The hot day turned into a mild evening, as we sat on the terrace discussing life in the valley over a glass of wine. Kenneth started to talk about his organic lemon groves to which we guiltily confessed; we already know how good the lemons are. We ate some today. It may seem mad that a person would peel and eat a raw lemon, but this is one of the strange oddities that C and I have in common.
“The lemon guy is coming to collect them any day now, hopefully,” Kenneth tells us, “we hope they will make us 10,000 EUR this year.”
Ah! So they sell them. Earlier in the day I was wondering what they did with all those lemons, and my question had being answered. But that meant my visions of a mass lemon marmalade cook off had just been shattered.
Selling the lemons is not bad pocket money for Sarah and Kenneth, an English couple who have set up their home on the outskirts of Álora, a small village in the Málaga province of Andalucía. Their well loved land is covered with citrus trees, and they have recently planted their own olive groves too. But the fate of the lemons gave me a quick insight as to what life would be like for the average person in rural Andalucía, who is living solely off the land around them.
Sarah and Kenneth’s property, Fuegoblanco, is a beautifully restored whitewashed finca, which stands tall among the surrounding trees. The house is adapted for guests, having been split into their private residence and guesthouse under the same roof.
The guesthouse has seven bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, an indoor dining and lounge area, and sitting room with a coffee machine and fridge. Outside there is space to sit and enjoy the warm sun of Andalucía, and a swimming pool to cool off afterwards. But I didn’t just stay at the property to experience rural Andalucía, as Fuegoblanco is only two kilometres out of the town.
Álora is a small town of around 15,000 people, and gave me the feeling of being in an authentic rural village of Andalucía.
In the town life moves slowly. The siesta is long and the vibe is dreamy. The walk around town is tough as the hot afternoon sun blares down on my shoulders, and the hills become more challenging with every step. Various miradores (lookouts) around town provide views of the green and yellow paddocks in the valleys below, and rocky mountain horizon in the distance.
When it’s not the hours of siesta, the bars in the town are buzzing with locals. The scenery of the town is not indifferent to more famous pueblos blancos in Andalucía, such as Ronda, but in Álora I enjoyed it without the crowds of cruise ship tourists or tacky, overpriced souvenir sours.
Despite feeling a world away from it all, Álora is surprisingly well connected to the rest of Andalucía. It takes 30 minutes to get to Málaga on the local cercanias train. Direct trains also go to Ronda and the nearby town of El Chorro, both towns that are home to famous gorges.
These easy connections to other towns in the Málaga province make Fuegoblanco a great getaway in Andalucía. You can spend the days exploring the nearby towns, and the evenings relaxing by the pool. Evenings can be spent enjoying dinner at Fuegoblanco, or at a local bar or restaurant in the town.
I have always loved Andalucía, but after staying at Fuegoblanco and experiencing the quiet town of Álora, I feel like I have really discovered the true charm of Andalucía. This is the Andalucía that is miles away from crowds of tourists, cruise ship tours, and over populated beaches.
So in celebration of that, here are my own homemade postcards from Álora – pictures from Fuegoblanco, the surrounding land and the village itself.
These photos are of the house and surrounding garden. Sarah and Kenneth have done a great job at restoring the old finca and bringing it to life in their own way.
We walked into the town of Álora from Fuegoblanco. The two kilometre walk was very hot with little shade, but the stunning scenery along the way made battling the midday heat worth it.
The town of Álora itself is a small typical pueblo blanco, the white villages that form the rural areas of Andalucia. It is home to no more than 16,000 people and it is not a place that is on the typical tourist map.
In the evening Sarah prepared a lovely meal for us. Sarah and Kenneth farm their own organic vegetables on their property, and when possible the meals are prepared with the seasonal vegetables from their garden. Their menu consists of vegetarian and seafood dishes, and in fact, their organic farming and vegetarian ideals was what prompted me to stay at Fuegoblanco in the first place.
It’s experiences like this that take you away from the typical tourist trail to help you not only understand a culture better, but provide a unique experience while travelling.
I paid for my own stay at Fuegoblanco, and wrote about it simply because I really thought it was a great experience.
Have you visited Andalucía before? Does this look like an experience you would enjoy? Maybe you have been somewhere where you had a similar experience? Let me know in the comments below.
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Ken Kai says
Love small little towns because I get to meet a lot of people and go through all their interesting personalities. Small towns teach me so much more about life. Cities rarely teach me anything.
And those prawns and mussels. Mm!
Where abouts in Australia did you stay Cyra?
Cheers,
Ken
Cyra says
Very true! You definitely learn a lot from the smaller places. The big cities, well, as fun as they can be, they are often “just another city”.
I grew up in Sydney but now my family lives in Kangaroo Valley which is a small village of about 300 people in between the South Coast and Southern Highlands of NSW. It’s super nice!
How long have you been in Australia for?
Franca says
We were in Andalucia the past spring but we didn’t get a proper taste of it, we only went to the major cities for lack of time. This place though reminds me a little bit of a tiny Spanish village we spent three months at whilst housesitting, it was not far from Alicante and something quite special.
Cyra says
The cities in Andalucia are beautiful though. You will have to come back! I have never actually being to Alicante, I will have to go and visit that area out sometime.
Andalucia says
Andalucia is beautiful. I myself live in Ojen, so it’s not so far away from Alora.
Whenever we have visitors I make sure to take them to surrounding white villages
such as Monda, Mijas Pueblo and offcourse, Alora.
Regards,
George M.
Cyra says
I’ve never been to Ojen but I’m sure it’s a beautiful place to live 🙂 Sounds amazing!