The southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Andalucia, Spain made famous first by Gerald Brenan in his book South of Granada and later by Chris Stewart in Driving Over Lemons are known as Las Alpujarras.
An area with abundant water from the melting snow means a green and lush land, rising and falling with its hills and valleys, where settlements sprung up on the slopes creating the picturesque white hillside towns we find today.
Pitres is one of those towns and the campsite we stayed in just a minute or twos walk from its hub. Like many areas here the campsite was grassy and green with its own well watering the lawns and wide array of trees.
We chose the highest pitch with lovely views across the slopes towards the Mediterranean Sea. Many trees threw ample and welcome shade around as we pitched our small overnight tent to the sound of some classical clarinet pracatice wafting across the site.
The bar was typically Spanish with a large TV, thankfully not on and a pool table on which we reminisced with some awful shots. Then quickly retired out to the delighful beer garden where an obliging squirrel dashed across and up a tree. That´s the first time I´ve seen a squirrel´s nest.
We also strolled down the winding tree-lined drive to a bar in town that drooped wisteria overhead and sampled a very nice local white wine.
Both of us agreed we´d happily return with a bigger tent and for a longer period to explore more of the area or to relax more!
