Spain 40 - - Plasencia /the man with the bag/the Casa de Jambon/the money from the Premier League

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Today was going to be Placencia day. Well that was the plan. Glenn had worked hard sourcing a parking spot using a mixture of Camper Contact, other peoples blogs and Google Earth. It could end up though a bit hit and miss. The heat is wearing us both out and we are finding it hard work to think what to do next. We have never had a holiday in the motorhome that has been quite like this one.

Now the question you are requiring an answer to is did we get one? A parking space that is. So where in the world are we and our trusty companion Gabby? Somewhere down a back street near the cathedral in Plasencia. Squeezed in between two council owned Jeeps and in front of a garage door which hopefully the owner of any car will be able to get out of. How in the world did we end up there?

Fast forward a bit and we are walking up the city towards the cathedral. Placencia is yet another walled city. They seem like magnets to us this trip. It is near to Caceres and has a population of upwards of 41 thousand people . Surely it is going to be buzzing with life. It is situated on the Jerte river and we read all about its historic quarter and its history on the Silver Route . The city was supposedly beautified with money from the silver trade. No doubt the cathedral would give us a clue to that wealth. In the 15th century the noblemen of the region began to move to Plasencia defining its current appearance. We were impressed so far by its extensive walls and towers. Much more so that many we have seen recently. The walls were double lines and had six gates and 68 towers all dating back to 1197. Sadly someone made the decision in 1941 to demolish the keep.

There is also a roman aqueduct here. We were to see it later on our way out . Not on the scale of the Pont du Gard or Segovia but still impressive in its own way.

The cathedral was a complex of two cathedrals, Building began at the request of Alfonso VIII in 1189. It was a bit of a hideous mix of gothic, cloisters, rose windows, local style and Plateresque . Grotesque carving outside and skeletons and skulls would have frightened the local population witless. Money had rushed in from the New World to build these edifices but I wonder how much money in fact permeated down from the larger cathedrals and monasteries. A little like the Premier League money where the best players and managers can be bought , where the facilities are second to none. The lower divisions lag behind. And of course guess what? It was closed , shut tight and not even open for the faithful to pray or attend confessional.

The city was deserted or so it seemed. We walked through the grid like streets and found shop after shop empty and locked up. There must be life somewhere we thought. When we did find life it was around the main square which to be fair did have some interesting buildings. A museum and a Renaisance Town hall and clock tower. Cafes and shops that at last were serving food and were full of laughter.

We fell upon the House of Ham. One of those Tardis like shops full of hanging hams and smelling of cheese and spices. The leg of Iberican ham was on a contraption we saw more and more of as we travelled . Skewered right through the beast the leg still had its hoof attached . There was no way that you could not recognise this as a leg of a pig. The ham was expensive and cut thinly and very deftly by the young lady behind the counter. She brandished the knife carefully as she sliced each piece for me. The knife was sharp enough to cut your hand off. It made for an expensive but delicious addition to our salad for dinner.

After our visit to the city centre we decided to head back and try and find Gabby. With the aid of some help from Google maps and Smart Track we located our trusty steed down by the river.

Finding her we headed out for the aquaduct in the hope we could park up and eat that ham. As we crossed beneath one of its many arches we thought that charioteers must have done this many times before us and how many wagons and horses must have passed beneath it.

OK let's back track a little . How did Gabby end up squeezed in a cul de sac out of the way between two jeeps? We got to the parking stop and there was no chance we were going to get parked there at that time of day. We made the decision not to even try. We were just about to turn her round and head out for somewhere else when the car park attendant grabbed our attention. He was dressed in blue, sort of looked official and carried a money bag. He smiled and gestured to us to follow him. Assuming he knew where we could park we followed like lambs to the slaughter. He walked in front of us down a narrow street with cars parked either side of the road. No room anywhere yet for Gabby. We walked for what seemed like an age. He looked up streets and beckoned us on. Eventually he stopped off when he could go no further. We were up against a brick wall . He gestured to a gap between two official jeeps and we parked up. I checked the front to make sure we were not blocking the pavement. I checked the sides to ensure the Jeeps could get out . OUr little man came round and it was clear he was no more a car park attendant than I was . Just a chancer who stood at the car parking waiting for folks like us to turn up. He knew the parking spots and wanted 5 euros . As I could not argue nor barter in Spanish and as we wanted to come back to Gabby in the same condition as we left her we had no choice but to pay. I guess he had to make money somehow and he did find us a spot where we could visit his lovely city.

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