A Day in the Life (April 23, 2009)

For those who might think that living in a small, out-of-the-way Spanish town would be boring, here is a day for you.

We awoke and looked out on the plaza in front of our apartment to find a motorcycle club filling the plaza with cycles of all vintages. There was a hospitality table set up in front of the town hall and the cyclists were enjoying morning coffee and juice as they talked and compared their machines, which were all restored to mint condition. We had the bird’s eye view of these proceedings.

At 10:30 our friends German and his Peruvian wife, Peggy, picked us up for a day’s outing. Our primary destination was a tiny village called Villalar de los Comuneros where in 1520 there was a peasants' uprising against King Carlos V. Under the banner of “Traitors NO! Defenders of liberty, YES!” they fought and lost against the Spanish king’s army. Their brave attempt to throw off the monarchy is remembered 500 years later by all left-leaning political parties in Spain. The event is a fair with many tents set up by all the leftist political parties from the Communist on to the center left PSOE, which is currently in power. 25,000 people, including us, descended on this tiny village overwhelming all public services, creating a line of cars stretching for miles, and joyfully eating, drinking, and partying as only the Spanish can do.

The fair coincides with the annual “Day of the Book” so many of the displays were from publishers. Elyn enjoyed the displays very much and purchased several books for our library.

After lunch (late afternoon by American standards), we left Villalar for a visit to a walled medieval town, Urueña, which is designated as Spain’s “Villa del Libro,” the Town of the Book, part of an organization with other Book Towns in other countries. Behind medieval fortified limestone walls is a perfectly preserved village, where every other shop is a book store. There is a museum which is dedicated to book printing and binding and the usual contingent of bars and shops, all doing a great business. Elyn found a Spanish/American/British lady who speaks perfect English running her shop, which specializes in chocolate, tea, regional foods, and wool items. She sampled all the teas and picked out a wonderful tea scented with cinnamon and lemon. She also bought some artisanal, raw-sheep-milk cheeses that are delicious! Elyn felt like a real Spanish "insider" when she asked the clerk if the soft torta de Cañarejal was like torta de Casar. The clerk was amazed that she knew about that cheese.

Leaving Urueña, German and Peggy drove us to a monastery called Santa Espina, which has a thorn from the crown of thorns, thus its name. This is a huge complex with a church and double cloisters, all in simple, but monumental style. The complex is now used as a school to train people in agricultural techniques. It is recently restored by the provincial government.

Leaving the monastery, our younger companions drove us home, while Elyn and I napped in the back seat. Honey Bunny and Brown Bear also had a great outing, which you can read about on their blog HERE.