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Roland Routier
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Roland Routier

An open-ended adventure by Roland Routier Read more
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    Cantering through the centre

    June 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    An old fashioned Merry-Go-Round had been installed in the central square of town, Plaza de la Asuncion. Jerez is one of the important equestrian centres in Spain, so I chuckled to see the formal horse on a pedestal watching the frivolous ponies go round and round and up and down whilst remaining static and haughty. Must have been the Generalissimo on his back.
    Jerez seemed to have one small plaza after another, each with benches, most with trees and some with bars, like this one.
    The houses all look rather bland on the outside, but occasionally an door left ajar allows a glimpse of the cool, intimate courtyard within each one. A Moorish design element still appreciated today.
    The modern trend in Southern Spain is to hunt the sun, although some people take it to extremes. I mean, making a Steamer chair on one's balcony is a bit OTT don't you think?    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler
    11

    Closed for business

    June 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Other than the cathedral, there are several churches scattered in the neighbourhood, each one closed for "cultural visits" except at rare times (eg 7 to 8 at night). The French have a much better system, the State owns and maintains the buildings of cultural interest and rents them back to the religious organisations for their non-exclusive use.
    For example, San Dionisio, San Mateo, San Lucas and El Carmen where any enquiry is stonewalled.
    Jerez gives the air of a work in progress as there are many opportunities to refurbish old buildings. New apartment blocks have been built within existing structures or along ancient alleys to give the inhabitants the comforts of light and dry living spaces, without destroying the atmosphere of tradition.
    It feels like a rural, market town. Comfortable, self-possessed, focused on the local industry (wine) which assures it is self-sufficient without a great need for pretension.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Catedral

    June 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Arriving at 4, the end of siesta time, it only took about ten minutes to find an overnight parking spot at the end of Calle Calzada del Arroyo, not 400m from the Cathedral just outside the city walls.
    I walked through the old gate up the cobbled streets into town and the first thing I found was the Catedral de Jerez de la Frontera. Although I could have paid to visit, a quick glimpse through an open door reassured me that the story was the same and the gloomy medieval paintings similar to those in other places.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Jerez

    June 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Entered town in less style than these folk with the aim of visiting Sandeman bodega (went to school with a couple of the lads) and sampling some of the golden nectar. And very nice it was too.

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Another clue

    June 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    These 3 cantors probably didn't win the Eurovision Song Contest which would explain the absence of any commemorative plaque on the pedestal.

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Tacita de plata

    June 13, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    "The little silver cup" is how the tourist industry likes to evoke Cadiz. According to history (the Romans version,) it was founded by the Tartessians 3100 years ago although the earliest archaeological evidence is 300 years later when the Canaanites (called Phoenicians by the Greeks after their red cloaks,) settled the area and named it Gadir, (meaning 'enclosed area').
    As their home base, Tyre, declined the Carthaginians took over from which to conduct the Punic Wars. The folk were not too impressed by this and signed an agreement with Rome, becoming Gades and one of the most important cities if Hispania.
    The rest is predictable - inundated with Goths, invaded by Muslims, reconquest by Christian Kings. The Renaissance gave the place a boost as it became the port of embarkation and arrival for the American Trade which made many townsfolk into well-off burghers favouring free trade and a Monarchy. When those perfidious Frenchies started hammering at the gates during the Napoleonic Wars, Cadiz as it was henceforward called, provided refuge and a place for the Spanish Parliament to draft the first Spanish Constitution 'La Pepa'.
    1. Puerto de Tierra, marking the entrance to the the old city
    2. Looking towards the Castillo de Sebastian, which was closed
    3. A municipal WC. Yes really! Costs 1 Euro 10
    4. This reminds the tourist office of the Havana Beachfront (spruiking the American trade connection no doubt.)
    5. From the Cathedral tower
    6. The town boasts 3 Roman ampitheatres. I visited one with a capacity of 10,000 but a dim view of the customers    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    I see no ships

    June 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Cape Trafalger lighthouse rests on a rocky island connected to the mainland by a sea made sand spit. And that's all the info there is.
    But we know better and can chuckle when we see (just) the Roro ships keeping a close line astern to protect themselves from the .dastardly poms. Felt like shouting: " IT DIDNT WORK BEFORE AND IT WONT WORK NOW".Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Guinness me!

    June 11, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Once part of the Muslim system of surveillance of the strait, El Palomar de La Breña is a rural hotel for 7770 pigeons or doves located on an 18th century hacienda in San Ambrosio (Barbate), south of Vejer de la Frontera.
    The 400m² complex of single and double occupancy, terracotta rooms is listed apparently in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest dovecote in the world.
    It is divided into parallel alleys separated by high, meter thick walls to provide the birds 'thermal comfort'. The trough the center of the patio provides communal bathing and drinking , offered the birds a place where they could drink sheltered from the wind and predators. Doves and pigeons inhabit the same nest for many years and thus are a reliable source of raw material.
    Unlike Northern dovecotes where the guests formed part of the winter food chain, the footed and the feathered coexisted symbiotically. Potassium Nitrate from pigeon poo is a basic raw material for gunpowder. The guano was also very suitable for the cultivation of hemp and tobacco. At a time when the Americas trade was demanding guns, sails and ropes in large quantity, this guano plant was raking it in - in all ways. 10 to 15 tons of guano per anum, requiring an approximate area of ​​2,500 hectares of feed.
    They also used them as messengers and, yes, rumour has it that some ended up in the pot.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    The family

    June 10, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    In a previous post, Casa de la Luz, Jane and Louis made their entry to the story.
    Jane is a 70's backpacker / flower child who has regaled me with tales of her trip to India in the back of a 3 Tonne Bedford lorry just after the first Gulf War. Now she teaches English and looks after 7 year old Florence. Here she is pictured in front of her 2000 Euro tent after hosting a garden party.
    Louis is leading his rescue donkey, around the garden in search of fresh grass. Originally from Norwich he has had a variety of occupations such as DJ, taxi driver and house renovator . He has been chef on board the "Sumurun", a beautiful 2 million pound 1920's wooden sailing yacht as well as restoring an old house in Fez with traditional Tadelakt plaster work.
    Louis' father was an American airforce soldier based in Norwich during the Korean war and returned to the USA immediately following his demob. His mother was not fazed by this and went on to have another 10 children by two different fathers. He remembers little racism in Norwich as he grew up: in fact at 14 he was a skinhead running through the town "paki bashing" (because that was what the newspapers said that skinheads do. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there were no pakis in Norwich to bash, so the gang used to run through town without hindrance, becoming a little non-plussed at what to do after the rage. They usually went home for tea apparently.
    Shortly after arriving in Vejer he was given a photo of his father and Jane tenaciously searched online through old records and Ancestry.com to discover an extensive family in Virginia. Many descended from slaves and still in the vicinity of their forefathers manumission. Louis is a good mimic and recreated his phone calls to previously unimagined step brothers and sisters, most of whom he could not understand, was very amusing. So in August they will be off to the States to visit the relos.
    On the trampoline with not so little Flo, (who has the height of a 12 year old,) are Robin and Emily who have just arrived for a holiday. He is studying robotics at Leeds and she is about to start a Film making course at Sussex.
    The family is rounded off by 1 donkey, 2 cats and 3 chickens who all think they should be allowed to enter the house when they feel like it. Life on the campo!    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Garden priest

    June 10, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    This type of slugs are known locally as the Bishops. Could the colours have something to do with it, (Communist, Fascist, Communist, Fascist etc) or is it their habits? At any rate, I dont think this Bishop is hearing confessions.)

    PS Black / red is also the Anarchist colours.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    The veiled virgins of Vejer

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Vejer "Te Cobija" - Traditional dress

    The COBIJAO is the typical costume of Vejer, consisting of:
    - white petticoats with embroidered ribbons
    - a white blouse adorned with lace
    - a black sash around the waist over which the bordered lace of the petticoats protrude
    - a black gathered cloak with a silk lining completely covering the woman except for the left eye
    You might think this was a version of the Niqab or Burqa and it probably does have an old, Arab connection, but in fact its origin is Castilla in the XVI - XVIIth C.
    The girls used it to look coy and reveal glimpses of exciting lace to tantalise the boys. The authorities on the other hand saw wearing it as the potential concealment of criminal artifacts and periodically banned it - most recently in 1936.
    It was only in 1976 that its use was permitted again but by then postwar shortages had forced many women to recycle the material into modern fashions. Now it is only worn by selected women - the Cobijado - on Patron Saint days.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    The entailed estate

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Another curious fact surrounds the tower known as "Mayorazgo", in English the XII -XIVth C "Tower of the Entailed Estate".
    It should have belonged to Ricardo Autopiedra but there was a problem of conflicting wills which resulted in the famous and very long-winded suit "Frascoydados and Frascoydados" in the Tribunal de la Cancillería.

    What the Dickens has this to do with Vejer? Well the rather bleak story became the unacknowledged source for a famous novel published in 19thC England and later adapted for TV and film. Now I know how it started.

    Coda: In Spanish law, MAYORAZGO means the right to the enjoyment of certain aggregate property, left with the condition thereon imposed that they are to pass in their integrity, perpetually, successively to the eldest son.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Games of Hazas

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Vejer was built in a defensive position 194m ASL and excavations have recently uncovered the "existence of an oriental-type population dating back to the 8thC" (sic).
    I can only surmise this to mean they found the remains of a Chinese take-away.

    The early history is the common Andalucian one with a slight twist to the tail. Exposed as the inhabitants were to the perils of banditry, (one door in the city walls - the Puerta Cerrada - remained bricked up for 200 years as it faced the direct road from the seas frequented by Barbary pirates,) the King granted them perpetual rights to the land, water, wells and hills of the town.
    All was well until the 15thC when our old friends the Guzman family, (whose great great grandfather you may remember had been given this town as well as others for his readiness to provide the knife for his kidnapped son's murder,) decided to grab the lot.
    Well the town revolted and, led by Juan Relinque (photo) who did not live up to his name, harried the Guzmans for several years. Finally, the Courts decided in favour of the townsfolk: a decision which has endured to this day.
    Now sharing land in common is all very good, but someone has to work and maintain it. Thus the Spanish Lotto or Tombola was born. Every leap year on Dec 22nd, these cages are spun containing the names of the eligible and the winner is awarded the land, known as the "Hazas de Suerte" or "Plots of Fortune". This ancient rite was also nicked from the Spanish without creditation and you may know it as "Wheel of Fortune".    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Fake news alert!

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The guidebooks say that Vejer de la Frontera was founded like all the other Pueblos Blancos by the Phoenicians but this photo clearly establishes the fact that it was actually established by Martians whose flying saucer broke down whilst on a fly-by. They made numerous attempts, the relics of which may be seen in the distance, to manufacture an alternative flying machine, but clearly the propellers failed to provide enough thrust to take-off. So they gave up and settled down.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Canon of Spanish militarism

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Surprisingly for last years 5th largest arms exporter in the world, (mainly to NATO countries and of course Saudi Arabia so that it can destroy Yemen completely,) they still think an embedded canon is something mounted vertically in the city walls rather than an Army Chaplain.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Given the brush off

    May 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Last year Vejer de la Frontera, (so distinguished for being the frontier with the Moors,) was awarded the Silver Broom Award by the Association for the Environment and Waste Management, ATEGRUS. The whiteness of the streets and their cleanliness were cited as contributory factors although what other contributions changed hands has not been divulged. Certainly there was no evidence of dogs or cats and surprisingly none of the mini-van sized, colour coded, plastic recycling and refuse bins that most towns and cities leave lying around in the hope that citizens will fill them rather than dumping things in the street.
    So, as Wittgenstein might have asked, does saying that the silver broom is in Vejer really mean that the silver broomstick is there, and so is the brush, and the broomstick is fixed in the brush?    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    el jardin de la luza

    May 21, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    But this is Southern Spain in Spring and who cares? The photos show a lovely quiet country retreat and all is peaceful.
    A 2000 Euro tent is provided for happy campers.
    There are some mozzies from the frog pond: we loaded a lorry with 2 tons of stone and layed it around the edges.
    The row of windmills are far enough not to cause a disturbance, although on some nights the faint whine of the turbines can just be heard over the call of the frogs and the hooting of a couple of owls. (No 'towit', just 'towoo'.)    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Casa de la Luz

    May 20, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    is about 3 km West of Vejer de la Frontera, still in Andalucia. The land, a rough uncultivated campo covered in native, wild (and uneatable ) olive trees, was acquired in by a young English couple in their 20's about 25 years ago. Jane and David set about building their house from the stone lying around, gaining their skill on three little casitas at the bottom of the garden.
    About 5 years ago David went to HongKong where he established his online business called - wait for it - WorkAway.info! So by chance I find myself in the very place where the idea which I have embraced took off.
    The house was let to tenants who did not spend much time on maintenance, whilst Jane went to live in town; running her English school and soon after meeting Louie had a little girl Florence.
    Soon the flat was too small, so they decided to return to the land and put it back into good order. David, who in the meantime had found a Chinese girlfriend, was quite happy with the arrangement and even contributed funds for the work.
    An important construction factor overlooked during the building of the houses was the type of soil. Here it is bands of clay and earth which heaves when wet. Over the years it has moved substantially and the walls, erected directly on the ground with an infill of unreinforced concrete have separated from themselves and the pavement, which itself has rippled and cracked. So a succession of WorkAwayers of which I am the latest have been hard at work fixing things. The time horizon is only another 20 years luckily, because the original 3 shacks should really be torn down and rebuilt. The main house is liveable though and the necessary repairs are fairly small.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Twixt the deep blue sea & the not so dps

    May 5, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    As far South as you can get on the Spanish mainland. On the left is the Atlantic and on the right the Med.
    In the distance, on a site identified in 1567 by Anton Van der Wyngaerde (a prolific Flemish topographical artist) as ‘Santa Catalina y de San Telmo’, is the Castillo Santa Catalina which is not actually a castle but an signalling station for semaphore or optical telegraph (flag waving) to communicate with shipping.
    Julio Murúa designed an Italian Renaissance structure with a defensive appearance in harmony with the real castles on the Isla de los Palomas and the Castillo de Guzman El Bueno. In 1931 the committee men of the Ministerio de Marina agreed to build a strangely out-of-proportion tower with mudejar arches and balconies on the corners.
    At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the Republicans caused so much damage by bombing that it remained abandoned forty years.
    A project to create a visitor and exhibition centre was started in 2006, but being such an historic site, work was soon stopped by court order.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Tarifa

    May 5, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Guess who got here first. Yup, evidence that Palaeolithic and Bronze ages visitors followed by Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians all came for their holidays before the Roman real estate developers built Julia Traducta, (named after a famous courtesan,) re-named Tarifa, (after Tarif Ibn Malluk, a Berber debt collector.) Sancho the Brave (the man with the belt in my previous Camino story from Roncevalles,) in turn grabbed it in 1292.
    An interesting twist in the usual history of Andalucia is that the Infante don John, brother of King Sancho, backed the Moslem King Mohamed in his plan to recover the town. An successful assault on the castle appearing unlikely, they threatened the Governor, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán ( better known as Guzman el Bueno with the executiion of his previously kidnapped son if he did not surrender the town.
    Guzman's response was: "if you do not have a dagger with which to kill him, here, take mine'. This paternal gesture earned him the title of Duque of Medina Sidonia, the right to exploit the tuna fishing in the Strait of Gibraltar, and the honour of being cast in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

    The Tarifa "chacarrá" fandango is well-known in the world of flamenco.

    It is now famous for kite surfing.It is now famous for kite surfing.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Morter the point

    April 21, 2018 in Gibraltar ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Bill Scunthorpe was a solid and unassuming man: when the Governor told him to make a gate in the wall, he asked "With what Sir?"
    Well the boss was a Yorkshire man and new exactly how to make a lasting impression. "With bricks and mortar man, bricks and mortar."
    So that was what Bill, a good soldier, did.

    Noting the lack of ordinance, viz. mortars which had been commandeered for wall building, a Lancashireman named Healy stepped into the breech so to speak and cut one into solid rock.
    Healy's Mortar was intended to hurl 1000 stones weighing over 1lb each, onto any attacking forces. Unfortunately, it proved unsuccessful as most stones rained down inside the fortress. Duh!

    BTW When I attempted to purchase a stick of Gibraltar Rock, everybody looked at me strangely. Why was that do you think?    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Dome of the Rock

    April 21, 2018 in Gibraltar ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Standing on a monolithic limestone promontory at about 426m ASL. The right side is nearly vertical, all the way down to the Med. The left, West side slopes down at 45 degrees.

    It is blowing a gale on the right, but one can remain upright on the left side like a true Englishman.

    On a day like today, the scary Skywalk is not so scary as swirling mist obscures the drop.

    On the right of the stadium you can see a row of campers in Spain. My Frankia is parked down there. Thought you might like to know that.

    Quite a few of the people walking across the runway are hotel cleaners known as "Las Kellys", (from "las que limpian, women who clean.) They have formed a Union and made big headlines marching on Madrid to demand better working conditions. It is the same old story, hotels contract out their cleaning whereupon the cleaners loose all their rights such as pensions, holidays etc. They can be cleaning the rooms used by drunken holiday makers for as little as 2 Euros / room. Malaga hotels seem to be the worst offenders.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRoland RoutierTraveler

    Chas' wall

    April 21, 2018 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    You may recognise this wall from the pre-title sequence of "The Living Daylights", where James Bond pursues an assassin escaping in a Land Rover.

    It was built in 1540 and strengthened in 1552 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V principally to defend the South from the Barbary pirates.

    I walked down the upper section from the crest of The Rock. It zigzags down at 45 degrees in four stages so that defenders can provide flanking fire to each face.
    The monkeys are very possessive - one small one tried to grab me - and even bite tourists. Watching how visitors crowded them and backed them against walls poking lenses in their faces, I do not blame the monkeys. I felt like biting too.    Read more

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