Alájar and Aracena, June 16, and Aracena June 17

 I was so routed-out that today I repeated, more of less, yesterday's walk before leaving Alájar.  

The number of barking dogs you can see in this photo is about half the number of barking dogs that were barking!

When I returned, Angel, el dueño de la posada, drove me to Aracena, some 20 minutes away, where I have a little apartment for four days.  Luxurious it is not, but the property has an enticing Spanish flair and ants in the kitchen.

Flair:

Checked out the kitchen: two pots, two pans, two lids, but the lids do not fit the pots or the pans. Stove is gas and has to be lit with a match. (OY!)  Plates are in the living room.  Utensils are behind the door.  It all takes a bit of figuring out.

To cook you have to stock the larder, so off to the local Spar, a so-so supermarket.  Potatoes, onions, and eggs again!  Quite tasty.

June 17.   Lovely five-hour walk during which I saw many things:

A grove of a new kind of tree:

Not olive:

Not cork:

They were castaños!  Chestnut trees.

There were also vineyards:

And large, grunting, light-colored porkers:

As well as not-so-large, grunting, dark-colored porkers:

And a burro:

You don't get to see the very handsome billy-goat because he was a poor poser for pictures.

The walk led to a tiny town, very old.  In front of each door way, was a mosaic square, with patterns such as this:

In the afternoon, visited La Gruta de la Maravillas, which really was a maravilla.  Visitors are allowed to take a couple of photos: 

There were lakes in the caves whose water is so clear that in places, you couldn't tell it was there.  The tour-speil was in super-fast Andalucian Spanish, so needless to say, I did not catch all the details.  But no matter, the sights were spectacular!