The common denominator today was rock, just in different forms and ages. In the morning we went to look at rock art, the world’s oldest cave paintings at over 67,000 years old. It took a bit of finding because the street it was in was a continuation of the street it was supposed to be in. It was found a little easier in the late twentieth century by workers mining for stone. The cave which [...]
This is the home of 28 palaces, not all built for royal families but also wealthy families built them as their home. There are 30 medieval towers, others, older, are a mixture of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic, and Italian Renaissance. Although the Romans were here in 25BC, there is evidence of human occupation dating back 25,000 years. It is easy to lose your way as streets go in a variety of directions over undulating hills, [...]
Our train from Merida to Caceres took us through the unique region of Extremadura. It is unique in the sense that it is farmed and grazed to benefit the land, rather than to make huge amounts of money. The land is divided into roughly 600 hectare-size privately owned landholdings (dehesas). They consist primarily of varying densities of Holm and Cork oak trees with a smattering of others, covering tens of thousands of hectares planted in [...]
Rome today. We walked across the world’s longest Roman bridge with the typical arches below while looking at a very modern one with one arch above where the pedestrians walk along through the centre. I suppose this modern pedestrian centre path is very similar to days of old where pedestrians would have walked across the centre. The arched architecture used on this bridge I believe was used by many latter Roman bridges. After a back [...]
On the roof of our hotel at sunrise, but buildings hid the golden view. It was fascinating though to see the light suddenly appear on the eastern olive groves, then on the nearby stork tower, and slowly work its way down until the tower was fully lit. Mother stork was standing well before dawn while the storkling waited until sunrise before stretching its long coral legs. In the other room there is no dawn appearance [...]
A palace in a plaza is our home for the next three nights. Like in Cadiz, we have a large roof deck which gives a different aspect to the place and we see different things. We don’t often move in 5 star circles but Corrie is a booking.com genius so how could you refuse a 50% discount. Being in the centre of the old cities is what we love best when travelling, soaking up the [...]
It often happens. When things appear to be going wrong, and it appears we can do nothing about it, a resignation comes. Then we start to make alternate plans and nothing seems to be good enough because we had relied on the initial plans working. So when the ‘four rows from the front cancellation’ came through it was a welcome shock and we were now even more excited by our night out with Vicente Amigo. [...]
We’re near to a school, so we rise at around 7.00 with the sun and the sons and daughters that arrive at school across the way. Our home is one of those three-storey terraces that grace the streets of many old cities in Europe, ours being the oldest, I need to remind you. The portico is the entrance hallway to our home and the patio is the reception area. So the new patio is on [...]
Explored a further neighbourhood today and enjoyed connecting up the different ‘barrios’ of Cadiz and relishing in its antiquity and the non-touched-up feel about the place. Just staying in our small Hostal, hardly seeing anyone, and being treated like family by the (it’s difficult to call them staff) owner and his helpers, has been exquisite. Our host is a professional soccer player, out injured at the moment, and is a goalie. He looks like a [...]
A reading day today, combined with our mandatory 5+kms walk through now familiar areas combined with some new discoveries. Being in the centre of the old part can get a bit busy at times and exploring the quieter less familiar areas like today provides time for reflection. While the older parts are what many seem to yearn for, it is the thinking around how to make them more productive that keeps them alive. I’m reflecting [...]
