Casa Pilar Alto, Illora Newsletter 24th April 2007

Illora Weekly News
Dateline 24.04.07

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Step out onto the terraces of Casa Pilar Alto, high above Illora, Granada, without your sunglasses and risk being blinded by the reflection of the sun off the now ultra-white walls. “Cap o’ fina” was the spelling I first assumed when I repeatedly heard of this solution to all problems, large and small. I later learned that it is not, in fact, an Irish acronym for a glass of Jamieson’s best but, spelled "capofina", is the white waterproof plaster that now covers the walls of our high terraces and stables. It has gone across all visible walls remarkably quickly and has then been textured in a delicate process that involves a Moroccan chef, a pair of kneepads and a wet sponge. I would prefer not go into detail, if that is alright with you.

Having a chef on the premises has had other advantages. Last week there was much excitement amongst the workers that Munir would cook a paella for them on Friday. Since the only place he could do this was in our kitchen, finishing the kitchen became a high priority with added momentum. At noon on Friday, Cathy disappeared for a lesson in paella preparation and cooking, for future Café Pilar Alto use, and Munir created a very special paella using the superb seafood readily available around here. I counted 12 workers - rather more than we had working in the house...

Strange the things you learn to appreciate - metal cutlery, for one. After 8 weeks of plastic forks and plates, getting the kitchen completed allowed us to become reunited with furniture, crockery and cutlery, much of which we had not seen since the end of June last year, when we sold our house and, in an act of blind faith, shipped it off to storage in Spain. Plastic spoons are not readily available here - try consuming Gazapacho with a fork and suddenly the metal cutlery acquires a significance in life that it did not have before.

A few months ago, Cathy had a longing for a treadmill. We came to Illora instead. Illora sits on the slopes of the Sierra Parapanda - the mountains forming the backdrop to pictures on our web site at www.casaillora.com – and the Sierra Madrid. Consequently, in Illora almost any walk you take is either very steeply up or very steeply down, which makes it an excellent place to stay if you want to lose weight. There are those who take it to extremes - hill walking and cycling are both much loved activities here, along with more sedate pursuits, such as quad biking, hot air ballooning and ultra lite flying. A page or two on these aspects will soon join the two further pages added to the web site last week.

Cathy and I started Spanish lessons last week. It may seem a little daft to live in a country for eight or nine weeks before starting to learn the language but we had both studied in London – Cathy to a much more advanced level than I – and we have learned from having to use the language so far as we are able here. We have also both had to adjust - we learned Castillian and there are a number of differences in the Andalucian dialect, such as the insistence on dropping every “s” and most other consonants at the end of words, so that "Buenas dias" becomes "Buena dia", at best, and usually just "buena". Then there is the double "l", which you can hear in at least 3 different varieties of pronunciation, although it should be consistent. Consider a spaniard learning Queen’s English in Spain and then going to live in Newcastle – the differences are similar.

Things are coming together in many ways, although a few sizeable tasks lie ahead. The re-wiring I have often referred to was completed today, the Café area is coming together with the kitchen there now almost entirely installed and false ceiling in place. Many of the rooms have been filled, sanded and have had a first coat of paint, which often leads to more filling and more sanding. It is a challenge to find the right balance between finishing the work off nicely and hanging onto the rustic charm that comes with crooked walls and ceilings and multiple layers of less than neat paintwork. Many of the locals quietly think we are nuts - why would we want to spend money buying a house like this and then have to spend so much more transforming it, when we could build ourselves a brand spanking new house on the outskirts of town ? The point that we want a house with character in the old centre of town that will appeal to fellow nuts is lost.

Miel and Carbon, our two now 9 week old pups, joined us last Monday and have already adjusted to the strange life which they will lead. They occupy one of the other stable rooms, which enjoy the very best views to be had but which we are not yet in a position to change into bedrooms. It is another strange feature - to us anyway - of this house that the stables, previously occupied by a horse, a donkey, some pigs and chickens, are at the highest point, where the house meets full on the rock that dominates Illora and on which the 9th century Moorish castle stands. Also odd to us, is that the rock continues to appear at points lower in the house - we found a substantial chunk in our own kitchen, a sizeable piece in what will be the accessible room and the latest uncovered is a very solid piece that now forms a feature in the Café. Odd but all part of the character we aim to share widely with our future guests.

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Hasta luego !

Matthew and Cathy Brooks

Casa Pilar Alto
4,6 Cuesta Pilar Alto
18260 Illora
Granada
Spain

Email: stay@casaillora.com

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