Last day in Marbella

Luckily, it looks like there might be a few hours without heavy rain tomorrow. Rain or shine, we will be moving on along the coastal path in an easterly direction heading eventually for the inland village of Casares, the spot where we left off the Gran Senda de Malaga several years ago. Our plan is to pick up the GSDM at this spot again.

In spite of the storms, or maybe even because of them, we’ve had a great week in our Donald Gray house. It’s been especially nice to stay in a community that has no cars or traffic. We’ve also learned to look for some of the specific details of vernacular architecture that Donald Gray mentions in the three books he wrote about villages in the Alpujarra. I first ran across them several years ago when I was researching tracks and trails in the Sierra Nevada mountains south of Granada. The books are a beautiful way to learn about everything from adarves to tinaos. At the end of each book, Gray gives a guide for avoiding the most common errors in the renovation of vernacular architecture, illustrating features that are typical of the vernacular architecture of that area contrasted side-by-side with examples of features that violate the vernacular. All three books, with their evocative watercolor illustrations, are available free online.

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