Postcard from Grenada

Grenada is named after the 'pomegranate', 'granada' en castellano.

Here is a pomegranate tree in the gardens of the famous Alhambra, which I visited yesterday in Granada.

Here is part of the orchard, which grows alongside the vegetables in Alhambra. The whole complex has always been served by water diverted from a river, which you can still drink from water fountains, due to its high quality.

From almost a 1000 years ago, when it was built, the sewerage was treated on site and returned to the river.

Here are some blueberries growing on site.

So much for modern technology, where I am based in Barcelona we are advised not to drink the water due to its low quality (desalinated).

The hazelnut trees are part of a grove in Alhambra.

Walking in atrocious heat later in the afternoon, the beautiful white washed garden and house walls had figs and grapes tumbling over them.

Returning to Madrid today we stopped at Toledo, where there are many shops with marzipan confectionery made by nuns. Marzipan, of course, is made from ground almonds and sugar.

Postcard from Seville

In the last couple of days I have been on the road, in a bus.

We have travelled from Barcelona, via Zaragoza, to Madrid and, from there, to Seville.

The first shot is a scene from a plaza full of trees with the bitter oranges of Seville in Seville.

The next is of Seville orange trees along the streets.

The historic gardens of Seville include grapes and bitter lemons.

The farms on the sides of the highway from Zaragoza to Seville feature many groves of olives for harvesting for use as olives. The olives growing in the dry red Andalusian soil closer to Seville are used for making oil.

Postcard from Barcelona

Here in the densely populated city of Barcelona, with many apartment blocks but people-and-bike friendly streets, some houses still have gardens where fruit and nut trees, as well as herbs and vegetables, have priority.

Lemons and figs are grown at kissing distance. The trees of tart Nepras stand side to side with olives.

Almonds reach in through the windows. And, what would a Mediterranean garden be without grapes?