Saturday 22 November 2014

Autumn in Le Somport

We went for a lovely long walk this morning, in the cross-country ski resort of Le Somport. It's not open for skiing yet; there's hardly any snow, although there was apparently more earlier in the week. The ground is very wet and muddy. On the Spanish side of the mountain range the trees are glorious colours on the trees; mainly yellows but also russet and red. Once on the northern face in France, however, nearly all the leaves are already on the ground.
This is a slope called Les Framboisiers

Lots of ferns in the damp conditions

First chance to tread on snow



Looking down the Aspe valley into France


A little "ibón" or tarn





Capercaillie reserve

Lots of wild boar have been rooting here



In Spain, some autumn colours




Saturday 1 November 2014

Calatayud

Yesterday I really wanted to get away from Zaragoza for a while, so we went to Calatayud. It's 90kms drive, on motorway, but rather an old one which wouldn't get a seal of approval these days; steep slopes and sharp bends-often both at the same time. It's the road to Madrid and there was much more traffic than we're used to on the motorway to Huesca.
I wanted to see the castle in Calatayud; from the motorway it makes an impressive silhouette. Don't bother trying to get close to it! We did; struggling up a steep track finally to find a rather broken down wreck. Not romantic or picturesque, just broken down.
The town itself was rather nice. On the route up to the castle there were two Mudejar towers.

nice statue of man reading and dog

Statue of the Baron de Warsage


Detail of the Mudejar tower of the church of St Andrew




Really impressive Plateresque doorway, 16th cen





Outside the Modernist bullring


La Almunia de Doña Godina; another Mudejar tower
One thing we noticed: in these towns of Mudejar towers, where the Moorish inhabitants were evicted from their homes by the reconquest, their "descendants" are there again in considerable numbers, enriching the cultural "mix".