We were very impressed with the included breakfast of fried egg, cheese and charcuterie, warm bread, fresh orange and pineapple and good juice and coffee. A good start to the day! We then sat on the balcony soaking up the view. Dave worked on some photos and a video he was editing and I read my book! For the last few years, I have started to read books set in the place that I’m visiting. This has worked a treat as it often brings the history to life through the characters.
These are a few that have worked well:
- Pompeii – Robert Harris
- The last queen – C W Gortner (central Spain Medina del Campo and Tordesillas)
- The Figurine – Victoria Hislop (Athens)
I also noticed a new tour operator recently which has started to run holidays in the UK and abroad based on the same idea: https://booksinplaces.co.uk/books/
I think it’s a novel idea which will hopefully catch on!
For this particular trip, there are many possibilities! First I read The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory – it is primarily about Katherine of Aragon’s childhood but starts with the fall of Granada in 1492. The second one is The moon sister – Lucinda Riley about a girl tracing her roots back to the gipsy area of Sacromonte. There are also two Washington Irving books: Tales of the Alhambra and Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada. Apparently the latter comes highly recommended by Hilary Mantel!! 😃 I might get on to those!
We had decided to have a very moochy day at the accommodation. It seemed silly not to make the most of it because the setting is so fantastic. We were quite excited because the night before they had told us that they had an ‘event’ at lunchtime. A tapas buffet and live music. We thought it would be great to sample some authentic music from the region. 🤣 What actually happened was that we saw three German expats singing tracks such as yellow submarine!!! It’s quite a small place, so once we sat down there was no way of getting out of there. 😃 On a positive note, they were obviously enjoying what they were doing, could sing, did some Spanish songs as well and were fundraising for a good cause, SOS children’s villages. It was certainly different, and the least Spanish experience of the trip so far. Most of the other guests were German and it is clearly a popular area for German tourists and expats. Torrox is now home to the largest population of German residents on mainland Spain.
We decided to go on a little evening trip out and drove to nearby Frigiliana. It really exceeded our expectations and was incredibly scenic, with beautiful whitewashed houses and winding cobbled streets in the Moorish old quarter. We saw the historic fountain, went to the viewing point with panoramic views and stopped for a couple of refreshments. The fountain was finished in the 1600s and provided water for locals and their cattle. You can see where it has been worn away by repeated use by the cattle. It was provided by the count of the town and is decorated with his coat of arms. Another nice feature of the town was that there were various tiles which detailed the history of the place. It also has the only functioning molasses factory in Europe. A central point in the town is called Plaza de las tres culturas and every year in August they have a festival which celebrates the three most influential cultures in the town: moorish, Jewish and Christian.
