The Road from Santiago

  It is another day where we will wander through the countryside and, other than a place to eat, we will have little to review. I thought about looking up some rabbit hole - Spaniards who have played international cricket [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_cricket_team ] or Spanish relationships with San Marino [ https://bilateralnavigator.com/SanMarino-Spain ] but I think we will keep them for another day. Time to get reflective. So, this all began in August 2023 with the radical idea of going somewhere by walking from your front door. The facts we have now got over 900 posts - this one was written in March 26, shows my inability to let go of a project when started and a need to plan ahead. The first one was mildly disappointing in that we hardly got beyond the village. The thing with all of this is, like most things, you remember the first and the most recent of any series but struggle to pinpoint the intermediate. I think it is the obscure discoveries that I have r...

  Another day of cracked roads and beautiful greenery and the thought of a little bar somewhere in the future. What rabbit hole can we go down.  How about invasive species. I know, you are saying, what about Homo Sapiens? Wouldn’t the Neanderthals have a thing to say about that? Maybe, but they haven’t got some copy to fill so, sod ‘em. There are 26 recognised invasive species. Let us do five of them. The Hottentot fig.  This is a coastal warrior, found on the Med, Atlantic, Balearic and Canary coasts. They come from the coasts of South Africa and the black rat has been blamed for helping them spread through its feces - which feed this creeping mat forming succulent.  The fruit is edible, but, as its other name is the sour fig its jam is a little tart.  The Silver Wattle. Northern Spain is the new home of the Silver Wattle, with occasional visits to the Med. It is endemic to south-eastern Australia and grows to about 30m high. It is not beloved in South Africa’s...

  It is another day of wiggling round on the old road which really looks like it needs a make over and cross a reservoir.  So, let's do Spanish lakes. Let us have a bit of context. Europe’s greatest lake is Lake Ladoga - being 276,000km2.  Lake Superior is 82,103km2.  Lough Neagh is 383km2, Loch Lomond 71 and Windermere is 14.7km2.   Rutland Water, an unnatural stretch, is 12.6km2. Spain’s largest lake is Europe’s largest reservoir, the Embalse de la Serena in Badajoz province. It is 321km2.  It stores some 3.21 trillion litres if water.  The Sea of Castile, aka Embalse de Almendra, is 265km2. It is in Zamora province and has Spain’s highest dam, being 202m high. It captures the waters of Duero and caused the 400 inhabitants of Argusino to have to move. It was built between 1985 and 1989 and produces 25.1mw. Juan Carlos himself, and Queen Sofia, turned up to switch it on. You do feel that 33travels is scraping the barrel when they include, in their top...

  It is another day of flitting about with not a lot to do.  Towards the end of the day we will be near some things which we will review - if not visit - so until then let us meet the Prime Minister of Spain.   Pedro Sanchez, who wiki informs me is a ‘most excellent’, has been PM since 2018. He was also Secretary-General of the PSOE and President of the Socialist International.  He was born in Madrid, in 1972, became a lawyer and, on graduating, moved to New York for a bit. He also worked in Brussels for the PSOE delegation. In Brussels he got a degree in Business Leadership. He also has a doctorate in Economics. I am sure you can read up on his annoying Trump and all the issues around his time in office but what we really want to know are the medals wiki lists that he has been given.  Among these are the Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes [Bolivia]. Order of the Sun of Peru and from Ukraine, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. ...

  I suspect it is going to be one of those days when we manage to not meet an awful lot. We will come through January 25 in the streetview - it is just abit Cantabrian in feel, and we will get onto the C-440a, which has all the vibes of the old road north before the motorway came along - including encroaching vegetation. We have a service station and a cafe to do but what first. Time for a filler and that is what kings are for.  Felipe VI is, at the time of writing, 58 years old. He has been king since 2014, after Juan Carlos I abdicated ahead of things getting just a little too hot, what with one thing and another.  Felipe was made Prince of Asturias in 1977 and sworn in as heir in 1986.  He was educated at Santa María de los Rosales School in Madrid and then attended Lakefield College School in Canada.  He also studied law at the Autonomous University of Madrid and earned a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. ...