Spanish Imperial Eagles

Doesn't that sound good? Much better than 'tis raining again'. Yesterday was one of those memorable days, spent in Monfrague National Park - vulture and eagle country. 

Birds of prey are everywhere and especially noticeable are the Griffon Vultures. The sky is plastered with them. If you have sharp eyes you can pick out the occasional Black or Egyptian Vulture. We had close views of a Golden Eagle from the castle yesterday morning and the supersonic highlight was being entertained for most of the afternoon by a pair of Spanish Imperial Eagles - in broiling sun no less. 

Eagle and Vulture Country

Looking down on a Griffon Vulture

Our rural residence at Palacio Viejo de Las Corchuelas

Carmen, the supersonic Spanish lady who runs the place - who learnt to speak English in Llandudno, Wales - keeps pigs, sheep, cows, horses, bees, chickens, a veg patch, at least two lovely dogs and several cats. She uses all her own produce to cook the most delicious food and it's going to be difficult re-adjusting to life outside after we leave here tomorrow. No more homemade fig or mint ice cream, pumpkin and leek soup or orange and carrot preserve. That's just to remind my tastebuds when I re-read this in the future. There was so much more.

Adorable resident dog

Whose name I can't pronounce, but is Spanish for 'very large paws'. 

Tea, Treecreeper and Bee-eaters

Try saying that when you've taken a few sips of the biggest gin and tonic ever seen. I would show you a picture but they take for ever to load. 

We have finally arrived in paradise. We woke to torrential rain, drove through it on the autovia (motorway) and it cleared a few hours later so that we could have our first picnic only half in Sylvia. We ate proper Spanish tomatoes and apples by wildflowers (didn't eat the wildflowers), with Bee-Eaters swooping and driving all around us. My favourite bird of all time, a Short-toed Treecreeper hopped into the gnarled Cork Oak close to us and then, to complete the euphoric scene, we managed to brew up our first outdoor cup of tea.

Much later in the day, we are happily settled in at the Palacio Viejo de Las Corchuelas in the thick of vulture country. We've eaten all sorts of nettle and mint based food and are feeling quite pleased with ourselves - due in part to a huge gin and tonic, with lemon and mint from the garden of course. Bring on tomorrow.

Pictures will follow due to rural Internet.

Restless tourists

We're not good at hanging out in little medieval towns in grey-green sticky wet streets. We paced, looking for anything of interest and to achieve at least 10 000 paces, for mine and my phone's sake. My stats have gone right down over the past few days of sheltering from the rain in Sylvia. We made 9 328 so there's room for improvement. 

The main reason for this stop is that it's a resting point on what would have been a long journey due south of here to Monfrague and vulture territory. We saw four Griffin Vultures in a grey sky this morning and some optimistic chirpy chirrupy Swallows, not in the least put off by the chill wind and wet.

The rooftops of Fermoselle

A typical abandoned agricultural-medieval building

People must have been much stronger in the olden days as absolutely every structure is made up of huge lumps of granite.

Hanging out the washing

We just happened to be passing as the was being done. The really interesting pieces were being pegged up to the left of the pink, so you'll have to use your imagination. The word 'bloomer' might help.

Brightening up the house with flowers

Which didn't look real. 

Fermoselle

All thoughts have been washed out of my head by the rain - torrential, incessant, making you feel cold and damp in the car type of rain. Dare open the window to take a picture of the countryside and it drives itself into the tiny parts of the camera lens - annoying rain. Put on your raincoat to get the picnic out of the back of the car type of rain - and still get soaked. Have a bird pointed out and only see a huge raindrop or a shiny puddle. However, there were one or two flurries of unexpected ornithological activity when we had a good view of our first Cuckoo and Hoopoe, looking out.

No - there wasn't anywhere to pop in and get a hot broth and warm up by a log fire. We drove through what appeared to be extraordinary medieval film sets, reminiscent of parts of Dartmoor... but more extensive and more medieval looking. You'll have to use your imagination as the rain made it difficult to take many pictures, especially of the weeny, rain drenched isolated villages.

We eventually arrived at Fermoselle, and what I believe is a beautiful little town close to the valley of the Rio Duero and the Portuguese border. It was raining very hard when we crept through the tiny little streets in big Sylvia, using the hopelessly out of date sat nav and pictures taken on my phone as a guide. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. La Casa del Regidor is merged into the stonework of the narrow medieval (again) streets and parking is in the nearby square. Pelting rain swept us into the Plaza Major where we were directed into the last parking spot by a tall dark and handsome stranger, who turned out to be our new patron, who had been waiting for us - in case we didn't find a space. Most towns seem to have a Plaza Major, in the same way that we have a Fore/High Street. 

I'm currently tapping away in our latest abode, which is rather grand in a restored granite door frames style (restoration funded by European Community) with huge pieces of what would be ugly furniture anywhere else. We have a sitting room and dining room to ourselves and the rest of the building at the moment. We are going to have to engage in a food/drink related Spanish conversation foraging activity later, as there's nothing but water here - probably rain and not tap.

A glimpse of Dartmoor-like scenery

Taken through the car window in the rain. There are more pictures, but it's time to get out there and explore - rain or not.

Miles and miles of stone walls

We saw these in every village

My language practice shifted into unknown territory at breakfast (tomorrow) where I found out that the above structure has something to do with the castration of bulls. A new subject for my vocabulary list. 

Eggs and Plug

The day began with what I thought would be some basic Spanish conversation practice. A request for four hard-boiled eggs, with the added information of 'diez minutos'. They were delivered to the table with enthusiasm and a big smile but were very soft and had been timed on our waitress's phone for five minutes - so first practical of the day only partially achieved. No hard-boiled eggs with the picnic.

We went to breakfast like naughty children with a guilty secret hanging in the air. A certain person's toothbrush charger, plugged in with enthusiasm fuelled by wine (I've been told to say on the previous night), was well and truly stuck in the wall plug. It wouldn't budge a millimetre and I had to speak sternly to the guilty party to stop 'him' from tearing the wall down in desperation. After the egg practical, I took courage and ended up leading a delegation to 'nuestra habitacion' (our room) where there was much Spanish spoken at speed. It would have been funny if I hadn't had to concentrate so hard, especially when it was assumed that it was a phone charger. That's when I went for exhibit A - the toothbrush. 

Our elderly host had more honed wrenching skills and face was sort of saved. He tends to avoid me as we don't understand each other and this was a practical for both of us. The rest of the day was un pedazo de pastel (a piece of cake).

Today's habitat - a repeat of yesterday

We saw loads of good birds, such as a flock of twenty Ruff, a Booted Eagle, a Little Owl and a Red-legged Partridge. Sounds like the ingredients for a nursery rhyme. HOWEVER it was cold, with a biting wind ready to nip all day long. It was another picnic in Sylvia day - without the eggs. Never mind. Moving on to new territory tomorrow.

Avocets in the wind - they do have eyes

Pigeon Loft

These come in different shapes and forms and are everywhere you look. 

Countryside beyond the wetlands

And another pigeon loft with Stone Pines - same as the trees I drew as a five year old. Altogether we saw 49 species of birds today, a rabbit or two, some cows holding up the traffic (3 vehicles) en route to milking....and....can't think of anything else, except that wind of course.

Rainy Spain

Left Plymouth in storm force winds aboard the trusty Pont Aven, in search of better weather and a change of scene. The vehicles were buffeted in the lines waiting to embark (new word) and I was expecting the absolute worst. Kate and Leo swimming along ship corridors were the fate of my imagination.

We waited an hour longer than planned, probably so that the vehicles on board could be secured with giant velcro

The boat swam like a giant dolphin for the first four or five hours and then the sea calmed through the night. I wore my head torch just in case - on my arm. I slept quite well because I had checked out the location of our 'muster' station. 

We arrived to a calm sunny day and all was well.

Some snatched scenery as we whizzed southwards

I can't get enough of bits and pieces in fields and elsewhere.

These were the best I could do at speed. This was 'yesterday' and today is very different. We woke up in a hotel in the little town of Villalpando and not a boat. How good is that? No more boat-related pictures. There was no sea but plenty of pools and puddles. Today the water has mostly come down from above in the form of heavy rain and occasional hail. There has been plenty of wind and even occasional sun. 

Re-visiting the rainy plains where there were hundreds of Great Bustards 

We saw 300 and you may get a picture tomorrow, as I've run out of time. Dinner is nearly ready and I'm starving.

Me and Sylvia zipping up

Time for a change

Time for a switch of scene from the fishing village of Beer in East Devon in the UK to....... I'm not telling until after a picture or two, so you'll have to guess.... if you don't already know. The pictures were taken in October and November 2015 and there was mostly no time or technology to post on the blog.

Setting the scene

...which was very tranquil 

...and far off in the distance

Three little sisters on their way to school in the Debre Libanos/Jemma Valley Region

This was taken (with permission) after they had emptied out their school bags to proudly show me their work. They were beautifully dressed and had very sticky little hands with which they clung on to mine.