Varied Stars

 In the words of Arlo Guthrie, let's begin this ‘walk down the road trip.’  The A-431 offers us rises and falls and the occasional looking tower.  This tower turns out to be the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Villadiego.  It is a hermitage with a blog http://virgendevilladiego.blogspot.com/ although it doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2015. 

Ciasico was moved by this Mudejar.  ‘If you'd like to learn more, keep reading: The Hermitage of Our Lady of Villadiego is a Mudéjar-style building, although today, after its 1996 renovation, nothing remains of its original form. The hermitage originated from the medieval tower of Villadiego, dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. Built in the Mudéjar style, it has an octagonal floor plan and is crowned with battlements. Its interior has two floors covered with vaults; the lower one is semi-spherical, and the upper one is groin vaulted.

Attached to the tower is the hermitage building, also Mudéjar in style, whose chancel has a cloister vault on squinches with horseshoe arches. A wide pointed arch connects the chancel to the nave of the church. The church has a three-aisled floor plan separated by semicircular arches resting on pillars.

A collection of Roman archaeological pieces is located in the entrance courtyard. ...such as boundary markers and gravestones. Inside the hermitage, there are also several of these, originating from the rich nearby archaeological site of Celti. The Virgin of Villadiego remains in her hermitage for ten months of the year; the rest of the time she is in the parish church. On August 14th, her feast day is celebrated by moving to the town, where she remains until October 1st, when she returns to the hermitage. ‘

On we go to Penaflor.  According to andalucia.com [established 1996 - comes to a thing when websites are acclaiming antiquity - 3600 people choose to live here. They aren’t the first. The Celti-Iberians dwelt among the slopes and flats of the town; Romans traded oil and pottery and the Castillians built a tower.  Railways, a flour mill and a copper mine assisted in the nineteenth century. These did not do so well in the Twentieth. 

Into town we go. The Tienda de prensa y variedad Estrella is a chemist, apparently.  It looks more like a corner store. It open 9am-3pm and 6-9pm Tuesday to Sunday and 9.30-3pm and 7-9pm on a Monday. No one has reviewed it. I urge you all to go and fill this need.

Don Market Penaflor, on the other hand, has 42 reviews, 4.4 stars and opens 9am-2pm and 5.30-9pm Monday to Saturday.    A year ago Luis said ‘Very good place to shop. Very friendly staff. Very good butcher and fruit stand. ‘

Heliports seem to be a thing.  We passed one the other day. Penaflor has one, although port seems to be over egging the pudding. Possibly a heli-jetty would be a more accurate thing. Three reviews leave this circular haven of concrete with 3.7 stars.  Four weeks ago Ilyass was in raptures.   ‘Strategic point of great importance for logistical support and security in the Peñaflor area. ‘  Carlos was less impressed.  He gave one star and no words.

Out we go, along the Avenida Cordoba, to rejoin the A-431.