelled them. Apparently Fernando was the handsome part of the duo and Isabella did the thinking. The picture shows the outside of their tomb: we went inside but there are no photos allowed. It is very grand and impressive with a massive carved marble tomb, intricate gilded altar and wrought iron altar screen, but lacks the beauty and harmony of similar tombs we saw in Italy last autumn.
Isabella died in 1505 and left instructions that a candle should be left burning for her in perpetuity. Being the acclaimed heroine of all Spain, this wish was followed to the letter- that is, until some time in the 1980s, when an electric light bulb replaced the candle! Despite numerous protests, it took 10 years before the candle was restored.

This is Convento de San Jeronimo, a beautiful building surrounded by orange trees. It was founded by Fernando and Isabella but not built until after their deaths. It is still an operating convent today. But hang on, I’m puzzled here, and I know the spelling is slightly different, but wasn’t Geronimo an Apache Indian chief?

This is one of the many guitar shops in Cuesta de Gomerez, or “Guitar Street” as it is known. They are not just shops but workshops and make the guitars on the premises. They have a reputation for high quality. The shops were closed as it was early afternoon (i.e. siesta) so I couldn’t go in for a closer look, but the lack of price tickets in any of the shop windows indicated premium prices.

March 16th: Arrival at Granada

The site is 10 miles from Granada and fairly new. It is terraced and has stunning views over the Sierra Nevada, Spain’s highest mainland mountain range. Although the camp is at an altitude of about 3,500 feet, as you can see it was warm enough to sit out in summer gear and admire the view. That’s a sapling, by the way, not a fishing rod at the side of Jane.

The site organises a free trip into the local Natural Park once a week in 4 X 4’s. This was the day after we arrived, so we went. The 4X4 took us along some dirt roads with sheer drops but lovely views over the mountains and ended at an abandoned quarry. The rock mined was stark white as the photo shows and was turned into gravel chips for a multitude of uses including road building. The whole area underfoot comprised these gravel chips making it look like a pure white beach.

March 16th: Portugese Odds and Ends

Here are the few odd items that didn’t fit into the other blogs.

Chapel of Bones

In the town of Alcantarilha was a chapel with walls, floor and ceiling made of human bones. These were dug up from the church graveyard several hundred years ago when it became full. As far as I could discover there was no more to it than that. It made a gruesome sight, but the occupants all looked happy enough and I did check the photos afterwards for “red-eye” in case one of them gave me a cheeky wink.

Cork Harvesting

The last inland walk took us past lots of stripped cork oaks. The number 8 in white indicates that these trees were de-barked in 2008 so the grower knows they need doing again in 2017, i.e. every 9th year. It seems that, despite the plastic revolution, the market for cork is as strong as ever and we saw in the local shops cork wallets, shoes, handbags, skirts even. It’s obviously a more robust material than you think. The heap below is a typical pile of cork bark.


Ajulejos

This is an example of Portuguese blue tile panels found everywhere, azul being the Portuguese word for blue. You may recall the photo from the disused nunnery in an earlier blog. The tiles are still being produced in a great variety and most houses seem to have at least one feature block of them, usually quite a classy enhancement. They also appear in volume in souvenir shops where the artistic value is more questionable.

Portuguese Language
In written form the vocabulary is similar to Spanish so you can make a fair stab at the meaning if you know some Spanish. There, the similarity ends: the pronunciation is nothing like, and sounds more like Russian to me than Spanish. The main sound effect is caused by the letter “s” being mainly pronounced as “sh”, for example 6 coffees= seis galaus, pronounced “saysh galawsh”. Fit your teeth with anti-spray guards before attempting!

On the whole Portugal was very interesting, especially the walking where we were lucky enough to be included in an experienced group. Parts of the coast are like Spain, very touristy. We could have been luckier with the weather but I think that would have applied to most of Europe. And now back to España.

March 15th: The Last Walk

No, this isn’t a piece on capital punishment: we’re leaving Portugal tomorrow for Granada, and this is our final trek. The walk starts 40 miles inland and well away from the tourist coastal strip.

You see we’ve bonded into quite a team! We made stepping-stones four times to get across swollen rivers and on only one occasion did anyone get wet feet. The problem was that stones lying around on the riverbank are mostly irregular in shape, so the “stepping-stones” are really piles of wobbly small rocks.

This was a typical settlement, part of which has been modernised. The number of derelict buildings behind housed people who eked out a living on the land in former times. With a view like this I'm sure they will eventually be restored as second homes

At the highest point of the walk was a former windmill that is now a Buddhist monastery. The flags are prayer flags written in an indecipherable script – presumably Tibetan? There was also a shrine where fruit offerings are left each day. We didn’t however see any monks, only a digger making a bigger accessible area around the fruit shrine. From the monastery, the rough path ran straight down steeply to the road where we had parked the cars.

March 12th: To the Top of the Algarve.

Foia, at 902 metres, is the highest mountain in southern Portugal and was our destination. The walk started from Monchique, a small spa town, and we sallied forth on a steep cobbled path leading past an abandoned nunnery.

Actually, the nunnery wasn’t abandoned at all because it was occupied by squatters: friendly squatters who invited us inside for a look. It was in a ruinous state, as were the squatters, but handsome in its’ proportions as the following photo shows.

One feature unexpectedly still nearly intact in the nunnery was this blue tiled panel. Blue tile scenes are found everywhere in the Algarve including churches, but ancient ones do have a second-hand value and it is surprising that the squatters hadn’t sold the panel on Monchique market. Still, it’ll be a nice feature for our bathroom.

We were treated to some wonderful views as we progressed upwards. Foia isn’t part of a mountain range, so the view is virtually 360 degrees from the top with both the south and west coasts of Portugal visible.

As a consequence of it being the highest summit, the top is crammed full of masts of every description and an area of military aerials that was off-limits. The big mast in the centre could almost be a rocket. Also at the top were a modern hotel, restaurant, café and gift shop and a big car park: not everybody is daft enough to walk to the top.

We went down a different way, through lots of brambles. The photo shows one of the easier sections and, as you can see, Jane and Derek are in good spirits. There were numerous wild flowers out, like irises and banks of primroses, so there were compensations for the scratches!

And bringing up the rear: a picturesque waterfall. When we arrived back in Monchique, Derek popped into an ironmongers to buy a mousetrap (not sure why he needed one). After paying for the mousetrap, the proprietor wouldn’t let him leave without taking a glass of the local jungle juice, a potent 90% proof spirit called medronho.Evidently this week’s special offer, with every mousetrap.

March 10th: The Long March

The idea was to drive to Lagos, an ancient walled town and port, catch a bus to Burgau 12 miles the other side, and then walk back to the cars at Lagos. The walk leader said the bus times had changed and now weren’t suitable, so we drove on to Burgau, leaving one car at Lagos to do the retrieval. Well, I know what I mean!

We stopped here for lunch, at Praia da Luz, around the half-way stage. This resort is quite developed, but with a pretty old quarter and promenade area where we sat and had lunch. It has quite different and sad associations these days, as just behind the large villa on the photo is the complex from which Madeleine McCann was snatched.

Leaving Praia da Luz, we climbed a steep hill that gave us a panorama of the town. The picture shows the view but also more sinisterly the soil erosion caused by the recent heavy rains. That’s the big crack in the foreground. Large sections of cliff have fallen since last year right along this stretch according to people on the walk. KEEP AWAY FROM THE EDGE!!

The last section of the journey took us past a headland full of spectacular weathered rock arches, blowholes and pinnacles that ran nearly all the way back to Lagos.
Lagos was the headquarters of Henry the Navigator in the early 15th century. Sadly, nothing remains of Henry’s headquarters or his school of navigation at Sagres nearby because in 1587 both towns were sacked by Sir Francis Drake. He is still referred to in Portugal as “the English pirate”.

March 2nd: The Package

We decided to order a book from Amazon, a Scrabble dictionary. The Amazon website made it easy: just fill in the delivery address, the site here in Portugal, and it will arrive in about 4 days.

From day 3 on we started calling into reception to check the parcel deliveries. A week went by and no parcel, but one morning there was a slip, addressed to us, from GTW the parcel delivery firm. Reception unscrambled this slip as a “Failure to Deliver Parcel” note, because we weren’t there to sign for it. We’d not realised it needed signing for or that reception don’t sign for campers’ parcels. No problem, we thought, we’ll pick it up from the GTW depot as the slip requested. Reception gave us directions to the address on the slip, Station Road, about 6 miles away, with a final reassuring, “You can’t miss it.”

We found Station Road ok but not the GTW parcel depot. We asked pedestrians in Station Road, in bars, workshops and shops. Nobody had heard of GTW. Finally, a shop manageress thought there might be a new business in Station Road and directed us to where she thought it was. We found, exactly where she said, the tiniest nameplate for GTW. It was actually a shop premises and peering through the plate glass window we observed that there was a desk but no other furniture, shelves or carpet. It looked like they’d moved in the previous day. A scribbled note on the door said, “Closed for Lunch”, i.e. an extended Portuguese lunch.

So we also went for lunch, in a snack bar where we had asked directions, and very nice it was too. So at 2.30 we entered the depot/shop to pick up the parcel. The parcel wasn’t there. Still on the van, we think the lady said, and if we go back to the campsite at 4.00 pm the parcel will be delivered. At 4.00 pm we were waiting. A van stormed into the camp parking area and a chubby driver got out, with a face like thunder. Clipboard→ sign→ parcel thrust into hand→ van roars off. And that’s how Jane spent her birthday!

March 4th: Country Tracks

Today we are following the Percuso das 7 Fontes, the route of the 7 springs. The walk leader said we would cross the river by some stepping-stones before coming to a traditional basket weaver’s workshop. Slight problem; the river’s in flood. But really this was only a small detour and doesn’t affect the main walk.

This is the decayed pumping device built over one of the springs. The long horizontal pieces of metal ran in a circle to drive the pump- presumably a horse or donkey provided the power for this- and the metal boxes on the ground formed a continuous loop lifting the water from the well.

We finished in the small town of Quarenca for coffee in the square, overlooked by this lovely Portuguese church. The sun shining on the church and the black clouds directly behind gave the scene a dramatic, biblical quality, and I was half expecting to hear a deep, omnipotent voice booming, “You’re all doomed.”

March 1st: Seaside Rocks

An organised coastal walk led us through a fascinating variety of rock formations. This first one is known locally as the frigate, and you can see why. The coast has eroded most unpredictably and you can be standing on what you believe to be solid ground only to find it has been severely undercut. The next photo is an example, with the people on top giving an idea of scale.

Erosion seems to apply equally to man-made structures. The walk leader pointed out that the bridge we had just crossed was built over a sheer drop to the sea. It had felt solid enough, with a concrete sidewall and floor slabs. “Now look back”, he said, ”It’s actually built on wooden supports which are rotting away!” The question is- would we have been able to open our umbrellas quickly enough if it had given way?

Back to the scenery! The rock arch, so they tell me, is like Durdle Door in Dorset and the last pic shows a rock like a shark’s tooth.

Feb27th: Some Ports in Portugal

There are still a few fishermen left. Here they winch the boats up a steep concrete ramp safe from the pounding seas. In the huts behind we saw much activity with nets being cleaned and stored away. Notice the small rock stack on the shore. It has been much undercut by the waves and will one day topple over in a storm or perhaps from a concerted heave-ho by the lager lads.

Vilamora marina is the largest in Portugal, where the trappings of wealth are to be displayed in the form of luxury yachts. This is one of the many sleek cruisers in the harbour, and appears to be made out of the same shiny silver material as must-have expensive upright fridge/freezers. The boat presumably comes equipped with a crushed ice button as part of the bridge controls.

This unusual plaque was fixed to the wall outside a bar, the Antiquities Bar, in the old port of Albufeira. I can’t decide if the crusader has had a heavy night at this very bar or is just plain seasick from a rough voyage back from the Holy Land!