EVERYTHING!!!’


 You can’t beat a good bit of geography, it really adds tone to a city.  York is enhanced by its river, Toledo is magnificent because of its hill.  London’s heights are more subtle and for the contourly aware.  Sastago is squeezed between the Ebro’s loving arms.  Consequently the A-221 follows the same narrow way that weary travellers have for centuries.  The consequences of this are obvious. As the new Spaniards look for space for their family, and probably as important, car, these houses become less desired and less lived in.





Just off the road is the Panaderia Ordovas.  This bakery open at 9 and closes at 2 every day but sundays.  People seem to like it - 4.9 stars from 25 reviews.  Seven months ago Claudia said ‘Gre’at variety of homemade products. Very good quality in all their preparations. Unbeatable customer service. A family business that takes 100% customer service  Two years ago Sergio reckoned ‘Great bakers and pastry chefs, the best bread I have ever eaten and will ever eat. Their muffins are brutal, also their folded cakes, chocolatiers... EVERYTHING!!!’  Into every life a little rain must fall,  In this case it is the light drizzle. The lowest score came  six years ago Miguel gave three stars.  Polite as ever, the owner thanked them for their score.




We pass the neat little horticultural plots to the south of us and, at the east end of the town, the houses suddenly disperse and there is space.  There is also a Cepsa service station.  I have a softspot for Cepsa, mostly because of the roadmaps they produce and were a must in the age before Googlemaps.  This service station is busiests in the morning. It gets 4.5 stars and Chato said ‘We filled up with super diesel here and we didn't even have to do it ourselves. A friendly young lady filled the motorhome tanks for us. Very friendly and also very inexpensive. If I come here again, I will definitely visit this gas station again.’






We cross the river and move from the green fields and tight houses to a blasted heath.  Above the bridge is the Atalaya El tambor.  This blockhouse was made during the Third Carlist War [1875] and was part of 45 towers which made the clacks system from Zaragoza to Amposta.  To quote the town’s website ‘It is an enclosure with an irregular, pentagonal floor plan, built in plastered masonry, with lines of loopholes in its walls, and with defensive bastions and sentry boxes at the corners of the irregular polygon. The entrance is preceded by a moat and is reached by a straight path between two walls, creating an elbow-shaped access for defensive purposes, which was flanked by two rectangular rooms with sentry boxes at their ends.’



And so we end.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more