Sucking pigs and struggling knights

 We are going for an urban wander before we go north.  The A-3200 clearly becomes the market place and we are heading for the bar at the heart of the thriving centre of commerce.

Bar Hermanos Ruiz impressed Rosa ten months ago, with four stars and this…’We visited Azuel last weekend and had lunch and breakfast at this establishment. It's a village bar, and I mean that as a compliment, because of how welcoming our stay was and how delicious the food was. Suckling pig, croquettes, flamenquín (breaded and fried pork roll), and cured pork loin. I especially want to highlight Daniela's friendliness and service. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it. ‘  A week ago Carmen went the full five ‘We arrived for lunch late, and although they close at 3 pm on weekdays, the service was excellent. There wasn't much variety in the beds, but the food was quite good. Good coffee. ‘

Out of town and along the N-420 we cross the border. Goodbye Andalucía and hell Castilla- La Mancha!  We can not get much further without giving thought to its most famous mythical son because ‘Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing. ‘

Don Quixote. Once I was not much moved. Attacking windmills and mistaking a few other things. So far, so ok. Then you actually read it rather than getting appearances in the likes of Los Lunnis. Oh Cervantes you are as relevant today as you ever were - especially for reenactors. The over romanticisation of the mythic past that never existence and squeezing reality into the prism of the day is glorious. So let windmills be giants and tavern girls be ladies of renown.

If that was not enough, the best of all of Cervantes' work of genius was his total inability to get his act together to write the sequel. Taking advantage of the author’s procrastination others stepped in.  Cervantes finally got his second work out and not only totally trashed the fan fiction but also made his character renounce everything and die at the end - putting an end to Quixote 3: The Knight Fights Back.

We will end that today but expect a lot more of this sort of thing. We are going to Toledo and they love him there.