We wake up in our ‘spoiling us hotel’ to find that it was not us after all but the large hotel we were in that was ‘being spoilt’ ie a water pipe had burst and you could imagine. So we all had to move to the other side of our ‘SUH’ and we’re being ‘spoilt’ more with an ensuite and you could fit 4 Camino beds into our 1. All is very good We explored [...]

Left our Palace for Flamenco territory and the place of evening walks with friends with much tapas. Left our funny music teacher friend behind at the hotel then a fascinating bus trip to the station, I’ll keep it short. We caught the bus towards the station asking the driver to drop us there. Corrie sat, then gave her seat to the wild looking partner of the young woman opposite so they could be together. I [...]

I set my alarm for 6.30 am to watch the slow reddening of the sky as the sun once again plays with our visual senses. This morning a few whispery clouds excited even more of our senses as it then slid between steeple and dome, the storks flapping their wings and soaring high s though showing their delight of yet another stupendous performance. Hundreds of different birds, mostly tiny ones do their falling, flapping and [...]

I’m sending another sunrise because I think it’s a bit different and it’s from our balcony so I didn’t have to go far. The domed building where the stork is flying from (by the way all the little ones are now nearly big ones) is the only palace in Caceres with a top on. The reason for this is that Isabel of Castile in her fight for the crown destroyed the domes of those who [...]

In a good routine of writing and discussing writing and doing emails before breakfast in our Royal room; breakfast in the Palace; a walk around or outside town through older and newer, rich and poorer places, or into the dry countryside; back for lunch with the Princess; more writing, discussing and emails; Princess goes shopping; dinner amongst the commoners; back to the Palace for debrief prior to Prince William and Princess Carolina retiring to the [...]

A gentle stroll around our new (but really old) ‘city within the medieval walls’ was captivating. More tourists than Bardajos, but still mostly local, and hardly noticeable, did tend to transport us back to medieval times. A few churches, some tall towers, a palace that looked like a tower totally ‘green with Ivy’ (close), stone homes, the ‘everywhere lanterns’, plazas of all designs and tall narrow streets. A stunning young Flamenco guitarist added that mesmerising [...]

A quick walk to say goodbye to St Juan of the Bardojos festival and we thought, the Light festival, that’s another story 12 locals accompanied us on the bus to the medieval city of Cascares as we looked out on fields of Sunflowers, various crops, olive trees, grape vines, forests of Gum trees, and what seems to be native to Spain, shapely trees with a round top and black trunk dotting the rest of the [...]

The festival continues today with a parade and feast in the old Arabic fort, not so much Flamenco today, a bit more sombre and reflection on this Spanish saint. Another festival continues in great spirits however as we continue to empathise with my old school colleague and his wife under the Festival of Lights: I have a thing with light switches too It’s one thing I dread when I get a new room Even harder [...]

We were happy to have only seven people on our very smart bus to Badazos as we travelled through flat wine growing areas and undulation parts dotted with these beautiful trimmed like trees and  grey olive groves We do like people but after daily festivals and concerts, the lack of others was welcome. The amount of people on the bus indicate there’s not a lot of attractions for the multitudes in this town of locals. [...]

Another stroll down now familiar streets knowing there will be a little ‘saudade’ for us when we have left tomorrow for other familiar territory in Spain. I am having trouble contacting our Portuguese friends from the Camino so hope they read this. My goal in Portugal was to complete a set of forty sonnets (which I have done) as part of this little book I intend to publish when I get home. In Spain I’ll [...]