Tag: churches

The Devil and the detail

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I have visited some very strangely named places in my time, but The Devil’s Beeftub, near Moffat is very unusual.  It is a depression in the hills, where four peaks join and is so called as the Johnstone clan, referred to as, ‘Devils’ by their neighbours, used to hide stolen cattle here.

It is a very beautiful walk, and it was lovely to be out on a wintery March day with such beautiful views.

A couple of days later I visited two places that have been on my wishlist for a while.  The Great Polish Map of Scotland is in the grounds of a hotel between Moffat and Edinburgh. This photo is from the hotel website.

It was created from granite as a tourist attraction by a Polish war veteran, Jan Tomasik,  who married his wartime nurse, and settled in Scotland.  He later became a successful hotelier and in 1968 bought the Barony Hotel.

The map was created over six summers between 1974 and 1979, mainly by Poles living in Scotland,  assisted by hotel staff and Polish exchange students.

It fell into disrepair after the hotel closed,but was restored from 2014.

It is an amazing piece of craftsmanship in stone, and it must have been so challenging to create.

The same is true for my second visit that day, the gorgeous Rosslyn Chapel.  Made famous by its inclusion in the Dan Brown novel, ‘The Da Vinci Code’, this is a stunning piece of church architecture.

There are no photos permitted inside the Chapel , these two come from the official website, but the carving is incredible, arguably the best that I have ever seen.

This is the Apprentice Pillar, and the detail in the carving is amazing, and so consistent!

The Chapel was built in 1446 by William St Clair, and later extended.  It fell into disrepair and in the late 1990s restoration began with a roof erected over the Chapel to start to dry it out.

The inclusion of the Chapel in the 2003 book, and subsequent 2006 film meant that visitor  numbers increased and raised more money for restoration which is fantastic. It really is an amazing place, I was so lucky to visit on such a sunny day as well.

I am currently sitting in the shade at the back of my caravan, we are having a mini heatwave and the awning and caravan itself are too hot! It is going to get up to 28 degrees here, which is a bit warm for working really, so the shorts and natty sun hat will be out again.

It has been a little quieter in terms of campers over the last few weeks, partly due to a long spell of rain again, but it gives us all a chance to catch up with jobs that we don’t get time for otherwise. 

We are now just over halfway through the season, with lots more adventures planned for the next few months. I am really enjoying being here, and am so lucky with the location and my team.

Last week Cath and I had an impromptu shopping trip to Oban, stopping off at this cafe overlooking Castle Stalker on the way.

I am so loving life in the Highlands, even if the weather is unpredictable! Hope you are all having a great time and thanks for visiting. 

Symmetry and shadows

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I love cloisters, to me they are one of the most impressive forms of architecture.  The pillars, the ceiling decorations, amazing stonework that looks effortless, but must have been so difficult to achieve.

I love the way the light hits the stone, the different perspectives you get as you walk around, and the contrast between sun and shadow.

We visited two beautiful cloisters on our second day in Salamanca. The first was in the convent attached to the church of San Estaban, itself an absolutely stunning building. 

The second was the Convent of the Duenas, virtually next door. Not only were the buildings themselves so incredible, the views they gave across to the nearby cathedral were also wonderful.

I spent a lot of time just framing shots, there are definitely some here that I will want to print off and frame in future.

The cathedral dominates the skyline of Salamanca, and it is the most incredible example of the stonemasons’ art. There are actually two cathedrals built next to each other, an older medieval one, and the later gothic building.

There is something else in the stone work that you have to search for here, an astronaut carved as part of the renovations in the late 1980s. We eventually found it on the fourth door we looked at! I love this little creature on the left as well.

Although the newer cathedral was beautiful, it was the older one that had the best piece of religious architecture.  Probably the most wonderful altar I have ever seen.

I couldn’t get any closer to take more detailed photos but this is an amazing piece of art.

We finished our trip with a visit to the Art Noveau house, once a private dwelling and now an art museum.  No interior photos of the exhibitions allowed, but here is the exterior and the beautiful restaurant. I do keep coming back to this period, as I do so love it.

Medieval will always be one of my favourites for its richness, but there is something so lovely about the lines and form in this period.

I have one more post about Salamanca to share with you, then I can show you some of the wonderful things I have seen since I got back to the UK. It was such an interesting city to visit, full of just so many beautiful places, and of course wonderful doors!

Until then, thanks as always for visiting.

The stonemasons of Salamanca

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I have written before about the wonderful work of stonemasons, but every time I visit a city where there are medieval marvels, such as in Salamanca, I am amazed once more.

The sheer volume of stone work in this beautiful city is unbelievable, from the cathedral to the many monasteries and churches. Add to that the beauty of just the, ‘ordinary’, buildings, and you have an incredible city.

It is not one that many people visit though. It has been on my Mum’s wishlist for a long time, and I was aware of it through its educational history, but it is not a tourist hot spot like many of the southern Spanish cities, such as Cordoba and Granada.

We went in January, by train from Alicante.  Spanish trains are wonderful, so clean, comfortable and reliable, and very cheap! We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the San Polo, built on the ruins of an old church, and right opposite the cathedral. It was like staying in an archaeological dig.

This top photo on the left below is the view from our room. We didn’t visit the cathedral on the first day though, as the weather forecast was better that day, so we did the city wandering that day.

The city museum is housed in an old palace, surprisingly similar to the ones in cities like Cordoba. I had not expected the same type of architecture as this is usually a design used for very hot climates. Northern Spain is more temperate, but there were similar patios and cloisters everywhere.

I have seen a lot of religious art on my travels, but these were exquisite.

I think my favourites were definitely the gun wielding angels! I have not seen anything like that before, and the painting of the fabric was so detailed.

The university dates from the 13th century and has a wealth of gorgeous buildings, some of which are former palaces, and medieval cloisters.

It is a tradition to go and look for the Salamanca frog, part of one of the carved doorways, and we found it almost straight away. This is supposed to bring you good luck.

We also wanted to see the shell building, another palace which is now the public library.  I have never seen anything like it, so unusual, with such beautiful iron work.

I took so many photos, and we visited so many incredible buildings, that I am going to have to split this trip over a few posts.

My plans have changed slightly, and I am now spending more time at the Scone Campsite near Perth. This means, combined with some lovely Scottish rain, that I am having some additional R and R today, before moving on at the weekend.

This is my current view, with my new tent being tested for its waterproofing, so I am enjoying a day of reading and crochet 😉

Nice weather will hopefully be resumed tomorrow, and the forecast for the weekend is better, meaning I can hopefully visit some more Trust properties at the weekend.

I hope that you are all enjoying whatever you are doing, and will see you all again soon. Thanks for visiting.

Spanish celebrations

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I had been waiting until now to write this post as I should have been able to tell you about the last of the coach trips we had been on, celebrating Spain’s final Christmas celebration, the Three Kings, which takes place on Jan 5th every year. We were due to go to Cartagena, a beautiful city south of us, that I have visited many times. Sadly due to a very bad storm, the fiesta was cancelled, so we didn’t get to go. Global warming is certainly changing the weather here, with much wetter autumns and winters and very high summer temperatures.

Thankfully all our other trips went off very well. The first was to the Benidorm Fiesta in late November. I have been before, but this was Mum’s first trip. Last time I wore the tablecloth jacket that I mentioned in my last post and my purple top hat, but they are in England at the moment.

Mum and I decided that we would do a modified version of my steampunk Seamstress Squadron outfit, which has the top hat decorated with sewing themed items. So we bought a couple of posh hats from one of our local charity shops and had a very productive afternoon decorating them. I knew all those orphan patchwork blocks would come in handy one day! I also pinned some blocks to my top, and Mum had some crochet motifs stitched to hers.

We had a brilliant day, it was really hot, around 27 degrees, so we really felt for those who had chosen very furry costumes, like these people. The Artic Explorer costume was so good, and he was constantly being stopped for photos.

Although a lot of people buy costumes from fancy dress shops, (there were hundreds of Fred and Wilma Flintstones), many people create the most gorgeous and elaborate unique costumes. We particularly loved these beautiful mermaids and fairy godmothers.

It is a really fun day out, the culmination of which is a parade, organised by all the bars, restaurants and shows that Benidorm is famous for. So many brilliant floats and dancers, especially the amazing sea themed dancers.

We also had two trips to nearby cities to see the Christmas lights, and the belen nativities that are in every Spanish town and city. The first was to Elche, famous for its palm gardens. As well as a beautifully decorated Christmas market in the square near the town hall there was a stunning, Three Kings themed display next to the cathedral, featuring their crowns, and a small belen.

The second trip was to Orihuela, a small city near my favourite mountains, famous for its many churches and the cathedral. This trip was on a little Christmas train, around the city to see all the lights, and stopping off at two churches to see their belens. It was brilliant and everyone waved at us as we drove around through the narrow backstreets.

I love the detail in these extended nativity dioramas, they are so wonderful in their attention to the tiniest little reproductions of life in the towns and villages of biblical times. The first one was about 20 by 8 feet in length and we walked around it.

The second one was much bigger, it took up two rooms at the back of the church. Not only is it the largest one I have ever seen, the detail and craftsmanship was amazing. I loved the depictions of the textile crafts, and the one of the three kings studying the stars in the library. Look at the detail of all of the scrolls!

As well as some lovely, and unique scenes from the story of Jesus’s birth, there was a separate section detailing the flight to Egypt, with the most amazing modelling that I have ever seen. The tiny little sections, such as the temple carvers, and the embalming and mummification displays were incredible.

We are off on another longer trip tomorrow, so will post about that at some point. I am still playing catch up on my Scottish adventures, so hopefully will get those finished before I leave Spain in a couple of weeks. Although I will be sad to leave family and friends here, I am so looking forward to getting back to Scotland, and to the new camping season starting!

Hope you are all having fun, take care and thanks for visiting.

Exploring Andalucía

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On my return to Spain in October I had two trips to Andalucía in the first two weeks, firstly to visit my brother Ben, and sister-in-law Amanda, at their cave house in Galera. I have been to visit once before, three years ago when I first retired, but they have done a lot to the house since, literally creating new rooms at the back of the cave. Their dining room is now just about completed, and they have some steps up to the first floor, which is still a work in progress. The first two pictures below show some of the other cave houses in the town.

The town is so beautiful, with its houses snaking up the ravines of the valley. There are so many cave houses here, due to the rock being soft enough to dig into, and so many different varieties of house to admire. This visit the mirador, or look out point, had been completed, so Ben drove us up the winding tracks to the start of the path. Such amazing views, like looking at a living map of the centre of the town, and the stunning mountains and cloud formations all around.

We had a visit to the nearby town of Huescar, for the weekly market. This is still a very traditional area of Spain, although there are quite a lot of people of different nationalities in Galera who have bought cave houses, the surrounding towns are very much rural Spain, with tiny traditional shops, and most of the weekly shopping done at the market. It is a gorgeous place.

There was one area, next to a wool shop that I was very good and didn’t go into 😉 that was decorated, both with a crochet sunshade, and a painted wall, celebrating local women in different occupations.

Lots of lovely food, and one of my brother’s famous bbqs, as well as drinks at the bar and hotel, and we were back to La Marina, four hours on the coach for a week at home before our next trip.

Jerez and Cadiz have been on my wishlist for a long time, to complete my exploration of the southern cities of Spain. This time we went on an organised coach trip, which meant another ten hours there, through the gorgeous Sierra Neveda, to Jerez where we were based for the three nights. The hotel Dona Blanca was beautiful, and situated right in the middle of Jerez.

We spent the first day visiting Jerez on our own, while the rest of the group went to Seville, as we had been there a few years ago. It was quite wet, but luckily we were able to see most of the things that we wanted to see.

It has such grace as a city, very small, but famous for the production of sherry. I loved the old tiled adverts that were still on many of the buildings. We did end our day sipping sherry at that gorgeous bar that you can see in the photos in the middle of the top row above, while people watching in the main square.

I have never seen as many candles surrounding an icon as the one in the cathedral, and there was some exceptional goldwork as well.

Another notable aspect was the number of speciality shops for sweets and biscuits, this one had the best autumn themed display.

The Alcazar, the Moorish fort with added 17th century palace, was beautiful. The original mosque has been restored, and it is a brilliant blend of the different cultures that have lived in the city. There was an olive press there that must have been at least thirty feet long, it was incredible.

One of my favourite things was the display of fiesta posters in the palace, such wonderful examples of the development of graphic design and art.

Sadly the second day, the trip to Cadiz, was very, very wet. We weren’t able to do much sightseeing, as the rain was torrential, but we did see the cathedral, a beautiful chapel, and have a lovely tapas at the market, which has now become a food hall.

We didn’t realise at the time, but this was the edge of the terrible Storm Dana, which killed so many people in our region of Valencia. While we were in Cadiz, the centre of Jerez flooded, and on our return the city centre was closed. We cut the trip short the next day, due to flooding and more storm warnings, and came straight back rather than visit a mountain village as intended. We were very, very lucky as our area avoided severe damage, and were able to help with fundraising efforts through our local charities when we got back.

I would love to return to Cadiz one day. I am already provisionally planning a return to Spain in Katy, and possibly to Portugal as well, inspired by so many You Tube and Instagram accounts that I follow that are there now. I loved the previous trip I did, and have collected so many more pins on my Google map of places to visit. It won’t be this year though but 2026 is looking promising!

For now though I will concentrate on this year’s adventures, but it doesn’t hurt to plan, it is half the fun if not more, and I have spent some of this week doing the final planning for the next two months. Hopefully there will be one more blog post before I can share that, as I need to show you all of the things I spent the rest of my three months in Spain doing. It was a lovely quiet time, and there was actual crafting going on, a miracle!

Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

29 years later …..

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I left Cahors for a short drive into the Dordogne. One of the reasons for choosing this particular route, aside from seeing the beautiful countryside and towns of this area, is that my friend Cate has lived here for many years. Cate is another friend from Huddersfield Polytechnic days, in fact she was the very first person I met, in my halls of residence, the day I moved in.

We have kept in touch for nearly 42 years, but haven’t seen each other since her wedding in Ireland, 29 years ago. As I have mentioned before, one of the best things about retirement is the time to go and re-connect with people face to face, last year Dave in Cyprus, and Helen in Devon, and Ange and Sue over the past couple of years in Scotland and Yorkshire, and now in Spain!

It was another stunning drive, as you can see from the map above I was driving into the heart of the natural park of the Perigord- Limousin region, and it is the most amazing countryside. I am definitely going to see about getting a dash cam for my next European trip, so that I can capture more of the scenery as I drive. France is especially beautiful at this time of year, although the weather was not brilliant, the wisteria was in bloom everywhere and the clouds just added to the drama of the rivers and wooded valleys.

I stopped in Souillac, a little town on the Dordogne, for coffee and a wander. At this point I had decided not to use motorways for the middle of the trip, excellent though they are in Europe I was keen to do more small roads, and this little town was a lovely break in the journey.

Cate, and her husband Billy, bought a derelict farmhouse and barn in a tiny village in the Dordogne, and have spent the last twenty years rebuilding it. The views are amazing, and they grow most of their own food.

We had a lovely, if a little damp, walk with her two dogs, though the country lanes here. It really is a completely idyllic place to live, and I can see why so many British people have chosen to move here.

Cate was an estate agent before she retired so she knows the area very well, and took me to see some of the most beautiful places in the area. We went to the little town of Brantome for lunch, which has some gorgeous houses around the abbey and the river.

The abbey had the longest candles that I have ever seen. I always light two wherever I visit, one for the living, and one for all my friends and family no longer here.

We then went on to St Jean de Cole, one of the prettiest villages in the area, complete with a privately owned chateau. Cate had sold most of the houses in the village, and was based here during her career, what a gorgeous place to work!

I love the contrast of the blue shutters with the pale stone, and the wisteria on the houses here.

As well as the sightseeing, we had a brilliant catch up, and lots of lovely food. It was so nice to see her, and hopefully it won’t be 29 years until we see each other again! I know that I have said this many times before, but I am so lucky to be able to do this, and live this wonderful life.

My poor colleagues at the university went through a dreadful time last summer, with the closure of the department, and losing about half the staff to redundancy, and the same is happening again this year, with a further round of course closures and job losses. I feel so sorry for them, as I know how hard they have all worked, and it seems so unfair, especially after the stresses of the Covid years. I am eternally grateful to have been able to leave at a time of my choosing, and to have the life that I have now.

I will be back again later in the week, to share a surprise textile treasure, that meant a slight alteration to the route, that led to a wonderful extra visit to somewhere very special. More details in the next post. Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

Cordoba – architectural harmony

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Our trip to Cordoba had been long awaited. Mum had been briefly years ago, as part of a coach trip including other cities. We had planned to go back last year, however, life intervened. After visiting Seville some years ago, and Granada again a couple of years ago, I really wanted to go and see this third, very Islamic inspired city.

We stayed in a very well located little apartment, La Casa del Rio, part of a traditional courtyard house, just near the Roman Bridge, within walking distance of the old part of the city. They had a very clever little kitchenette in the cupboard and plenty of space for four people as the sofa turned into a double bed.

The views on the first night were stunning. This was a trip that we put together ourselves, so we went by train from Alicante, and arrived about 6pm. Train travel in Spain can often be a little longer as we had to go north to Madrid to get the train for Cordoba.

The first day was beautiful and we went straight over the bridge, past the defensive tower, over to the square just below the cathedral.

Cordoba is such a beautiful place, and as always with Spanish cities there were amazing doorways, and a little glimpse into the Bishop’s Palace.

I think the doors of the mosque / cathedral are possibly my favourite of any building yet. They are amazing.

The real joy for me was seeing how the original structure of the mosque has been incorporated into the cathedral. The arches that form the original part of the mosque are so iconic, this is another national heritage site so I have seen this image many times before. When you first enter you see these amazing, yet quite simple red and white arches that seem to just go off endlessly in the distance, like some kind of hall of mirrors in stone.

The original mosque was built in 785, and was a very small section, which is now in the centre of the building. Later developments as the Muslim population grew led to expansion, including this stunning ceiling, and the highly decorated doors around the mihrab, the alcove that shows the direction of Mecca. The decoration here is just breath-taking.

Further on is where the original part of the cathedral was first added, and you can see how clearly the lines of the arches have been used as the basis for the design. This then becomes an area with the classic Gothic cathedral architecture on the ceiling.

Towards the centre of the cathedral is the specifically Catholic part, added in the early 1500s, and this has been blended with the original pillars to form a unique religious space.

All around are places where the Islamic and the Catholic come together, such as this wonderful painting, on top of a zelige tiled plinth.

As well, there are the more traditional Catholic artworks.

The plaster work is all of different ages, from the original works, to the Royal Chapel in the second photo, finished in 1371, which used the Mudejar style of decoration.

Outside the main mosque the courtyard has the original minaret, now a bell tower, or giralda.

Tucked away on one side is a display of masons’ marks, some in Arabic, that have been copied by the teams that look after the building.

I loved this, as I said in my Burgos post, I always wonder who built these places, so it was brilliant to see this evidence, and imagine them making these marks throughout the centuries.

It really is one of the most wonderful places that I have ever been to, although there were lots of visitors it didn’t feel crowded, there is so much space to wander and to reflect on all of the changes this building, and this country has seen.

We spent a further two days in Cordoba so will be back next time with more beauty. The city has a very unique character and it was so nice to just wander around all the small streets. There was also plenty of my favourite tapas!

I am having a lovely time here in Marsden. I have been working on my writing and Frankie has been helping. She’s sitting watching me type now, I think she might be checking my punctuation!

Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

A land of lochs

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I spent last week in Scotland, a wonderful place and one that I am so looking forward to returning to this summer. My Instagram feed is full of beautiful views of the country, and it was amazing to be there, especially after a month in Morocco. There is such a huge contrast between the two places, and it was strange being surrounded by so much water, after a month of desert views and palm trees.

I was visiting one of my closest friends. Sue and I met over forty years ago, in the first week at Huddersfield Polytechnic. We have survived motherhood, teaching, and now retirement together and it was brilliant to be able to spend time catching up with her.

She came out to Spain last May to see me, and will be coming again this May with another friend from Polytechnic. Aside from the wonders of travel, the best bit of retirement is being able to spend time with my friends all over the world 😉

Sue has lived in Scotland for the past few years, after many years in Yorkshire, and she has the most gorgeous cottage with views of the mountains. Just look at these! I spent so much time just sitting watching the sun and the clouds from the lounge windows.

There were amazing sunsets as well. I have missed my Spanish sunsets.

We had quite a busy week, even though I was only there for three full days, and I met lots of her friends and neighbours as well as exploring the area a bit more. She lives not far from Loch Lomond and so the countryside is stunning.

We went to Inverarary for lunch one day, and then on to a heritage property, the Auchindrain township.

This is a set of smallholdings, set in the valley just up from Inverary, and it has such a beautiful feel to it. You can really get a sense of what life was like there, getting water from the small burn that runs through it, and the farming that sustained the inhabitants. The township was inhabited from the late 1700s until the 1940s, and although restoration work is ongoing, nature is reclaiming some of the buildings.

It seems very fitting that the local wood, stone and heather was used to build these dwellings, and they are now decaying in a very beautiful way, being covered in mosses and lichens.

We also had a quick visit to Oban, stopping off at Loch Etive on the way for lunch.

I plan to come back here for longer in the summer, as I have about six weeks in Scotland planned between the end of July and September. I can’t believe I will be driving Katy on these roads, so excited!

I loved Scotland when I went two years ago with my sister Jacky, and am going back to Skye as well as meeting with her in the border area early on in the trip.

I also visited St Conan’s Kirk, on the shores of Loch Awe. Although the church looks really old, it was only finally completed in 1930, and was a labour of love for Walter Douglas Campbell, who had bought an island and built a house nearby.

It is such a beautiful build, with its interior arches, mix of architectural styles and Gaelic inspired design everywhere.

I love these two stained glass windows, with the beautifully Arts and Crafts inspired armour designs on the angels.

A quick trip back to Ellen’s, for a quiet weekend, and I am now in Marsden in Yorkshire, where I used to live. I am cat and house sitting again, as I did last year. This time thankfully without the heavy snow that meant Katy and I couldn’t leave the village and go camping as planned.

I will be here for the next two weeks with a very cute and furry cat Frankie. I am also spending time catching up with my friends and ex-colleagues here, cuddling new babies, and taking a few trips down memory lane on walks. I also will be finally posting about my visit to Cordoba in November so come back soon for that.

Until then I hope that you have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Katy’s adventures in La Marina

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I had already planned lots of places that I wanted to visit, mostly with Mum, in the two months that I was at home. Like me, Mum loves walking and the beach, and we were able to explore some new places, as well as revisiting old favourites. The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were lucky that we had stunning blue skies and sunshine all through November and December.

La Marina is situated between the mountains and the coast, and is an area with lots of wildlife sanctuaries, and hiking areas. Although there are sandy beaches, my favourite parts of the coast are the rocky ones.

The first walk we did was along the coastal path from La Zenia to Cabo Roig. This very easy walking path goes underneath the cliffs, with gorgeous views. At the end of the 3/4 hour walk there is the harbour at Cabo Roig, with bars and restaurants for a quick coffee before setting back.

After our trip to Cordoba we went back to one of my Mum’s favourite spots, the coastal path below the cliffs and the lighthouse at Santa Pola. This is a beautiful stretch of rocky coast which is very popular with campervans. I went back later on just for the afternoon when Mum was busy, and sat parked up in Katy listening to the sea and reading, bliss!

We also visited one of the area’s reservoirs. Although desalination plants are our main source of water, due to the lack of rain, we do have some very beautiful reservoirs. Unfortunately we couldn’t find our way down to the hiking area, that ended up being the off road experience that I mentioned earlier! At least the drive round was great and there are lots of viewpoints with parking and picnic benches.

I also did a couple of trips out on my own, one to the local bird reserves, El Hondo, that I have cycled to before. This time I went right to the other side, and parked up at the interpretation centre. There are walkways through all the different parts of the reserve from here. We have so many types of birds that nest here, and I was lucky enough to see a baby flamingo.

Many flocks of flamingos live on our salinas, or salt lakes. The lakes have been here since Roman times and are still in production. The salt is exported for use on roads across Northern Europe and Russia. The one nearest Torrevieja has a beautiful pink colour in the sunlight. It is a gorgeous place for a peaceful walk on a sunny day.

The nearby town of Rojales is famous for its cave houses, which have been turned into artist’s workshops and galleries. Once a month they have an arts and craft fair, and in the summer there is live music every Sunday in an outdoor stage area.

There is a little museum area inside one house showing how the original inhabitants lived. We haven’t been for fifteen years and it was great to see so many more of the caves have been restored, with gorgeous floor paintings.

There is also an eighteenth century windmill just outside the town, very similar to those I saw at Conseugra on my journey home. This has been restored and events are held there sometimes.

Also in the mountains above Rojales, there is a country park. El Recorral is actually a water management scheme, designed to capture water from the mountains and stop it flooding the salinas, but rather than just build storage tanks they have created these beautiful wildlife ponds and a sculpture trail. We don’t often get rain, but when we do it can be very heavy and cause flooding so this is a great solution. There are lots of picnic and bbq areas, as well as hiking trails and playgrounds.

I went again with Ellen when she was visiting and we managed to find the caves further up in the park. I don’t think these were every occupied, but they do have stunning views of the mountains across the plain.

One of our Sunday excursions was to visit a monastery set in the mountains behind Murcia. This is the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta, and dates from the 1600s.

There must at some point have also been an Islamic building here, judging by this architecture, but sadly it was in disrepair and there was no further information. We had a picnic in the grounds and then a walk in the mountains.

We also went on a couple of trips without Katy, one my favourite things in Spain is the fiestas, and on the feast of St Nicholas, on the 6th Dec, there was a parade of the Moors and Christians. These are some of my favourite events, they take place all over Spain and celebrate the reconquest, when Isabella and Ferdinand took back control of southern Spain from the Muslim settlers.

The parade was a wonderful hour and a half of proud armies in wonderful costume, interspersed with marching bands. The work that goes into these outfits is amazing, usually each village in the area will have its own association. There are many museums where you can see the costumes close up and they are well worth a visit if you come across them.

The lights, and the giant nativity were also very pretty, and we had a great wander around the city. This was one of the many excellent coach trips, the advantage of these for fiestas is that you get a local pick up and don’t have to worry about parking or traffic!

I hope that you have enjoyed this little overview of what there is to do in the area, it is a fantastic region for all sorts of outdoor activities, with mountain climbing, trekking and cycling being very popular, as well as all of the water related sports.

This will be the last of my travel posts for now, I will post about Cordoba as soon as I can but have so many pictures to sort, and not that much time before I leave again, so will wait to tell you all about that fantastic city. I am off now to do more unicorn fettling, the final bits of attaching heads and putting on clothes await, and then I can show them to you in the next post.

Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Apologies to all of the other amazing Spanish cities ….

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I have visited so many beautiful and amazing cities in Spain, Seville and Granada being two of the most famous, and completely stunning. There are so many others as well, almost too numerous to mention. However, the next stop on my trip, Segovia, might just be my favourite city yet. I had added it to the list partly as the location was good, being on a route back to La Marina. There are many other cities in that area that I could have visited, and it wasn’t until the last minute that I decided I would definitely go there and I am so glad that I did.

The journey there from Burgos was brilliant, so sunny and the clouds on the top of the mountains were beautiful. I had to stop at a café for breakfast so I could take some pictures, and they really don’t do the scenery justice. This was one of my favourite drives, so stunning.

I was aiming for a free park up near the bullring, but sometimes I get a little confused with Sat Nav instructions, and a wrong turn at a roundabout meant that I actually drove right into the city centre, up the cobbled road, past all the tourist coaches, and back out again, which was a little nerve wracking 😉 However I found the park up shortly after, and it was all good. This park up was another car park, with water, bins and waste, and can be used every day except Saturday, when the market takes place here.

It was only a short walk into the city, and I was following what I thought were the city walls, until it turned into the aqueduct! This marvel of Roman engineering is 14km long, was built without mortar, and the city was built around it. It was truly incredible, one of the most impressive things that I have ever seen. I think that is part of what made Segovia so special.

The other thing was the very unique decoration on the houses here. It is also used in some other Northern cities and is known as sgrafitto. It originates in Italy and is made up of layers of plaster. It was amazing to see all of the different designs.

There was also a very unusual building with points all over it, that now houses the School of Art.

I had a slow wander up through the city with the views getting more and more amazing, until I reached the city square.

There were lots of shops selling regional produce, the area is known for its meat products and pork crackling is very popular here.

The cathedral was very beautiful, not as ornate as the one at Burgos inside, but with wonderful painted ceilings in all of the side chapels.

I love the shapes that are carved into the ceilings, and the contrast of the bare and painted stone.

As with all Spanish cathedrals, there was a lot of ecclesiastical goldwork. I particularly like the red and gold combinations on these vestments.

After the cathedral I made my way through the narrow streets to visit the castle, which stands at the edge of the old city, overlooking the valley. This was another reason that Segovia is so different to other cities, this castle, which dates from the 12th century, looks like something from a fairy tale. It has the same kind of plasterwork on the exterior as the other buildings.

Inside it is full of the most gorgeous Islamic inspired architecture, rivalling the Alhambra in the complexity of the ceiling designs. Although it has always been a Catholic stronghold, the decoration reflects the Muslim conquest of the south of Spain, with their ornate carved ceilings. One of the rooms, the picture top right, has a ceiling made of 392 carved wooden pine cones, and was built to celebrate the birth of the King John the second’s first son in 1452.

Another incredible room has an English connection. The Gallery, or Ambassadors Room, was created by Catherine of Lancaster. She was the daughter of John of Gaunt, who was son of Edward 3rd, and became Queen of Castile when she married Henry 3rd in 1388. At the time she was 15 and her husband was 9, it was very much a political alliance, as her father wanted to secure his alliances in Spain.

I found this painting of Catherine at this website. I don’t know if it was painted during her lifetime but it is a beautiful depiction of her. Her great-granddaughter, Catherine of Aragon, one of my all time favourite historical people, was named after her. As I have mentioned before I love filling in the gaps in my historical knowledge and making links with English and Spanish history.

The room was deigned to impress visiting ambassadors, as there are statues of all of the kings and queens of all the different regions of Spain placed underneath the very beautiful ceiling.

I think it was the combination of the aqueduct, the unusual buildings and the fairy tale castle that combined to make Segovia one of the most fascinating places that I have visited. You could really get a sense of what it was like in the 14th century, a real piece of time travel.

I ended my visit sat in the city square near the cathedral, with a glass of wine and some tapas, thinking about all of the amazing places that I had been. A magical day and one I will remember forever. That was to be almost my last visit on the European tour, and the next city was equally amazing for very different reasons.

We have had some sunny days here, which is good as I went to the nearby town of Chesterfield to get currency and supplies for the next adventure. I have less than a week now until I leave here, so am on a mission to get the last few posts done before I leave. I shall see you again here very soon hopefully. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.