Alhama De Granada Mushroom hunt

Dear limper

What a wonderful day we had this last Sunday, when we went looking for mushrooms. After what had been a pretty poor week, with heavy cloud and a lot of wind, Sunday was a stunner whilst on the cool side, some of the mushrooms we were picking came ready frozen, the sky was a deep blue and the sun shone all day. Our destination for our forage was the area around Casa forestal el Robledal Alta near Alhama de Granada. And now that the Padul/ Otiva road is resurfaced the drive there is an absolute delight. When we arrived at the carpark it was obvious that we were not the only ones out for a free meal, as all over the forest you could see people with their heads down shuffling about intent on looking for the prized Niscalo. This particular mushroom is quite difficult to spot as it tends to grow under moss and pine needles and proved elusive to the Brits in the group, who had to settle for second best with Blewits. Meanwhile Quina had wondered off to another area of the forest and returned, triumphant with her basket overflowing with the Niscalo (Lactarius Delicisus). On our way into the forest we had passed a restaurant called the " Pato Loco " so it was decided that with a name like that it had to be good to survive, and it was. It will now feature in future trips to this area. On our return to Padul we were invited to Quina's house for tea and refreshment.

The walk this coming Sunday the 17th December will take us back to Monachil for the usual walk up the gorge which takes about 3 hours and is classed suitable for Olwyn. Please meet outside the Acropolis bar in Mondujar at 9.30. Afterwards we return to Margaret's house in Murchas for tapa.

At the time of writing, no forager has reported in sick, mind you if they had died they wouldn't would they

Have a good week

Sunday 3rd December

Dear Limper

Our planned walk this last Sunday, was supposed to be up above Cumbres Verde, which had been postponed from the week before due to low cloud. After a week of bright blue skies we were all looking forward to the rescheduled walk only to have our hopes dashed when we awoke Sunday morning after heavy over night rain, to find there was once again heavy grey skies over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With the promise of sunshine down in the Happy Valley, we chose again to cancel the walk to Cumbre Verde which translates into Green Hilltop no doubt because it always appears to be wet up there. So after a delayed start due to our rescheduled destination we all set off for Beznar and a walk around the reservoir. Once again with a mixed bag of Nationalities, Dutch, English, French, Spanish and 4 dogs.I think we will have to change our name to LVL International. The only thing is me and Arthur aren't half getting some funny looks as we shepherd our flock of mujeres around. The walk is a pleasant one as it meanders around the lake edge, the only sting in the tail coming right at the end, is the climb back up into Chite. The Noche Azul was the planned finishing point with it's reputation for excellent tapa, particularly on a Sunday, where I am assured the roast pork is the finest in the valley. Unfortunately this Sunday, Miguel was not too keen to show off his culinary delights and so after one drink we said our good byes and headed off to Paco's bar in Cozvijar, where we felt sure a warm welcome and excellent service would await us. It must have been National Grumpy bar owners day, or something, because the only time he smiled was when we said goodbye.

Our outing this coming Sunday is a little bit different, because we are going to go on a mushroom foraging expedition to Jayena. Quina knows the area and has a good knowledge of what is good to eat, afterwards when we return to Padul it is intended that we go to the fiesta there and sample the food and drink on offer.

If you want to go on the walk please meet in the car park at Suspiro del Moro at 9.30 Sunday morning, bring a sharp knife and a bag to put your mushrooms in. The last time I went looking for ceps Quina and I came back with about 2 kilos. Please note what you pick and eat is your responsibility no death or injury claims will be accepted.