Qasr Bunayra

Ever since I started planning this trip over a year ago, I’ve been wondering how Casarabonela got its name. It doesn’t seem to fit the pattern of any of the other village names around here. Most of them are short: Monda, Guaro, El Burgo, Ojén (where we are going next). But when we stumbled upon an explanatory sign about the Muslim history of this village, it suddenly made sense. Its name during those times was Qasr Bunayra.

The maze of winding, narrow streets in all the villages around here clearly reflects their Muslim heritage, but Casarabonela seems to radiate the past more than any of the other villages. The alcazaba (fort) still visually dominates the town; the medina (nucleus) is clearly delineated; and when we wander into the arrabales (outskirts), we feel like we’ve gone back 1000 years. It’s been delightful to discover.

Today’s main task was to get some necessary paperwork printed up and signed. To do that, we needed a papeleria (stationary store) so we could print up PDFs emailed to our phones. But there is no papeleria in Casarabonela. Ned turned to the ayuntamiento for help, and they graciously spent an hour trying to figure out how his phone could communicate with their printer. Not only did they they solve the problem, but they also did it all at no cost. So kind.Read more