Our time in Motril is drawing to a close. Its early June and the diligent wearing of masks in Spain is starting to pay off. Each province within the country is starting to lift its lockdown under new unified rules of phased openings and we are starting to safely venture out of the marina, and the locals are starting to venture into the marina.
As it happens, just down the road from the marina within walking distance is a rum distillery. Ron Montero normally runs tours and we were fortunate that Javier, our new extended family as a result of the lockdown, called and made an appointment during this time of reopening. The tour was only beat by the rum itself. What a wonderful family running the business, and the newest addition of the coffee liqueur infused rum was awesome! If you get a chance to try this rum, we highly recommend it through a good statistical sampling of bottles.
The city of Motril was very easy to scooter to using the bike path and within 10 minutes, we were able to visit hyper stores to stock up on boat provisions or find items we need for any repair and maintenance at the Leroy Merlin home store. Motril also has unique contributions such as 1) the Torta Real, an almond ‘cake’ made of sugar, almonds and egg white, 2) the rum from Ron Montero, and 3) their own local coffee.
We were very lucky that Javier took us along on a drive in the Sierra Mountain foothills to share the beauty of the local area. The mountain villages of Pampaneira, Capileira, and Trevelez are all stunning and a relaxing place to enjoy a meal or cafe. The drive was full of wonderful views, natural spring water fountains, mineral water with a visibly high iron content, great food, and better company. We feel honored to have seen the Sierra’s through Javiers perspective.
We are also very grateful to Roberto, from Marina Park Motril, for arranging a tour of the Alhambra on the first day of its re-opening. They only allowed a limited number of guests inside, so we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves and could hear only the rippling water as we strolled through the gardens. Less than an hour drive from the marina and near Grenada, the Alhambra is a must see and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1984. It was built by Nasrid sultans during the final period of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula before the region was taken over by Christians in 1492. Originally, the Alhambra was the site of an old 9th century fortress and the Nasrid dynasty renovated it, brought water to it, and converted it to a private residence safe from the city in the Albaicín. It is the only medieval Arab palace still in existence today. After the Christians took over the area, the palaces were looked after by the Christians and Moriscos (Muslims who adopted the Catholic religion) until the French invaded in 1808 during the Napoleonic War and converted the Alhambra to military barracks. When the French withdrew, they blew up several buildings and nearly all of the Medina.
The Alhambra was made up of three areas. The Medina was for the trades people and their residences, residences, workshops, administrative buildings, bath houses, markets, and other supporting functions. The Alcazaba was the original and oldest part of the Alhambra and was for Alhambra defense with watch towers and the Sultan’s elite guard would reside here. The Royal Palaces includes 3 residences all built in the 1300’s by 3 different Sultans. In addition, an adjacent area outside of the Alhambra is the Generalife and was the vacation/leisure palace for members of the royal family. Other buildings and palatial residences dot the Alhambra and were built by the Christian religious leaders and the Emperor Charles V.
The engineering and architectural feats are still evident today. For example, water was brought to all parts of the Alhambra, even uphill, through a canal and series of reservoirs and wells developed for the purpose of distribution. The original canal that was built in the 1300’s is still in use today. Additionally, the mathematical complexity employed in the interior design is amazing. Typically, the interior of the Muslim buildings are plain, but the interior is very ornate. The walls of the palaces hold finely detailed inscriptions, poems, and symbols in plaster typically covering ever inch of available wall space. Originally, they carved the plaster with a chisel, but then later used wooden molds to pour the stucco into and then attach to thee wall. The pinnacle of their plaster work was the Muqarnas, or the ornamented vaulting ceilings where geometrically symmetrical octagon ceilings with polyhedrons aligned perfectly in 3D space. The carpentry was also finely detailed into the form of elaborate lattices, doors, windows, and ceilings where they often inlaid contrasting wood types as well as other materials to create depth and texture. The ceramic tiling really illustrates the command of geometric mathematics. All 17 of the mathematically possible wallpaper groups (a mathematical classification of a two-dimensional repetitive pattern) are on display and used in the original Alhambra interior design.
As our tour drew to a close, we realized that our time in Motril was also drawing to a close. We needed to tend to a couple of maintenance items, like cleaning our paddlewheel transducer and cleaning the hull, but then we would have to say goodbye to our new extended family. We hope that someday in the near future we can reciprocate all the hospitality we were given and host our lovely Spanish friends when we are back on land in America.
