Alquezar

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]   

One of the great things we love about living in Zaragoza is that it is close to so many wonderful places.  Last Sunday we did a day trip to a new area for us, the Somontano wine region.  Somontano literally means 'under the mountains' and this lovely area is in the foothills of the Pyrenees.  On this trip we weren't visiting wineries; instead we had heard good things about the medieval town Alquezar.

In the 16 months we have been in Spain we have seen a number of fabulous medieval towns so our expectations were quite low.  Well the first delight was the drive through green fields, small forests and blooming orchards.  It is times like this that we are reminded of how much of a desert landscape Zaragoza is, green is 'wow' to us.  We were also interested to find out that the pale pink blossoms were Almond trees!  I never knew how almonds grew.

The drive was only 1.5 hrs and as we approached we still could not see the town, then we came over one last rise and WOW!  Alquezar is set down on a ridge with a narrow river valley on one side with hills rising up higher.  The main feature is the Castle which is at the top of the ridge at the far end of the town.  We walked up to it and found that it was first build in 1038.  The views are open on all sides which was really appealing to us.  Another remarkable feature of this area is the large population of carrion birds.  We could see 20 huge birds sitting on a ridge and then watched them all take off into flight.  

The town is beautifully preserved and has a lovely warm feeling to it.  There are many restaurants and bars and we lucked out and had our first real bacon and eggs breakfast here in Spain!  We ended our time sitting on a terrace overlooking a grove of trees with a view back to the Castle sipping on Sangria (Anatolijus had a cerveza) and looking forward to our next visit to this lovely place.

Karen's visit, Albarracin and Teruel

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]  


On Feb 15 my sister Karen arrived in Spain to spend 2 weeks with us.  In addition to showing her around Zaragoza and having her be apart of our daily Spanish routine, we wanted to show her some of the authentic and beautiful Medieval villages that are nearby.  Karen has a real love for things medieval as she is part of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) and is very knowledgeable about this time in history as well as the Elizabethan Age.  So on her first Saturday we planned to do a day trip to Albarracin which is 1 hour and 45 mins south of us on the way to Valencia.  In some travel logs Albarracin is considered one of the most beautiful villages is Spain.  The town is set on a ridge with views down each side.  Also a river winds it's way down the Valley creating lovely green space.  We went on a spectacular sunny day and walked the ancient narrow streets exploring the different areas and enjoying the views.  It is always so hard to believe people live there now in modern day; but they do, and you see them taking out their garbage and buying bread etc..

In addition to seeing Albarracin we also planned to stop in Teruel as it is only 20 mins away.  As luck would have it, that very day was the famous Medieval celebration in Teruel   (the Wedding of Isabel Segura) where most of the towns people dress in medieval garb, have markets and demonstrate crafts of the time: like sausage making (very bloody business), falconry and open fire grilling of lots of different kinds of meat.  The town was packed with people and we saw sheep pulling carts, a band of medieval musicians marching down a street, a bull running in the Torico square while 5 men held the rope so he couldn't run into the crowd.  We drank sangria from clay goblets (only 2 euros for a refill), bought trinkets and admired the Mudejar tower and other Muslim architecture.  The sights, sounds and smells made the visit so much more authentic and interesting, and although Karen could spot many 'inauthentic' costumes and chain mail it all added to the fun.

In addition to this day trip Karen and I also visited Sos Del Rey Catolico and Castille de Loarre - on both excursions we were stopped on the road by flocks of sheep following their shepherds to another field.  I have never really seen many sheep here so it was funny that my goat farmer sister was able to attract them - she was very happy to see some animals.

It was also very special to have Auntie Karen here to celebrate Tessa's 6th birthday a few days early.  We invited our good friend Jose to join us and having the dinner table filled with 'family' was lovely for us all, especially Tessa.
The two weeks went so quickly it felt like a time warp so as quickly as she arrived she left, spending one night in Barcelona seeing Gaudi's Sagrada Familia which she saw 25 years ago when back packing through Europe.

it is now only 3.5 weeks until my parents come for their annual visit. One of the key trips with them will be to Seville for Easter, which is the premier festivity in Spain.... so stay tuned....