Back street surprise

This morning I walked to the open air market on the recinto feriale, using a backstreet route, slightly shorter, for a change. I'd driven but not walked this way before, and at a slower pace, discovered a small park tucked away behind the houses. El Parque Pulgarcito, is its name. It means Tom Thumb Park. As well as childrens' swings and climbing frames, it is home to a charming bronze sculpture of the little man sitting on top of a pile of books.

The uppermost edge of the park is bounded by the garden wall of an exotic looking building in the Andalusian moorish style, clad in coloured mosaic. It resembles a mosque with its dome topped by a crescent moon. It's grand mansion of a local businessman with a painting and decorating company.

It's a truly remarkable sight, set in a quiet back street. The house is called 'Alhambra' and was built in 1993. I particularly like the mosaic covered pavilion in its courtyard, for dining al fresco.

For once I'd come out without a camera, as I was on a mission to find myself a new pair of sandals in the market, which I did, at two thirds of the price I paid for a very similar pair this time last year, just before I left for my first spell of duty in Colsta del Sol East Chaplaincy. Anyway, I returned later in the day to take the above photographs, during my afternoon paseo down to the beach. The sun was by that time fairly low in the sky, and I arrived in the vicinity of the harbour mouth in time to watch half a dozen or more fishing vessels depart, escorted by hosts of expectant seagulls.

I couldn't help noticing, when I returned to Calle Virgen del Carmen, that during the late afternoon the task of pruning the algorrobo (carob) trees along the avenue was at last complete, and all the cuttings taken away. It's taken eight days, and the end nearest the house was most in need of a trim. All summer, new grown branches had bent right over into the roadway and footpath, posing a minor hazard for walkers and motorists alike. These were the last to be removed, defying common sense. 

A dozen or so dead tree trunks, lining the motorway embankment edge were also uprooted and cut up, during the week, leaving just the handful of trees that flourished in place. 

They'd all evidently been planted when the motorway was driven through this part of town, perhaps ten-fifteen years ago, to help disperse road noise. If they weren't grown from saplings but transplanted fully grown, soil drainage at the embankment edge may have left them with insufficient water to thrive long term. The townscape is less forbidding without the dead trees. Road noise will remain a problem perpetually.