TOP SPOTS TO BIKE: ALHAMA DE GRANADA, Life in A Small Inland Town
A Canadian in Southern Spain´s romantic Alhama de Granada

Alhama´s Grainery Dungeon |

As
you drive around the curving roads, you come upon Alhama, with the impressive
medieval church ‘Iglesia de la Encarnacion’, stands stalwart and
commanding in the heart of the old town with the white Andalusian homes
clustered around it like admirers. Surrounded by a rocky gorge the town evokes
a poetic feel with a light, which dramatically changes through the day like a
movie scene set.
Historically
human reaction to this town has been similar and the intake of breath as one
catches Alhama nestled in the bulwark of the Sierra de Alhama, Tejeda and
Almijara mountain range hasn’t changed through the years. References to the place sprinkle literature
from Washington Irving of Sleepy Hollow Fame (and who has his own cultural
route here) to Robert Semple’s, President of the Hudson’s Bay Company, memory
of it when in 1809 he visited entering through the ancient horseshoe shaped
portal through the Mediterranean coastal mountains:
“After
passing through a noticeably deep crack in the hills, we arrived in Alhama. It
was only possible to make out the romantic outline of this town by the light of
the stars.”
Nowadays
you don’t have to wait for a bright night, as the two medieval churches, former
synagogue, 15th century hospital with Moorish courtyard, and even
the gorge are all attractively floodlit and electric lighting doesn’t ruin the
atmosphere of the ancient cobbled Arab quarter with its dusky indigos and
golden interiors. However come out and stand on the hill in a crisp winter
evening when there is a full moon and dusting of snow on the mountaintops and
time stands still.
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The former Arabic quarter (Barrio Arabe) |

Having
lived here for several years, we have settled in as the resident guiris
(foreigners) and the townspeople around us have decided that although we are
odd, we are generally not too offensive. They seem to have become quite used to
our early eating times compared to theirs, which are more favourable to hours
of the midnight snack and our strange adherence to drinking tea from cups and
not their Arabic tradition of hot drinks coming in handle-less small glasses.
However,
all of us share in the discomfort of summer days over 50 degrees and winter
months, although which rarely finds snow piles lining streets, surely sees us
all lining coats and wearing them inside as few people have any central heating
system and tile floors are frigid!. In both cases this increased our knowledge
of Andalusian profanity (their habit of peppering everyday language with
vulgarities is usually impressive, but in these times exceptional. In terms of
language generally, all credit is due to their perseverance for not going into
hysterics when I slaughter their idiom. Like the time I spent a whole morning
talking to a local farmer about membrillo (or quince, a fruit which they
do magical things with here) and its pulpo (octopus) rather than the
more useful pulpa (pulp).
We
have also become accustomed to social engagements starting at 11:30pm and the
telephoning of our Spanish friends to come out for the summer evening paseo,
If it were just an amble around town, which is really only a couple of plazas
and a main street, that might suffice, but these Andalusians love to catch up
on the gossip (although it usually has only been four hours since you last saw
them anyway). Thus, summertime paseos end up in a tour of outdoor tables
in the plentiful number of cafes, cooing over babies and the antics of small
children, sharing a tinto verano
(refreshing wine and lemonade mix) with a table of grandmothers and
arriving home in the small hours.
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Casa de la Inquisicion |
We’ve
come to terms with the fact we just can not take the pace but they haven’t, and
although their promises of “oh no problema, it will be very short,” they
just can’t help themselves and press us to stay on into the early hours. “Don’t
worry about mañana, today is more important. Be with friends, enjoy the
cool air.” A lovely thought and said with true Andalusian corazon
(heart), but I am secretly glad when the winter months begin to sidle up, when
all this late night socializing will be restricted and I’ll be able to get some
sleep.
See our photos in our Picasa Album of Alhama de Granada or experience this beautiful place yourself on our Quiet Paths Self guided tour or for Roadies, Training or White Villages.
See our photos in our Picasa Album of Alhama de Granada or experience this beautiful place yourself on our Quiet Paths Self guided tour or for Roadies, Training or White Villages.
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