Tag Archives: stork

Spain and Portugal 2024

Italica, Carmona and Cordoba

Holiday endings are always a bit sad (take a listen to End of a Holiday by Fairport Convention) but we consoled ourselves with the knowledge that everyone had a good time and the promise that we’d do it all over again next year.  So, farewells said, the family headed off to their flights and we retraced our route along the Algarve coastline back into Spain and made our way towards the site of the Roman city of Italica.  Keeping off the motorway as much as possible we again noticed the profusion of stork nests that adorn the tops of many electricity pylons along the way.  It seems that there’s an active waiting list for any high platform within reasonable flying distance of a stream, river or lake – suitable for families only, of course.Stork nests on pylons

Italica was the first Roman city founded on the Iberian Peninsula in 206 BC.  Unfortunately most early traces of the settlement are well and truly buried beneath the modern day town of Santiponce, so the remains that are accessible (without upsetting the town’s residents by demolishing their homes) are from the time of Hadrian (117-138 BC). 

Italica Amphitheatre
Those Romans certainly knew how to build places that last

That said, what’s on show, consisting mainly of remains of large public buildings, is pretty impressive.  The pièce de résistance, (or caratteristica più importante o impressionante as they would probably never have said in roman) is the moderately well-preserved amphitheatre which, with a modicum of CGI assistance, starred as ‘The Well of Dragons’ in Game of Thrones.  Fortunately there were no dragons on duty at the site during our visit, which provided a convenient stopping point on our journey around Seville towards Carmona.

Italica Amphitheatre
Just look what those naughty dragons have done to the place!

We chose Carmona for our two-day stay prior to flying home because it’s more or less equidistant between Seville and Cordoba, plus we wanted to stay in the lovely parador that sits at the top of the town, overlooking the plain to the east.  Once we’d navigated our hire car through the narrow lanes leading up to the parador, the hotel didn’t disappoint.  History, comfort and elegance all rolled up into one.  We took a couple of evening strolls down through the town, enjoying the warmth and ambience, and the walk back up the hill to the parador wasn’t too bad once I’d been given beer and oxygen ……….Parador de CarmonaCordoba had been on Denise’s wish list for some time – and for good reason as its a jewel in the Andalusian crown.  The ‘must see’ bit at the top of our itinerary (and, as it turned out, on everybody else’s) was the Mezquita or Mosque-Cathedral, which would be worth a blog all of its own  – but you’ll have to make do with a few photos and, if you want to know more, a link to Wikipedia.

 

Spain 2023

Trujillo and the heart of Spain

We’d originally planned to stay in Caceres for four nights but the presence of the film crew in the old city rather ruined it for us.  We still loved the age and character of the place, but being a little frustrated at not being able to ramble at will we decided to move after two and when Thursday morning dawned we headed the 40 or so miles east to Trujillo.

Trujillo is yet another place that we remember visiting in the course of our travels in 2003, but yet again when we arrived we struggled to remember anything about it.  Perhaps we were like American tourists (if there are any Americans who chance upon this blog I apologise for casting you all in the same dim light) and did all our sightseeing at high speed from a moving vehicle (“if this is Thursday we must be in Trujillo”) or more likely senility has now taken a firm hold.
View of TrujilloAnyway, arriving in this lovely and ancient town we looked forward to getting stuck into some serious rambling, only to find …………. yes, the place was also full of film crew, fully intent on recreating a mythical world for the entertainment of all those who believe that dragons are real and can’t be bothered to get off their arses to visit the real world.  Fortunately, the layout of Trujillo is such that despite some restrictions we could still get to see many of the beautiful buildings and take in some magnificent views of the city and surrounding countryside.

Film crew filling the main square at Trujillo – HBO making a takeover bid for Central Spain

Leaving Trujillo we continued heading east across more lovely scenery, rising at times to a couple of thousand feet before dropping down to vast and largely empty plains (except for several billion olive trees) interrupted by the occasional village or small town.  At one point we stopped to admire the view at a mountain pass to be told by a Dutch couple that they’d seen vultures and a ‘black ostrich’.  I thought of alerting the Spanish Zoological Society to this rare sighting before  rumbling that something might perhaps have been lost in translation – for ostrich read stork! 

We spent the night at a camperstop at Aldeanueva de Barbarroya – only two spaces but a nice bar in staggering distance.  Perfect.

Spain & Portugal 19

Caminos and Storks

From León our route criss-crossed several of the Caminos de Santiago which are marked by signs in the shape of a scallop shell and by large numbers of pilgrims making their way westward along roads and paths, some of which pass through the centre of towns (including León) and along busy roads.  No doubt the journey brings peace and solace to those who complete the pilgrimage, but finding time for reflection must be a challenge when you have cars and trucks thundering past at high speed.
We stopped to stretch our legs at Hospital de Orbigo which is reputedly the oldest bridge in Spain.  As it’s on one of the Caminos we tagged along behind some groups of pilgrims deluding ourselves that our half-mile stroll had some connection with the somewhat longer pilgrimages being made by those around us.
This part of Spain is home to large numbers of Storks who have a habit of building their nests in the most inaccessible but obvious of places.  Presumably at the end of every season the locals have to get out their ladders and shin up to remove the remains of the enormous structures – if one fell on your head you’d know about it!