Andalucia Day 38 Antequera

The weather forecast has an orange risk for rain warning from midnight until 6pm but the thought of staying in all day is unenticing. So, we pretend not to see the dark clouds towards Antequera from the roof top terrace and set off anyway. Parking is easy near the Dolmens and we head straight for Convento del Belén where we invest 1 euro to light it up.

It's a pretty church because the background to the baroque plastering has been highlighted in dark blue and there are interesting details such as the balcony.

However our real objective is to buy a dessert made by the nuns. Many convents in places we have visited sell biscuits, cakes etc but these are special because they sell bienmesabe, a typical sweet from Antequera based on almonds, pumpkin (hence my obsession) eggs, sugar etc. They have been using the same recipe since 1635 and since they are cloistered nuns there's a sort of revolving shutter for communication. I ring the bell and we wait. After a minute or two a different shutter opens and there, unexpectedly, is the nun, face to face. I explain what we want and she watches critically when I attempt to put it in my rucksack and  makes sure we carry it properly. I hadn't realised it is a sort of tiramisu texture, so not the best thing to put in a rucksack and walk around with. Handling it carefully we go back to the car to try it, different, rather sweet, but the crunchy almonds are nice.

There is a little rain but nothing too alarming so we go to visit the Dolmens, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Time for some food and Google suggests Meson Casa Diego for tapas but when we get there there's no mention of tapas on the menu. After a considerable amount of dithering and mostly due to hunger, we go in anyway. Wise decision, there's a limited amount of tapas available if you sit at the bar, one is included with each drink and the extra ones cost 1 euro each. Small but delicious we spend just 8.40 euros for 3 drinks and 6 tapas, an all time minimum considering  having eaten enough for the time being. We come out to find the sun shining.

We have a stroll around Antequera which is mid-afternoon quiet and go up as far as the Alcazaba but clouds are looming dark again and so we head for Bobadilla.

Kilometres by car: 40

Kilometres on foot: 10