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How to spend a fascinating week in and around Montefrio
Day 1 - settle into your Casa de Lorenzo, enjoy the views (all the houses have sublime views)and then stroll down to one of the taverns on the plaza for a copa de fino (glass of dry sherry) with a tapa of crisply-fried fresh anchovies - boquerones, or have a full meal at La Fonda, famous for its fresh fish. Get to bed early, to overtake the jet lag.
Day 2 - Enjoy an Andalucian breakfast, of hot chocolate and churros, or, better still (especially for your health) a toasted roll sprinkled with crushed tomato and olive oil, plus café con leche, at the Bar de los Churros near the big round church on the Plaza. Climb up to La Villa, the Renaissance church built on top of the remains of the Moorish fortress, overlooking the town from a soaring crag... Wind up with a tapas session at the Casablanca tavern. After a long siesta, take a drive out to the Peñas de los Gitanos, our archaeological site, three miles from town, where you wander among meadows and cliffs, literally stumbling across the ancient ruins... Move down the valley to visit the remains of our Roman mills in the gorge... Rest of the day is free to just hang around in the plaza with all the local yokels, watching the time go by...
Day 3 - Set out in the morning for Granada, travelling a leisurely and scenic hour to reach the Alhambra Palace, with your pre-reserved tickets from Lorenzo's booking service. After strolling through the Courtyard of the Lions, the Tower of Comares and the Generalife Gardens, you might still have the energy to dip down into Granada and have a drink of jumilla at the Bar Castañeda, near the Cathedral.
Day 4 - Spend the morning exploring our gypsy quarter, El Coro, climbing up to the ruins of the Capilla del Calvario for a spectacular view of the village. Pick up a goat cheese from our Fábrica de Quesos, a bottle of virgin olive oil from the mill next door, Montevilla, some fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from Chico´s vegetable stall, 250 grams of Montefrio's serrano ham from Lola's shop on Calle Santo Cristo, a loaf of pan casero from any of the yellow delivery vans cruising the streets, and make your own lunch at home, out on the terrace... In the afternoon drive to the castles of Moclin and Alcalá, 20 kilometers away. Have dinnner at El Pregonero next to the Town Hall, famous for its pork leg roasted on the spit, its succulent paellla...
Day 5 - Drive to Cordoba to visit the Mezquita. On the way back, stop for lunch at Priego de Cordoba, and visit the town´s lovely baroque churches. Spend the rest of the day... resting, and then hang around the Plaza some more, just to see if anything has changed since Day 2. You might even drop in on one of your neighbours in the Arrabal or the Cortijo - one unexpected pleasure of staying at the Casas de Lorenzo is that the guests are fully international, coming from some of the most unexpected countries and walks of life!
Day 6 - Drive down to the coast along the Cuesta de la Cabra for the plunging mountain views , have a drink at the seaport of Salobreña and from there drive to Motril and back inland, into the Alpujarra to have lunch in Capileira, one of Spain´s highest villages, just under the snows of the Sierra Nevada.
Day 7 - Go back to Granada, to follow Lorenzo's guided tour of the Albaicin, the Moorish quarter, as described in his book "Granada, City of My Dreams", and El Sacromonte, the gypsy quarter, which ends up for lunch at El Yunque outdoor restaurant, on the Plaza de San Miguel Bajo, and coffee at Plaza Larga... after spending an hour gazing at the view of the palace from the Plaza de San Nicolas.
And you still haven´t visited the caves dwellings of Guadix and the Castle of the Calahorra!
flamenco on the farm, pen and ink by Lorenzo Bohme
