Abrucena (i.e, Birthday part two)

Back again and boy do I have some great pictures to show you from the trip to Abrucena, Spain!

You may remember that I left you with this photo last time.

It was taken from the car on our way up to the mountains...the Sierra mountain range in Spain.

You may not know this, but a lot of the "spaghetti western" movies (from Sergio Leone) were filmed in this region of Spain: the Tabernas Desert in Almeria due to cost constraints.

I certainly didn't.

But from the looks of it, you can see why.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", "Fistful of Dollars", "A Few Dollars More" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", just to name a few, were filmed at this studio (Mini-Hollywood) that we just happened to drive by.

Pretty cool, huh?

Another neat thing about this region is that it is high in reusable energy. Most notably, the use of the winds of the desert region and the sun.

Most of the region is powered by the energy that's captured this way.

And up on a hill, look what I saw!

That's right.  I saw a castle! 

So pretty and we had yet to enter Abrucena.  A half hour more and we approached the small town.

Abrucena, a lovely town nestled in the mountains.

We parked the car and headed to lunch where we had awesome food. So awesome that I didn't take a photo but I can say that the stuffed eggplant and sauteed vegetables were AMAZING.

As we walked around the town, I fell more and more in love with it.

The roads were cobbled and went uphill at terrible inclines, making you feel as if you had to be a mountain goat, but the beauty of it overcame the rough parts. And to its credit, it was my fault for choosing ballet flats. They are great shoes and go with everything, except hiking in hills and mountains. Better shoes would have been the solution, I feel. My bad.

But anyway, more on the town, right?

This was what we saw from our table at lunch.

Gorgeous weather and perfect company.

Mrs. F took us all around the town.

And then she took us for a walk through a cave to see the mountains. What we didn't know until hiking was that it was prime Almond Blossom Season.

Leaving Abrucena town center and heading to the mountains

Happy photo! It was so cold as the sun began to set. I was wearing practically everything I brought with me.

My fellow photographer friend

Mrs. F brought my attention to the green and I couldn't resist this texture photo.

This is quite possibly one of my favorites.

As we came out the other side of the cave, we were greeted with this lovely site.

New Zealand might be the home of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but maybe this could be a backup.

The sun was setting fast and so we began to make our way back.

I can't get enough of them!

I call this "Lone Ruin"

And this is "Pink Blossom"

As the sun left the mountain range, I took one last shot of the town and its church.

*sigh* I like Abrucena a lot.

We made dinner and enjoyed a fantastic cookie cake to celebrate the closing to a wonderful birthday, with some help from some American imported candles.

So yummy and only three ingredients: Cookies, vanilla pudding, and dark chocolate. Layer them and chill. Serve cold.

(side note: Mr. K is turning out to be an alright photographer! He took the above shot. Makes me so proud.)

Then we gathered around the fireplace upstairs and shared stories until we grew tired and went to bed, staying warm beneath fleece sheets. We woke the next day to the gentle chimes of the church and birds chirping.

People ask me why I don't want to live in a city...and this, my friends, is why.

You can't hear the silence between the bells and the birds, which makes those sounds all the more pleasant, in my opinion.

We packed up, ate the rest of the cake for breakfast (Don't judge. It's a fantastic idea! I highly approve of cake for breakfast. Breakfast of Champions and all that stuff. *grins*), then headed out to Grenada, but I fear that will just have to wait until next time.

Stay tuned for the last part of this trilogy!

Until then,
Bisous