It´s Raining, It´s Snowing, This Old Man Ain´t Going

It´s true but ya know what? I kinda don´t care because I´m in my favorite town so far in Spain.

This past week has taken me on some of the most scenic and deserted stretches of road I´ve been on so far. I´ve been continually stunned by the beauty, even brought to tears. The mountain vistas, several of which had me trekking over 5,000 feet, have taken my vision as far as my eyes can see with nothing but endless, receding peaks. The roads have had 8 to 10 foot tall snow poles interspersed while the passes snake long segments of drift fences. Fortunately, I've had sun during my days so the weather has been conducive to walking. Mornings, on the other hand, have been cold with frosted blades and ice in places. The only thing I´ve really been missing are the goretex gloves I abandoned my first week walking when I had to reduce my pack weight by a couple pounds. I miss nothing else but those gloves now.

The villages have been the only things between the distances I´ve covered. Not many farms to speak of and much natural landscapes. But every place has had an abundance of charm. Cedrillas, Fortanete (13th century), and Allepuz where I had lunch. I asked the woman in the restaurant if it was typically cold now & she exclaimed it was a warm day which was why she was wearing a short sleeve shirt and had no fire to stoke in the fireplace. When I came upon Iglesuela Del Cid suddenly some loud Spanish bullfighting music from an old B&W movie started blaring over the village. I thought, ¨what a welcoming¨, but then the music stopped and some guy announced to the townsfolk that the weekly market was now open in the plaza. So I walked towards the center and found two tables with produce and one with clothes. Spillover, I figured. Eager to find the rest I left to find the heart of the town, the plaza. But I couldn´t find the plaza. Then someone told me that those three tables WERE the market & that was the plaza. Pretty sad, but this was what the sticks had to offer. I then met a man who opened up the doors of the church for me so I could look inside. Cold but quiet and very still. The totally black crucifix was kinda cool.

I can deal with rain and I can deal with wind and I can even deal with cold but when you put all three together, it´s bad news. That´s what happened on my way to Cantavieja. I was fine until the last 6 miles and then I had to call it quits. It took several hours under four blankets inside a pension to warm up. The truly awesome thing about this predicament was that it occurred during siesta time (2-5) and I got to experience the midday silence in a small town INSIDE, where all the locals experience this afternoon respite instead of outside & passing through. I love how much silence there is in Spain at all times of the day. It often takes me aback as I listen to the sound of pure nothing. Except birds. There are birds singing everywhere.
The other awesome thing about overnighting in Cantavieja was the seafood soup the grandmotherly proprietress had made. Best soup ever. So I had two bowls.

I walked 30 miles yesterday and it was gorgeous. No rain but some low clouds at times that would swirl away to reveal the most marvelous vista. Coming into Morella the sun came out and shone right on this hilltop village, smack on the castle which crowns the top. It was magical. It was something from make believe-land. I arrived later in the day while a cold weather front came through so I got another room for the night. Out my window (I mean right out my window) was part of the medieval wall surrounding the city plus one of the 16 towers. At night the castle and the walls were lit but it started to rain so I just stayed in. Wise move. It rained much of the night and into this morning and then it turned to SNOW! And it snowed a lot & hard (it´s still snowing) and I wanted to go out in it and walk the steep cobbled steps to the large cathedral and old Jewish quarter with it´s twisted little lanes. And I discovered more towers and fine lookouts and an old convent and a poet´s garden. So much charm. And so old. Many parts of the city were built in the 12 & 1300s. And the snow added something to it all that I adored!

But I cannot go out & try to walk in this. I´d die. I´d freeze to death. And tomorrow is supposed to be dry. So, I´ll go up into the castle later and walk the steps (some streets are STEPS) and discover more gems in this most magical city. Morella......you´ve won my heart even in this cold, snowy weather.