Spain 30 - Alltogether now - nicely come on - Show me the way to Trujillo

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Our night was yet again cold. It feels rather odd that the weather has been so unkind to us this trip. On other trips in September the weather has held at least fair. We woke at 7. The older we get the earlier we rise. We seem to need less sleep even when we are on holiday and should be overlaying as they say in Derbyshire. It is dark when we wake. The campsite is deathly quiet. We planned to set off at 8 as early as we could for our destination Trujillo in Extramadura province.

Ok. Let's get this one off our chest before I start. Altogether now . Think Tony Christie a british songster from Sheffield. Think Comic Relief that time of year when British comediens set the world to right and raise money for home and for Africa. They do this through comic sketches and a comic relief record. Are you still with me? If not you need to search WiKi for Tony Christie and for Comic Relief. Add a bit of Peter Kay and you should be there. Right let's get going .................." show me the way to Tru ooooooo jillo ". Ok not quite show me the way to Amerillo but it is near enough..

This song kept going through our heads as we pounded the miles to Trujillo. OUr parking was going to be the local bullring just on the outskirts of the town. You never quite know what these places are going to be like until you get there. This parking was empty and looked a bit shady but not too bad in the great scheme of parking motorhomes. We found it easily as you do. Bullrings sort of stand out. They are the same shape and painted the same red and cream.

Having parked up we walked up in the general direction of the city not quite knowing what to expect. Cities here are smaller than back home. Trujillo is more like a small town to our eyes. It has everything you could wish for. It is on a hill . What is not on a hill in Spain or Italy? All roads are signed to the ciudad and all roads lead to the Playa Mayor the town square . Mr Sun was shining down on us as we walked . The weather has certainly improved. If I have any complaint about our drive today it must be the monotony of the roads, the mustard coloured soil stretching for mile after mile, scrubby small olive like trees, no wildlife and little in the way of flowers . The only colour are the prickly pears which are just changing colour from green to red. There are no decent stopping places. Garages are off the beaten track and if you want to stop you have to drive miles out of your way.

Trujillo lies on the main Lisboa to Madrid road and is therefore highly strategic. It was settled by the pesky Romans who got everywhere, was colonised by the Visigoths who didnt get quite so far and by the Arabs who left their mark on the city. It was the discovery of the Americas that put Trujillo on the map as its most famous son was Pizarro one of the main men who found if you can call it that America.

The climb up to the main square was through narrow streets lined with shops, cafes and restaurants. Once at the top the roads open out and the square is set out there in front of you . Full of noblemens houses, a church and a statue of Pizarro which was sculpted in 1927 by the American Carlos Rumsey. Presented to the city it takes pride of place. Across from the statue is the neat and tidy church. All the churches in the city and the museums charged 1 euro 40 entry fee so we decided to give the church a miss. Around the square is the House of Las Caderas and the Tower of Le Alfiler all of which reminded us of San Gimignano in Italy. All very picturesque and charming. An antidote to some of the awful things that we felt had happened to us since we arrived. This city is a photographers delight with hidden gems at every corner. A city hall, a moorish sistern and various palaces all highly decorated inside and outside.

We ate dinner at one of the many restuarants around the square. All had menu del dias and all were open for business. Food to cater for every taste and for every pocket. We chose a fairly empty one. You are never sure whether you should frequent the busy ones or the less busy. We ordered melon and jamon iberico. Beautifully presented it arrived at our table and we ate it with relish. For second course we chose pollo with chips but not any old chicken and chips. This one was cooked in a rich tomato type sauce. Wouldnt like to say what it was but it was delicious . We savoured every mouthful in the sun as we ate it. We didnt stop for the coffee mainly because we wanted to head off towards the castle but equally although the restaurant was empty we were sitting by a loud and noisy family group of four. They smoked and their conversation got more animated and culminated with another four joining them. With eight at the table the smoke got too much for us and the conversation right in our ears.

We paid up and walked through the lovely little backstreets. There were few about . We headed for the castle which was built between the 10th and 11th centuries and was set upon the highest point of the city. You could see for miles in any direction. Known as the Cabezo de Zorro it was free as far as we could see to enter. We walked around it and it was an impressive castle by any stretch of the imagination. But what caught our eye as we looked at the signs . This is the land of the hoopoe bird and they can be seen although it is fair to say we didnt see one much was we wanted to . What we did see was a big white building in the distance and an even bigger sign proclaiming loudly it was an E LeClerc supermarket and we were in dire need of a cupboard refill. We saw it was fairly close to the bullring so walked slowly back to Suzy. Set the sat nav to find it we set off . Around the first roundabout. It was 2 minutes away so we should be able to see it. The roads were so close together that Suzy got confused and we found outselves heading out of town. It doesnt take long to get into open countryside with no place to turn round. Eventually we found a fairly straight stretch of road with just enough room to do a three point turn . We found the store and wondered how we had missed it. It wasnt a patch on a french store but it was better than your usual average Spanish supermarket. The Caxton card worked well although I held my breath when the lady at the till put it in the machine. We now have bread, a roasted chicken, some salad stuffs, Glenns favourite flan, some tiramisu ice cream. Shame about milk though. Can only buy UHT in Spain. I wonder why the Spanish dont drink fresh milk.



Now go on you have had time to practice . All together now ................Show me the way to Tru oooooo jilla ..........That has given you an ear worm you won't get rid of for a while.

Tonight we stop at Camping Merida. We find it empty with just us and a German van next door. 17 euros and 93 cents a night. It has a swimming pool but it is full of floating leaves and looks as if it has not been cleaned for a while. There are no steps so once in the water which is 1. 50 metres it would be nigh impossible for me to get out. There are pretty lovebirds in a cage and some greyhounds or whippets that howl and bark. The restaurant is closed, the bar tender glares at me but wine is 2 euros a glass . Some things are not too bad.

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