Snowfall in the high sierra

Last Friday a period of nice autumn weather came to an end. It was overcast during the day and slowly changed to misty and wet. Saturday it rained incessantly and the forecast shows more precipitations this coming week. Luckily we had a bit of a break yesterday with blue skies and some sunshine. From our terrace we enjoyed a snow-covered Almirez after the clouds had floated away. This mountain that we can see in the distance is with an altitude of 2,519 metres, the second highest peak of the Almería province. In the valley of Trevélez we saw quite a lot of snow on the mountains while going out for a few training hours. We think that the snow level has come down to about 2,400 metres. On the other side of the Sierra Nevada the ski centre was officially opened on Saturday. In the newspaper article ´Sierra Nevada abre la temporada´ we can read that the snow thickness varies between 10 and 40 centimetres but that more snowfall is to be expected in the ´high´ sierra this coming week. People that plan to visit the area during the ´Puente de diciembre´ coming weekend will hopefully be able to enjoy some wonderful winter landscapes.

Bronze symbols of Sierra Nevada of José María Moreno Rodrigo

For two more days the exhibition ´Luces de Sulayr, Cinco Siglos en la Imagen de Sierra Nevada´ can be visited in the Centro de Arte of Almería. Altough the exhibition is quite small compared to the one which was held in Granada last year, it is still interesting. We especially enjoyed the bronze sculptures of insects, birds and mammals of José María Moreno Rodrigo. His sculputures of fauna of the Sierra Nevada were earlier this year exhibited in the Parque de la Ciencias de Andalucía en Granada. On the website of the Casa Taller Miguel Moreno a list of artistic reproductions can be found, amongst which the twenty-four sculptures that form his project ´Esculturas Símbolo de Sierra Nevada´. The Alpine Accentor is an example of a true symbol, as it is a bird that inhabits the high mountains. On the summits of the Mulhacén and Veleta it can often be observed. It has become quite familiar with the presence of people and does not act shyly at all. Something we experienced ourselves and that is also mentioned on the Spanish text of Prunella collaris or Acentor alpino on Wikipedia.




Related links:
-Catálogo de la exhibición Luces de Sulayr (pdf 19,94 mb)

Related articles:
-Luces de Sulayr, images of Sierra Nevada

Fonda-Museo de Gerald Brenan in Yegen inaugurated

Before Gerald Brenan moved into his house in Yegen in 1920, he stayed in the village inn known as Pensión ´Manuel Juliana´. This boarding house on the main road (Carretera 16) continued to offer lodgings until the mid-eighties. Brenan stayed in this posada again in 1974 with Alfredo Amestoy Eguiguren who made the documentary of Brenan called ´Agua pasada´. They spent a few weeks in Yegen about which Alfredo Amestoy wrote: "Dormíamos en la misma habitación, en la posada de Yegen, un dormitorio sin cristales en la ventana, sin retrete. Yo me encargaba de llevarle y traerle el orinal al ya anciano Brenan que rezaba al acostarse." The 23rd of June 2009, the town hall of Alpujarra de la Sierra bought this former posada with the idea to turn it into a Casa Museo dedicated to the hispanist that universalized the village of Yegen through his book ´South from Granada´. Internationally Brenan is best known for his publication ´The Spanish Labyrinth´: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War, first published in 1943.
Thirteen students of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Granada made suggestions for a ´Casa-lugar para un Nuevo Brenan´. Two weeks ago the Fonda-Museo de Gerald Brenan opened its doors with an ´encuentro universitario´ during which the students were invited to explain their proposals and models for an Espacio Brenan. The result of their projects are exhibited in the new Casa Museo which can be visited from Monday to Friday from 16.00 to 18.00 hours. Apart from the exhibition nothing can be seen yet that has any relation with the famous hispanist. But looking through one of the old windows of one of the ´dormitorios´, you can do nothing else but wonder if it was the room in which the young traveller stayed, read and mused about his life and future... Many visitors will stil need to bow their heads before entering a room as the doorposts are original, thus very low. The shutters of the windows are of wood, without glass just as the journalist Alfredo Amestoy wrote in his article for El Mundo. The cane ceilings are still there and the stables cleaned, but luckily untouched. This makes the building just right for a Fonda-Museo. With the purchase, the stripping, plastering and opening important steps have been taken. We hope that through the years the local authorities find the means and collaboration to fill the new Fonda Museo in Yegen with books, reproductions of photographs and show films and documentaries like ´Mirada de Brenan´ and ´Agua Pasada´ of Alfredo Amestoy.

Related articles:
- El municipio compra hoy la fonda donde se hospedó el hispanista Gerald Brenan, article from Granada Hoy written by R. Fernández.
- Yegen convierte en museo la antigua fonda donde se hospedó Brenan, article from the Ideal written by Rafael Vílchez.
- Don Geraldo, Uno de los Nuestros, article from El Mundo in memory of Gerald Brenan written by Alfredo Amestoy.

Related links:
- Sendero Local ´Gerald Brenan´, Yegen
- Ruta literaria por el sendero de Gerald Brenan

Related keywords: Alpujarras, Sierra Nevada, wandelen, wandelingen, trektocht, hiking, trekking, Berchules, B&B, hotel, wanderungen

Jornada de la Seta Mecina Bombarón 2010

Yesterday the III Jornada de la Seta en Mecina Bombarón was organized. A group of about thirty people gathered to go up the pines to pick mushrooms. Around two o´clock the participants came back to the village with baskets and boxes with many different types of fungi, curious to hear from José Herrera which types they had collected. This expert mycologist told the names and curiosities, but regarded the ´níscalo´ or the Lactarius deliciosus as the only edible one. He agreed that a few others could be eaten, but did not have the desirable taste or aroma. The absence of poisonous effects is apparantly not the only aspect to put a mushroom on the list of ´setas comestibles´ of this micólogo experto. The couple that stayed with us and that took part in the different activities was given a beautiful violet mushroom by other participants and had told them it was a delicacy. José Herrera explained that it was a Lepista nuda. After looking for more information on the Internet, we found out that it is sometimes called Clitocybe nuda, in English known as Wood blewit. In the salón cultural the níscalos were prepared and stirfried for the participants that wanted to try their own mushrooms. Apart from this, Luis of cafe bar La Huerta in Mecina Alfahar had prepared delicious ´mico tapas´ with níscalos for a tasting. This ´degustación´ was well organized by the town hall of Alpujarra de la Sierra for which we want to congratulate all the people that contributed to make this Jornada de la Seta such a successful event.







Related links:
-Article in Granada Hoy: La Alpujarra pone el arte de la micología al alcance de todos
-Programme Otoño Cultural 2010 of Alpujarra de la Sierra