The Green Door - Page 18 of 25

May 202014 0 Responses

The Aqueducts of the Moors

One of my main reasons for coming to the Alpujarras was the description of the aqueduct system that is still in place and working throughout the white villages.

As you can see from the picture they commence way up in the mountains. We did follow this one for SOME time but never got to the origin! As usual we were on the hunt for a plant. We had heard from an English walking guide that there were Gentians high in the mountains above Capileria. I had already been riding incredibly high above this little white village in the morning and hadn’t seen any so we thought we would take our little car and see how high we could go. Read More…

May 202014 0 Responses

The White Villages of La Taha

We’ve spent the last three nights staying in the tiny village of Ferreirola which is so tiny it doesn’t even have a bar. This is incredibly tiny for Spain! Everywhere has at least one bar – though there are three in the next village!

Stunning days of sun, walking and horse riding. Within one photo frame it is possible to capture five villages, all within 30 minutes vertical walking of each other. Studded on the sides of craggy mountain sides these villages date back many, many centuries. I’m currently reading (when not too tired) Driving Over Lemons which dates back to the 1990s when an Englishman and his wife escaped the drudgery of their English life to work themselves into the ground developing an old Spanish farm sited on “the wrong side of the river”, opposite Orgiva. Interestingly enough when I was riding the other day, high, high up, my guide Rafael (who himself had escaped a career in political science in Madrid 30 years ago) pointed out the green acres of Chris Stewarts. Apparently he’s still there as Rafael met him last year.
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May 202014 0 Responses

Air cured ham

One of the treats of Andalusia is the air dried ham. Quite different from our NZ ham, this Jamon Serrano is dried in the mountain villages. The most famous of which is Trevelez which was only 20 or so kms further up the valley from where we were staying at the tiny village of Ferreirola.

The population of Trevelez is only 1000, however with practically every soul there and in the surrounding area employed by the ham industry they manage to produce a staggering ONE MILLION hams per year, so I was told.

To air dry a ham you have to be at a minimum of 1000 metres above sea level and Trevelez boasts the highest air drying plant in Spain at very close to 1500m. The large size hams sell at around 100 Euros each but of course keep for months and months hung up – as long as you happen to live at 1000m or higher, otherwise they transform back into meat and of course – go off.

A favourite dish of mine is Habas con Jamon which is basically incredibly young broad beans gently cooked in a lot of olive oil (surprise) and ham. So glad my broad beans are growing strongly in the vege patch at home. My Mum has sent me pics!

May 092014 0 Responses

Granada – The Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Today was one of the highlights of our Spanish trip no doubt. The famous Alhambra and Generalife gardens (the garden of the Architect).

Coming this far and to something so incredibly important we find it extremely worthwhile to pay a little more, take more time and enjoy the experience with the insight you can only really gain with a local guide. There’s no way in the world I’m going to remember half of what we were told, but will manage to retain some I’m sure. We bought the book – as you do – it’s only the second one in three weeks so we are being restrained!