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Outside of Dublin and London we don’t think we love – and know – a city more: Granada. Long before lockdown, privately-made ‘strolls’ though cities – normally filmed in 4K – started appearing. Some might say they are a niche market: ‘why would I spend an hour watching a walk through the streets of Lisbon, … Continue reading
With the imposing Alhambra bearing down on it, it’s easy to stroll past this old piece of Granada’s history with barely a glance. Nestled among the tall plane, horse chestnut and maple trees that cascade down the hill the Alhambra was built upon – Sabika – on first sight the arched gateway looks like a … Continue reading
It’s taken a few years, but we finally managed a trip to Córdoba in February. A city that was once the second largest in Europe, where Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in relative harmony and education and learning flourished. Despite our love for Granada, it was a thrill to be heading to another of Andalucía’s … Continue reading
We pulled off the motorway to Granada, stepped out of the car and were ankle deep in a sea of yellow oxalis. Spring’s unusual weather continued as splats of rain reminded us that summer hadn’t quite yet arrived. Dwarfed by dead palm trees we walked up a short incline. We were at Tablate in the municipality of … Continue reading
Seeing as it dominates the town centre, it’s no surprise that we’ve featured Órgiva’s church previously. We captured it today as low pressure from North Africa nudged its way over the Alboran Sea into Andalucía making the skies dull and grey. No doubt when the 1933 photo below was taken it was a glorious day … Continue reading
‘Would that be a double room with dripping walls and a sinister atmosphere, madam?’ Very few people visiting Granada get to miss this building, mainly because it sits beneath the Alhambra by the Rio Darro – a popular place to stroll along before perhaps heading up the steep, narrow streets of the Albaicin. It doesn’t seem to … Continue reading
Filmed in 1964 – when seven out of ten bottles of sherry were exported to Britain – this short film contains all colours of the rainbow in the women’s fiesta dresses – with ink-black bulls for contrast. We love these old Pathé films and wonder if anything has much changed in Spain. The loud, mad … Continue reading
Last week in Granada we spent the morning being kids again. With a lemon Tango in hand we sneaked into el hospital de San Juan de Dios to look around this magnificent, but sadly decrepit, building in the backstreets of the city. Like, say, the botanical gardens in Valencia, stepping away from the rumble of traffic and … Continue reading
An idea to remove the five metre high cross in Órgiva’s Plaza de la Alpujarra has gathered pace. Erected in the late 1950s and known as `The Cross of the Fallen’ it commemorates victims of the Spanish Civil War – but those who were on Franco’s side. At a recent town hall meeting a majority of councillors … Continue reading
A walk into town passing pink almond petals floating in puddles, battered from branches by the rain. It’s dull and grey and there’s a trail of people heading slowly towards Órgiva’s church. The bell tolls; another funeral. The local rivers carry muddy rain water towards the Rio Guadelfeo. The shops and bars are all but … Continue reading
This blog’s ‘Then and Now‘ series demonstrates our enduring interest in places captured in time and their modern-day portrait; and so it continues as we stood outside the Granada home of Spanish composer, Manuel de Falla, born in Cádiz in 1876 (for a brief intro to his life, see bottom). The distant hum of traffic … Continue reading
This post may be of interest to those who know this area well, in particular, locals who knew ‘Upper Camping’ – officially Camping Puerta de la Alpujarra. As of today it has, literally, bitten the dust and looks like a modern day Pompeii. It’s a sad sight and (was) a landmark – its red pyramid-like towers … Continue reading
Recognise this? It’s Órgiva’s church – La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Expectation – before someone decided to rid its facade of charming trompe l’oeil detail and cover it up with the bland colour it is today. Maybe it’s had other designs since the cover-up – polka dots perhaps – but it’s sad it doesn’t look like this … Continue reading
If you visit La Alpujarra, you’d be foolish to ignore the fantastic Museo Casa Alpujarreña, next to Bubión’s church. It’s a typical house of this area, barely altered since its previous – and final – occupier lived here. A time-capsule of a former home, it’s as if someone entered one day and asked for the … Continue reading
It’s noticeably busier in Granada this week. The streets will progressively fill over the coming months until August, when the heat gets too much and people head out to cooler places. It’s already mighty hot; Spain’s first proper heat of the year has swept across Andalucía. Weather maps have turned from orange to red, and now … Continue reading
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