CARNIVAL IN MONTANCHEZ

Carnival is quite late this year but it was still chilly in the plaza mayor as hundreds of people came to watch the parade of floats on Sunday. There were several different themes but my favourite was the fishing boat made of newspaper floating on a blue polythene sea, fishermen casting their nets over the lovely, plump and shiny gambas, wonderful costumes with incredible detail.  There were all the usual suspects, cowboys and indians, the victorious Spanish football team, Noah's ark, shepherd, sheep and wolves, a tribe of fat black savages with enormous objects swinging out of their grass skirts.........ah the joys of carnival.  It was a good atmosphere with lots of happy, rampaging niños and smiling faces everywhere.

CANNIBALS !

BAWDY CARNIVAL SPIRIT.............

NEW VENTURE!! - CONQUISTADOR TRAIL HOLIDAY

THE CONQUISTADOR TRAIL- CULTURE, COOKING AND WALKING IN EXTREMADURA


A journey of discovery through historical towns, beautiful countryside and delicious food.

Trujillo, view from the castle

Walking towards Trujillo

One of the magnificent conquistador palaces of Trujillo

Imagine staying in one of the most precious towns of Spain, beautifully preserved with a glowing atmosphere; a Moorish castle, medieval streets and amazing conquistador palaces………this is Trujillo in Extremadura. Our base is one of the most beautiful buildings on the Plaza Mayor, Palacio de Piedras Albas, a perfect 16th century palacio with a stunning portico overlooking the vibrant plaza.

The holiday is designed to explore Extremadura through culture, nature and gastronomy.

We visit some of the most historically interesting towns of Extremadura many with strong conquistador connections; Trujillo, Caceres, Guadalupe, Montanchez and Merida

We explore the superb nature and countryside of Extremadura, each day will include a guided cultural walk in a town as well as a walk in nature, many are on historical routes such as the medieval pilgrimage walk to the monastery of Guadalupe, the Via de la Plata Roman route through Merida and the Moorish mountain paths of Montanchez.

Food is an interesting element of our holiday, we include two mornings of cooking at the palacio, full participation welcome! Besides the creative cooking on these mornings Pippa will create a wonderful dinner every evening based on traditional Extremeno cuisine and also gorgeous recipes from Latin America. Extremeno food is full of surprises and wonderful ingredients such as the famous Iberic jamon and pork, wild asparagus, local cheese, wines and sumptuous fruit. The more exotic recipes use the ingredients brought back from the New World by the conquistadors; chocolate, peppers, tomatoes and maize. What could be more appropriate than to use these foods in Extremadura where they were first introduced to the Old World and particularly Trujillo where many of the most famous conquistadors were raised and then returned from the New World with fabulous wealth to build a perfect renaissance town.

THE EXCURSIONS

Barruecas, Caceres

Caceres - A fascinating world heritage town with a medieval centre and renaissance palaces of the conquistador era. A walk around the nearby Barruecos, an amazing area of huge granite boulders home to a huge stork colony. This area fascinated the Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell, we will visit the wonderful 18th century wool washing complex where he made his home and studio, it is now an enthralling permanent collection of his work and other famous Fluxus artists.



Monastery of Guadalupe



Guadalupe -A world heritage town with an astounding monastery dedicated to the famed black madonna, inspiration for all the Guadalupes of Latin America. A guided tour of the monastery by one of the monks.There are Zurbarans lurking in the cloisters. The original village of Guadalupe huddles around the monastery with its picturesque wooden balconies, full of flowers and bunches of drying red peppers.

Lunch in a local bodega. A walk in the beautiful Sierra de Villuercas.

Roman Theatre Merida

Merida - We 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.

Plaza Mayor, Merida

Time for some shopping or a break in the attractive plaza.

One of the spectacular mosaics at the museum of roman art in Merida

Vistit to the traditional covered market for fresh produce.

Lunch in a traditional bodega with great collection of bull fighting memorabilia from the last 100 years.

On the way back to Trujillo we stop off at the Natural Park of Cornalvo and walk around the lake which is in fact a Roman reservoir, a haven for birdlife.

Montanchez

Walking in the Sierra de Montanchez

A trip to the Sierra de Montanchez and the mountain village famous for jamon iberico de bellota. Surrounded by olive and fig groves, this charming village is known as the balcony of Extremadura due to vast views from the Moorish castle. From the village we walk into the countryside on one of the original Moorish paths, no doubt meeting a few donkeys along the way taking their owners to outlying olive groves. Our route will take us through chestnut woods, olive groves and spectacular views to the watermill gorge of Arroyomolinos where we can see many water mills descending though the gorge, some are said to be of Roman origin. The countryside is glorious with wild herbs and flowers and birds of prey wheeling above.

Lunch in a local bodega to sample the wonderful jamon and local Pitarra wine.

Accommodation at Palacio de Piedras Albas
The Palacio is in the heart of Trujillo, right on the main plaza but behind the impressive entrance is the tranquil atmosphere of a traditional family house with inner courtyard and a wide staircase leading to the first floor reception rooms and bedrooms. The stunning Florentine portico leads off the main salon, it is the perfect place to relax and watch life down on the beautiful plaza, if you need less distraction and more tranquillity there is a spacious garden filled with flowers and a lovely swimming pool in a sheltered corner.

Pippa will take you on a first guided tour of Trujillo, an introduction to your own wanderings through the atmospheric lanes and enjoyment of the vast panoramas from the castle walls. A simple but wonderful pleasure is to enjoy a drink at one of the open air terraces on the plaza, as the sun goes down the ancient building glow in a golden light.

PRICES
The holiday is for a minimum of 6 people and maximum of 8 @ €150 per person per day. Prices based on a shared twin. Single person supplement for private room is €50 per day

DISCOUNTS ARE AVAILABLE IF YOU ARE ABLE TO ARRANGE YOUR OWN GROUP OF 6 FRIENDS.

WHEN DO WE OPERATE?
The holidays are run in late April depending on Easter, May, June, late September and early October.

Spring is from February – May, the most beautiful season with millions of wild flowers, lovely sunny warm weather and some rain showers. June is starting to get hot but better to enjoy the pool and a taste of summer without the intense heat.

Autumn starts in late September - October usually delightfully warm and sunny with some rainy days but never continuous.
DATES
Our holidays are designed on a weekly basis.
The dates for 2011 are as follows

MAY 07 -14

JUNE 11 -18

SEPT 17 -24

OCT. 01 -08

WHAT DOES THE HOLIDAY INCLUDE?
Accommodation and breakfast at Palacio de Piedras Albas for 7 nights, 2 mornings of cooking and eating the preparations for lunch and dinner, 4 days of alternative activities and excursions with dinner at the palacio.

All ingredients, equipment and travel included. (Excluding arrival and departure travel to and from Trujillo)

Food and beverages and entrance fees whilst on excursions are not included.

BOOKING POLICY
A deposit of 30% of the total price for all persons to be paid to secure the reservation .
The remaining balance to be paid 8 weeks before the date of arrival.
We accept payment by bank transfer OR through paypal http://www.paypal.com/
A reliable and safe method of international payment.

A TYPICAL HOLIDAY WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING PROGRAME

1st DAY
ARRIVAL AT Palacio de Piedras Albas

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

2nd DAY
1st COOKING MORNING – INTRODUCTION TO CONQUISTADOR INSPIRED CUISINE
Breakfast
10.30 – 14.00 Preparation and cooking of a selection of Latin American dishes using typical ingredients and spices, e.g. quails in rose petal sauce and chicken with chocolate mole sauce.
Lunch at the palacio will be part of our morning’s preparation, usually we eat lunch in the garden.
Time to relax, a siesta, a swim, some reading or photography perhaps.

17.00 – 18.30 A guided walk around Trujillo with Pippa, through atmospheric lanes lined with secret gardens, jasmine and orange trees glimpsed over high stone walls, conquistador palacios with exquisite facades and beautiful interiors, sublime churches endowed with impressive works of art.

The walk starts in the magnificent Plaza Mayor, an almost theatrical space surrounded by a collection of interesting buildings, each with a story in the long history of Trujillo.

Time for another swim or preparation for the evening, we believe in making a special atmosphere 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 21ish.
Now the rest of the evening is up to you, you have had an interesting, active day so relax, enjoy and converse.

3rd DAY -CACERES
A guided walk within the Moorish walls, through the medieval town visiting the museum and Moorish algibe. Lunch in typical bodega.

A walk around the Barruecas lake and park with a visit to the Wolf Vostell museum.

Back to the palacio.

Dinner prepared by Pippa.

4th DAY MERIDA
Breakfast.
A cultural tour of this amazing Roman city.

Time for some shopping or a break in the attractive plaza.

Vistit to the traditional covered market for fresh produce.

Lunch in a traditional bodega with great collection of bull fighting memorabilia from the last 100 years.

On the way back we visit

Cornalvo Natural Park, a protected area of woodland near Merida, we walk around the lake which is in fact an original Roman reservoir, a haven for birdlife.

Back to the palacio for relaxing afternoon.

Dinner prepared by Pippa.

5th DAY 2ND COOKING DAY – Typical Extremeno ingredients and cuisine

Breakfast

10.30 -14.00 As day 2 using some of the ingredients that we bought yesterday for preparation of dishes for lunch and dinner.

Free afternoon

Dinner with prepared dishes.

6th DAY GUADALUPE
Breakfast.

A lovely ride through beautiful countryside to the Sierra deVillurcas where the town of Guadalupe clusters around the ancient monastery which was built in honour of the Virgin de Guadalupe one of Spains’ famous black madonnas. Walk in the Sierra de Guadalupe.

Return to Trujillo.

Dinner prepared by Pippa.

7th DAY MONTANCHEZ

Breakfast.

Visit to the mountain village of Montanchez famous for jamon production, walk up to the Moorish castle.

Walk to the water mill gorge of Arroyomolinos

Lunch in a bodega to sample the jamon, local cheese and wine

Back to the Trujillo.

Afternoon as day 2.

Dinner is prepared by Pippa

DAY 8

DEPARTURE

Some of the wonderful old towns you can visit from Finca al-manzil

 

A Trip to the Moon / Le Voyage dans la lune - 1902

From total lunar eclipse in 2010 to a trip to the moon........re-wind to 1902.

It's quite a brain shaker, mixing time and space and cultural perspectives. For the first time in nearly 400 years the lunar eclipse coincides with the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. In addition, both sun and eclipsed moon will briefly be visible above the horizon – cloud cover permitting – in an unusual event called a selenehelion.......just imagine........and see how the moon was perceived in 1902.
A Trip to the Moon,  Le Voyage dans la lune is a 1902 French black and white silent science fiction film. It is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells
The film was written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston. The film runs 14 minutes if projected at 16 frames per second, which was the standard frame rate at the time the film was produced. It was extremely popular at the time of its release and is the best-known of the hundreds of fantasy films made by Méliès. A Trip to the Moon is the first science fiction film, and utilizes innovative animation and special effects, including the iconic shot of the rocketship landing in the moon's eye. It's a window into a more naif age, clumsy and whimsical but quite, quite incredible, this was 108 years ago, most of the people appearing in the film were born between 130 - 180 years ago.

Autumn Oaks on Finca al-manzil

Changing colours on the finca where we have three different species of oak trees. 

Quercus Robur is the "English" oak which creates the dramatic golden splashes at this time of the year as the leaves become golden. 

Quercus Suber ,Cork oak and Quercus Ilex the Holm oak stay green all year. All the members of the Quercus family produce acorns but some are not fit for consumption by man or beast especially Quercus Robur which can be fatal for horses, it gives them terrible colic. Fortunately our finca is covered with Holm and Cork oak which produce huge quantities of edible acorns much appreciated by our horses and donkeys. Not so long ago the acorns were gathered for human consumption too. We have tried them, very similar to chestnuts when roasted and go very well with jamon which is not surprising as the wonderful jamon of Montanchez is produced from Iberic pigs exclusively fattened with acorns in the vast dehesas of our area.

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.

MEDIEVAL FAIR IN CACERES

I had been looking forward to the Medieval Fair as I remember how entertaining it was 2 years ago, it didn’t take place last year as there were too many renovations going on in the ancient part of Caceres. This year we had the company of a client staying for the cooking week* (SEE WEB SITE FOR DETAILS www.finca-al-manzil.com)

This would a good opportunity to see some Iberic and Moroccan street food in action. Of course a medieval fair taking place anywhere in Spain or Portugal always has a strong Moroccan influence. Even though the Moors were defeated in Extremadura by 1230 their influence certainly continued in customs, cuisine and dress for some time to come…….they were not finally defeated in Spain until 1492, nearly 3 centuries later in Granada.

The fair runs for 3 days in November. It takes place in the ancient part of Caceres which is simply magical as a setting especially at night when the soft lighting and many candles illuminate scenes of colour and fun. The stall holders and food vendors do a marvellous job with their costumes, not over done with gaudy stuff but natural fabrics in muted colours, leather, sheepskin, amazing range of headgear, hoods, caps, turbans. In the Moroccan food area up by the Parador the colours are more vivid but everyone is well wrapped up, it’s quite chilly.

There was so much to see, just as we were rounding a bend in one of the narrow streets a troupe of chain- mailed Templers came clanking along singing raucously, costumes looking extremely authentic even with some mud and blood smeared about. There were wonderful wooden carousels and dippers run by energetic men peddling away like mad, not sure if this was a medieval design, surely someone would have made the leap and invented a bicycle from this idea!

The food was really good, lots of sticky honey and nut pastries just like the ones in the Marrakech souk, huge grills with spicy kebabs which were stuffed into flat breads with delicious salads. Tea stalls with mint scent wafting about.

The Iberic food part of the fair was down by the Santa Maria church, piles of meat and sausages grilling, baked potatoes, wine and beer stalls, one stall selling Ginginha, a sweet aromatic liquor made from cherries, sold in small old fashioned bars in down town Lisbon, very warming!

A corner of the upper square was roped off for the most gorgeous miniature ponies and beautifully groomed camels for childrens’ rides, the camels behaved with impeccable grace and their usual hauteur, magic seeing these mythical beasts trudging around the alleys of Caceres.

After sampling various foods and beverages and enjoying some pretty music played by wandering minstrels we headed back down to the main plaza for one last drink. A really entertaining evening, can’t wait for the next one.

Millions of shots of Venice....but these are mine ( LOTS more soon)

A superb time in Venice 05- 11 October -  a complete report soon!

THE CRANES ARE BACK!

 1 hour from Finca al-manzil

Each winter, starting at the beginning of November and continuing until late February thousands of Common Crane (grus grus) decend upon Extremadura from their breeding grounds in Northern Europe. At the peak of their migration there are up to 20,000 between 15 December – 15 January. There are two specific areas where they arrive. One is South of Badajoz and the other is Dehesa Moheda Alta South of Gudalupe within the irrigation system of the Guadiana river near Obando. There are hundreds of hectares of rice fields nearby as well as arable land and huge areas of dehesa covered with cork oak and holm oak both laden with ripe acorns that start to fall at this time of the year. These are ideal conditions for the cranes, they gorge on acorns, insects and herbs in the dehesa and grains of rice and corn left after harvest in the fields. It’s a wonderful sight to see these huge birds crowned with a startling red crest grazing amongst the trees together with the chubby iberic black pigs who have free range of the dehesa for fattening purposes. They form large separate groups of several hundred birds, however, family groups of adults and the current year’s chicks, one to three, can be seen grazing by themselves. All very fascinating, the cranes are quite content to graze within a short distance of passing walkers. There are two observation towers in the area which give an even better viewpoint.

Books

This will be an on going report on our somewhat eclectic reading lists, often controlled by what we can get hold of in the wilds of Extremadura occasionally suplemented by swaps or donations from our lovely clients, special treats ordered from Amazon and travel guides and maps brought back from latest travels. A substantial amount of re-reading or dipping into dusty, musty books from parents or even grandparents, also passionate biliophiles in their time.

A quirky American site for the "cruel and unusual" is book whores which is encorporated into http://www.blastmilk.com/bookwhores/shop/index.html where you can find some interesting book lists and images! For reading or copying popular, classic and esoteric books on line the Project Gutenberg is one of my favourites http://www.gutenberg.org/

 

Desperate for books at the moment, our main source of reading material, the charity shops of the Algarve, had dried up as the daughter moved away from there for a while but good news, she's moving back so my visits will only be ostensibly to see her but really to raid the book shops.

What we have been re-reading is more accurate lately. Lots of Moroccan stuff as we are plotting and planning our Moroccan retreat south of the Atlas mountains. Paul Bowles is always very good in a very detatched manner, almost reportage and mainly about Northern and Middle Morocco rather than the deep South that is our passion.

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.

IT'S FIESTA TIME AGAIN IN MONTANCHEZ

Every year at the beginning of September Montanchez celebrates its most important fiesta, La Virgen del Castillo. The image of the Virgen stays up in the castle church for the whole year except for these nine days when she is brought down into the church of San Mateo in the village. The journeys down the hill and back up to the castle each involve a procession which is joined by most of the population of the village. The initiation of the fiesta is the downward journey, the ornate and beautifully decorated float is  borne aloft by several sturdy men and proceeded by the village band, it makes its way slowly down the steep hill until arriving at the doors of the church.  It's always a moving moment when  the virgen arrives safely at the church, there is a spontaneous outbreak of loud clapping and beaming smiles as everyone troops in for the blessing. 

As well as the processions there is continuous fiesta atmosphere in the Plaza de España with all the cafes and bars arranging their tables and chairs out in the open to enjoy the long warm evenings. There are also various other day time activities including the correo de cinta, a horse riding competition. The riders and horses are all wearing their traditional gear and looking very dashing. A string of rings are stretched over the course and the riders attempt to secure the rings with a short lance, this is not easy at full gallop.

Horses assemble before the correo de cinta

Manfred a.k.a. Don Quixote makes his choice

After another copa in the plaza time to go home through  another plaza, Altozano, which has a pretty fountain, palm trees and in this photo the full moon.

W. Eugene Smith - Spanish Village 1951- Life Magazine

An ancient method of spinning flax yarn

W. Eugene Smith was an America photo journalist working for Life magazine. He came to to the Extremadura village of Deleitosa in 1951 and spent some time there recording the daily life of the village. These images are extraordinary, they show a life that seemingly had not changed in its gruelling poverty for hundreds of years. The faces of the people are sculpted down to the bone by hard work and little to eat. Such was Franco's rural Spain in Extremadura. The image of the the three Guardia Civil seems to portray the very hard and cruel truth of keeping order, fascist order that is. And how well they succeeded and for how long, no wonder it took Spain such a long time to launch itself into the 20th century as these images testify.

Guardia Civil wearing their ridiculous patent leather hats

Another, seemingly less important, but telling level of fascist dictatorship was fashion dictatorship. My mother told me how she was stopped by the Guardia Civil in Madrid while travelling between
England and Portugal in the late 1950s, She was wearing some lovely black linen capri pants, the latest thing every where else but the sight of her parading around in these was definitely NOT ACCEPTABLE !! She was given a stern lecture and sent off to change into something ........something more FASCIST.

 

 

Grain flying as women winnow the wheat on the eira

Deleitosa is not in Las Hurdes the scene of Buñuel's documentary film 'Las Hurdes-Tierra sin Pan'
 ( The Hurdes- Land without Bread) which was made in 1933, it became an iconic and, being Buñuel, controversial style of documentary, by the way demonstrating the dire poverty of rural Extremadura. Las hurdes still bears this stigma and is not happy about it but these images show that any village in Extremadura was suffering the same fate and nothing had improved in the 20 years separating the two projects. 'Tierra sin Pan' was banned from showing in Spain for several year. I wonder why? Fortunately it was beyond Franco's powers to stop foreign journalistic reports. Bravo Eugene!

Almódovian Lysistrata at Merida Classical Theatre Festival

I think a performance of Lysistrata must have always been a controversial experience starting with the first in 411 BC.........an amazing 2421 years ago.

Aristophanis' play is a comical, verging on farcical account of one woman's unique mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata rallies the women of Athens, Sparta and beyond to withhold sexual pleasures from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace, a strategy that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for its exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society and for its use of both double entendre and explicit obscenities. The dramatic structure represents a shift away from the conventions of ancient comedy to something innovative, a trend typical of Aristophanes' career.

The version at this years theatre festival in Merida had an extra layer of sexual ambiguity as all the leading female roles were played by men with some famous transsexual actors, but not in fact Lysistrata herself played by Paco León a popular comic actor who had never played a woman before.  They all looked gorgeous, very fetching in pseudo Grecian robes with added accessories such as huge platform sandals and cute little handbags.  The mens' roles were played by men who were far less glamorous, not to say a bit weedy or simply decrepit. The old mens' chorus that replaced the traditional old womans' chorus were very funny, portrayed as total misogynists , the star was a dwarf, maybe not very p.c. but dwarfs have to work too and he certainly held his own..........as it were. In one scene the chorus of old men were disrobed and shown in all their very sorry physical shape........I presume that part of their anatomy was some sort of false rubber appliance, I needed my binoculars to check this out. See photo.

Jérôme Savary, the director has created a version that is feminist, bold, transsexual, irreverent, funny and crazy, very reminicent of another great Spanish director,  Pedro Almódovar.

 Paco León played Lysistrata in a spectacular costume with one amazingly real looking exposed breast that somehow reinforced the feminine aspects of the play; amazons, breast cancer  etc. Transsexual aspects were reinforced in one of the final scenes with the campaigning women all waving the rainbow striped flag of the gay/transsexual movement.