La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
Málaga and the Costa del Sol are experiencing flooding, mudslides, and more. Here it’s simply dreary, rainy, and drizzly. And it’s getting me down (there’s a song about that). I walked the 10 minutes to the hardware store Thursday and again yesterday. First to have keys made. Then to have more keys made because I forgot some the first time. During my walks, it rained steadily Saturday but was simply dreary Thursday, so I took a long way home and explored a bit.
There’s an old city wall across from the hardware store, called La Marrubial. It was named for the plant horehound (marrubio) which, rare now, used to grow in abundance here. The old wall surrounded the area called La Axerquía, and was constructed in the 11th and 12th centuries to protect from Arab attack. It connected to La Torre de la Malmuerta (click here) a few minutes from home. This area was home to one of the Roman necropolises. Portions of the wall are of Almovarid origin (Berber Muslim dynasty). Later, the quemadero was here, where the Inquisition burned the condemned. I had no idea how many portions of that old wall still exist. It was a fascinating walk as long as I didn’t think about the Inquisition, and that’s been on my mind often lately. What a world.
Málaga y la Costa del Sol están sufriendo inundaciones, deslizamientos de tierra y más. Aquí el tiempo es simplemente deprimente, lluvioso y lluvioso. Y eso me está deprimiendo (hay una canción sobre eso). Caminé los 10 minutos hasta la ferretería el jueves y ayer de nuevo. Primero para que me hicieran las llaves. Luego para que me hicieran más llaves porque olvidé algunas la primera vez. Durante mis caminatas, llovió constantemente el sábado, pero el jueves fue simplemente deprimente, así que tomé un largo camino a casa y exploré un poco.
Hay una antigua muralla de la ciudad frente a la ferretería, llamada La Marrubial. Se llama así por la planta marrubio, que, rara ahora, solía crecer en abundancia aquí. La antigua muralla rodeaba la antigua zona llamada La Axerquía, y fue construida en los siglos XI y XII para protegerse de los ataques árabes. Conectaba con La Torre de la Malmuerta (haz clic aquí) a unos minutos de casa. Esta zona albergaba una de las necrópolis romanas. Algunos tramos de la muralla son de origen almorávide (dinastia musulmana bereber). Más tarde, aquí estuvo el quemadero, donde la Inquisición quemaba a los condenados. No tenía ni idea de cuántos tramos de aquella antigua muralla todavía existen. Fue un paseo fascinante siempre que no pensara en la Inquisición, y eso es algo que últimamente me ronda la cabeza a menudo. ¡Qué mundo!
• Jardín de los Poetas. Dentro de las antiguas murallas y cerca de donde se llevaron a cabo las ejecuciones.
• Mirando hacia atrás a los naranjos y al Jardín de los Poetas.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
I’m so glad to have you and your blog as part of my life, Mitchell… it helps fight off the feelings of dread about what is going on in our country. These photos are wonderful! It gives me joy to know that you were able to have long walks in these amazing places 🙂
Judy C:
And I’m so glad to have you in my life! Thanks.
Thank you for the walk, and the history lesson. Oh, and for Joni.
Jim:
And especially for Joni.
So much history in that one old wall! And like history in general, not always comforting. Its name made me think of horehound candy, which apparently tastes like a cross between licorice and root beer. I think I had it once.
Debra:
I’ve never had horehound candy. Your description makes it sound enticing, but I see Ms. Moon’s description next.
Does it regularly blow your mind to go to a hardware store which is right across from a wall built in the 11th century or do you become used to it? I can answer Debra’s musings about the taste of horehound candy- it is nasty. My grandfather used to keep a jar of it and why I will never know.
Thank you for reminding me of the Tower of the Wrongly Dead Woman. That would make such a good title for a book, a story, a poem.
And dear Joni.
Sigh.
Ms. Moon
Ms. Moonsigh:
Nasty seems to be the consensus! I’m curious to taste it for myself, but I doubt I’ll find it here. But, yes, dear Joni!
Even on a dreary day the sights are fabulous!
Bob:
Dreary is still OK for wandering. Pouring rain makes it a bit difficult to take pictures.
An interesting walk, even beneath a gray rainy sky. I suppose there’s some kernel of hope in the fact that they’ve turned the site of tortures and executions into an orange grove.
Steve:
Right now, it’s much more enlightened here than in so many parts of the world (like the USA). I hope it stays that way.
I’d much rather think about poets and gardens than the I.
These are marvelous pictures, especially that ancient wall, built to last. Boud.
Boud:
The Inquisition is ancient (well sort of) history and other civilized countries have done even worse since then, so I should focus on it. I’ll think about poets and gardens, Ogden Nash in particular:
… Would you like a description of my parsley?
I can give it to you in one word–gharsley!…
I used to make keys at Lowes when nobody was in hardware. It was pretty monotonous and boring. Especially when somebody had a bunch of keys to make at the same time
Adam:
I can imagine key-making being very monotonous. He made 6 keys for me the other day and it didn’t look all that exciting.
I think it’s fascinating to be able to see and touch so many centuries of construction in one wall! Hopefully, those aren’t blood orange trees where the quemadero used to be….
The Horehound plant is a member of the mint family and was also used to make tea and root beer. It brings a menthol-root beer flavour to Horehound candy drops which is why they taste so awful! Give me Panda soft black liquorice any day.
Tundra Bunny:
Not blood oranges but not far off. They’re Bitter oranges. I love menthol and I love root beer, but maybe not together. Every Spaniard I gave root beer barrels to said they tasted like Vicks VapoRub. Oh, yes, give me Panda soft black liquorice!
Thank you for sharing Joni. The song is certainly appropriate. I worry the US is headed into an Inquisition of its own. I don’t put anything past the orange felon. It was dreary here yesterday, too, and now it’s raining. I could use a Garden of the Poets. How does anyone get a car down those narrow streets, especially the one with all the parked cars?
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
Those streets aren’t even very narrow. Some require you to fold in the sideview mirrors. We’ve been down streets where we could reach out the windows and touch the buildings on either side. Check this out: https://movingwithmitchell.com/2018/01/14/cruising-casares-conduciendo-casares-2/
Despite the rain, how beautiful and green. Walks that inspire.
Laurent:
And greener by the day. Roses are all leafing out thickly. Shrubs and trees are flowering. Waiting for another few minutes of sunshine.
Beautiful – even in the rainy season! Jx
Jon:
It is, isn’t it. And there’s so much leafing out and in bloom.
Oh, and the Ines Rosales tortas that I found here were packets with 6 in each packet, and so the Target case of ten was a case of ten packets each containing 6 tortas. All of the places where these were available were charging between 8 and 10 dollars per packet of 6, so, waaaaaaay more than you are paying 🙂
J Chabot:
That’s a huge difference in price. So now you know what to stock up on next time you’re in Spain.
A year ago if you had mentioned The Spanish Inquisition on this blog, I would have responded with a joking reference to the Monty Python sketch, but the SI no longer seems like a dusty artifact from the remote past as the United States and perhaps the world descends into a new Dark…This probably isn’t helping your depression any, is it?
As Emily Latella used to say, never mind.
Kirk:
Oh how I loved Emily Latella. Do you remember her piece on presidential erections?
I clicked on ” contact” at the top of the page but didn’t find any way to contact you…just a link to joining ” wordpress” ? Which I don’t really want to do as I don’t know what it is!
Frances.
Frances:
Well, shoot! I’m glad you pointed that out. I have no idea where the contact form went. I’ll re-add it! WordPress had changed Forms. FIXED.
Such deep history. Those who know the lessons of history, are less likely to repeat the mistakes of the past.
David:
Too many know the history without having learned the lessons. Of course, there are those who just don’t know shit.
Oh, yes!
Las ciudades amuralladas were de rigueur. The Arabs were at it for 800 years, after all. The Spaniards brought that to America. Puerto Rico has some beautiful samples.
And the weather is just icky, right???
XOXO
Sixpence:
The weather has been beyond icky. Drizzles, pouring rain, thunder, wind. Peaceful at the moment although still gray. But a lot more rain soon
Phabulous Fotos!
Walt the Fourth:
Fanks!
It must be so great having all of this history and beautiful scenery/architecture at your fingertips! As you were talking about having to go back to the hardware store via walking, I thought of where I live, which would mean a drive through suburban streets. I envy you being able to walk everywhere.
Michael:
I’ve lived in rural/suburban settings and always missed being able to walk everywhere. City or village life for me.
Thanks to you-know-who The Spanish Inquisition is embedded into our collective memories – but few know what actually happened. People ought to know, lest it repeat.
Urspo:
Sadly, history continues to repeat itself.