On Saturday we visited Spain's sixth largest city SARAGOSSA (Zaragoza). On this very day preparations for the Fiesta del Pilar were in full swing there. The streets were full of locals and the city's guests. We went to wander through the city and mingled with the crowd. Here are a few views from the sidelines.
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On this day, on the return from Portugal, we visited several Spanish cities in one go. The road led through Castile, where parched fields alternated with clusters of low trees and in the distance a mountain lay grey. An open and rewarding place for solar panel farms, which could be spotted from time to time in the distance.
Last autumn we were in Spain for only a brief while, approximately 2–3 days, passing through on the way to Portugal and back. We travelled by tourist coach with the company "Fēnikss" (by the way, I wouldn't recommend this operator to anyone - for the first time in my life we got so thoroughly "burned"). The autumnal weather - rare rays of sunshine, a fine drizzle flickering from time to time, fog - was not exactly the best ally.
Not every visitor to the town is ready to visit this basement of St. Francis's Church, for it is built from... the skulls and bones of several hundred monks. What can one say - a "remarkably cosy" little spot. The inscription at the door also brings one back to the harsh reality of life - We bones that are here, we are waiting for your's.
The uniquely beautiful Arab quarter, the Alfama district, with its somewhat run-down ancient houses, small cobblestone lanes winding uphill, miniature cafés, taverns, and little shops.
This certifies that you have visited Cabo da Roca, in the district of Sintra, Portugal, the westernmost point of the European continent, the very edge of the world, "where the land ends and the sea begins," where the spirit of faith, love and adventure urged the Portuguese caravels to set sail in search of the New World.
In Nazaré we also noticed the arena and ticket booths for bullfights. In Portugal the corrida is not as bloody as in Spain, because the bull is not killed but stunned with colourful spears thrust into its neck, and the matador brings it to its knees. Bulls are specially bred for the fights to reach 300 kg. The original corrida can only be seen in Spain's Andalusia region. There the bull is exhausted and killed by thrusting in a sword. The crowd shouts - Veronica! - demanding the animal's death.
It turns out port wine was invented only 300 years ago, when an English merchant transporting red wine from Portugal to England had the idea of adding spirits to it. The English took so keenly to port wine that Porto became the main port city from which the produced wine was transported to Great Britain.
In translation from Catalan, Montserrat means the jagged, serrated mountain. The view is truly magnificent. The mountain peaks look as if polished by water and smoothed by the winds. The monastery, located approximately 50 km from Catalonia's capital Barcelona, is indeed embraced by jagged mountains.
Up on the hill remained ... no, no, those are not just television sets, but... "Object MUNAMUNA, accidentally fallen in Pedvāle." I thought of Latvia, but perhaps of butterflies - young, fresh and free as in Ziedonis's poetry. Well, perhaps slightly petrified...