Órgiva: Snow

We certainly didn’t expect to wake up to snow on the hills where we were planning to walk today! We wouldn’t have been surprised had we been in some of the higher villages where on previous trips we have run into snow in April and even May, but the elevation of Órgiva is only 450 m (1480 ft), so we didn’t expect it here.

Instead, we took the opportunity to enjoy our casa rural. Of all the places we have stayed in Spain over the years, I think this house has the most faithful restoration. The ceiling alone is a masterpiece. In every single room, chestnut beams topped by a layer of canes support the floor above. There are additional chestnut lintels visible over the windows. The architect Donald Gray, considered an expert on traditional Alpujarran construction, says that these lintels would have been covered with whitewash in a traditional structure rather than being visible.

Other delights of the house include a traditional recessed wall cupboard now serving as a bookcase and a tray of olive oil and marmalade from the owner‘s garden. How about a spoonful of pumpkin jam with orange and ginger on your slice of fresh bread from the bakery?

Other than the snow, the big excitement of the day was getting an adapter from the computer store to allow us to view the photos on the pen drive from Francisco at the ADR on our phones. It felt like magic to see those photos appear on my screen. What an invaluable resource for identifying that we are actually looking at the correct house or ruin or whatever. Given that the descriptions on the data sheets were written 25 years ago, it is sometimes difficult to know exactly which building they are referring to, so the photos are a crucial clue.

The weather forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to walking in sunshine.Read more