La Alpujarra Day 2: A Gastronomical Experience
To my great relief, the weather on the following morning was sunny and cool, perfect for hiking. Almost magically, the landscape before me started to appear dry and desert-like, with cactuses and prickly plants of all types grabbing my clothing as I passed by.
I made my way along footpaths from one village to another. I managed to lose my way in the windy streets of almost every one of them, but inevitably I would hear an old woman´s voice from a hidden terrace above my head telling me I was off-track and pointing me in the right direction. The first couple of times this happend the voice would startle me, but eventually I got used to the idea of being watched by many pairs of eyes hidden behind the thick foliage of small gardens and patios. Needless to say, I was wary of plucking any fruits from the many fenced areas I passed within sight of the villages.
Still, there were plenty of opportunities to feast on various delicacies as I walked along. Figs and walnuts were nothing new, but I was delighted to find ripe pomegranates hanging down over th path like bright Christmas decorations. Equally colorful were the persimmons trees, but the fruit, though initially sweet, often had an unpleasant dry aftertaste, so I decided to forego that particular species.
Almond trees were plentiful as well, but at first I passed them by, finding the nuts too tough to crack using my jaws. Then, like the prehistoric man and the chimpanzee, I discovered the use of tools, i.e. a pair of rocks with which to tap open the almonds. The almonds from some trees were bitter, but it was possible to collect pounds of nuts from a single tree, so this was not a big problem. I washed my food down with water from a naturally carbonated spring called "La Gaseosa," which tasted bitter like tonic water, but went well with the sweet fruits.
As a result of my frequent stops to feast on local crops, I fell behind schedule and barely made it into a town with lodging by nightfall. I ended up staying at a brand new hotel, with many rooms still unfinished, receiving an entire apartment to myself for 15 EUR. My suite had a kitchen, so once again I cooked my own dinner, with leftovers serving as breakfast.
I made my way along footpaths from one village to another. I managed to lose my way in the windy streets of almost every one of them, but inevitably I would hear an old woman´s voice from a hidden terrace above my head telling me I was off-track and pointing me in the right direction. The first couple of times this happend the voice would startle me, but eventually I got used to the idea of being watched by many pairs of eyes hidden behind the thick foliage of small gardens and patios. Needless to say, I was wary of plucking any fruits from the many fenced areas I passed within sight of the villages.
Still, there were plenty of opportunities to feast on various delicacies as I walked along. Figs and walnuts were nothing new, but I was delighted to find ripe pomegranates hanging down over th path like bright Christmas decorations. Equally colorful were the persimmons trees, but the fruit, though initially sweet, often had an unpleasant dry aftertaste, so I decided to forego that particular species.
Almond trees were plentiful as well, but at first I passed them by, finding the nuts too tough to crack using my jaws. Then, like the prehistoric man and the chimpanzee, I discovered the use of tools, i.e. a pair of rocks with which to tap open the almonds. The almonds from some trees were bitter, but it was possible to collect pounds of nuts from a single tree, so this was not a big problem. I washed my food down with water from a naturally carbonated spring called "La Gaseosa," which tasted bitter like tonic water, but went well with the sweet fruits.
As a result of my frequent stops to feast on local crops, I fell behind schedule and barely made it into a town with lodging by nightfall. I ended up staying at a brand new hotel, with many rooms still unfinished, receiving an entire apartment to myself for 15 EUR. My suite had a kitchen, so once again I cooked my own dinner, with leftovers serving as breakfast.
posted by Dmitri Evseev at 7:46 PM
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