Sat 21st May: Toledo

Toledo is less than 30 miles from Aranjuez, and we drove there on Saturday afternoon to avoid the thrash metal concert warmup.

Toledo is an atmospheric old city on a rocky headland, surrounded on three sides by the river Tagus. It was founded by the Romans and occupied by the Moors from 711 to 1012 when it was retaken by the Christians. The first photo shows the Moorish fortress, the Alcazar, which has been much modified in the last 1,000 years. Looks a bit Disney now. We entered the city over the 13thC bridge- the next photo- and climbed up to the city through the Alcazar gardens.

The first few souvenir shops you come to reveal Toledo’s industrial past. It was the Sheffield of Spain, a high-grade steel producer specialising in knives and swords. So the tourist shops are full of hunting knives and reproduction swords, at prices indicating Far Eastern manufacture, and grotesque metal Don Quixotes with the appearance of recycled teaspoons. We passed numerous such shops during the afternoon, so somebody must buy them. See an example of a display window below.

More authentic examples of Toledo metalwork were the embossed metal plaques and plates, also on sale everywhere. The next photo is of a craftsman etching a delicate pattern onto an ornamental disc with a punch. Thousands of perfectly controlled impacts. Let’s hope his watch is shockproof.

The cathedral exterior is large and ornate, and is awarded 3 stars in the Michelin Guide to Spain. This is the Michelin top mark, and even more of an accolade because Michelin seem particularly stingey in awarding merit stars for any attractions outside of France. In France, good toilets get 3 ***.

We entered the cathedral by a side entrance to find we were in a small roped-off area that allowed us to see some of the interior. A notice informed us that we could visit the whole cathedral on payment of 7 euros per person. The part visible to us didn’t look that exciting, very bare and austere, so we thought 7 euros poor value and left. By comparison, all the beautiful churches of Italy, including St Peters in Rome, are free entry.

So this is us later on, in the courtyard of another religious building, the El Transito Synagogue. I had to agree with Jane’s comment that the white stands supporting the sculptures on either side of us looked like refurbished old fridges. The synagogue itself was interesting, with one huge wall completely decorated in fine Moorish symbols, Mundejar decoration as it’s called. I’m not sure how Moorish, i.e. Muslim, depictions end up in a Jewish Synagogue. Maybe they got it in Mundejar clearance week, or swapped a spare set of 10 Commandment tablets for it?
There was also a museum of Jewish history, culture and religious customs that was very well presented. We would have been happy to pay the 3 euros printed on the board outside, but as our entrance was after 4 pm, there was no charge. Toledo cathedral management, please take note.

We walked back to the car on a lovely footpath running alongside the river, and sometimes high above it, being cut into the cliff face at these points. Then back to Aranjuez to face the music, quite literally, after a most enjoyable afternoon out.

Aranjuez: Wed 17th to Sun 22nd May

The Concierto de Aranjuez is a beautiful and haunting classical guitar piece by the composer Rodrigo. John Williams plays it superbly. Many people may wonder- is Aranjuez a person, or place, or a Spanish word for something? It is of course a town, with magnificent royal buildings that this dramatic concerto seeks to encapsulate. Above and below are examples of these edifices.

We are on a campsite at the edge of Aranjuez, next to the lovely winding river Tajo. It all sounds idyllic: all we need are the strains of that very concerto floating over us on the gentle breeze. But no, it is not to be. As I am writing this, at midnight, in the caravan, on Saturday 21st May, we are totally engulfed by the sounds of a thrash metal rock concert close to the campsite. The gig’s star is Angelus Apatrida and his band is bigtime in Spain.
It’s now 8.00 am, Sunday. The concert has continued ALL night at FULL VOLUME and we haven’t slept a wink. Neither has most of the campsite. I know this is Spain where noise is endemic, but surely we should have had some warning, preferably at booking-in time when folks can decide if they want to suffer a sleepless night or proceed to a quieter venue.
Let’s finish on a more serene note, a fountain from the Royal Palace gardens. The palace in Aranjuez was used by the monarchy as a spring residence. It was embellished over the years to increasing levels of opulence. We took a guided tour and were duly amazed at the fine furniture, décor and examples of clothing worn. Photos forbidden, unfortunately. Despite the huge inequality of wealth in those days, the provision of all these items and the upkeep of the palace would have involved and benefited a vast number of artisans who, in turn, would have spend their earnings for other’s benefit. So some crumb of comfort for the plebs.

Final Week’s Miscellaneous: May 10th to 17th

We went to see Jane’s sister Ruth at Moraira for the day on Friday, a round trip of 300 miles. Motorway practically all the way, so it was quite manageable. The picture above, featuring Ruth and Jane, is of Ruth’s villa, which has a pretty garden. On being shown round the garden, you realise how different gardening is in Spain compared to England. No lawns, for instance, usually gravel with specimen shrubs and cacti all of which need to be carefully handled to avoid being speared by their fearsome spikes. Health and Safety would require gardeners to wear a chain-mail suit back in England! Lemon and orange trees abound, also a soft fruit rarely found in the UK called nisperos, apricot size and colour, that are juicy and sweet.
We walked along the picturesque coast to Moraira in the afternoon for an icecream. and then home a bit later, arriving just before dark which was just as well as the car lights are apt to cut out unpredictably. A most enjoyable day.

Time for a final walk up the rambla. This is a large dry riverbed running alongside the campsite and continuing inland through a designated Natural Park for about 4 miles. It is a beautiful walk and a haven for wildlife as well as serving as a dirt road. It’s so easy to overlook these gems right on your doorstep, just like you do at home. Next photo is from a few miles further on.


On Wed 17th we leave for Aranjuez, 30 miles south of Madrid.

12th May: Too Close for Comfort.

Yesterday evening an earthquake struck Lorca, which is less than 30 miles from the campsite here. This extract from a news report gives the details.

5.1 quake kills 10, topples buildings in Spain
By Jorge Guerrero (AFP) – 3 hours ago

LORCA, Spain — A magnitude 5.1 quake killed at least 10 people in southern Spain on Wednesday, sending buildings crashing down as panicked residents fled for their lives.

Ten people perished in the deadliest tremor in Spain in more than five decades, officials said.

The quake collapsed fronts of buildings in the southeastern town of Lorca and ripped huge gaps into walls, which slumped into the streets.
Witnesses reported many injuries.

A church clocktower smashed to the ground and narrowly missed one television reporter as he conducted an interview in the town on Spanish public broadcaster TVE. A bronze bell lay in the rubble.

Television images showed shaken families and children gathering in squares and playgrounds in the town, some weeping and hugging as they sought safety. Masonry and rubble blanketed streets. A corpse lay in the street covered in a rescue blanket.

A line of parked cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble, photos published in the online edition of El Mundo showed.

The tremor struck at 6:47 pm (1647 GMT) with a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) and could be felt as far away as the capital Madrid. It hit nearly two hours after a smaller 4.4-magnitude quake.

The strange thing is that we felt nothing at all. At 6.47pm we were in some friends’ caravan drinking tea. It was windy and caravans always move a bit in the wind so maybe that’s why we didn’t notice any tremor. The friends whose caravan we were in at the time have pals who were in a static caravan close to Lorca. Their caravan rocked from side to side and all the pictures fell off the wall, but they themselves weren’t hurt.

It’s a sobering thought when such a disaster happens so close at hand as to how randomly and unexpectedly these events occur, and to be very grateful that the finger of fate wasn’t pointing at YOU this time.

Another Blog, at Last!

We left El Rocio on 10th April for Los Madriles, in the province of Murcia, where we have stayed for the last 4 years at around this time of the year. We broke the 400 mile journey with an overnight stop at Granada, and arrived at Los Madriles in the early afternoon of the following day. Setting up was delayed by bumping into numerous friends from previous visits, but eventually we were installed on a pitch with a nice sea view. Now it's April and there are plenty of pitches free as the over-winterers leave by the end of March before which time the site is totally full.

We arrived on a Monday and were booked into the Tuesday walk. We’ve done most of them before, but are all worth doing again, and the photo above from this first walk shows just how picturesque this area is.

Also a nice example of local scenery: the beach framed by the background mountains and featuring the shorewalkers, our companions from a birthday lunch, heartily enjoyed and celebrated- see below!

Last week a new walk was proposed, in the Espuna National Park- so I’m not repeating previous years’ blogs. Firstly it’s all up and up, but following a good waymarked trail through pines, scrub and rocks of which the photo is a good example.

But as we plodded upwards on the long ascent the crocodile of walkers became more and more spread out as some of the walkers tired. And it was hot. However, the walk leaders are quite fit and not wanting to slow down because we may be late for lunch. “Walk, don’t talk,” was the message passed back. Some disgruntled muttering about this. Walking, for most of us, is a social activity and chatting to other trekkers is part of it. Also, pausing to admire the scenery, maybe take a photo, or look at the flora & fauna. A comfort stop. A brief rest.

Anyway, we did eventually reach the crest, and the view was superb. (I took the photo while walking- didn’t slacken my pace, honest.) From here on it was downhill, so no fatigue issues, but a cracking pace was still being set in the “walk, don’t talk” style. It was nevertheless a lovely walk and perhaps illustrates the difficulty of coordinating a group of individuals with differing objectives and physical constraints.

After lunch we visited this dramatic gorge that ran for several hundred metres and was invisible on the approaches. You can judge the scale by Jane’s figure in the bottom left hand corner. The colours and shapes of the rocks were particularly outstanding due to algae and limestone accumulations.