Vera, Spain

Saturday, December 29, 2007

I'm now staying at Dave and Jilly’s Bed and Breakfast (http://www.allbedandbreakfast.com/bed/bed-breakfast.php/bbID/1188) in Vera (about 8 kms from where I stayed this past week) and I'm thrilled. It’s an 'authentic' Spanish village, including several 16th I century buildings still in use, a Gothic church with the appearance of a fortress, and a bull-ring.

It also has a traditional market day every Saturday, from which I just returned. It's the biggest one in the area and people come from miles around. It covers the entire central square of the town and goes down many, many side streets. I listened to Spanish style music and the hawkers selling their wares: everything imaginable from clothing and linens to tools, cookware, produce, music, art, watches, etc). I mingled with the lcoal Spanish people (and others, who come just for the market day) milling about - visiting, looking, and buying.

I ate freshly made pretzel-like things, called churros. They were cooked in a huge wok like pan filled with hot oil, then cut into stips and served in a makeshift bag with a sprinkle of sugar. I'm

sure they had a lot of calaories in them, but I wasn't counting. Besides, I plan on climbing the "Jesus" mountain soon.

I continued sauntering through the narrow winding streets, enjoying all the sites and sounds. My 'landlady' pointed out a bombed-out palace that is being restored, a local museum, convent, an orphanage, churches, and a famous hotel where the bull fighters stay, etc. I will tour the interiors later this week.

Before I returned home, I also bought a half a chicken at a stall where they were roasting them on huge racks of spits. I had some for lunch with a crusty roll. Delicious!

I think I could stay here for a very long time, living a very simple life. I definitely want to stay here until I finish my Secret novel....it's so peaceful and so Spanish!! Lovely views, interesting history, etc.

The original Vera village was on the mountain, which I can see from the balcony of the place I’m staying. There are still ruins of the old church and some of the cave homes, as well as a 'newer' statue of Jesus. (I'm told it's actually quite old, though the stone or whatever material it is made from is quite white, making me think it's newer.)

From what I understand, the story of this ancient village is that after an earthquake levelled most of the homes, Queen Isabella shot an arrow into the air, and where it landed was where the new town would be built, which is where present day Vera is located. One day when I’m feeling energetic I will walk to the top. Apparently the view is fabulous. In fact, the men from two couples who arrived today, walked/jogged up it late this afternoon and made it in record time. Of course, they didn't follow the marked trail, but cut across country. They got hung up on fences and cactus...we watched them through high-powered binoculars...but made it to the top.

The place I’m staying is quite lovely and the people great. The only drawback is that they smoke. So far they are mostly doing it outside and I've been able to open windows to air out my bedroom, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay the entire time I'd hoped. They do try to smoke outdoors on their terrace most of the time, and are aware I might have a problem, so we'll see how the next day or so go.

At the moment I have my laptop set up on the dining room table. Later they are fixing up a special little room for me so that I can use it as an 'office' to write, so they are bending over backwards to make me comfortable. I suspect they would tour me about a bit as well, if I asked, or if they are going somewhere.

The bonus is that they have wireless Internet here and I can be on it as long as I want. The downside is that I can't seem to figure out how to make my Outlook e-mail send my e-mails. They come in fine, but won't go out, so I'm relying on the remote way to send messages. A small inconvenience considering the other benefits to me here.

****

It's later now, and my wonderful little 'office' is set up with a small 'desk' and my laptop. It's a perfect little room for me to work, just down the hall from my bedroom.

Two couples are staying at the B&B tonight (previous occupants, who know each other) and they invited me to dine with them.....restuarants, etc. don't serve supper until later in this country, so we didn't go until 8 pm. We went to an authentic Spanish tapas bar, where the food was great.

I can't seem to get used to the smoking everywhere, so I was lucky that by the time I was ready to leave one of the couples (from England) was also ready to go and we walked back home together. I'm sure we wouldn't be able to hire taxis in this part of the village as the streets are too narrow for cars, except in the odd main ones here and there. The sights everywhere are interesting, like the intricate grates around trees, passing by city hall where there was a dance going on ...older people swinging to Spanish tunes. And people going to the old Catholic church on a Saturday night.

The streets are very beautifully lit with Christmas lights, and there were many people about.