October 29
Andalusia
On this day we ventured out of Seville for a one-day field trip to the White Villages of Andalusia. A most unique and exciting adventure . . .
[Prepped and ready to go!]
[The opening shots of our bus ride to Grazalema, a village of some 2,200 occupants some 80 miles SE of Seville . . . ]
[The White Towns of Andalusia, or Pueblos Blancos, are a series of towns and large villages in the northern part of the provinces of Cadiz and Malaga, mostly within the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. All of the villages are characterised by whitewashed walls and red or brown tiled roofs. The reasons for the white color has been postulated to be a chemical result of the limestone used (Wikipedia)].
[Appear to be members of the ovine family . . . ]
[Spain is undoubtedly the world leader when it comes to olive production. This country dedicates 2.4 million hectares of land to this valuable crop. Italy and Greece are the other two world heavy weights with over 1.4 million hectares and more than 700,000 respectively. As a note of interest the trees in Italy and Greece have a slightly higher yield than those in Spain. In terms of annual production, Spain cranks out over six tons. Italy takes second place with over three tons and Greece is third with over two tons. The other players in the top ten include (in descending order) Turkey, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Portugal. But olives are also cultivated in Lebanon, California in the United States and parts of Argentina and New Zealand, Australia and Chile, for example (www.andalucia.com).]
Grazalema
[Our first sighting of our first destination . . . ]
[Andalusia is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populous, and the second largest autonomous community in the country. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a “historical nationality”. The territory is divided into eight provinces, and its capital is the city of Seville. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltatar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cadiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System (Wikipedia).]
[Embalse de Zahara-El Gastor (i.e., the reservoir), Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park . . . ]
[Grazalema, from the reservoir and natural park area below . . . ]
[Ditto . . . ]
[The reservoir as we begin the climb up to Grazalema . . . ]
[What tourists do from inside the bus . . . ]
[Welcome to Grazalema – we have deplaned our bus . . . ]
[Crystal clear but brisk weather. This may be a lemon tree, or not . . . ]
[As the Super leads me down the street . . . Grazalema is a village located in the northeastern part of the province of Cadiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Situated in the foothills of the Sierra del Pinar mountain range (Sierra de Grazalema National Park), Grazalema had, as of 2009, a population of 2,205 (Wikipedia).]
[A beautifully quaint village with spectacular views . . . ]
[Traditionally, the economy of the village was generated by small-scale agriculture, sheep herding, cork harvesting, and handicrafts, like hand-weaving lambswool cloth and furniture-making. These activities are now quite limited and under-resourced. Due to the location of Grazalema in the middle of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park and the fact that the town is one of the ‘pueblos blancos,’ the so-called White Towns of Andalusia, tourism now plays a major role in sustaining the village and its people. The mountainous area around Grazalema is popular with climbers and hikers, and local people make money by providing accommodations and hospitality to visitors (Wikipedia)].
[Moorish castle, Torre del Homenaje (Tower of Tribute) . . . ]
[Anne and Bill partake of some Andalusian scenery . . . ]
[This place would have issues under the ADA . . . ]
[And here are five shots by the Super from this first overlook . . . ]
[(Believed to be the last remaining member of his species . . . )]
[We’ve climbed a bit for this view but did not go all the way to the top – time and physical abilities issues were involved . . . ]
[I’m lovin’ it in Grazalema . . . ]
[And yes, cars do use these streets . . . ]
[Town center with the requisite church, San Juan de Letran . . . ]
[Then we walked further up hill for a few shots . . . ]
[Then back down to town center . . . ]
[And then, where we would lunch later . . . ]
[And views from our continuing walkabout . . . ]
[And a designated scenic overlook . . . ]
[The following five shots are by the Super from her above vantage . . . ]
[And back to mine from the same vantage . . . ]
[All overlooking Sierra del Grazalema Natural Park . . . ]
[Where the overlook photos were taken . . . ]
[Then we gathered for a walk through town to the olive oil factory (this and following two photos taken by the Super) . . . ]
[Head ’em up, move ’em out . . . ]
[And this, ladies and gentlemen, is vegetation . . . ]
[Lemons or oranges?]
[And we’re there. It’s an olive oil factory, Molina El Vinculo founded by D. Gaspar Penalver in 1755 (11th generation) . . . ]
[It’s a pot, for olive oil (aceite de oliva) . . . ]
[It’s a flag . . . ]
[Out tour leader in the blue jacket is about to lead us inside . . . ]
[El Vinculo (“the link”) . . .
[The view of the nature park and the olive trees below for this establishment . . . ]
[Where olives are dumped or unloaded . . . ]
[The system of conveyors for moving the little round green things around . . . ]
[NO PARKING!]
[This is where the ‘stuff’ goes . . . ]
[This is where the people go . . . ]
[Appears to be two old olive presses – likely still used . . . ]
[The showroom – I love olives and olive oil. Their’s was good but a little too spendy for us to make a purchase to bring home . . . ]
[Famous visitors through the years. Can you spot Orson Welles? Papa Hemingway?]
[The Super took the three following internal photos . . . ]
[And back to the bus . . . ]
[Then some out the window shots heading back into town . . . ]
[You may have heard bull fighting was once big in Spain (still?) . . . ]
[Well, that’s no toro . . . ]
[Scouting for a place of fine dining in town center . . . ]
[It was time for almuerzo . . . ]
[Almuerzo! Can’t remember what we had, but it hit the spot (Bill and I always partook of the local beer) . . . ]
[By the Super in the restaurant . . . ]
[The town square, always a hub of activity . . . ]
[Hola, toro!]
[This is in English. In a small Spanish town. Hmmmm . . . ]
[The clock is also in English. I can tell it’s 2:21 . . . ]
[The beginning of our adios to Grazalema . . . ]
[It’s a sign!]
[Quite a setting . . . ]
[It looks arid, but this is the rainiest part of Spain. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain . . . ]
[Vaya con Dios, la palomas . . . ]
[Trending out of town, the stripping of bark from cork oaks . . . ]
[Andalusian landscapes . . . ]
[In sight, our destination for Part 2. The metropolis of the White Villages . . . ]
[To Ronda . . . ]
[Wrapping up our report on Grazalema, this photo by the Super from the olive oil factory (I believe it went viral on Facebook) . . . ]
Never trust anything you read in a travel article. ~ Dave Barry
Up Next: Part 2
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