Zamora Zamora, you want some more-a?

---

This might even more or less kick start the blog season {likely going backwards anyway] - seeing as how I have 3 1/2 hrs on this Alvia "fast" train from Zamora to Santiago de Compostela with nothing much else to do - other than listen to some Miles Davis "Tutu" (the difficult Warners period Miles fans) on my Ipod. The train is not that fast - would be on Madrid fast train sections but out here in the scrub it is more like 80kmh average due to the track no doubt. It runs all the way from Zamora.

It was a one night town - I will have to be doing more or this as my pace has been too relaxed. However getting into Santiago at 8.30pm I have booked 4 nights there, in 2 separate hotels as the price in the first really jumped for the Thurs-Fri. for some reason. I can likely do day trips from there up or down the coast on regionale trains, maybe to beaches etc.

The Hotel Dos Infantes in Zamora, where I finally arrived at about 6pm after delayed departure from Salamanca, proved a modern spacious 4 star room - for $65 I like! As the train did not leave until 5pm today I had 2-3 hours to cram in some ancient churches before they all closed at 1 etc. Nothing too fab there really other than they are mostly from 13th Cent. when thanks to El Cid the Christians felt safe enough from the Muslims to actually build some! Went to the Museo de Semana Santa - (Holy Week museum) which is obligatory if you are not here in Holy Week before Easter, when the place is crammed, to see the floats with carved wooden statues on them carried around.

Then down to the Cathedral. My guide book said it closed at 2pm for the siesta - just as well they had continuous summer hours til 8pm as it is the main draw here of course. The so-called "black tapestries" (cos there are so many people pictured about to get killed!) were upstairs and truly magnificent. I saw a few tapestries in Belgium/France last year but these from 15th cent. really are amazing in the detail. There was an audio guide included for the 4E/$5 entry which provided some useful detail on the works. The side altars in the actual Cathedral were as good as any I have seen - but they do all tend to blur into each other in Europe! I recall the Toledo cathedral in particular as being pretty magnificent in that regard.

Lunch/snack time was again at the El Rincon de Antonio. I had better recount my Monday night dinner there first though for you drooling foodies. The Rough Guide had said it represented the high end of nouveau Castillian cuisine in town, and I would have to say it probably won the best meal in Spain award so far. There was a very good lunch in Toledo which messed up my touring program there somewhat but I may not be able to remember anything meaningful about it now!

Anyway at Antonio it was obviously pretty serious - there was a water list first! I frankly do not normally buy water in restaurants (in Paris now they will actually give you a carafe d'eau municipale without scowling). However I ordered a bottle of local Zamora water to go with the occasion. A glass of white wine was simply superior - although she did not actually properly show me the bottle - the same with the red, so I did not know for future reference what I was getting. However I did have a sweetish wine after dessert and she did show me that.

The degustacion was ordered of course (mains were around 25E, with entrees around 17-18E) - the sign outside said 6 courses for 32.50E ($40) - which was listed on the menu as 'anniversario' - there was a fuller one for 55E (maybe not on Mondays?). Anyway the first was a simple anchovy and olive dish. Then smoked salmon wrapped around some soft goat cheese. Then a soup plate of the best garbanzos (chick peas) one could ever imagine in a little tomato-ey broth. Did not eat all of them as would have been stuffed. Then some small poached chicken pieces with some small mussels with a dribble of mango sauce (now the kitchen might have a bit of a problem with this mango thing as it adorned one of my lunch dishes as well, also including some mussels). I got the red wine just in time for the arrival of the beef braised in red wine with some chunky mushrooms, which was very tender. The dishes were described eloquently in Spanish by the rather suave waiter - I got the general drift from what I saw and tasted rather than the complete detail! Then the arranged dessert plate of a lemon ice, some chocolatey and crunchy things etc. No coffee for me - but a glass of the ambery semi-sweet dessert wine whose name I cannot remember. All up around $60 which was pretty good value for the quality - and I did not feel stuffed either.

For lunch (or in fact at dinner) you can sit at the bar and have a tapas type selection of small plates. So after the Cathedral I could not resist dropping in again. 4 little plates and a glass of wine for 11E. A glass of verdejo white - got a pronunciation lesson in rrrolling the R somewhere else. Little mussels with that mango sauce dribble again - an anchovy thing with goats cheese, in a sardine type tin with lid, a slice of morcilla sausage (blood pudding) which was like chocolate pudding - looks and almost taste and texture. Then some slivers of aged hard sheep milk cheese. And of course a cafe solo to help to the hotel and get the bus to the station (just as well I was there early as the bus was too).

Zamora was an interesting little stop. Only worth a night, but a lot of the local business buildings in the centre were often of an art nouveau general type - a lot must have been built in that 1900-1910 period.

---

Photos

some Zamora art nouveau style
there was quite a lot about

Holy Week hoods
dare I say - KKK took some models here?

Holy Week figures
all carved from wood

Comments

[Huddo]

Zamora, and more.
Hi Mike, The Cathedral, and those "black tapestries" sounded pretty interesting, the photo of the KKK clones was really good. The carved wooden statues were another great shot. Love Huddo.