Day 2 July 13 July Sunday Alcala de Henares to Oropesa (Ultimately)

Day 2 July 13 July Sunday Alcala de Henares to Oropesa (Ultimately)

We are heading out to Oropesa today. There was a bit of confusion at check-out due to Jane messing up the room numbers! However the little snot at reception was right and I had to apologize.  I call him a little snot because even if you are wrong the staff are normally so sweet and polite and say No pasa nada etc but this guy must have been having a bad day because he was very po faced and crabby and did not give us the 15%  discount slip for lunch etc.

Anyway, the car packed, we set off for Consuegra and the windmills. As you approach, they are quite a sight marching across the top of the hills. No wonder Don Quijote in his delirium took them for giants. Sancho Panza told him what they were but did he listen?....NO of course not! Ian took some great pictures with his 360 camera and Zoey and I toured the one with all it’s machinery intact. At the top of the windmill there are small windows all around, and the first thing the miller does is open all these tiny windows to determine where the wind is coming from. Then he, with help, turns the blades in the correct direction and we have action. The blades are basically skeletons which are covered with a canvas sleeve to increase the wind surface. The grain is put in a chute where gravity takes it down to the huge grinding stones, then the flour is funneled to another chute which deposits it in a canvas bag tied onto the chute! All very efficient! It is a grand view from up there. There is also a castle but as we heading to another, we decided to skip this ruin. Spain has a castle on every mountain top and us old folks have to pace ourselves. It was very hot but the fairly gentle wind kept it bearable for us.

Off and away to Toledo. Ian had made this request as he loved it on our last visit with the fam 6 years ago. We parked at the Underground parking garage and took the 6 escalators to the top of the city. Actually, we drove up first but couldn’t find anything for that monster of a car so we headed back down.  We did a lot of walking to find somewhere for lunch, I have not been in training for this as I usually do, so I think I may pay for this over the next couple of days! We had tapas in Lanzarron which is actually a pincho place and very good, hit the spot.  This was our second day in Spain and we have covered a lot of ground so we opted for a taxi back down to the parking garage.  Had to call for a Radio Taxi as we are five and normal taxis can only take 4! 

We hit the road for Parador Oropesa. It is a lovely approach, out in the country next to a small town. We unloaded the car and as it was pushing 7.30/8.00 we took a very short walk down a fairly gentle hill to the town plaza for dinner. Zoey had fried cochinilla (not as good as oven roasted), wild boar in different sauces for Cathie and Ian, Huelva gambas for me(shrimp) and a solomillo (filet mignon) for Paul. Of course there was bread, wine, water, dessert etc!

One of our favorite things to do is people watch and we did that with great enthusiasm as, quite frankly, we were all fried, just like that damn piglet! So many people out in this little town at 10.30 at night, kids too. A very vibrant happy town, but we really had to crash for the night! So off we stumbled up the very gentle hill that now looks like Mount Everest!

Hasta Manana!