All day breakfast

Sam and Dave, the British first couple not the soul duo, had plato alpurrajeño when in the Albaicín the other day. This hearty dish is not unlike a good British breakfast. It consists of at least black pudding (morcilla), fried eggs, and potatoes stewed in oil with green peppers (papas a lo pobre). In addition, there will be chorizo, lomo (fresh pork loin) or ham, or a combination of one, two or all three.

You know when you've had a plato alpurrajeño, and I can't imagine SamCam would be indulging on a regular basis, although Dave might make it a weekly ritual, perhaps shared with the fluent hispanohablante Clegg. César, the owner of a restaurant near us, does one that's baked in the oven, but then César is originally from the Basque country, so what would he know? No, for an authentically alpujarran experience, the constituent elements of the plato must be fried in plenty of extra virgin olive oil, like everything else round here. Sadly though, the idea that alpurrajeños have been sitting down to this traditional dish for hundreds of years is unlikely to be true. It was apparently invented - like the Ploughman's Lunch in the UK - in the seventies, as an easy-to-make money-spinner for bars and restaurants. But if you've been working hard in the fields all morning- or perhaps assembling flat-pack furniture for you holiday house - the plato Alpurrajeño is just about perfect, especially with some rough red wine and a siesta afterwards.

Steady, Cam.

DavCam and SamCam on holiday in Granada this week. Ideal wrote this sweet article saying that although SamCam's birthday is really during Semana Santa (18th, apparently), they'd come early for a bit of peace. I like how it assumes that British people would know to avoid Semana Santa, but doesn't acknowledge that we've got a referendum on. Anyway, they had plato alpujarreño in a restaurant in the Albaicin.

Ryanair at it again

So Ryanair take huge subsidies from provincial government and local business associations to run relatively successful Granada-London and Granada-Madrid services, cancel them without any consultation, then hold the city to ransom, demanding an even bigger bung to reinstate the flights. If I didn't loathe Ryanair already, this would swing it.
Si sabes castellano, puedes leer el artículo aquí.

First booking for 2011

I'm delighted to welcome our first booking of 2011, with a couple from Australia taking our house for a month, from late April to the end of May. A great time to visit, with the wild flowers at their best and still some of the almond blossom about, usually warm although it can be a bit changeable. I'm sure they'll have a great time. That still leaves 11 months availability, including almost all of the English, Scottish and Spanish school holidays, but hopefully the calendar will start to fill up over Christmas. Talking of which, we have guests in from 16th-22nd, then we're there ourselves from Christmas Eve till Ne'er Day.

Jay for Juviles

A rather less fearsome example of local wildlife now. The arrendajo or gayo - jay in English - is common in the Alpujarra, and particularly visible in Autumn, when pairs of the birds fly around the forests, collecting acorns to bury as a food source through the winter. Apparently they forget half their hiding places, and thus inadvertently 'plant' thousands of trees.

A wolf in the Alpujarra

Arachnophobes look away now. Here's a prime example of local Alpujarra wildlife - a female wolf spider with hundreds of tiny baby wolf spiders on her back. We found her on a walk above Portugos last week, sunning herself and her offspring in beautiful October sunshine. She's about the size of a mouse, and I thought the covering was just hair or something until I enlarged the shot and had a proper look. A little reassurance if you're thinking of visiting the area and are less keen on invertebrates than I am; wolf spiders won't bite unless cornered, they don't come into the house, and this is the first time I've seen one in about six years of regular visits to the area.

Juviles finally on map shock.

Thanks again to Ken in Australia, who informs me our village is finally on Google Maps Street View. Beautiful winter sunshine, a little snow on the ground. It's early in the morning I think; there's nobody around apart from a couple in overcoats at the bus stop, who must be waiting for the 5.30 am to Granada. Even Google couldn't get a vehicle up our street, Calle Altillo, so you can't see our house. It's up the hill above the main drag, with breathtaking views, and it's still available to rent for most of the Autumn and Winter.
I was going to write "where next, Timbuctu?" but I checked and yes, Timbuctu already is on Street View.