A Quiet Sunday - Sheep and Shotguns at Dawn

Since returning from our trip around the mountains of southern Aragón we have been enjoying the last of the beautiful warm autumn weather here at Monte Pego.  We live in a cul-de-sac on the far side of the development and, with all our immediate neighbours away, it has been incredibly quiet here.  On a Sunday morning the sun comes up over the mountain in almost complete silence.  Until, that is, a small band of hunters start blasting away with their shotguns at anything that moves - as well as quite a few inanimate objects.  At times they are only 100 metres or so from the house and while it was a bit unnerving at first we have grown used to it and we amuse ourselves by cheering on the local rabbits as they bid to escape the hunters and their dogs.

This Sunday morning, unusually, the hunting was disrupted  by the sudden reappearance, after months of absence, of the local herd of goats and sheep.  Many of those of you who have visited us here over the last 4-5 years will remember them fondly.  We have wiled away many a half hour watching their antics as the flock makes its way across the hillside below us - young billy goats getting lost and rescued by the sheepdog while sheep graze fearlessly on seemingly vertical cliff faces. 

The small line of dots are sheep - we must get a zoom lens...

The hunters were not amused.  It is fair to say that the unexpected appearance of a couple of hundred sheep and goats with bells ringing somewhat cramped their style and we imagined the rabbits all legging it while shooting was suspended so that the herd could pass.  By 9.30 the hunters had trudged off and the last of the sheep had disappeared over the hill.  The excitement was over and silence settled once again over the valley.

On the Trail of El Cid

Leaving the wine-drinkers to finish their breakfast in the hotel we left Teruel and headed further north.  For those of you fed up with hearing how great the weather is in Spain, the previous day was grey and raining and only 3 degrees at lunchtime.  Thursday dawned a bit brighter but as we climbed up into the Maestrazgo mountains of southern Aragón through a series of high mountain passes to an altitude of 1,700 metres, the temperature dropped below zero and we saw snow for the first time in Spain. 

The mini at 1700 metres with a light dusting of snow at the pass

The views in these remote mountains are jaw-dropping and there are two ski resorts in the area as well as a variety of old villages with names such as Cantavieja, La Iglesuela del Cid and Ares del Maestre.  The names of the villages recall the history of the christian reconquest from the 11th to 13th century when most were founded.  El Cid was the spanish nobleman played by Charlton Heston in the classic film of the same name who ran Valencia for a while until the Moors regained control in 1099.  His legendary heroics paved the way for the later reconquest by the King Jaume of Aragón and Catalunya who, having driven the Moors further south, used these mountains as a kind of buffer zone.  The reconquest was a war and recolonisation effort by the spanish that took more than 700 years to complete and the fortified nature of the towns reflects the almost endless war-footing that these places would have been on.  In order to maintain control the spanish handed operational control of the mountains to the christian military order, the Knights Templar after whose Grand Masters, the Maestrazgo area is named.



King Jaume I

After a beautiful day's driving with the hood down despite the cold we headed for Morella which, like our previous stop Ares, is a fortfied town perched on a hill with incredible views and lovely restored buildings in narrow medieval streets. 

Ares del Maestre

All the towns in the area seem to have something different to offer and Morella was certainly a friendly place with the owner of the restaurant we ate in telling us about the time he went to Brussels aged 13 to watch Valencia beat Arsenal in a European final.  We ended the evening wandering back to a bar we had visited earlier for a glass of wine until the locals started watching a film in serbo-croat with spanish subtitles and we decided that it was time to turn in.

Teruel Exists!



Last tuesday we left for a four day road trip heading north-west into Aragón.  In a 2.5 hour drive we left behind the warm sunshine of Denia and climbed 1000 metres to the cold of Mora de Rubielos and its near neighbour Rubielos de Mora in Teruel province.  It is amazing how confused two supposedly intelligent people can become as a result of such similar names - asking each other questions such as: which one has the castle? which one are we staying in? and even, which one are we in now? 

Having learned to distinguish the twins, Rubielos turned out to be our favourite - a beautifully preserved medieval village with a great hotel called Los Leones in a restored palace in the centre run by the very friendly Manolo.

The sun sets on Rubielos de Mora (or is it Mora de Rubielos?)

On Wednesday we moved on to the capital of the provence, Teruel, where a little while ago the local government came up with the slogan "Teruel Existe" to remind people that it actually exists.  This was deemed necessary because nobody ever went there and we can now confirm that it does in fact exist.  Only just, however, as there wasn't a whole lot happening from a social perspective!  To be fair though, there was quite a bit to see including the mausoleum of lovers (recalling a supposedly real-life 14th century Romeo & Juliet story) and some very impressive Mudéjar architecture (referring to the muslim designed style built after the christian reconquest of the area).



The Mudejar Torre de San Martín

Another highlight is nearby Albarracín, an even more well preserved, almost surreal medieval village built into the mountain side.  The place is like a film set and has apparently benefitted from a private foundation which has helped to conserve the buildings and ensure that restoration is carried out sensitively - a pattern we were surprised and pleased to see repeated to a greater or lesser extent in the various villages we visited in Aragón.

Albarracín

The whole area is well worth a visit and we really enjoyed it, especially the rather surreal ending in the breakfast room when we realised we seemed to be the only guests not tucking into red wine at 930am!  

Friends

We have just treated ourselves to a restful day in the sun at home, walking on the beach and reading on the balcony, recovering after a brief, hectic and emotional return to England. 

The main motivation for the trip was to attend the memorial service near Coventry for our friend Rob who died suddenly a couple of weeks ago but we managed to fit in a few more visits while there.  Having arrived on a cold and wet thursday afternoon I made it to Charlton to see my sister Silo before we spent the evening with my oldest friend Lee in Croydon.  Having stayed the night in my home town for the first time in nearly 15 years we travelled to Coventry where we stayed overnight before heading back to London for Sally's 40th birthday on saturday.  We were back at Gatwick by 1030 on the sunday morning! 

The church in Bubbenhall near Coventry was packed on friday afternoon for the service to celebrate Rob's life and there were some superb and fitting tributes to him and much laughter as well as tears.  I'm glad we made it back to support Kate along with a number of our old friends from Warwick University.  We don't see each other as much as we would like but these events have of course made us all appreciate even more the value of friendship and time spent together.

Spain - on the road again

At some point during 2009 while over here we latched on to a TV series imported from the US called "Spain - on the road again" about an american chef and his journalist mate who travelled round Spain in a convertible sampling the best food that they could find in the company of a stunning model from Barcelona and Gwynneth Paltrow.  The series gave us the inspiration to explore the country while we are living here and we are planning a few road trips of our own to fit between the international travelling.

First up, as a taster, was a day trip to Sagunto just north of Valencia which has an ancient hill-top castle, a restored roman theatre and a fascinating old Jewish quarter (no sign of the jews of course as they went out with the Spanish Inquisition a few centuries ago). 

Sagunto's castle and roman theatre

Sagunto's history and the remnants of its temple to the Greek goddess Diana go back to well before the siege by Hanibal in 218 BC which triggered his war with Rome.  The subsequent Roman era was followed by control by various islamic Moorish groups prior to the Christian reconquest in the 13th century AD.  The influences of the greeks, phoencians, carthaginians, romans, moors, christians blended with the original iberian tribes have blended to form the culture and language that we know today.

Our road trips won't be featuring famous film stars but as you can see above we have our share of glamour! We are looking forward over the next few months to getting around some of the major cities and exploring the back roads of this fascinating country that we have come to love.

Heading for the Hills

Having got back to an emotional reception at the airport after five weeks away from Suzanne (actually the reception was slightly delayed as a result of her being stopped by the ever vigilant Guardia Civil) it has been back to Spain for me and the opportunity to explore the area further.  We have been out in the mountains with the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers - a group of mostly retired Brits who love nothing better than yomping around the countryside usually followed by a few beers (at astoundingly cheap prices because as well as meticulously researching the waking trails, they have also found all the cheapest bars in the region).

The best walk so far has been the route around the Castell de Castells area which starts at over 500 metres above see level and reaches nearly 1100 at the highest point.  The truly panoramic views are astounding such that the pictures can't really do it justice, but here are a couple just the same.

As a contrast to these well organised walks, today I led the intrepid Suzanne on an attempt to find the track which the herd of sheep and goats take going past our house.  As those of you who have been here know it is pretty overgrown and consequently the wife is now sporting more than a few scratches!  She looked a bit unimpressed at times as we hacked through the undergrowth, which is worse than I experienced in Cameroon, but we made it back in time for a hard-earned and (if I say so myself) beautifully cooked omelette.

The Scots Invade!

We travelled 90km north to the normally refined city of Valencia to find that it had been put under siege by an invading army of scotsmen, here (like us) to watch Rangers - Glasgow's bastion of unionism and protestantism - take on Valencia in the Champions League.  They gathered in the morning in the Plaza de la Reina at a place known as Finnegan's Bar, hung up their union jacks and sang "God Save the Queen" and "No Surrender to the IRA" at regular intervals, while consuming a month's worth of beer in the sunshine.  What they said about the Pope in their thick Glaswegian accents was difficult to comprehend, but in any event is probably best not repeated.

We lost them for a while as we went for a civilised lunch in the old town and strolled through the royal gardens but some of them had even made it up to the top of the cathedral bell tower where we watched the sun set.  Fortunately I do not have photgraphic evidence of the blue-clad horde but am pleased to say that their attempted take-over was short-lived and they departed with their team having taken a good 3-0 hiding from our local favourites.  So we left Mestalla stadium happy but with me under strict instructions not to make any wisecracks at the visitors, which I just about resisted!