A VISIT TO LA VERA

Last week we had an invitation for dinner and a stay in La Vera. Very welcome as we can rarely get away from the finca in the Summer when we have all our lovely guests staying but we thought we could risk one night away, I am so happy we went, it was most delightful.
 A fast journey through Trujillo, up the motorway and then branching off through lush tobacco fields on the lower slopes of the Gredos with the impressive silhouette of the highest peak, Pico Almanzor looming in the distance. How many villages are there with La Vera in their name? Very many but finally we came to Villanueva de la Vera our meeting point with Cristóbal at his Baraka Café, a local Muslim community project, not only running the café and restaurant but also hosting film and musical events  with  occasional conferences  and  lectures, also a regular Sunday morning farmers' market on the patio.    http://www.barakadelavera.com/
It was very hot despite being in the mountains but there is water everywhere edged with verdant ferns and undergrowth. We followed a dusty camino along the side one of the many river gargantas (gorges)  of the sierra, deep into the mountains. Thankfully we knew there was going to be a lovely cool swim in a natural swimming pool worn out of the rocks by the mountain stream.
First we dropped our things off at the stone house where we would be staying, how charming it looked set in its GREEN lawn, everything was GREEN, a wonder for us coming from our golden Summer landscape further South.

(It was certainly a great experience to wake up the following day with early morning sunlight filtering through the trees, enjoying breakfast on the beautiful balcony, all the ironwork is designed and made by Cristóbal using a laser cutting technique.)

We continued further up the track to Alicia and  Cristóbal's house set in more greenery with stupendous views of rolling hills and up to dramatic mountain scenery, a lovely family home that has grown from an original stone farmhouse.

After greeting Alicia and some other guests we almost ran down the winding steep slope to the river below and the enticing clear cool water. What bliss! I swam in one place against the strong current, delicious, but Manfred couldn't resist the natural stone chute which propelled him rather swiftly from one pool to the next.

More people arrived and there was much conviviality, good food and wine under pristine stars of the sierra. Much later, back to the comfort of our little house in the woods and a good sleep.

Before getting back to our Summer duties at Finca al-manzil we went up to say goodbye and see the wonders of the stone circle, sculpture garden and of course Cristóbal's studio .
Cristóbal is a sculptor, mainly using the lost wax technique for bronze sculptures but also works in stone, wood and iron, his studio is a treasure house of stunning objects arranged in seemingly haphazard groups which exude an exotically precious aura.

 Nature is an obvious inspiration; goats, dogs, lions, toads, whales,chameleons, armadillos and dragonflies are scattered in profusion as well as simple organic shapes. My favourite piece was a group of three beautiful objects vaguely like giant sharks teeth, all bronze but with different treatments giving three different textures and tones but all the same shape. Bronze books open to pages of Adam and Eve; Arabic calligraphy and geometric designs are a favourite theme. You can see more here www.cristobalsculpt.com

Just before we departed we walked a little way up the hill, past the sculpture garden, past the stables and the small meadow set up for archery practise on horseback, a little further and we came to a plateau with an extensive stone circle, the stones were not very massive but had apparently been placed with due ceremony and appropriate chantings by a Hopi Indian on a visit from America, according to him the place had a very strong spiritual force. This is not uncommon in the mountains where ancient people made their refuges.
  Time to say goodbye to this magic place with promises to get together again in the Autumn.

On our way home we stopped at the Monastery of Yuste which is very close.
http://www.spain.info/en/conoce/monumentos/caceres/monasterio_de_yuste.html
 Once again I was impressed by the wonderfully peaceful situation, buried in deepest woods. In the 16th century a remote and inaccessible place chosen by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V  to retire from his vast empire, the most powerful ruler on earth lived his last years in relative simplicity still plagued by chronic gout.

 The special chair for supporting his gouty foot is on exhibition as well as the incredibly small bed positioned so he could hear mass through a door looking on to the high altar, this room is hung with deepest black velvet curtains, the originals described by a visitor before the Emperor's death in 1558.
We arrived home to the finca to find that all was well, everyone happy........so we look forward to our next quick little getaway.
In the meantime here is an extract from one of Federico García Lorca's most beautiful collection of  ballads,  Romancero Gitano, it reminds me of La Vera, green and mysterious.
This is a fragment from the ballad Romance Sonámbulo   http://usuaris.tinet.cat/picl/libros/glorca/gl002500.htm#04

Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
El barco sobre la mar
y el caballo en la montaña.
Con la sombra en la cintura
ella sueña en su baranda
verde carne, pelo verde,
con ojos de fría plata.
Verde que te quiero verde.
Bajo la luna gitana,
las cosas la están mirando
y ella no puede mirarlas.

Verde que te quiero verde.
Grandes estrellas de escarcha,
vienen con el pez de sombra
que abre el camino del alba.
La higuera frota su viento
con la lija de sus ramas,
y el monte, gato garduño,
eriza sus pitas agrias.
¿Pero quién vendrá? ¿Y por dónde...?
Ella sigue en su baranda,
verde carne, pelo verde,
soñando en la mar amarga.

EXCURSION TO PLASENCIA AND LA VERA

EXCURSION TO PLASENCIA AND LA VERA – 1 hour 15 minutes drive from Finca al-manzil

A gorgeous day in the middle of September, Thursday…..market day in Plasencia.

The outskirts of Plasencia are not pre-possessing, a town to whizz through on the way to the delights of Salamanca. However, there are many interesting corners in the old part of town including TWO Cathedrals and the market square. I am always delighted by any sort of market, all the hustle and bustle, the outrageously LOUD cries of the stall holders hoping to draw ones attention to their pile of produce which looks identical to all the others. September is the peak time of the red pepper harvest for which the La Vera region is famous, it even has a quality controlled standard for the very best pimenton in the whole of Spain. Pimenton is the lusciously coloured powder made from smoked and ground red peppers, first produced by the monks of Yuste from the first red peppers grown in Europe, cultivated from the seeds brought back by Columbus from the West Indies in the 15th century. Besides huge mounds of the long twisty red peppers there were beautifully ripe fruit and vegetables grown in the rich, well watered soil of the La Vera. I bought a kilo of garlic with really fat cloves, well dried and tinged with lilac, a large wedge of local cheese and some scrumptious bumpy bread with seeds and nuts, this baker also sold slices from a huge tuna, red pepper and tomato pie, I bought some of that too for our picnic which seemed to be getting more and more gargantuan as I went from stall to stall. There was also a stall selling some really archaic looking agricultural implements all in shiny new steel, some lovely wood and steel pocket knifes.

It was getting hot by now so we had a cool drink in one of the cafés around the square and then, somewhat loaded down, took the long way back to the car past the cathedrals.

From Plasencia we headed out into the pretty countryside in the direction of Garganta da Olla which is a delightful small gorge with natural rock pools. In September there were still a few people swimming and lying around on the rocks but just a few and we found a good spot for our picnic besides a deep pool with smooth warm rocks, Roxy was in heaven slithering in and out of the water, we were less adventurous and merely dipped out toes in as we ate. A really special place with huge frondy water plants and shady trees amongst the rocks. Easy walking by the stream with many little detours.

Next stop the Monastery at Yuste. I love this place buried in deep quiet woods, surrounded by a high wall and a most romantic aspect with its lofty open porch at the front overlooking the fish pond and gardens.

It was here that the Emperor Charles V came to retire from the world, to rest his gouty foot from a specially designed chair, still to be seen today, or to lie in his bed directly next to the high alter participating in the many masses said for his eternal soul. For such a mighty emperor this was a simple hermitage where he wished to end his days but it seems a magical place to me, I do wish I could visit the cool cloisters and secret rooms but these are still in use by the monks and one only has a little glimpse.

                                                                  The gout chair

We continued on to the little village of Cuacos de Yuste where the future Philip II stayed whilst visiting his father. Some charming corners and interesting local architecture all festooned with hanging bunches of drying peppers. A few bars on the main square, of course we ordered Yuste beer which was originally brewed by the monks, really rich and malty. From here we drove slowly back to the autovia and headed back to Finca al-manzil. An interesting and certainly fruitful day out.