The white villages are known as pueblos blancos.
(I
am linguistically challenged, but even I can translate that!)
They look very pretty, but they are more than just pretty.
Most of these villages developed during the centuries of Islamic
rule in Al-Andalus.
The white villages were planned strategically.
At the time, Cordoba was one of the largest and most sophisticated cities in Europe —renowned for learning, medicine, philosophy and architecture.
Its history goes back to Roman times.
Followed by centuries of Islamic rule.
Which was then followed by the Christian reconquest.
The natural beauty and turbulent history gives the town a romantic allure and attracted the "Viajeros Románticos".
Looking back at these photos, I do not know how we did
it.
The Caminito del Rey is a walkway in Andalusia, southern
Spain, running through the narrow El Chorro Gorge north of Málaga.
It has wooden boardwalks hugging the cliffs high above the
Guadalhorce River.
Literally translated, “caminito” means “little path.”
The name reflects how narrow and precarious the original walkway was, often no more than a meter wide (39 inches) and clinging
to the cliff face.
When King Alfonso XIII came for a brief inspection and
opening, the full name “Caminito del Rey,” “the King’s Little Path” became the
name that stuck.
It was a boom-and-bust town that rose quickly in the early 1900s and then emptied almost overnight in the 1940’s, leaving behind a haunting collection of stone ruins, crumbling buildings and old miner’s homes.
Today, Terlingua’s Ghost Town has a quirky mix of restored
buildings, art studios and lived-in dwellings sitting beside abandoned ruins.
We describe it as the place that people go to drop out
of society.
Or, it could be the place for people in the Witness Protection Program.
It is a long 10 hour drive from Houston, but, the park is beautiful with mountains and desert.
It is so different than anywhere else in Texas.
So many Texans have never been and say they want to go, but somehow don't.
They don't know what they are missing!
In some ways it is the best kept secret in Texas.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for
having one of the longest and most colorful fall seasons in the eastern United
States.
A major reason the colors are so vivid is the biodiversity
of the mountains.
More than a hundred species of deciduous trees grow here, each changing at a different time and producing different shades.
