Day 80 Sunday 20 May
Mist on the mountain tops so we wait a while to see what’ll happen. What happens is that a older British man from nearby wanders over to chat. We’ve met several like this and it‘s always the man, not the woman. He wants to talk. When not talking, he’s not listening, just waiting to talk again. I find out that they’ve been to Provence for 10 years, that Chelsea won the cup although Giggsy claims that his free kick etc. etc. etc. I did point out that we had just come from an area where we saw no Brits for three days and how good it was. Heather thought this a bit lacking in tact but it was like water off a duck’s back. I’m as sociable as the next man, as long as the next man is Hannibal Lecter but these people are so tediously boring.
Virtually no let up in rain today. The local village, Potes looks as if it would be very attractive if it wasn’t for all the tourist tat, so we just buy bread. Time to catch up on computer stuff, photos and blog.
Day 81 Monday 21 May
We’re aware of time running short and we still want to visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, so having visited the Picos but not seen them and with apparently little chance of the weather changing, we decide to try to find somewhere out of the clouds. We aim to get to lower ground to the east away from the Atlantic coast and spend most of the day covering the ground towards Bilbao, but inland. The Picos will have to be another trip.
We head for another protected area, also in the Wildlife Spain book, which has been absolutely invaluable in providing some sort of structure, if not direction, to our travels. It’s the Parque Natural de Valderejo, a small valley ringed with limestone cliffs/mountains.
It will leave us with only about 40 miles to drive to Bilbao.
Day 82 Tuesday 22 May
A beautiful valley almost ringed by limestone and another impressive info. Centre - with some info. Buy a map and off we go, mist then hot sun today and a very varied walk, through Beech woods, across open limestone, pine woods, along a river swollen by the rain, an abandoned village, meadows, vultures wheeling in and out of the mist and an incredibly narrow gorge past the meadow. All this in about 6 kilometres. The gorge turns at right angles so the approach looks as if there’s no way through, but of course there is even though the river is squeezed at one point to about 3 feet wide. On the return we stop at the church in the village abandoned in 1960 and are surprised to see some impressive wall paintings still surviving. An excellent last walk.
Heather has wanted to see a waterfall and near Valderejo is the highest in the Iberian Peninsular with a 300 metre drop. Having left Valderejo in hot sunshine, in the 10 mile trip we climb into thick cloud but decide to go anyway. This turns out to be the last country walk, about 2 kms to the precipice where we can hear the waterfall but no more. There’s a coach party of oldies making their way down and we exchange glum looks but most continue on, where they will see nothing.
Day 83 Wednesday 23 May
Into Bilbao on the metro to see the city but specifically to visit the Guggenheim Museum. Don’t understand why it’s called a museum though as it’s really an art gallery. The building is just as stunning as we expected. Clad with titanium panels, hardly a straight line in the place, lots of light and a cost of $100 million. What a pity about the contents. It’s a collection of crap, beautifully displayed in a magnificent building.
Bilbao itself has a feel very different from anywhere else we’ve been. It’s very lively and stylish and has an atmosphere of things happening. Difficult to put a finger on, but it’s just different. Heather says “a living city rather than a tourist one”.
Day 84 Thursday 24 May
Did our big pre getting home supermarket shop, wine, various food, wine, stuff for the journey, wine. Heather estimates 5 hours for this with me dithering over the selection but it takes us just over an hour. For the first shop ! Then H gets some clothes, then another Eroski. Back to the campsite for a rest prior to the journey back into Bilbao on the metro for the evening paseo and a special last night dinner. My 3 euro collapsible umbrella is collapsing in ways never intended but has just lasted out the time. It’s a damp paseo but a very good restaurant noted as special in our guide book, and amazingly still in existence. We’ve found that many guide book restaurants have disappeared since publication although you would think custom would increase a bit and keep them going.
Day 85 Friday 25 May
Hot sunny morning mocks us as we leave for the ferry.
Some Stats
Average drive 60 miles a day
4700 miles at 29.5 mpg
A great trip - would we go back to Spain ?
Yes - but when ?
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Asturias to the Picos
1Day 75 Into Asturias proper Tuesday 15 May
Sun again so a walk westwards along the coast which is very beautiful and empty. Lowish cliffs, golden sandy beaches and deserted. Except for one pair of walkers, a Japanese couple. Haven’t seen many Japanese but those we have were always in the usual group of 30 or 40. The coast is very like Cornwall or parts of Devon but I can’t get used to the fact that the sea is northwards, it just doesn’t feel right because it should be to the south.
Back again for lunch at the van and the Czech contingent has swelled by several outfits and another team coach. It seems that they’re on their way to Portugal and are resting for a few days. They are remarkably quiet.
Day 76 Somiedo Wednesday 16 May
As we leave this really well kept, excellent site, the family turn out to wave goodbye. So far, Asturias has been very good. We are headed for Somiedo, a protected mountainous area with Brown Bears and Wolves still around, but extremely unlikely to be seen. The approach is stunning, along a narrow gorge with rock overhangs in a number of places. The old mule track is still open in places for walking and you do wonder what these places must have been like when the only way in or out was a twenty mile long mule track. Many people must have lived their whole lives within leaving the valley. The ‘capital’ where we’re stopping is less than a hundred houses, although two blocks of flats are currently under construction.
The park info. centre has the best information we’ve seen in all our three months in Spain and fortunately we arrive at 1.45 because it shuts for the day at 2.00. We get a good cheap map, leaflets outlining a dozen walks of varying length and difficulty and someone speaking English who seems keen to impart some information with enthusiasm. The walk leaflets of course cleverly channel nearly all visitors into a few areas, leaving the really restricted bits unapproachable.
We had a leisurely lunch at about 3.30 at the Hotel to which the campsite is attached, washed down with some local cider for which Asturias is noted. It’s proper dry cider, with sediment ! The local style is that a small amount is poured from the bottle held at arms length into a glass (to get the air in) which you are then supposed to drink in one go and then repeat the process.
Day 77 The Glacial Lake Thursday 17 May
This is a walk day. Valle de Lago to Lago de Valle, a glacial lake in the mountains. Very steep climb, for the van I’m glad to say, to get to the start high up above our campsite. Only about 5 kms by road but 600 metres (about 2000 feet) higher. We’ll climb a further 300 metres in the 6 kms to the lake. Proper parking and excellent waymarking - it’s like being in a different country. One example of the waymarking is at a point where there’s a choice of routes over the last 3 kms. The signs tells you which is the shady route and which is the sunny one, which is really good service. Fantastic views, no raptors but good flowers, especially near the top where we find hundreds of Pyrennean Fritillaries, most beautiful plants.
I’d always being wary of filling water bottles from streams even in the mountains, because, as I say “there could be a dead sheep in the water just around the corner“. When we get to the lake and peek over the retaining wall, you guessed, a very dead chamois or something similar.
We’ re not far below patches of snow, the hills rise very steeply and the lake is an icy blue, covering several acres, I guess. It’s very restful and despite the channelling of visitors we only see about half a dozen other people.
Day 78 Into the real mountains Friday 18 May
Today is much more challenging on higher ground aiming for the highest peak in the area, at 2200m. Our walk starts in a village which is higher than our glacial lake from yesterday. It’s listed as 7 kilometres each way and after about 3 hours walking and my legs giving out we seem to be about two thirds of the way there and a lot lower than the top. Snow fields have been crossed and my hat has been filled with cooling snow. We’re looking at an 8 - 9 hour round trip and I decide that it would not be a good idea to still go for the top. So we give up. Heather would like to go to the top and I graciously offer to wait for her but sense prevails. The path is not as obvious high up and she would be at least 2, possibly 3 hours. I’m certain it’s longer than the claimed 7 k to the top, our trip has taken 5 hours by the time we get back to the van.
Dinner at a bar/restaurant in the village in the evening. Cider cools in the bottle standing with it’s companions in a crate in the river and the barman has to climb in to get our drinks. He has a powerful looking corkscrew fixed to the outside of the bar which pulls and cuts the cork into the proper shape to help with the intricate pouring technique I mentioned before.
The bar has a collection of old photographs and it is a miracle that there are any beard left. One, dated as recently as 1955 shows some hunters with 4 bear corpses. There are about 20 left and I bet they’re bloody nervous most of the time.
Day 79 A long journey to Los Picos Saturday 19 May
Handy low mist for our longish journey to Los Picos de Europa, a smallish mountain range, some of which has been protected since 1919 and along with Coto Donana probably the best known wildlife area in Spain. We hope it’s not been ‘oversold’ and we end up disappointed.
Travelling during mucky weather doesn’t seem such a waste of time as travelling in good weather, although we lose out on all the views as we go. Still, can’t have everything.
In the info. centre at Cangas, they have nothing on walking and we’re directed to a local newsagent to buy a map. It would be funny if it wasn’t so aggravating. It also turns out that Los Picos is partly in three different regions and in Cangas (Asturias) they only know about the Asturian section, so it‘s like three different parks. Roads are round the edge with dead ends leading in to the centre a bit and we head southwards along the western side down an amazing narrow gorge for 20 miles or so. You have to marvel at the road engineering that put it in. As we leave the gorge and the land opens out before us we’re out of the mist and cloud and in brilliant sunshine for a cuppa overlooking another huge reservoir. Plunging into the mist again as we now head eastwards towards our campsite, we find that the weather is as we expected, very patchy and different in very short distances.
The mention of a cuppa reminds me that before we came I estimated how much tea we’d need for 3 months. Bearing in mind that tea is mixed stronger in Britain for the British taste than it is in continental Europe or the USA, I didn‘t want to buy it in Spain. So we brought 340 tea bags with us and I’m pleased to report that at the present rate of usage, when we board the ferry next Friday we’ll have two left.
Day 80 Sunday 20 May
Mist on the mountain tops so we wait a while to see what’ll happen. What happens is that a older British man from nearby wanders over to chat. We’ve met several like this and it‘s always the man, not the woman. He wants to talk. When not talking, he’s not listening, just waiting to talk again. I find out that they’ve been to Provence for 10 years, that Chelsea won the cup although Giggsy claims that his free kick etc. etc. etc. I did point out that we had just come from an area where we saw no Brits for three days and how good it was. Heather thought this a bit lacking in tact but it was like water off a duck’s back. I’m as sociable as the next man, as long as the next man is Hannibal Lecter but these people are so tediously boring.
Virtually no let up in rain today. The local village, Potes looks as if it would be very attractive if it wasn’t for all the tourist tat, so we just buy bread. Time to catch up on computer stuff, photos and blog.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Escape from Galicia
Day 69 Wednesday 9 May
I mentioned chocolate y churros in yesterday’s blog and for those who don’t know I should say that churros are like 10 inch long, thick as a finger doughnuts and the chocolate is more eaten than drunk, being the consistency of melting tar. Churros are dipped, chocolate is slurped or eaten with a spoon and you need a drink afterwards. Very decadent.
We didn’t really leave until about midday after posting the blog and shopping in Carrefour. Heading northwards a fair way today with a lagoon next to an abandoned village to check out for birdlife on the way. There are lots of abandoned villages dotted across Spain as the drift to the cities continues and they always seem such sad places. I can never stand in one without thinking of all the people who lived their lives there, cared for it and died there, for it to end up a pile of rubble and desolate. Still, it was stuffed full of Lesser Kestrels.
One of the first times we’ve turned up to find our destination site closed but we’re directed to another only six miles away on the bank of a river. Looks very busy but again it’s all static caravans and there are only two of us on site.
Day 70 Thursday 10 May
Our ‘plan’ for this trip has just happened as we went along but this morning with two weeks left we have to decide what we must see and what we think is optional. It seems like ‘only’ two weeks although we’re fully aware that that’s what most people have in total and we’ve been away for 70 days so far. We decide that we must see Galicia, especially the Costa da Morte, the Picos de Europa and a limestone plateau to the east of the Picos for it’s Orchid flora. About three places in the mountains missed out on the way to the coast but we decide on a long drive to get to the Atlantic.
Lovely terraced, lightly wooded campsite above a pale gold sandy beach with views across to the coast running northwards. This is the less than romantically named Coast of Death but when you see the Atlantic breakers crashing in over rocks clearly just under the surface, you understand how it got the name.
Day 71 Friday 11 May
Rain, but we wanted to get out to do something and drove to various local towns on the coast and the famous Finisterre, which isn’t westward facing and the westerly point but south facing. It’s the end of another pilgrim walk and it seems to be the thing that after getting here you either heave your boots over the side or make a bonfire of them. On the way back we stopped at a place called Muxia, which for some reason the Virgin Mary decided to sail to from Palestine in a stone boat. No, I kid you not, and there are pieces of the stone boat in the church to prove it and which are venerated by pilgrims to this day.
I know I get very critical but it is very difficult not to see the silly side of so much, even though we are having a really good time (most of the time).
Here’s another example from the tourist office (a manned and beautifully restored stone building) in Muxia, a small seaside place. Briefly and translated into English. “Ola, do you have any leaflets or information on local walks”. “Are you pilgrims”. “No, we are tourists”. “No, I have no information”. “O, well thank you anyway but tell me does the footpath from the Church (the stone boat one) go to Finisterre “. “Yes, here is a leaflet showing the route”. My case comes up next week ! Now, apart from the case next week bit, that isn’t exaggerated in the slightest from the actual conversation.
Day 72 Saturday 12 May
We decided to drive down to a promontory with lighthouse that’s a good bird site but visibility wasn’t good. This coast was stunning and reminiscent of rugged Cornish coast. There was an area of a couple of hundred circular water tanks covered in black plastic onshore with sea water pumped through. It was a fish farm. Just away from it we decided on the stop for a cup of tea where the map shows a coast path. Amazingly a dirt track road had been built right along this cliff for about 15 miles. Just like deciding to build a road from Swanage to Lulworth right along the cliff edge.
We decided that we had to get away from this wet coast and drove up to La Coruna, a city worth seeing according to our guidebook.
Day 73 Sunday 13 May
Now, we‘ve decided to give La Coruna a miss, it being raining again, and headed out of Galicia eastwards towards Asturias ASAP. The weather hasn’t helped but we were very disappointed with what we saw of Galicia. It has lots of buildings apparently abandoned halfway through being built. It also has lots of buildings whose architects appear to have been unable to get work in Soviet Russia because their work was too ugly. To cap that lots of what we saw was just built on in a sprawling suburb kind of way. Just inland from the Costa da Morte there was hardly a 100 yards without a house (or half finished house) on it.
I’d said earlier how bad signposting directions was in Spain but that was before we‘d been to Galicia, which makes the rest of Spain seem positively reasonable. Compass, map, guide and emergency supplies recommended.
We got out of Galicia at Ribadeo and found a lovely site right on the beach where we enjoyed some late afternoon Asturian sunshine.
Day 74 Monday 14 May
Time for a walk. The coast here is rugged with cliffs that are not too high but being battered by the Atlantic. Very blue, light and dark shades with white horses everywhere and rocks being pounded. It looks great in the sun as we set out. It looks great in the rain 10 minutes later. It looks great in the sun 10 minutes after that. Very good walking and pretty level with for some reason, lots of birdlife. I finally see one of the two birds Heather has that I haven‘t, a Corn Bunting. A very pretty unmistakeable one too.
We get back around lunchtime to find the site half full of the Czech National car hill climbing team. There’s a team coach (with seats, not a person), trailers with cars, motor homes and a small marquee. God knows where they think they are if they’ve been following Galician road signs on the way here.
I mentioned chocolate y churros in yesterday’s blog and for those who don’t know I should say that churros are like 10 inch long, thick as a finger doughnuts and the chocolate is more eaten than drunk, being the consistency of melting tar. Churros are dipped, chocolate is slurped or eaten with a spoon and you need a drink afterwards. Very decadent.
We didn’t really leave until about midday after posting the blog and shopping in Carrefour. Heading northwards a fair way today with a lagoon next to an abandoned village to check out for birdlife on the way. There are lots of abandoned villages dotted across Spain as the drift to the cities continues and they always seem such sad places. I can never stand in one without thinking of all the people who lived their lives there, cared for it and died there, for it to end up a pile of rubble and desolate. Still, it was stuffed full of Lesser Kestrels.
One of the first times we’ve turned up to find our destination site closed but we’re directed to another only six miles away on the bank of a river. Looks very busy but again it’s all static caravans and there are only two of us on site.
Day 70 Thursday 10 May
Our ‘plan’ for this trip has just happened as we went along but this morning with two weeks left we have to decide what we must see and what we think is optional. It seems like ‘only’ two weeks although we’re fully aware that that’s what most people have in total and we’ve been away for 70 days so far. We decide that we must see Galicia, especially the Costa da Morte, the Picos de Europa and a limestone plateau to the east of the Picos for it’s Orchid flora. About three places in the mountains missed out on the way to the coast but we decide on a long drive to get to the Atlantic.
Lovely terraced, lightly wooded campsite above a pale gold sandy beach with views across to the coast running northwards. This is the less than romantically named Coast of Death but when you see the Atlantic breakers crashing in over rocks clearly just under the surface, you understand how it got the name.
Day 71 Friday 11 May
Rain, but we wanted to get out to do something and drove to various local towns on the coast and the famous Finisterre, which isn’t westward facing and the westerly point but south facing. It’s the end of another pilgrim walk and it seems to be the thing that after getting here you either heave your boots over the side or make a bonfire of them. On the way back we stopped at a place called Muxia, which for some reason the Virgin Mary decided to sail to from Palestine in a stone boat. No, I kid you not, and there are pieces of the stone boat in the church to prove it and which are venerated by pilgrims to this day.
I know I get very critical but it is very difficult not to see the silly side of so much, even though we are having a really good time (most of the time).
Here’s another example from the tourist office (a manned and beautifully restored stone building) in Muxia, a small seaside place. Briefly and translated into English. “Ola, do you have any leaflets or information on local walks”. “Are you pilgrims”. “No, we are tourists”. “No, I have no information”. “O, well thank you anyway but tell me does the footpath from the Church (the stone boat one) go to Finisterre “. “Yes, here is a leaflet showing the route”. My case comes up next week ! Now, apart from the case next week bit, that isn’t exaggerated in the slightest from the actual conversation.
Day 72 Saturday 12 May
We decided to drive down to a promontory with lighthouse that’s a good bird site but visibility wasn’t good. This coast was stunning and reminiscent of rugged Cornish coast. There was an area of a couple of hundred circular water tanks covered in black plastic onshore with sea water pumped through. It was a fish farm. Just away from it we decided on the stop for a cup of tea where the map shows a coast path. Amazingly a dirt track road had been built right along this cliff for about 15 miles. Just like deciding to build a road from Swanage to Lulworth right along the cliff edge.
We decided that we had to get away from this wet coast and drove up to La Coruna, a city worth seeing according to our guidebook.
Day 73 Sunday 13 May
Now, we‘ve decided to give La Coruna a miss, it being raining again, and headed out of Galicia eastwards towards Asturias ASAP. The weather hasn’t helped but we were very disappointed with what we saw of Galicia. It has lots of buildings apparently abandoned halfway through being built. It also has lots of buildings whose architects appear to have been unable to get work in Soviet Russia because their work was too ugly. To cap that lots of what we saw was just built on in a sprawling suburb kind of way. Just inland from the Costa da Morte there was hardly a 100 yards without a house (or half finished house) on it.
I’d said earlier how bad signposting directions was in Spain but that was before we‘d been to Galicia, which makes the rest of Spain seem positively reasonable. Compass, map, guide and emergency supplies recommended.
We got out of Galicia at Ribadeo and found a lovely site right on the beach where we enjoyed some late afternoon Asturian sunshine.
Day 74 Monday 14 May
Time for a walk. The coast here is rugged with cliffs that are not too high but being battered by the Atlantic. Very blue, light and dark shades with white horses everywhere and rocks being pounded. It looks great in the sun as we set out. It looks great in the rain 10 minutes later. It looks great in the sun 10 minutes after that. Very good walking and pretty level with for some reason, lots of birdlife. I finally see one of the two birds Heather has that I haven‘t, a Corn Bunting. A very pretty unmistakeable one too.
We get back around lunchtime to find the site half full of the Czech National car hill climbing team. There’s a team coach (with seats, not a person), trailers with cars, motor homes and a small marquee. God knows where they think they are if they’ve been following Galician road signs on the way here.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Day 64 Friday 4 May
We plan to end today in the Sierra de Gredos so that we can get a good walk in tomorrow. There are three valleys running NE from Plascencia, one of which, Valle de la Vera is considered particularly lovely, so that’s our first direction. The Spanish King Carlos V retired here when he’d had enough of kinging in the 16th century. We walked for a couple of hours, passing the monastery where the king ended his days, and Heather saw Golden Orioles 3 or 4 times, I didn‘t. As we were driving off and with my head in a map, H saw another one fly across the road in front of us. I gather they’re spectacular birds.
Having driven along one of the valleys we had to cross the spine of hills between us and the next or drive all the way back to Plascencia. The climb is a big one and gets almost as high as we expect to tomorrow. Even here, where the traffic can only ever be local (or a few like us) there is extensive road improvements.
Our campsite is the closest to the walk we want to do. It’s shaded by trees which is probably great in th eheat of summer but gives the whole place a greenish cast and feels a bit like being underwater.
Day 65 Saturday 5 May
Alarm clock set today ! We want to make sure that we get a reasonably early start to our walk high in the Sierra de Gredos. Above the tree line, snow on the tops and a wind from the north. The route is listed on all the boards and two leaflets we have and we get to the start at the top of the pass between Extramadura and Castilla y Leon, there isn’t the slightest hint of any waymarking at all. Somehow, we’re not really surprised. We set off up a track heading in the right direction and after about 45 mins come to a dead end with a ‘no entry’ gate. Two more rather determined walkers are behind us. As we’re scratching our heads a farmer drives down a track to a locked gate 200 yards back and directs the other walkers across a field while pointing upwards. We hot foot it back and are directed the same way. On the other side of the field a wide track leads upwards so we follow. Still no way marks of any kind.
A lot of the tracks we’ve seen look very much like footpaths or mule tracks which have just been gouged out to take a vehicle. They’re particularly ugly gashes across the landscape, especially a bare one like this but they are easy to follow. As we climb we get spectacular views of the land around with snow clearly visible higher up. The track splits and leads to dead ends but we continue to find a path up. There are just lots of tracks and although we are heading in the right direction by compass, we can’t believe we’re on the route we wanted. Just as well we hadn’t arranged a pickup at the other end 20 kms across the mountains. Eventually, mostly because there is little variety in plant or birdlife, we turn back and find the only waymark of the whole walk. It’s about 2 miles from the road.
The most interest for birds and flowers was over the first mile or so and apart from some lovely narcissus we don’t see much on higher ground.
We hoped to see some Ibex which number over 10,000 in these mountains and decide our best bet would be a herd with an albino to stand out against the mountainside. Even better a group of albinos randomly spelling out ‘Hello we’re Ibex‘, but no such luck.
Day 66 Sunday 6 May
Yesterday, after our 5 hour mountain walk we left Extramadura, which we are very impressed with and headed into Castilla y Leon
Very easy lazy day. Amble round the comatose village of Alba until we got to the church, where there were people. Bought cakes. Drove about 5 miles. Ate cakes. Drove about 15 miles to our site at the definite planned stop at Salamanca, capital of Castilla y Leon, university town for many foreign students learning Spanish and described in our guide book as ‘arguably the most attractive city in Spain’.
Day 67 Monday 7 May
Bus into Salamanca for one euro although the journey in takes a while travelling all round a local housing area to get there.
A most attractive centre ringed by a main road to take the traffic. Quite big centre with loads of warm coloured stone buildings and many pedestrian only areas. The obligatory Playa Mayor is stunning, very harmonious and looking all in the same style, consisting of a complete ring of buildings with archways to get in and out. The only drawback is that like many places we’ve been there is a market set up just selling books. That sounds great but every stall is a white metal flat roofed shed facing inwards, so walking round the outer part of the square or from the cloistered edge, all you can see to a height of about 9 feet is a line of white metal sheeting. Definitely not harmonious. We’ve arrived in the week of the Salamanca book festival so presume that these bookstalls are only temporary.
The old university buildings are open to visitors. The library was very impressive but one old lecture hall had benches made of roughly hewn logs which didn’t look as if they would aid concentration very much. Salamanca also has an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ cathedral. Relative terms of course. The old is 12th century and the new is 15th.
Today we went back to the van for the afternoon to return for the evening pasao (or stroll around). Hundreds and hundreds of people out and a jazz band set up in the Plaza Mayor to entertain the crowd. Lovely warm evening.
Day 68 Tuesday 8 May
It’s such a lovely city that we’re spending another day there. A two day city is very rare for us, we usually want to get back into the country after one.
Head in a bit later with a plan to stay until the last bus at 10.30. Yes, we do know how to live it up.
Just wandered, seeing different areas and the ones we saw yesterday, all glowing in the sun. Wonderful place.
One place we wanted to see was the Art Deco/Nouveau museum which is in the most fantastic Art Nouveau building from 1905. It has a stunning coloured glass roof, what these days they call an atrium in a smart hotel. Some very good pieces inside and beautifully displayed, lit and mirrored so you could see back and front but the best in the main gallery. The collection as a whole was let down for me somewhat by a collection of fans and dolls from the period. They were in the style but not what I like. Well worth a visit though.
Next door and not mentioned in any of the tourist information was the National Archive of the Spanish Civil War. Considering how recent and how important this was to Spain, the display was a small collection mostly of documents. Except that is for a set up of a Masonic Temple, which we gather Franco was very much against. No information in any language other than Spanish, which considering the number of foreign combatants in groups like the International Brigade, was a surprise.
We did stay, pasaoing, chocolate y churros, a drink or two, finishing off in the Plaza Mayor with the music from a Spanish band.
We plan to end today in the Sierra de Gredos so that we can get a good walk in tomorrow. There are three valleys running NE from Plascencia, one of which, Valle de la Vera is considered particularly lovely, so that’s our first direction. The Spanish King Carlos V retired here when he’d had enough of kinging in the 16th century. We walked for a couple of hours, passing the monastery where the king ended his days, and Heather saw Golden Orioles 3 or 4 times, I didn‘t. As we were driving off and with my head in a map, H saw another one fly across the road in front of us. I gather they’re spectacular birds.
Having driven along one of the valleys we had to cross the spine of hills between us and the next or drive all the way back to Plascencia. The climb is a big one and gets almost as high as we expect to tomorrow. Even here, where the traffic can only ever be local (or a few like us) there is extensive road improvements.
Our campsite is the closest to the walk we want to do. It’s shaded by trees which is probably great in th eheat of summer but gives the whole place a greenish cast and feels a bit like being underwater.
Day 65 Saturday 5 May
Alarm clock set today ! We want to make sure that we get a reasonably early start to our walk high in the Sierra de Gredos. Above the tree line, snow on the tops and a wind from the north. The route is listed on all the boards and two leaflets we have and we get to the start at the top of the pass between Extramadura and Castilla y Leon, there isn’t the slightest hint of any waymarking at all. Somehow, we’re not really surprised. We set off up a track heading in the right direction and after about 45 mins come to a dead end with a ‘no entry’ gate. Two more rather determined walkers are behind us. As we’re scratching our heads a farmer drives down a track to a locked gate 200 yards back and directs the other walkers across a field while pointing upwards. We hot foot it back and are directed the same way. On the other side of the field a wide track leads upwards so we follow. Still no way marks of any kind.
A lot of the tracks we’ve seen look very much like footpaths or mule tracks which have just been gouged out to take a vehicle. They’re particularly ugly gashes across the landscape, especially a bare one like this but they are easy to follow. As we climb we get spectacular views of the land around with snow clearly visible higher up. The track splits and leads to dead ends but we continue to find a path up. There are just lots of tracks and although we are heading in the right direction by compass, we can’t believe we’re on the route we wanted. Just as well we hadn’t arranged a pickup at the other end 20 kms across the mountains. Eventually, mostly because there is little variety in plant or birdlife, we turn back and find the only waymark of the whole walk. It’s about 2 miles from the road.
The most interest for birds and flowers was over the first mile or so and apart from some lovely narcissus we don’t see much on higher ground.
We hoped to see some Ibex which number over 10,000 in these mountains and decide our best bet would be a herd with an albino to stand out against the mountainside. Even better a group of albinos randomly spelling out ‘Hello we’re Ibex‘, but no such luck.
Day 66 Sunday 6 May
Yesterday, after our 5 hour mountain walk we left Extramadura, which we are very impressed with and headed into Castilla y Leon
Very easy lazy day. Amble round the comatose village of Alba until we got to the church, where there were people. Bought cakes. Drove about 5 miles. Ate cakes. Drove about 15 miles to our site at the definite planned stop at Salamanca, capital of Castilla y Leon, university town for many foreign students learning Spanish and described in our guide book as ‘arguably the most attractive city in Spain’.
Day 67 Monday 7 May
Bus into Salamanca for one euro although the journey in takes a while travelling all round a local housing area to get there.
A most attractive centre ringed by a main road to take the traffic. Quite big centre with loads of warm coloured stone buildings and many pedestrian only areas. The obligatory Playa Mayor is stunning, very harmonious and looking all in the same style, consisting of a complete ring of buildings with archways to get in and out. The only drawback is that like many places we’ve been there is a market set up just selling books. That sounds great but every stall is a white metal flat roofed shed facing inwards, so walking round the outer part of the square or from the cloistered edge, all you can see to a height of about 9 feet is a line of white metal sheeting. Definitely not harmonious. We’ve arrived in the week of the Salamanca book festival so presume that these bookstalls are only temporary.
The old university buildings are open to visitors. The library was very impressive but one old lecture hall had benches made of roughly hewn logs which didn’t look as if they would aid concentration very much. Salamanca also has an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ cathedral. Relative terms of course. The old is 12th century and the new is 15th.
Today we went back to the van for the afternoon to return for the evening pasao (or stroll around). Hundreds and hundreds of people out and a jazz band set up in the Plaza Mayor to entertain the crowd. Lovely warm evening.
Day 68 Tuesday 8 May
It’s such a lovely city that we’re spending another day there. A two day city is very rare for us, we usually want to get back into the country after one.
Head in a bit later with a plan to stay until the last bus at 10.30. Yes, we do know how to live it up.
Just wandered, seeing different areas and the ones we saw yesterday, all glowing in the sun. Wonderful place.
One place we wanted to see was the Art Deco/Nouveau museum which is in the most fantastic Art Nouveau building from 1905. It has a stunning coloured glass roof, what these days they call an atrium in a smart hotel. Some very good pieces inside and beautifully displayed, lit and mirrored so you could see back and front but the best in the main gallery. The collection as a whole was let down for me somewhat by a collection of fans and dolls from the period. They were in the style but not what I like. Well worth a visit though.
Next door and not mentioned in any of the tourist information was the National Archive of the Spanish Civil War. Considering how recent and how important this was to Spain, the display was a small collection mostly of documents. Except that is for a set up of a Masonic Temple, which we gather Franco was very much against. No information in any language other than Spanish, which considering the number of foreign combatants in groups like the International Brigade, was a surprise.
We did stay, pasaoing, chocolate y churros, a drink or two, finishing off in the Plaza Mayor with the music from a Spanish band.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Update until the computor ran out of battery!!
Day 58 Saturday 28 April
Most of the day in the truly magnificent old town of Caceres. As far as we could see only one touristy shop in the whole of the old town. Actually only one shop of any kind in the old town. It’s a place that does have some atmosphere and you can imagine it as a medieval place especially as there weren’t many people around, so it was possible to have a whole street (or lane) with nobody else in sight. You can just imagine the wide-boy Conquistadores flashing their money around when they got back from South America.
We continue to notice how traditional Spain is, from the rather old fashioned looking clothes that young children are dressed in to the way old ladies wear black and old men black trousers, a grey buttoned up cardigan and often a beret. Late afternoon we went to an area of lakes and countryside that was a bit like a country park and there were family groups of several generations turning up well into the evening, many walking 3 - 4 kilometres from the nearest town. Spain is also traditional for shopping with a few big names but the vast majority of shops still small, family run places. It’s good not to see the big multi-national chains everywhere.
Day 59 Sunday 29 April
This is a holiday weekend and we need bread, so on our way out west to the country we drove into a small town/large village for a panaderia. Everything looked shut and we were given directions through town to one. All the streets look similar and we finally turned a corner and came face to face with a camel. Yes, the circus was in town. The camel gave us the same unconcerned but curious stare we get regularly in small places and we had to turn around and make another attempt. Finally taken to one by the woman I asked for directions. She explained that she was going there herself and that it was the only panaderia in town open on a Sunday. All in Spanish and somehow that’s what I got from the words I recognised.
Great wide open spaces with distant views of mountains in the distance. There are generally big distances between towns without villages or hamlets between. It’s quite usual to drive 20 miles or more through empty countryside with not even a cottage along the road.
Day 60 Monday 30 April
A definite dose of serendipity today ! Before we left England I’d seen that one of the towns near where we’d be at some time in our 3 months hosted the Spanish National Cheese Festival and then couldn’t find a mention of it in the guide book. Today we’d decided to drive to Trujillo - a pearl of a town, home of Pizarro and therefore like Caceres full of Conquisador spending. Checking in the book it turns out that Trujillo is where the Cheese Festival is held, and when ? At the end of April - it’s today !
It is a lovely town, not quite so perfect as Caceres and seemingly more naturally old and charming. The cheese festival was smaller that I thought and different from expected. Free to get in a nd look but tickets had to be purchased for tastings, one ticket per sample at 50 cents a piece. Two wine stalls too, so a lot of small samples of wine with small samples of cheese.
Day 61 Tuesday 1 May
We thought that yesterday was the public holiday of Labour Day, but no. Spain had the weekend, Monday was a normal workday and then 1 May, a Tuesday, was the public holiday. We drive northwards to Plascencia without a panaderia in sight. We’re on our way to the Monfrague Parque Nacional, somewhere that has had a lot of money spent on it and is a prime wildlife area.
Just as our geographical boundaries have expanded, our psychological ones have reduced. Focus is much more on today, rather than next week or month or what’s happening in the garden or with property. That’s probably why I said so much about the weather. The important items on a daily basis tend to be things like have we got fresh bread, water, is the washing dry. It’s very relaxing to have such short horizons because all problems are easily solved and a permanent travelling state could be quite seductive.
Day 62 Wednesday 2 May
Half the morning taken up with shopping and (narrow horizons indeed) we were really pleased to find a large Carrefour to go to.
Venture into Monfrague, which has a mountainous spine with lots of wooded areas and the River Tajo flowing through it. Huge interpretation centre. Info. Centre with four staff and no leaflets, water interpretation centre with large audio visual area and a Park interpretation centre. All custom built. Various trails from here with a leaflet. Like all the other places we’ve been, something about the mammals, reptiles and birds but nothing about the flora.
Went for a walk in the pouring rain rather than do nothing and the landscape looked very good even then. It stopped just as we finished and we disappeared off to a huge rock face for the vultures and various birds. Long conversation with a French birder who knew no English at all bugt who told us where to find a Spanish Imperial Eagle nest.
In the evening we had a huge thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail. We had to turn The Rolling Stones up to hear them sing ‘And the Rains Came Down‘ which really is on the latest album.
Day 63 Thursday 3 May
We’ve heard that Accionia have cancelled our return ferry and we have to try to book with P and O. We do but it’s about £200 more than Acciona. Considering that they cancelled the outward leg and our rebook with P and O was about £200 more, we are distinctly unimpressed with Acciona Ferries.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle (v v rare) was exactly where we were told and amazingly nesting only about 20 feet up a tree.
The landscape around here is really stunning especially with clear air and the distant views. The Sierra de Gredos to the north has snow on the tops and there are mountains in the distance all around. From the Castle of Monfrague on the top of one of the highest points, you can see that’s it’s empty with hardly a town to be seen.
Most of the day in the truly magnificent old town of Caceres. As far as we could see only one touristy shop in the whole of the old town. Actually only one shop of any kind in the old town. It’s a place that does have some atmosphere and you can imagine it as a medieval place especially as there weren’t many people around, so it was possible to have a whole street (or lane) with nobody else in sight. You can just imagine the wide-boy Conquistadores flashing their money around when they got back from South America.
We continue to notice how traditional Spain is, from the rather old fashioned looking clothes that young children are dressed in to the way old ladies wear black and old men black trousers, a grey buttoned up cardigan and often a beret. Late afternoon we went to an area of lakes and countryside that was a bit like a country park and there were family groups of several generations turning up well into the evening, many walking 3 - 4 kilometres from the nearest town. Spain is also traditional for shopping with a few big names but the vast majority of shops still small, family run places. It’s good not to see the big multi-national chains everywhere.
Day 59 Sunday 29 April
This is a holiday weekend and we need bread, so on our way out west to the country we drove into a small town/large village for a panaderia. Everything looked shut and we were given directions through town to one. All the streets look similar and we finally turned a corner and came face to face with a camel. Yes, the circus was in town. The camel gave us the same unconcerned but curious stare we get regularly in small places and we had to turn around and make another attempt. Finally taken to one by the woman I asked for directions. She explained that she was going there herself and that it was the only panaderia in town open on a Sunday. All in Spanish and somehow that’s what I got from the words I recognised.
Great wide open spaces with distant views of mountains in the distance. There are generally big distances between towns without villages or hamlets between. It’s quite usual to drive 20 miles or more through empty countryside with not even a cottage along the road.
Day 60 Monday 30 April
A definite dose of serendipity today ! Before we left England I’d seen that one of the towns near where we’d be at some time in our 3 months hosted the Spanish National Cheese Festival and then couldn’t find a mention of it in the guide book. Today we’d decided to drive to Trujillo - a pearl of a town, home of Pizarro and therefore like Caceres full of Conquisador spending. Checking in the book it turns out that Trujillo is where the Cheese Festival is held, and when ? At the end of April - it’s today !
It is a lovely town, not quite so perfect as Caceres and seemingly more naturally old and charming. The cheese festival was smaller that I thought and different from expected. Free to get in a nd look but tickets had to be purchased for tastings, one ticket per sample at 50 cents a piece. Two wine stalls too, so a lot of small samples of wine with small samples of cheese.
Day 61 Tuesday 1 May
We thought that yesterday was the public holiday of Labour Day, but no. Spain had the weekend, Monday was a normal workday and then 1 May, a Tuesday, was the public holiday. We drive northwards to Plascencia without a panaderia in sight. We’re on our way to the Monfrague Parque Nacional, somewhere that has had a lot of money spent on it and is a prime wildlife area.
Just as our geographical boundaries have expanded, our psychological ones have reduced. Focus is much more on today, rather than next week or month or what’s happening in the garden or with property. That’s probably why I said so much about the weather. The important items on a daily basis tend to be things like have we got fresh bread, water, is the washing dry. It’s very relaxing to have such short horizons because all problems are easily solved and a permanent travelling state could be quite seductive.
Day 62 Wednesday 2 May
Half the morning taken up with shopping and (narrow horizons indeed) we were really pleased to find a large Carrefour to go to.
Venture into Monfrague, which has a mountainous spine with lots of wooded areas and the River Tajo flowing through it. Huge interpretation centre. Info. Centre with four staff and no leaflets, water interpretation centre with large audio visual area and a Park interpretation centre. All custom built. Various trails from here with a leaflet. Like all the other places we’ve been, something about the mammals, reptiles and birds but nothing about the flora.
Went for a walk in the pouring rain rather than do nothing and the landscape looked very good even then. It stopped just as we finished and we disappeared off to a huge rock face for the vultures and various birds. Long conversation with a French birder who knew no English at all bugt who told us where to find a Spanish Imperial Eagle nest.
In the evening we had a huge thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail. We had to turn The Rolling Stones up to hear them sing ‘And the Rains Came Down‘ which really is on the latest album.
Day 63 Thursday 3 May
We’ve heard that Accionia have cancelled our return ferry and we have to try to book with P and O. We do but it’s about £200 more than Acciona. Considering that they cancelled the outward leg and our rebook with P and O was about £200 more, we are distinctly unimpressed with Acciona Ferries.
The Spanish Imperial Eagle (v v rare) was exactly where we were told and amazingly nesting only about 20 feet up a tree.
The landscape around here is really stunning especially with clear air and the distant views. The Sierra de Gredos to the north has snow on the tops and there are mountains in the distance all around. From the Castle of Monfrague on the top of one of the highest points, you can see that’s it’s empty with hardly a town to be seen.
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