La familia de Inma

Since our arrival in Olvera over two years ago, we have been privileged to have made friends with many "Olvereños", whose friendliness, warmth and generosity has made us feel very welcome here and a part of the community that we now call home.

In particular, pictured right are three generations of our lovely friend Inma's family with abuela (grandmother) Encarnación seated and mother Remedios on the left who have welcomed us into their home on many occasions.

Inma's father Antonio, with whom we shall shortly be picking olives in the campo. Quite rightly, he says that the exercise and hard work will do me good........I have no doubt that he's right.

From the terrace of their lovely house, a few pictures of the outstanding views north towards Pruna, a nearby village and looking down upon the "mercadillo" (market).

The view of the castle from the terrace.

Otono (Autumn)....or is it ?.

The leaves are turning a golden yellow and falling off the trees but the temperatures recently are still like you'd expect on a summers day.

This morning, we wandered down town and sat for a while in the Plaza de la Concordia under the shade of the few leaves remaining on one of the trees, enjoying the lovely warm day and a temperature of 29°C and rising.

We recalled this time last year, when we were trying to stay warm in temperatures around the low to mid teens........ positively freezing !!.

No, without hopefully tempting fate, long may it stay just like this.

Ajo y agua (garlic and water)

As I've said quite a few times before, we try not to have a routine in our daily lives here but there are a few things that need to be done regularly, like shopping and the refilling of water bottles.

We started this morning at the Centro de Personas Mayores with breakfast of delicious toasted mollete (a type of bread roll) in the typical Andalucian style with a smattering of olive oil, tomato and garlic. Absolutely delicious but don't stand too close to us for a couple of days !!.

After breakfast, we drove out to the "cortijo" just outside of Olvera to top up our water bottles from the natural spring there. These are a few pictures of the surrounding countryside on a lovely warm day with temperatures in the mid twenties. The picture above shows the solar panel collection point in the valley below the farm.

Spain is very switched on (excuse the pun) to green energy resources, as witnessed by the huge number of wind turbine farms that are popping up in this area.

The old arabic fort that looks down over the cortijo.

Looking across to Olvera in the distance, about 6 kms away.

We headed back to Olvera and on to Mercadona, our local supermarket, to stock up before the holiday weekend. The 1st November is All Saints Day, when it is traditional to remember the departed and place flowers on the graves of loved ones. As this falls on a Sunday, the holiday is taken on Monday.

El Tempranillo

On a lovely day with temperatures in the mid twenties, we drove the forty five minutes or so to the beautifully picturesque village of Grazalema, that nestles in the mountains south of Olvera.

The reason for our trip was to attend the third and final day of the celebration of the villages association with the bandit known as "El Tempranillo" who was active in the mountains of Cadiz in the 19th century.

The road to Grazalema is a very windy one with many bends but the scenery around is absolutely beautiful.

We arrived at about 12.15 pm, parked the car just outside the village and walked up into the centre.






A part of the village had been transformed into a replica of how Grazalema presumably was back in the 1830's with taverns, stables and shops and the inhabitants of the village had dressed in costume of the period adding to the authenticity.

During the course of the event, the bandits and soldiers played out several scenes, firing off their muskets, which I believe are original from the 19th century.

This scene seemed to show an attack on the jail.

We stopped off at several of the taverns, just to take in the atmosphere of course, and in one was this poster displaying the "wanted" bandoleros.






This chap was one of the most elusive, wanted for several murders but proving very elusive to capture.

We witnessed the public hanging of one of the bandoleros, suffering a long and lingering death.





















Presumably the victims of the bandits.....the one nearest this end died with his boots on.

After an hour or so of looking around and enjoying the event, we headed off to have some lunch in one of the many restaurants in the centre of the village.



After lunch we walked around for a while admiring the many people in period dress and the houses with their pretty floral displays and just generally enjoying the atmosphere of the fiesta.

Grazalema is certainly one of the prettiest villages in our area and its location is stunning. Even without the fiesta, it is definately worth visiting for its narrow streets, alleyways and pretty houses.

This lovely lady was sitting on her doorstep and was happy to pose for a picture.

A brilliant day out and a note in the diary to return for the fiesta next year.