My last days at Turiscampo were strangely anxious as I thought about the return home and what the future held. I had a thoughtful conversation about Sandra with my German neighbours Mathias and Stefi and they said what a beautiful idea to take Sandra with me in her handbag.
On Wednesday I drove 540 km to a campsite at La Vinuela north of Malaga, which was the closest I could get to my school friend’s village of Canillas de Albaida. Then it was a further 1 hour along treacherous roads.
Henry Murphy is a Barrister and Author of 6 books. I read two of them, in Turiscampo, to get to know him better before meeting him for the third time in 56 years!
Henry lives with his wife Mary in a delightful “pueblo” in the centre of the village. They moved to Canillas in 2013. His sister Paula Murphy was visiting and kindly allowed this stranger to stay in a villa she had rented for family coming in mid July.
Paula is a professor of Art and Sculpture at UCD.
Every step you take in the village is either up or down, they don’t do horizontal! On my first day, 16,000 steps took us on a triangular course through the 3 closest villages. We stopped in each one for either sweet wine, coffee or the local tapas. The heat was intense and the pool at the villa saved me a few times.
Henry does not have a car – it’s walk, bus or taxi in Canillas. We took advantage of my car to drive 20 km on a single track dirt road, across a gushing stream, to the lost village of El Acebuchal to sample wild boar.
Henry is a very social person and is known by everyone in the village. Mary has to constantly move him on as he stops to talk to all. They welcomed me and treated me as if I was a family member. I was very comfortable in their company and I haven’t laughed and joked in a long time as much as in their company. I felt immediately lonely again as I left for Madrid on Sunday.