Yesterday I finally had enough of the political thriller going on in our capital. Our Westie, Marta is sighing deeply every time we switch on news channel 24 to look at the unbelievable farce that is supposed to lead to the creation of a new government. It looks like there will be several rounds before the parties can reach an agreement as the process seems to go on for some more rounds. “You ain´t seen nothing yet” as the Americans used to say.

Well, we decided to leave politics to the politicians and set off to our favourite spot Pampaneira in the Alpujarra mountains. With Marta and her food pack and water bottles plus some plastic poop bags we set off for the one hour trip to the lovely white washed village in the Poqueira gorge in the Alpujarras region. The weather was fantastic with sun and blue skies, and the temperature about 12 degrees. A bit colder than in Almuñecar, so we were grateful for remembering our warm jackets. The views here are breathtaking. At the north side opens the Sierra Nevada range with its snow covered peaks Mulhacén and Alcazaba. The Poqueira gorge starts below Mulhacén, where the river Rio Poqueira rises.

Pampaneira is one of three mountain villages in the Alpujarras about 1060 metres above sea level. The other two villages, Bubión and Capileira, are located higher in the Poqueira gorge. One of the highest mountain villages in Spain, Trevelez, is located nearby to the east of the three villages. We have been to Pampaneira at least once every year during the 15 years we have been living in Almuñecar. We have visited practically all the fantastic restaurants, cafés and shops in the village. Our first visit is always to Bodega La Moralea at Calle Veronica, a small street leading down from the central square. First, we tasted some delicious tapas of local cheese, ham and wine.

The bodega is a real Ali Baba´s cavern full of delicious local products; cheeses, marmalades, honeys, olive oils, sweets, facial creams, soaps and much more. The ceiling is hung with lanterns and hams. There are barrels with local sherry to fill own bottles.

Upstairs you find a small gallery of local pottery, hand-woven textiles and art work. We bought sherry, goat cheese and olive oil, and last but not least: a quite heavy bust of a smiling jovial Buddha for my collection.

After this, we went for lunch. This time we chose restaurant Ruta de Mulhacén, a cosy restaurant situated near the parking lot on the main street. Marta was allowed to accompany us on
the terrace with beautiful views over the village. We had a traditional meal with rabbit stewed with garlic and papas a lo pobre and a very good red wine. We mixed some rabbit into Marta´s dry food. I know, garlic should not be served to dogs, but just this time… Anyhow, it did not seem to do her any harm.

After lunch we visited Abuela Ilis chocolate shop on the main street not far from the Mulhacen restaurant. We just followed the delicious smells, led by Marta, to a fabulous selection of chocolates; dark, milk, white, sugar free, more than 30 different artisan made chocolates. We bought some dark chocolates with almonds. Marta did not get anything, because chocolate can be lethal for dogs.

After a walk through the village, we had coffee at Café Europa opposite the fine old stone church.

Happy with our outing all three of us, we returned home, just to hear the evening news telling us that
resident Rajoy had turned down the King´s offer to form a new government, but that he had not withdrawn his candidature.