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Horses, cars and the odd train

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  We really are approaching those communities which exist in the inner orbits of Madrid - but first a restaurant. Restaurante Real Hipica de Grinon  https://www.restaurantehipica.com/ is LGBTQ friendly and is a 10am to midnight place, 1.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Nerea was happy a week ago. ‘ Yesterday we celebrated our son's christening here, and we couldn't have chosen a better place. The service was impeccable, and the food even better. It's a long-established venue for celebrations, where they provide attentive and thoughtful service. They make you feel that everything is under control, allowing you to fully enjoy yourself with your guests. Our guests were delighted and had nothing but praise for us. The children also thoroughly enjoyed the food and visiting the horses. Thank you so much for everything, and we will definitely be back! ‘ Out into the countryside and the Amigos del Caballo de Grinon. This riding school gets 4.9 stars and Rober gave them fi...
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Entering into the beating heart of Castile

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  Today is a day for bypassing the commuter communities of very outer Madrid.  For example, we won’t be going to Carranque. People have been by passing Carranque since the Romans were here, building a villa which is now an archaeological park. Samuel Lopez Iglesias, described by English wiki as a peasant, discovered mosaics in 1983. The population was about 1500 in 1857 and gently declined until, in 1970, the number of inhabitants halved.  Then… cars.  Today 5500 people dwell here. We are passing a pt shop. Ok, lets nip in.  Avicola Grau  https://www.avicolagrau.com/ Noemi thought, a month ago, ‘ Excellent service, friendly staff, and helpful with any questions. We'll be back. Thank you so much for everything.     We are going across county and then join the M-415 because we have left La Mancha and have entered the marches of the city state that is Madrid.  We will pass La esquina de los sabores - a 4.5 star sort of a bar.  Mar Arz...
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The one about the Jewish doctor, the tiny peer and the virgin

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  Cedillo del Condado is ahead of us -and why not. People debate its name.  Is Cedillo a thing that means ‘little lord.’ Is it named after an important Jewish physician at the court of Alfonso VI? Probably the first. The |Spanish wiki page is fulsome in its historical account.  Basically, the usual stuff happened. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedillo_del_Condado It is another of those places which bumbled along at just over 1000 people, with a slight dip in the late Twentieth century then a huge rise after 2001. Today 4525 people call it home and the PSOE hold sway. Luis Andres Martin Carrasco has been mayor since 2007; first as part of the UCIT, then Citizens and now the first PSOE mayor since 1983. https://www.cedillodelcondado.es/alcaldia   That is full PSOE, not Independent PSOE - which does make you wonder what goes on. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Virgin of the Nativity. It is fiesta time! She is the patron of the pueblo and the school is named after her but,...
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Tall trees and tales from the olive and saints, greater and little.

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  We are approaching Recas and they have a cheerful little sign telling us we are welcome. Spain hides its multiculturalism in open view. Recas has arrived via the Arabic for caravan.  The town centre is situated where two steams flowed underground.  Generally winters are cold and wet, with lots of frost.  Snowfall, wiki tells me, is low at this low altitude - 571m. This would be roughly equal to Black Hill, the 5th highest point in the Peak District.  Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures in July and August in excess of 37oC. Our old friend the GSH Dictionary points us to how things were.   situated on very uneven terrain, it has a temperate climate ; the east and west winds prevail, and gastric and catarrhal illnesses are common: it has 100 houses ; the town hall is a jail; a school endowed with 1,460 reales from public funds, which is attended by 28 children; a parish church (San Pedro) with a second-class curacy and ordinary provision; a hermita...
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