Our first stop today in the rented Citroën was Frigiliana.
In the Sierra de Tejeda Mountains.
Not my first time to this white washed Andalusian town.
Four decades ago, I traversed its narrow cobblestoned streets.
The historic Moorish district remains the same.
Though development at the foot of town has ballooned.
I remember Frigiliana for its Calle Real.
The steep incline that takes you uphill.
Hundreds of steps to the top.
Dried raisins hanging on walls of shop doorways.
Now neatly packaged in boxes.
Colors of small stores, bars, eateries.
Flower pots along the path.
In front of each house,
Begonias, blooming succulents, jasmine.
To the prize at the top.
Views of mountains and sea.
Rooftops of houses in the hills.
Frigiliana, supplier of sugar cane honey.
Brought by Moors to the region.
Still producing today.
Providing caña de miel or molasses.
For a famous southern dish.
Lightly fried, salted eggplant.
Drizzled with thick, sticky cane syrup.
Unlikely, but delectable combination.
Between Málaga and Nerja
lies a bright white treasure.
A town that clings to mountains.
Offers leisured pleasure.
But how on earth do people,
who dwell in homes so high,
manage to lift their furniture
up steps that reach the sky?
Lynn Benjamin
January 16, 2023
