Merida Theatre Festival 2013

 

 

 

We are in full summer mode and that means it's HOT and also that it's time for the stupendous Merida Festival again  http://www.festivaldemerida.es/

How exceptionally lucky we are to have this going on just 30 minutes away. The cream of Spanish artists in dance and drama, superb productions all set in a roman theatre which was constructed in   15 BC...............yes that's 2028 years old.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_theatre_(M%C3%A9rida)
One enters the theatre on the original paving stones, very irregular, don't wear high heels........but it IS amazing to see the terminally afflicted Spanish fashion victims managing to still look stunning whilst negotiating this life threatening feat with total elegance. It's all magic, the lighting, the thrill of sitting on the original stone seats (with cushion) and the marvellous stage waiting for the drama, hundreds of frantically moving fans battling against the sultry evening temperatures.
We went to the opening performance, Medea, Seneca version but preformed as a ballet by the superb  Ballet Nacional de España with a production created 30 years ago with the legendary team
Choreography, José Granero ; Music, Manolo Sanlúcar; Costumes, Miguel Narro. Flemenco naturally.

The Orchestra of Extremadura was superb with a special mention for the invited guitarists.
What a great evening!  Prepare for a long evening, the performance starts at 10.45 and we arrived home at about 2.30............well allowing for some much needed refreshment under the stars of a perfect Extremaduran night and the very welcome cooling mist sprays that a lot of bars have now installed.
In fact we have just installed one at Finca al-manzil..........it's bliss!

TRIP TO CORDOBA AND THE SIERRA DE ARACENA

We have been incredibly busy, finishing small building projects, improving the casita and renovating the roof of the cortijo as well as decorating the sittingroom ( I won't go into the details of when the painter fell off the scaffolding with a full 5 litre can of paint.........whole sittingroom Jackson Pollocked!  Everything very scrubbed and clean as a result and gleaming white after the effects of winter fires).  With a cooking holiday week at the cortijo looming up we decided we had to get away even if for a couple of nights, a change of scene and weather as it was still a bit cloudy here so we headed South East to visit friends in Cordoba and see what was new since our last visit some years ago.
The weather improved and after settling into our hotel we headed for the ancient city centre for dinner and later meeting our friends for a drink at their typical rambling Cordoban town house. We crossed the Roman bridge which has been beautifully renovated, it's pedestrian of course and a great way to enter the city especially in the evening.
The highlight of any trip to Cordoba is La Mesquita, we had seen it before but definitely thrilled to visit this glorious space again.

 

 La Mezquita-Catedral, the Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the oldest structures still standing from the late VIII century when Muslims ruled Al-Andalus which included most of Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France.

 Temple/Church/Mosque/Church

The buildings on this site are as complex as the extraordinarily rich history they illustrate. Originally a temple to the Roman god Janus; converted into a Christian church dedicated to Saint Vincent by invading Visigoths in 572;  converted into a mosque in the VIII century by the descendants of the Umayyads—the very first Islamic dynasty who had originally ruled from their capital Damascus from 661 until 750 when they were exiled to the newly conquered Al-Andalus. Once in Spain they  established control over almost all of the Iberian Peninsula and attempted to recreate the grandeur of Damascus in their capital, Cordoba. They sponsored elaborate building programs, promoted agriculture, and even imported fruit trees and other plants from their former home. Orange trees still stand in the courtyard of the Mosque of Cordoba, a beautiful, if bittersweet reminder of the Umayyad exile.
In the 13th century with the reconquest by the Christians under Ferdinand III,  Cordoba's Great Mosque was turned into a cathedral and new defensive structures were built, particularly the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the Torre Fortaleza de la Calahorra.
Architecturally, after 1236 the interior of the Mosque looked much as it did under the Moors.  However, there was a dramatic change in the 16th century.  Overcoming opposition by the city council, and authorised by the king, Carlos V, the cathedral chapter in 1523 undertook to build a large Gothic/Renaissance chancel (capilla mayor) and choir in the very middle of the Mosque. Carlos, who had not seen the Mosque beforehand, later regretted his decision, and reportedly exclaimed upon seeing the completed alteration: "You have built here what you or anyone might have built anywhere else, but you have destroyed what was unique in the world." 
The 18th-century choir stalls, elaborately carved in rich mahogany from the West Indies, contain not only scenes from the Bible, the life of the Virgin and depictions of local martyrs but also a proliferation of decorative pieces: masks, eagles, centaurs, and a variety of stylised flora and fauna.  There isn’t a single element in the choir stalls that isn’t embossed, a much favoured technique of baroque artists. Quite unlike the mosque whose slender columns and delicate arches, repeated uniformly, convey a sense of harmony and tranquility. 
 Even the exquisite beauty of al-Hakem II’s extension with its multi-lobed arches, intricately patterned entry to the mihrab and sumptuously ornamented maqsura (Screen which encloses the area of the mihrab and minbar in early mosques. Originally to protect the caliph from assassination attempts during prayer)  is restrained in comparison to the renaissance and baroque ostentatious splendour.

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS OF THE MESQUITA The Hypostyle Hall The building expanded over two hundred years. It consists of a large hypostyle prayer hall (hypostyle means, filled with columns), a courtyard with a fountain in the middle for ablutions set into a formal orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret that is now encased in a squared, tapered bell tower. The expansive prayer hall seems magnified by its repeated geometry. It is built with recycled ancient Roman columns, all of different heights, the Muslim architects found a solution for this difficulty by building the striking double symmetrical arches, formed of stone and red brick.

The Mihrab

The focal point in the prayer hall is the famous horseshoe arched mihrab or prayer niche. A mihrab is used in a mosque to identify the wall that faces Mecca—the birth place of Islam in what is now Saudi Arabia. This is practical as Muslims face toward Meccaduring their daily prayers. The mihrab in the Great Mosque of Cordoba is framed by an exquisitely decorated arch behind which is an unusually large space, the size of a small room. The arch is adorned with gold tesserae (small pieces of glass with gold and color backing) creating a dazzling combination of azure, terracotta, ochre and gold formed into intricate calligraphic bands with plant motifs.
The Horseshoe Arch
The horseshoe-style arch was common in the architecture of the Visigoths, the people that ruled this area after the Roman empirecollapsed and before the Umayyads arrived. The horseshoe arch eventually spread across North Africa from Morocco to Egypt and is an easily identified characteristic of Western Islamic architecture.
The Dome
Above the mihrab, is an equally dazzling dome. It is built of crisscrossing ribs that create pointed arches all lavishly covered with gold mosaic in a radial pattern. This astonishing building technique anticipates later Gothic rib vaulting, though on a more modest scale.

 I love the outside of the mosque too, the beautiful doorways and intricate carving, what a masterpiece! We must thank the lord or Allah or just the vagaries of fate that this glorious building was saved intact except for the desecration of the hideous Christian chapel squatting in the centre.

The next morning we went for a tramp around the town. Found a lovely little plaza called Plaza del Potro, the square of the pony. It seems a popular place for dogs to hop up and have a good cool off in the fountain, unfortunately my photo misses out some of the ePONYmous pony on top of the fountain..........

This plaza is also the home of the flamenco centre with masses of historical data on all things flamenco and performances every evening and many atmospheric cafés and bars.

There are several old water mills just by the bridge, fascinating industrial architecture powered by the waters of the mighty Guadalquivir river.

Time to leave Cordoba with vows to return and investigate further. 
We planned a very scenic return route which took us to Almodover del Rio and its impressive castle. Apparently the castle, orginally Moorish and then a stronghold of the Christians, had been neglected and ruined for centuries until the owner Conde Torralva started renovation in 1903, it was finally finished in 1936 and this is what we see today.

The renovation saved the ancient parts of the castle but made many rather too imaginative improvisations  which might have been better in a more simple fashion, still it was fun clambering on the ramparts and towers and walking through the many courtyards and secret gardens. 

The road back to Extremadura took us past Cerro del Hierro an abandoned iron mine in the Parque Natural de Sierra de Norte.

The limestone rock is particularly rich in iron ore and other minerals. The iron was first extracted before Roman times and the mines stayed operational until the middle of the 20th Century. The amazing limestone rock formations spread over a large area are now a protected nature reserve with beautiful wild flowers and bushes growing luxuriantly among the old mine workings and weird formations.

The mines were the first and most important stop for the old railway that used to run back to the port of Seville, now a Via Verde, a greenway along the route of the old track. Some of Sevilla’s most iconic landmarks have been constructed using iron from the Cierro del Hierro mines, the Royal Tobacco Factory (now the University of Seville) and the Puente de Triana (Triana Bridge) on the Guadalquivir.
The mines were under the control of a Scottish mining company - William Baird and Co. Ltd from 1895. The British architecture is still visible today although in picturesque ruins.
Despite changing hands a couple of times, the mines were privately owned right up to 2000, when the Junta de Andalucia took over ownership and declared the whole area (363 hectares) a Monument of Natural importanceWe spent the next night in the Sierra de Aracena and a stayed in our favourite village Almonaster La Real with its precious mesquita which follows the same history of the Cordoba mosque; Roman, Visigoth, Moorish and Christian. It is situated in a small sanctuary on the edge of the village.
There's a cool leafy garden at the restaurant Las Palmeras, perfect after a hike in the Aracena hills.

 

 

 

HOMAGE TO EXTREMADURA IN THE GUARDIAN- December 2012

Yellow arrows guide the Northerner's pilgrim Alan Sykes through the little-publicised wonders of a lovely region. And his pedometer has clocked up a million footsteps

Alan has left more than a million of these in Spain so far.
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
 

After around a fortnight and 350km, the camino finally led me out of Extremadura, over a high pass on an almost perfectly paved Roman road, up into the sierra and into the region of Castilla-León, where I will be for the next 350km.
If this stretch is anything like as enjoyable as the last ones, I am in for yet more treats, although the worsening weather may have other ideas. Extremadura has been an almost constant series of surprising delights. I had barely heard of most of them before my first visit. Even lordly Cáceres I mostly knew about because, for several years, the Marqués de Cáceres was a drinkable cheap red wine sold in some British supermarkets.
Olives being harvested north of Zafra, in Extremadura

The towns, the villages, the countryside, the wildlife, the food, the wine, the architecture, the Roman remains, the Visigothic traces, the mediaeval survivals - all have been an almost uninterrupted pleasure.
Not forgetting the climate: one morning it drizzled on me for a couple of hours – not even hard enough to make it worth getting my coat out of the rucksack – and otherwise it has been almost uninterrupted sunshine since leaving Andalucia.
A palace of wine and olive oil in Almendralejo - what more can one want?

The clear skies also helped star gazing, mostly with little light pollution. So for several nights running it was possible to watch the waxing moon playing catch-up with Jupiter - and the two very nearly bumped into each other the night I was in Cáceres. Leaving before dawn most mornings meant that I usually had Venus as a companion until 8.30 or so. 
The longest bridge in the Roman Empire, at Mérida

From the glory that was Cáceres, the grandeur that was Mérida and the gaiety that was Zafra, the major towns all had very different attractions. But even the 'one horse towns' usually had something special going for them. In Fuente de Cantos, the 'one horse' was Zurbaran, while other attractions included the ham and cheese museums of Monesterio and Casar de Cáceres, a little Visigothic chapel outside Alcuescar, the Almohad dynasty ramparts at Galisteo, the oaks being harvested for cork, coming upon a majestic wild boar less than 50 yards off, having a Roman bath in Baños de Montemayor, the triumphal arch at Cáparra and I've forgotten how many Roman bridges of various sizes
A holm oak after its once every 7-9 years cork harvest

The Via de la Plata, the Roman road that runs right through Extremadura makes navigation relatively simple, as it almost always coincides with the resurrected camino de Santiago. The junta of Extremadura has put in some easy to read marker stones all the way along the road. In addition, the people responsible for the camino to Santiago have painted yellow arrows along "their" way. Between the two sets of way-markers, it's difficult to get lost, and it's very easy to travel very economically. Staying in the albergues that have been established for the pilgrim route is almost astonishingly good value - although for some you do need a credencial, or pilgrim passport. It's not grande luxe – mostly basic bunk beds and hot showers - but normally after a long day walking and a pleasant evening eating a menú del día (sometimes a special pilgrim menu), sleep comes easily and usually soundly. As it's so out of season, only once have I had to share a dormitory with other travellers. 
The albergues are run by a mixture of organisations: some subsidised by the Junta of Extremadura, some run by religious confraternities, some by the local town hall, and an increasing number of private ones have sprung up as the traffic on this route increases. In the nine nights between Mérida and Salamanca, I spent €74 on accommodation. This ranged from the completely free municipal albergue in Casar de Cáceres, to €12 for a night in a private albergue. The one in Alcuescar is in the Casa de la Misericordia, where the religious order of Los Hermanos Esclavos runs a residential hospital. At Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, up in the sierra south of Salamanca, the albergue is in the same complex as the parish hall, set up by the long serving parish priest Don Blas Rodriguez, who is mainly responsible for opening up the camino on this isolated stretch.


Alan Sykes is the Guardian Northerner's arts expert and much else, including temporary cookery correspondent of The Hotspur parish magazine. He is trekking 1000km to Santiago de Compostela to expiate unknown sins. You can read his earlier reports from the camino here.

A BAROQUE EVENING IN TRUJILLO

Two reasons I booked tickets for this concert; first I love baroque music and second I could finally get inside the palacio San Carlos in Trujillo. So many times I have gazed up at it's dusty exterior wondering what lay hidden behind the monumental walls.
 All dressed up complete with the essential concert goers accessories in Spain, a fan and a man, I entered the massive door into a candlelit lobby which led into the open courtyard of the palacio where the concert would take place.

 An impressive space which easily held the 300 people audience. The architecture held no surprises except in the scale which was vast and the extent of recent renovations which for once were sympathetic, leaving the austerely classical bones of the 16th century building exposed, all was lit dramatically and I was very happy gazing around whilst waiting for the start of the concert.

The London Soloists are a group of 14 musicians; 8 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, a double bass and a harpsicord and they make very sweet music. Lots of old favourites, Pachebel's canon, some Bach, some Handel and as the grande finale Vivaldi's four seasons (again). I still love the whole thing, brings back memories throughout my life in so many different situations

There was a long interval before the 4Ss which took place in the huge walled area at the back of the palacio. The music festival had been sponsored by Habla, a local bodega in Trujillo producing some very upmarket wine,  I was happy to see tables loaded with the distinctive Habla bottles and very generous supplies freely flowing as well as some nice tapas. The views up to the floodlit castle were beautiful. Unfortunately photos are not too good, only had my phone with me, the one of me in the garden is terribly blurred, maybe just as well but you can still see a fairly inane grin, I think I was enjoying the evening!

Those were the days?

An interesting photo montage of Montanchez from the 30s/40s from the archives of Eugenio a.k.a. Jimi Blues our local Hendrix.
There is a strange insert with comment about the modern day plaza de toros, a dismal place, a rectangular space devoted to the amateur torture of bulls.......we went once and saw drunken idiots baiting a bull in the most barbaric fashion and then botching their moment of truth disastrously...the local police had to called in to shoot the poor creature in the head with a pistol...I mean the bull.  Also some comment on the modern graffiti against the proposed wind farm.   Still a quaint reminder of how Montanchez was, well within living memory.

NEW!! CREATIVE COOKING HOLIDAY AT THE CORTIJO OF THE FINCA

Create and enjoy sumptuous Moroccan, Middle Eastern and Iberic feasts at the cortijo of

Finca al-manzil http://www.finca-al-manzil.com/ 
One week each month March – June and September –December according to availability. Cooking, mountain trekking , well-being, cultural visits, country life.

ALSO A SHORT BREAK FOUR DAY HOLIDAY WITH THE 3 COOKING DAYS IN A ROW.
N.B. This holiday can be run for 1 - 6 people

There has been much acclaim for the dinners prepared at the finca so we have decided to share our secrets and run a creative cooking course several times a year. The cortijo kitchen is spacious with all the special equipment and implements needed to create delicious Moroccan, Middle Eastern, Spanish and Portuguese dishes using natural fresh local vegetables, meat, fish, fruit and herbs; the spices are imported regularly from Morocco.

Our aim and pleasure is to inspire enjoyment of the food in the well designed and decorated surroundings of the finca. Dinner will be the highlight of every day. Starting tapas which we have had fun inventing served on the terrace we eat dinner around the huge dining table or maybe outside if the evening is warm. Possibly dinner will have been cooked in the traditional clay oven or over a charcoal grill. We serve Extremeña wines and maybe with coffee a special liqueur from the Jerte valley or some aguadente made from the medroño or wild strawberry bush.

The accommodation is at Finca al-manzil cortijo or barn and a neighbouring house all in beautiful, peaceful situations with splendid views of countryside and up to the peaks of the mountains. The rooms have en-suite bathrooms; there is a choice of single occupancy or shared twin room or renting a whole house for your own use. The sitting room has a wood burning fire for chilly nights and there are two terraces for gazing at the stars.

The classes are open for a maximum of 6 people and minimum of 2 people. Discounts are available if you are able to arrange your own group of 4 friends or more. Our holidays are designed on a weekly basis and integrate an interesting programme of cooking, nature and culturally based activities and a visit to stunning Trujillo with dinner at a typical restaurant..

THE HOLIDAY INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING -7 nights stay at Finca al-manzil or neighbouring house with the following daily programmes, 3 days of cooking and eating the preparation for dinner, 4 days of alternative activities with dinner either at the finca or in restaurant. OR The four day holiday which follows the itinerary for the 3 cooking days.

DAY 1 ARRIVAL AT FINCA Time to get to know your surroundings, meet the other guests and relax after your journey. Dinner prepared by Pippa

DAY 2 COOKING DAY - MOROCCAN

Breakfast

10.00 – 14.00 - Moroccan Cooking tuition, preparation and cooking of a selection of Moroccan dishes using typical ingredients and spices. Lunch is a healthy light salad with local cheese or jamon, fresh bread and maybe a juice, smoothie or spritzer . Time to relax, a siesta, a swim, some reading or photography perhaps

17.00 – 18.00 or 19.00 for longer walks - An optional afternoon walk in the sierra. We see the rich bird life and wild flowers of the sierra and the local agricultural activities, olive and fig groves, sheep and the iberic pigs nurtured on acorns in the woods. There are also mountain bikes if you prefer a ride on the quiet lanes around the finca.

Depending on the time of the year we participate in olive harvest (Dec/Jan) grape and fig harvest (September) Wild Asparagus picking in Spring. Visit to WOMAD in Caceres (May) Medieval Fair in Caceres (November) Usually every month has a local fiesta going on which we can visit.

A pause for another swim or preparing yourselves for the evening, we believe in making a special evening every evening, the table will be looking very pretty and the food is going to be stupendous.We are on Spanish time so tapas and drinks at 20.30 and dinner at 21 ish. Now the rest of the evening is up to you, you have had an interesting, active day so now relax, enjoy and converse.

DAY 3

Breakfast. Visit to our local villages to stock up on delicious ingredients which will include a visit to a cheese making farm and a tour of the jamon curing in Montanchez. Lunch in a local bodega. Back to the finca. Afternoon as day 2. Dinner is prepared for you by Pippa but you can join in with preparation of creative tapas before dinner.

DAY 4 -COOKING DAY -IBERIAN As day 2 using some of the ingredients that we bought yesterday for preparation of Spanish and Portuguese dishes for dinner.

Afternoon as day

DAY 5

Breakfast. Trip to Merida to explore the largest collection of Roman ruins besides Rome. Walk over the 2000 year old Roman bridge into the town where we will visit the impressive theatre and superb museum of Roman art.Time for some shopping or a break in the attractive plaza.Lunch in a traditional bodega with great collection of bull fighting memorabilia on the walls.Back to finca for relaxing afternoon. Dinner prepared by Pippa , observers welcome.

DAY 6 -COOKING DAY – MIDDLE EASTERN

Breakfast.

Preparation and cooking with typical Middle Eastern ingredients and spices. Various dishes including an array of mezes for lunch and more substantial dishes for dinner.

Afternoon as day 2.

DAY 7

Breakfast.

An optional walk up the garganta de molinos, the watermill gorge, over the mountain to Montanchez and back down to the finca. A wonderful walk, takes 3 hours in total, lunch in Montanchez or back at the finca. Relaxing afternoon at the finca. Late afternoon trip to Trujillo an ancient and very beautiful town which we explore, taking a leisurely walk up to the castle and around the narrow lanes. Dinner in the plaza at one of the excellent restaurants.

DAY 8 DEPARTURE

WHEN DO WE OPERATE?

The holidays are run all year except for July and August the hottest months which limit time for the more active part of the holidays. The climate is excellent in the sierra; Spring and Autumn, February – June, September - October are delightfully warm and sunny. Winter, Nov. Dec. and January are less warm but usually sunny and bright with of course more rain. It rarely rains for more than a few hours. We have a wood burning stoves and a cosy atmosphere for the chillier days.

PRICES
INCLUDE 7 NIGHTS STAY AT FINCA AL-MANZIL. ALL DINNERS AND LUNCHES AND COOKING TUITION ON COOKING DAYS.  BUT NOT FOOD AND BEVERAGES ON EXCURSIONS

ONE WEEK €1050 PER PERSON

FOUR DAYS €600 PER PERSON