So, on that date, we put everything but the cats--literally--into the car and off we went south toward the border with Spain.
* * * * * * Conversation as we headed out of the city * * * * * *
Claudette
Did you check the tire pressure?
Me
No.
Claudette
Did you check the oil?
Me
No,
Claudette
Did you check the water level of...
Me
Look, these cars don't need checking of anything. You can go 100,000 kilometers without once opening the hood. If something is needed the computer will tell you. So, stop with the asking if I checked. I did not check. There is no checking involved in my trips. I just go.
(Sepulchral, icy silence ensues. Then a few minutes later:)
Claudette
Well, when I went to Spain with my parents, they did not leave the town without...
Me
For God's sake that was 50 years ago and those cars hardly ran 50 kilometers without a breakdown, they used up more oil than gasoline. Things have changed a bit since then. We don't need to hand crank them to start. There's paved roads and we won't be attacked by bandits that look like something out of a painting by Goya.
(More silence, rain starts to fall. I start the windshield wipers and it is obvious they are falling apart.)
Claudette
You should have checked the windshield wipers. They need changing.
Me
Arrrgh!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It's about 350 kilometers from Biarritz to Aranda de Duero but we managed to get there just a few minutes after 15:00 hours. The house we had booked for our stay was in a zone for pedestrians; we had to leave the car a few blocks away. (Later, the owner of the house showed us a parking spot that was just a block away; very convenient.)It was 16.00 hours by the time we met the landlady and she gave us the key. Here's Claudette going into the house.
We had the whole house to ourselves.
They say that God protects the innocent and the stupid. We didn't know that we had arrived the day that the "Fiestas" of the town started. Aranda de Duero is in wine country so the patron saint is "La Virgen de las Viñas", the Virgin of the Vineyards. (Unlimited supply of wine? Spaniards having fiestas? What could this lead to???)
The town has dozens of "Peñas"; these are social clubs who each has as a home base a "Bodega", an underground cellar, cut from the stone bed on which the town was built. These Bodegas were used to store wine so they are cool, somewhat humid and each has an exhaust passage to allow the gasses produced from fermentation to escape and not pose a danger to the workers--not to mention the ruckus and brouhaha that dozens of drunken Spaniards can produce in an enclosed space.
Nowadays, the Bodegas are mainly used for dinners and drinking parties of the Peñas. On the days of the Fiestas, anyone can go into any Bodega and when you do, there is always a club member there to offer you wine and some tapas to eat. Admittedly, more wine than tapas, but there you are.
But, that was for us to experience later. We were starving upon arrival, so as soon as we were settled in, we headed for the part of town where the bars and restaurants are. Every one of them was crowded with singing, drinking, laughing, loudly talking locals. We wanted to eat the town's specialty: roasted lamb. So we found a good restaurant in a side street.
It was accompanied by a bowl of salad, and that wonderful oven baked bread typical of León y Castilla. Here is a better picture of it.
So, hunger satisfied, thirst quenched, off we went to explore the town. The place was jumpin'! The bars were full, restaurants with every table occupied, the streets crowded with townspeople dressed in funny costumes, and bands, bands, bands.
It seems that every Peña has a band and on occasions such as these, they gather to play in the streets. First they play in front of their Bodega, and after having had a good many cups of wine and other spirits offered by their own Bodega keeper or the people in near-by bars, they march off playing, followed by their supporters who were dressed in funny, strange, or weird clothes, with painted faces, and cups of wine in hand.
The bands play popular and traditional songs. But, from time to time, they stopped marching and played a "jota", the traditional dance music of this region of Spain. And people in the crowd would dance. Here's a smidgen of a jota:
We thought: "Well, isn't this wonderful and colorful. What good luck that we arrived when the locals are in such a festive mood. What we didm't know was that this was scheduled to go on until four in the morning of the next day---and for the next seven days! And, we were right in the middle of it. Thank Goodness for double windows.
Supposedly, all of this was in honor of the Virgin, so one would imagine that the center of activity would be the church. But we walked by the place, and no one was there!
RIEN Á VOIR! CIRCULEZ! CIRCULEZ!
Since there was no action at the church, on we went to a street from where a lot of music and revelry seemed to be emanating. That street was lined on one side with bars and "asaderos", restaurants whose specialty is roasted lamb. In front of one of the most celebrated ones, there was (what else?) a band playing and a guy dancing.
Late in the afternoon quiet descended on the town. We thought that the "Fiestas" were over; but that was not the case. It was just a break in the fandango, a sort of catching of their collective breath in order to go at it until the very end of the night's "Verbena", a sort of concert, dance, drinking party that was to last until four in the morning. It did not last until four in the morning--it lasted until SIX in the morning!
Here is the town resting before the all-night party that was to come. Notice the painting of the house (on the right) that was demolished. When an old house is torn down, they put up these tromp l'oeil until the new house can be built or they leave the old facade (house on the left) for the same purpose.
We, of course, went to sleep early--around midnight. Thankfully, the double glazed windows on the street side kept most of the noise out. The next day, we got up around nine in the morning and wanting a cup of coffee and some breakfast, we went out and into the quiet of the streets. We went by a store that was both a pharmacy and a ham and sandwich shop. Rather appropriate, I thought.
The sandwiches this place sells are great. They are made with that local, round bread and the very good Iberico or Serrano hams. You can also buy a whole leg of ham which can cost from 90 to 250 euros, depending on the weight and quality.
Our final night in town was like a grand finale: all the bands of all the Peñas paraded through the streets playing and drinking, followed by huge crowds. As each band reached its home Bodega, they would file in and a crowd of their families and friends would follow them into the place to drink and dance till into the wee hours.
Not content with the racket of the bands, while all the marching, and playing, and drinking, and dancing was going on, there was a loud and long fireworks display.
The day after, after some more coffee and rest, we were off to the next stop: Toledo! I'll post the pictures and text about that city in the next blog entry.
