Pity the Snow Pit

 Round and round the Streetview route goes and where we will follow, nobody knows.  As we are heading out east it takes us down a dusty track which, sometime in 2013, the boys and girls of streetview thought, I wonder what is down here.  They have never been back.






After sweeping along the new cut C-221 we come across Batea.  Spain is blessed with a sufficient number of hills to place towns on to give a whiff of the Medieval and fighting fantasy.  I suppose in Blighty we would have industrialised the hell out of the place but not here. Batea sits atop a hill and the houses terrace down to a neat selection of fields.  It is the sort of place where tractors park up.




Batea has a lot of History and one of the fuller wiki pages so you really need to look at it.  https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batea_(Espa%C3%B1a)  I do mean that. Someone spent a lot of detail  One novelty I will pick you.  The Snow wells.



According to wiki ‘The snow wells were intended to hold the snow throughout the year. This was achieved by digging an underground well and depositing the snow alternating with layers of straw to prevent it from freezing. In cold years, the bateanos extracted the snow from their area and in warm years they travelled to the ports of Horta.’





The page goes on to add - and this is google translate for you 

  • A shit-with-pity snow pit, it was located in Jornou, today it has been transformed into a chalet.

  • Snow pit in the Plaza Mayor.



During the retreats through Aragon in March 1938 the British Battalion of the International Brigades rallied here and with reinforcements checked the Fascist advance,

The population is about 1880.  It has been gently declining since 1920, when it topped at 3350.  The Town Council currently has 6 Catalan Socialist and 3 of the Junts per Catalunya - an Independence seeking group.




They grow grapes here and we haven’t been to a winery for some time so let us pop in to La Bruxia dels Mudefes.  The Witch of the Mudefes cellular has no reviews but it does have a website.  https://labruixadelsmudefes.cat/ 



Up the hill we will reach Bar Restaurant Ca L’Antoni.  It opens at 7am and closes at 11,30pm every day except Sunday, when it opens at 8.30 and Tursday, when it closes at 11.00  It is closed on mondays. Three days ago Jordi wrote ‘Best place in Batea to start the day with a good coffee’  Philip was very impressed six months ago.  ‘Unsure of what to expect when we arrived, there is no outside information about what food is available. But last night we decided to take the chance.



We started with a Catalan salad shared between the three of us, followed by a main course of 2x Conejo and one bistec, all beautifully cooked, then a variety of desserts.  A very 'local' place, very friendly, excellent service and delicious food. If in Batea you should eat here’



So we push on, passed the municipal swimming pool and up the hills and along the TV-7232 and into the future.










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