In the land of less than four stars

 On and on, along another of those roads which have been upgraded and bypassed.  We get to pass a temporarily closed restaurant - you can look at it and decide and a definitely no longer petrol station.  But first Spanish Flu.


Why Spanish Flu I hear you cry. Well, I’d just gone on the provincial webspage https://www.carm.es/web/pagina?IDCONTENIDO=1&IDTIPO=180 and it was warning of gripe.  Where did it all start?  Generally it is thought to have been in Haskell County, Kansas although a claim has been made that it all began in the British hospitals at Etaples and Aldershot.  The American case is dated to March 1918.



On 28th May 1918, El Sol [Madrid] reported ‘The Three-day fever’ - In Madrid 80,000 are infected - HM the King is sick.  As is well recorded, as Spain was not at war and censorship. On 2nd June 1918 The Times was referring to the ‘The Spanish Epidemic’ and in Moscow Pravda announced ‘The Spanish Lady’ is in town.  The total numbers of people who died of the flu in Spain were officially estimated to be 147,114 in 1918, 21,235 in 1919, and 17,825 in 1920.



According to Google  Restaurante las Macetas is temporarily closed.  It gets 3.9 stars.  Six months ago Angel gave the full five and said ‘The lamb chops and the rice with turkey are spectacular.’   A year ago Jose said ‘one star It's closed and half in ruins’.  ‘A rubbish place where they have surveillance cameras but I don't know why there is absolutely nothing, everything is in ruins and on the ruins there are tied up dogs and others abandoned. I called the nearest shelters with my friend and none of them wanted to take responsibility for the financial situation 😂 We told them that we would pay for the transport of the animals or whatever was needed to Torrevieja, our city, and they all ignored us. Lena is bigger.’



Two years ago MacieJ gave three stars. ‘It's empty. The coffee is delicious and strong. There's a fireplace. The tables are covered with tablecloths and clean. The building is unfinished. The restrooms are clean. I recommend it for a quick pit stop.’  



Look, can one of you nip out there and find the truth of it.




We are going to end at the Bar Restaurante Venta La Petra - a proper A-91 service station.  It has 1777 reviews and it comes out with a lowly 3.6 stars.  I feel, as this one is at least definitely open, is deserves a few more stardust.  Two weeks ago Boris proclaimed ‘Unexpectedly surprising roadside cafe with excellent, very interesting tapas.’   



Two months ago Jose was left with questions.  ‘I think I bought a large homemade loaf of bread there. I'm not quite sure. I'd like someone to answer me because I want to go back. The bread is exquisite for toast.’



Some people were unhappy with the state of the privies.  Look, once you have looked in at Las Macetas can you pop in here and check.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

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