The Road from Santiago

    I am tempted, as this will go out at the end of January, to just let the views of the azure sea do the talking today and cheer us up in our northern halls.  These scenes are from July & September 2025 - with a 2009 Candlemas Bun thrown in for good measure.    We start the day in Isla Plana.  In 2013 it had 980 souls, half of whom were not of Spanish soil born. I would like to tell you more but even the Spanish wiki page is brief. The island translate as Flat Island, but has little similarity to Flat Holm.  The beach gets 4.6 stars and we are in a bit of a low rise mountains behind us sort of place.  Three months ago Jillian wrote ‘ Isla plana is the best and this beach is worth a visit. Walk in slope. Excellent for children and reduced mobility. Sand with no stones and excellent beach bars. Aloha chiringuito offer excellent food.’  In July, which is after all pride month, the Anchor Cafeteria was flying the flag. It is an 8am to ...

  You know you want to know we are dropping down 275m today.  We get to see the sea which is the most important thing. At the time of writing an article has appeared in the papers about how simply awful it is that American English are being used in English as is used in Blessed Albion. Didn’t help that they used examples of survivor words from Shakespearian English however I suspect they have the article in a ‘slow news day insert here’ file.  So what of Spanish.  I have not, with confidence, been able to find out how many ‘loan words’ exist in English.  It has been suggested 1000 or 10,000 words from Castile's mother tongue that are putting in a shift.  Mind you, I love the phrase ‘loan words’ - as if, at some point, Spanish will ask for them back.  Language is a flighty piece and tends to hang out where it will and ain’t going back whatever time its Mothertongue has said it should be home by. I supposed some these are more obvious than others.  ...

  Bit of a track today,203m up the valley and 75m down the other side.  We will go over tracks for a bit to start off before we go on. Today is 27th January, honest.  Wiki in Spanish offers us these things. 98AD  Trajan becomes the first Roman Emperor of Hispanic origin.  1336AD Peter IV becomes king of Aragon. 1554AD Pedro de Heredia, founder of Cartagena de Indias, dies in  shipwreck near Cadiz. In 1925 The Alcazar Theatre was inaugurated in Madrid.  It was called the Alkazar until Franco banned foreign names - hence Athletic Madrid becoming Atletico. The first show was Leo Fall’s operetta ‘Madame Pompadour.’  It became a sound cinema in the 1930s. Back to the road and the Restaurante Venta El Huevo. Six days ago In Marc gave but a single star. ‘Don't go without a reservation, they won't serve you.’  Three weeks ago Perikus said ‘A pleasant, clean restaurant with very efficient and friendly staff. A varied menu of excellent quality, especia...

  We are going to wander out across the countryside, passing scattered houses and fields of diverse sizes and purposes.    The Venta La Muela is our first stop.  It is LGBTQ+ friendly and woman owned. https://ventalamuela.com/   A week ago James liked it. ‘Great place to eat. Lots of choice and an amazing menu del dia for 14 euros.  3 courses and a drink included!. Lovely friendly helpful staff.’ Ralf was equally moved.  ‘Very large place that is well visited by hikers and mountain bikers. Plenty of space to sit inside. Lots of choices for food and tapas. Great place to come and enjoy lunch after trekking in the nearby mountains.’ Nearby is what is marked on the map as a historic monument. It is a small boat on a roundabout.  We will not bother with the barco antiguo.  We will end by the Cueva de Los Diaz de Galifa.  It is also marked as a historical landmark.  Isabel wrote ‘We went to see their nativity scene and the truth is that...

We will spend most the day walking down one of those roads with tree cover and cycle paths to guide us out of town - but first, a 2023/2008 Candlemas Bun. Time for a bit of a diversion. Cartagena has many favoured children and Sebastian Raval is one.   He served in the Army of Flanders in Flanders, unsurprisingly, and Sicily. Raval joined the order of St. John of Jerusalem after being wounded in the siege of Maastricht.  He moved to Italy where he served as a musician in the court of Francesco Maria II della Rovere in Urbino, of the viceroy of Sicily, Bernardino de Cárdenas, and of the cardinals Peretti and Colonna in Rome. In Rome, he declared himself the "best musician in the world", on account of which he was challenged to a musical contest first by Giovanni Maria Nanino and shortly afterwards by Francesco Soriano. Raval was defeated in both cases. On 28th April 1595 he succeeded Luis Ruiz as the last Spanish maestro di cappella of the viceroyal chapel of the Spanish ...