Pablo & Judi Kauffman

Since August is our birthday and anniversary month, as well as the hottest month in Granada, Judi and I spent a couple days in the Alpujarras, up on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Soon after Granada was conquered in 1492 by the Catholic monarchs, the Muslims were banished to this region and held out for a number of years until their final expulsion in the 1600’s. The region was then repopulated with families from Galicia, in northwest Spain. There are 16 little towns in these mountains, in recent years having become prime tourist attractions. Our valley had three towns; we stayed in the middle one, Bubión, in the upper right corner of the picture.

“Las Terrazas” was the name of our little hotel,

Our window overlooked a small plaza, where people could buy bread in the morning, or just hang out.

Our patio had a nice little patio with flowers and fountain,

And a wonderful view of the town down below

These towns are characterized by narrow streets,

Flat roofs, on which grain can be dried

Flowered porches,

Decorated houses,

And artisan workshops

Whose goods are sold to tourists (like us!).

We struck out on a path which we thought let to the upper town,

But this farmer

Told us it was a dead-end and directed us to the right path.

Even on these mountain slopes there is tillable land which grows wonderful vegetables.

The next day we set out for the southern town

It was nice going downhill to start out.

There is an abundance of water in this area due to melted snows and lakes in the upper regions.

We stopped to pick blackberries

And eat them, of course!

There are numbers of fountains in these little towns with safe drinking water and great places for children to play!

There are numbers of chestnut trees in these hills.

I’d always wondered what “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” would look like. I still don’t know, but at least now I know what chestnuts growing on trees look like!

A memorable couple days, memories of which we will treasure.