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Friendly and close treatment,

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  We are going for a quick wander round Vall de Almonacid. It is a narrow pueblo stuck on the side of a hill. The roads are small and, now, neatly concreted, but it is easy to imagine in older times, in a less ordered state.  We will nip into Carniceria Mercedes.  It has 10, five star reviews.  iZarzoso said ‘ Excellent treatment and very good quality of the products. My grandmother went every day and we continue to go’  Itaca reckoned ‘The only butcher shop in the town, the lamb meat is from their own livestock and the sausages they sell are made in-house. The Butcher, Mercedes, is the owner, always very friendly and attentive providing service to the town. Even since they closed the last grocery store and drugstore, they created a space to be able to provide service to the inhabitants without having to travel to other towns to buy basic products.’ The Plaza de iglesia is one of those intense little crowded spaces. The church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conc...
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Incompetent, despotic and short-sighted

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  It is going a day to appreciate ou gentle rise of 50m as we walk along to Vall de Almonacid.  We will not go into the village today so we will do the overview later. What might we talk of given the general lack of little bars.  The Carlist Wars are things which I suppose pass by the average British reader. With so many other things going on in the world they have been reduced to footnotes.  I suppose the idea of succession wars around the Hanoverians might strike the sort of people who wargame ‘A Very British Civil War’.  As we have seen, they have left a bit of military architecture about, so maybe we ought to talk about them. When King Ferdinand VII died - to quote wiki ‘some historians regard him as incompetent, despotic and short-sighted’ - his widow, Queen Maria Cristina became regent on behalf of their daughter, Queen Isabella II.  Liberals rallied to her cause.  The Carlists rallied to Isabella II’s uncle, Don Carlos.  The banner cause wa...
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They made us a price for lunch at 1pm

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  We are working our ways north and so we work back and around the edge of the town.  Above is the Castell i Fort de l’Estrella.  It is another one of those Carlist Wars constructions which has been repaired and touched up to be a bit gleaming at this point. The Fort was built on the site of the old castle which had been knocked down till the mid-18th century. Construction was carried out between 1875 and 1876.  It was finished after the war ended and was allowed to rot in the Twentieth century. We will nip over the railway and towards Penvalba.  The road includes a few of those tiny cottages so much a feature of older Spain.  We come out onto the CV-215 and to the Bar Pepin.  This is one of those moments when fiction meets semi-fiction.  Let me explain.  In 2005 we were doing a Spanish Civil War event at Murton Park. In honour of my father in law, a man who enjoyed a bar, we turned part of Yorkshire into The Bar Pepin.  The Menu del dia...
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Segorbe is a good idea

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  We are heading into Segorbe. We have reached a town of standing, some 10,000 souls, guarding the way down to the coastal plains. It has History - well, where doesn’t.  The last Almohad governor of Valencia, Zayd Abu Zayd, hung around here till he was deposed in 1229. James I made it part of Aragon in 1238.  Martin I had a residence here and married local girl Maria de Luna in 1372.  The town wandered around the 7000 mark until the 1940s.  Since then it has grown, especially after 2000. We are going to enjoy wandering through the backstreets and tiny squares, crammed with cafes and diverse delights.  We will pass the Medieval aqueduct. Yes, I know, not Roman! No, its an 11th / 12th century Moorish piece of water based joy.  The suruving bits date to the 14th century,  https://turismo.segorbe.es/patrimonio/monumentos/acueducto-medieval/   Next to the Cathedral.  Built in the  13th century , on the site of a mosque, the works began ...
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Perfect Beauty and Stolen Swings

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  Down we go, another 120 metres, in one of those days where we follow roads, footpaths and roadish things that have seen better days. We start the day near Navajas, another one of those towns on the edge of the wider countryside which has about 900 people, a mayor from the ‘Alternative for Navajas’ party and surprisingly has almost returned to 1950s levels, after a dramatic slump to 450 in 1991.   What has brought people back to this commuting town?  Is the 18th century Parish Church of our Lady of Light? Is it the 11th Century Arab Tower or a 14m almost 400 year elm tree?  Well, we aren’t going so we may never know. We haven’t talked food for a while so maybe it is time to muse over the joys of ‘ buñuelos de hoja" - a local dish.  Who would not want some borrage fritters Here is the recipe. ½ Kg of borage leaves. TA small leek, finely chopped 100 g of white flour 2 eggs (yolks and whites separated) 150 ml of milk One level teaspoon of yeast Salt and pepper [an...
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