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The sun was peaking through the clouds as
we left Casona del Sella. Poloma had been a wonderful host for
our five days in Asturia. Without her advice on day trips , we
wouldn’t have seen much because only a local can tell you
where to look. The trip towards Bilboa went quickly with
alternate periods of showers and sun. It was one of those
drives where you change to sunglasses and back all the time.
The road south from Bilboa has a toll. There was little
traffic and the speeds are a phenomenal 160 kmh (over 100
mph).
After climbing away from the coast, through pine forested
land, the road traverses broad plains of wheat fields. Always
in the distance are the snow capped peaks. Spain is very windy
and there were many wind farms on mountain ridges, with often
up to 50 rotating units. These continued to appear on the road
and in the horizon for hours. We need to find out what
percentage of the power is now generated by wind. The wheat
fields eventually gave way to grapes. The hot dry summers must
be perfect for producing that $2 Tinto we are enjoying daily!
Near Zaragoza the toll road ended and we choked at the 22 Euro
($27.50) charge to travel for 2 hours on the road. No wonder
there wasn’t much traffic on it! I wouldn’t have made the
speed without it and the alternate route has several small
cities to travel through. YUCK!
We headed northeast toward Huesca and then on two lane roads
for Alquezar. Immaculata, the agent in Fuengirola, booked this
hotel, Villa de Alquezar, for us in “an amazing area” of
Aragon. The village clings to the steep hillside around a
Pre-Romanesque walled city perched high above the Rio Vero.
The river is a light teal green, the color of glacial water.
We can’t figure where the color comes from. This land has been
inhabited since prehistoric times. Many aboriginal cave art
sites can be visited in the surrounding area. Prehistoric man
must have found plentiful locations to live in, on the sides
of the canyon, along with a source of water.
To our good fortune, this weekend Parque Cultural del Rio Vero
is opening a few sites for inspection by the public. This is a
two day event with lectures (in Spanish and Aragon, so we’ll
pass), demonstrations and tours. We are thrilled to be able to
see the cave art (if only AD was). He wanted to go repelling
down the cliffs and body surfing in the river. Adventure
activities here also include rock climbing and cave exploring.
Poor kid gets a history lesson instead.
After checking in to the hotel, we walked around the village
and toured the Collegio and the Church of the Assumption. The
cloistered area outside the church has 9th century frescos
depicting events in the life of Christ. The church bells are
lovely to listen to as they ring every 15 minutes. After
completing the walk around the town, we went back to the room
to enjoy some Tinto and some of the Cabrales cheese. It is
sooooo delicious.
The beds in the Villa de Alquezar were the
worst since Goa. One thing we've never gotten used to after
over 8 months of travel, is a bad nights sleep. The mattress
is usually to blame. I was up two hours before DW & AD. DW had
been up for a few hours during the middle of the night,
finally get back asleep at 5. I went down to the lobby to
write and work on the photos for our weekly transfer to JW. We
would have normally sent the work earlier in the week but
finding an internet location was a problem. The people in
Alquezar couldn't even tell us where to go to find access. So
this morning, we are driving a half hour to Barbastro, the
closest city, in search of the internet.
The
hotel provided a bountiful breakfast of rolls, toast, cheese,
and drinks. The lateness of serving breakfast continues to
surprise us. People are not early risers in Spain. It was
almost 11 before the schoolwork and computer work was
completed, so we could get to Barbastro. The road out of here
follows the Rio Vero, twisting and turning. This route through
these canyons used to be traveled to get to France. The
Pyrenees Mountains are visible in the distance creating quite
a barrier between the countries.
Barbastro was a lively little city with an staffed tourist
information center (a rarity). The district of Somontano is
working hard to promote tourism and the local wine industry.
The center helped us with directions to two places to access
the net. The local library had an available machine but with a
half hour limit. We were happy for whatever we found. DW & AD
went shopping for lunch and supplies (there isn't one store in
Alquezar) while I spent the 30 minutes sending the weekly
work.
The
local government is sponsoring a weekend event at Parque
Cultural del Rio Vero in Colungo, not far from Alquezar. This
park was established to display and protect the prehistoric
art found in many of the canyon caves. Part of the event is a
bow and arrow competition with hand made equipment, and
visiting caves with paintings. We stopped for lunch on the way
to Colungo at a Pre-Romanesque bridge. River crossings have
always been critical to localities. This was quite an
interesting shaped bridge and only 2 meters wide.
From
Colungo, the organizers provided a shuttle bus to the remote
canyon location for the event. There were at least 100 bow
shooters who had targets to try and hit. AD can't wait to
shoot again after his Tunisian experience. We were fortunate
to meet an event worker who spoke English and she interpreted
the explanations of the crude prehistoric paintings. There was
no photography allowed. Most of the paintings needed a little
imagination to get the artists' intentions. We felt very lucky
to be able to see them. The caves have been fenced off to
protect them from vandals who chisel off images. The locations
of the caves, high above the canyon floor was so spectacular.
We both kept thinking about the novel, Clan of the Cave
Bear.
Colungo was only 5 km from Alquerzar. It's hard to imagine how
people have been able to make a living in these old little
towns. There were more tourists today with it being a weekend.
Lots of rock climbers and canyon hikers were out drinking in
the cafes when we returned. We drank some more Tinto and ate
our bleu cheese in the room. The quantity of cheese we have to
eat is worrying us! AD played with a soccer ball in the square
with some kids before we ate a light dinner. He's taken to
watching Spanish TV (it's all there is). We're hoping it helps
him develop a better ear for the language. We use the Spanish
word for things as often as possible.
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