Goya

Zaragoza, Saragossa to the English is very proud of Goya. He was born not far away in a village called Fuendetodos, where they show some old houses and usually art exhibitions.
There's a lovely monument to him in the Plaza del Pilar in Zaragoza. The man himself is on a high plinth, overlooking two "Majos" and two "Majas", based on his paintings of the same names; young men and women sitting on the ground.

 Next to this tribute is what looks like a stone pillarbox, in which Goya was buried in Bordeaux.

Judas Tree

You thought Chicago was the Windy City? The original windy city is Zaragoza, where the "Cierzo" blows (except when it's foggy). These days it's been a lovely temperature there, but when I walked along avenida Valencia, which runs north-south, I noticed that the Judas trees which line it are all bent with the wind.

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They are, apparently, Cercis siliquastrum. There are various versions of why they are called Judas trees. The story that the man hanged himself from one is the least plausible. Another wikiexplanation is "Judea tree". Also the seed pods hang down directly from the branches like a hanged man. Anyway, they are very pretty in late April when in flower.

Ipas

Finally a sunny spring morning, and it's Saturday. We went on a walk we'd never done before. From the hypermarket just up the road from us, we took a track which took us past the "selected waste collection centre" and a landfill site, then left the track to scramble up a steep, indistinct path. We finally arrived at a high fence which blocked our way. Then we tried another, very rough track which led us into the hamlet of Ipas. I think there are a few people living there; certainly there is livestock in the area. We saw a flock of sheep and the village street stank of animal waste. I only saw one human being (and a skinny cat). Great views. Pretty, tiny flowers. I took a picture of a field of muscaria with my phone; I left my camera at home.

View of Monte Oroel

Muscaria (grape hyacynth)

Natural rock wall

Rafael and the village chapel

We met a man with binoculars and a camera on a tripod. I think he was taking photos of red kites. We heard a woodpecker doing its stuff, but didn't see it.

Snow

There has been a lot of snow this winter. Not just this winter but this spring too. Yesterday, Saturday 6th April and Friday 5th we woke up to a layer of snow over the garden. It disappeared quite quickly, but even so, snow in April!

Monte Oroel, 10am Saturday

The ski resorts are closing today, all except Astún which will last another week. They've still got lots of snow, but in the spring the consistency isn't so good by the afternoon, and I think people simply get tired of snowy mountains and want to go to the beach instead.