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Published: June 10th 2015
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Woolly says – It’s a hard life being a mammoth and having to run a bar, I’ve worked my paws to the bone and do I get a single Thank you, not on your nelly. WORK!!!! Woolly seems to think that sitting on the bar looking cute is hard work! Having sorted, cleaned and painted we do however seem to have everything sorted and with happy customers the hard work is paying off. With this in mind and to stop the fur ball moaning and to give friend Clive a chance to see something of Spain we elected to have a trip out on our day off. Woolly says – Friend Clive had arrived a week before and seemed to take to me straight away, well what’s not to like! Being his last day it seemed like a grand opportunity to leave the bar behind and enjoy the countryside while we can. Brushed and ready to go I waited patiently for the humans to stop talking and start driving, why do they need so many cups of tea to get out every day? I tried humming loudly as a hint but that fell on deaf ears so I finally resorted to screaming for help which meant everyone arrived at the front door instantly, result.
Why do I fall for it every time? As we followed my small brown friend down the road I laughed as he kept stopping to admire himself in the shop windows and wondered how long it would take before he realised he still had strawberry jam smeared over his grubby little face. Woolly says – I’m keeping it for later thank you. As we left Nerja behind I sat back and enjoyed the ride into the mountains. Spying a large body of water I consulted my tourist guide to give the others some information on the glories that were now in front of us. All it could tell me was that the reservoir known as Lake Viñuela holds 170 million cubic metres of water and is manmade which wasn’t much use to man nor mammoth but it was worth a photo so having prodded Jo into action I continued to watch the views unfold around me. As the road became windier the views became amazing. Woolly says – the mountains were stupendous and as the road became hair pin bends I clutched onto my seat as I oohed and arrhed at the wonders around me. As my ears starting popping we seemed to go through a small opening in the high peaks to find ourselves in a little town. Alhama de Granada is a town in the province of Granada, approximately 50 km from the city of Granada. The name is derived from the thermal baths located there, which is something to be avoided in my case! We pulled up in what appeared to be the main square in front of rather nice eatery. Friend Clive appeared to agree with my thought process and I happily followed him to a table before Jo could object or argue about the fact that I had just finished a snack.
I do try to control his eating but it’s a losing battle so resisting the temptation to comment I sighed and sat down next to him. Woolly says – With my belly nicely rounded and a few king prawns tucked away for later I set off down the road to start my investigations. Built by the Romans the fortress town was taken from the Moorish Sultanate and Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1482. Spotting a rather nice looking Baroque church with a large wooden doorway but a curious number of round sided buildings attached I peered up to read through the information. The convent of the Carmen had a turbulent history, built in 1589 and financed in most part by private donations and burial chapel sales. During the Napoleonic French invasion, the personal property was in part plundered with the desamortization (sale of confiscated church lands) of the early 19th century Mendizábal period, they were expelled and the cloister (the current Town Hall) passed to become public property, in 1884 an earthquake caused an horrific amount of damage. Constructed entirely in stonework it is divided into two parts, the first of greater size has hexagonal forms and is attached to the main nave of the church. It sounded wonderful and as I trotted over to the door Jo called me.
I hate to disappoint him but it was siesta time and the church was closed. Woolly says – I gave a big sigh, why does the country have to close every day for hours! Giving Jo a forlorn look she picked me up and showed me the incredible view below me that I had somehow failed to notice. The gorge below was stunning and I could hear the tinkle of water far below with its greenery and beautiful sandy surround I stood and took my time in enjoying it.
Having taken our fill we wandered onwards through the small streets. Woolly says – finding ourselves in a small square I was interested to notice the prison, well it’s a house now but it was a prison, I wonder if they sleep in the cells? Built in 1642 it was formally attached to the old town hall, as far as prisons go it didn’t appear to be very big and as I started to knock on the door to go and have a look inside, Jo yanked me from behind. Having explained to him that knocking on a private house probably wasn’t the best thing to do I distracted with the large bell tower situated on the other side of the square. Woolly says – The Church of the Incarnation was built on the former great mosque of which the foundation stones can still be seen on the southern façade. The Gothic building seemed huge in the small area with the impressive bell tower towering above us, having clicked away Jo seemed happy as we sauntered on. Rounding the corner we came across what looked like a huge red fortress, why on earth it was red I have no idea. The road that connected directly with the city of Malaga started at this point and was of great importance for the medieval city of Alhama. This gate communicated directly with the Medina as well as the administrate buildings and religious structures.
Under the road is an underground route, partially excavated in the rock, which connected the city of Alhama with its river. Known locally as the tower which is silly because it’s obviously not a tower apparently it gets its name from the spaces on the gashes, called Viewpoints of the Council or of the almunias, built originally to surround the medieval city of Alhama and protect its residents from siege. Having seen all we could due to the time of day we meandered back to the car promising my small friend a return visit to enable us to go into the beautiful churches and a visit to the thermal baths.
Woolly says – NO we don’t need to see the bath’s………. isn’t it time for a snack?
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Congrats!
How wonderful that you've got this next phase of your life in place with your new bar full of happy customers (it seemed you accomplished this rather fast), an out-of-town visitor and a holiday! And what a holiday--a gorgeous gorge and that adorable little hill town (my favorites). I know how you feel about that siesta business and all the closures. In Spain and anywhere, I often don't get out until pretty late in the morning, so I've just a small window before everything is closed. Will you keep your bar open during siesta? Interesting to see if it would be the only place open, so visitors would congregate, or would it be empty?