Santa Fe

Once a Spanish army encampment, and now a town laid out along the same lines, this town is on the spot where Columbus was given the charter to go of to what turned out to be America. Not that he ever knew that.

The king and queen of Spain were besieging the Alhambra at the time. There was a statue commemorating the event but that has been moved to Granada now. What remains is a replacement statue, a bust of Columbus, and this plaque on the church wall.

The original army camp was set in the form of a cross. There is a chapel at each point of the arms, and had they been open, they are apparently quite interesting inside. A large church is at the centre. We contented ourselves visiting the "Grace bar".

Since the bar is a favourite watering hole of my hosts, we, including me, were well welcomed. The town is agricultural, and the bar reflected this, but the owner also enjoyed bikes. So with the agricultural tools on the walls, there was also the occasional bike wheel. Not to mention the bike used as a sign outside, or the photo I was shown in the wall deprecating a race start. Every cyclist was female and none were advertising clothing of any sort. One way to keep cool.

So we had drinks. And of course some tapas. Sausage and chips was offered. And squid. And my hosts asked for some of the area's famous black sausage, tasty but very rich. I tried to make sure I had room for the paella that I knew would be later.

Out and along another arm of the cross, and another man was celebrated. This man invented the pudding famous for the region, whose recipe is still secret. Some was bought for desert, it tasted of moist Swiss roll in a pudding shape.

Normally, my host told me, these streets would be full of people, but the economic conditions mean that people are staying home and the bars are empty. Certainly we saw few people. In the bar, and the owner had denounced such attitudes. "It is dangerous to stay at home all winter", he told us. "People look at the 4 walls and they start to have imaginings. They need to put on a coat and come out to stay alive!" - and just possibly to keep the bar alive too.

We drove home and the rain only started in ernest once we were in the car. Once home the paella was heated to finish it. It was huge and quite delicious but with all the tapas and trimmings I was beginning to feel a little full. Thank heavens for the siesta tradition. Most helpful before my drive that afternoon.

So are the Spanish hospitable? Very much so! And you get a history lesson into the bargain.

Terry

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Photos
The plaque
The town centre
The bar