April 2, 2017: Spain and the man from La Mancha!

First stop is Madrid to meet our new friend Javier.  We met Javier last year in Seville and we hit it off right away.  Seville was the site of a festival and Javier invited us so we hopped a horse drawn carriage to a festival lighting up the sky worthy of Disneyland and had a great time drinking and watching the locals dancing the Spanish dance.  

Our new friend Javier (Seville 2016)

Javier lives outsideToledo; an ancient city that is beautiful and full of history.  Toledo is the capital of the region of Castile-La Mancha and so we are hoping to see some sights that gave the inspiration to Cervantes for the tales of Don Quixote.  

Javier is glad to see us but he takes a look at our eight pieces of luggage and     

Says "Oh, I think there is a problem", and we soon see why as we see his nice Audi 4 door with a small trunk.  The best solution is to grab a cab so Jim and Tina go with the cab and Clyde and Krim join Javier for the ride south to his home in Villacana . The hilly country side around Madrid and Toledo flattens out to the plains of La Mancha, home base for our next days.  Javier has a beautiful big house where we spread out and feel right at home.  

Javier is friends with Alexa, a student taking a year off to teach english in the area.    Following graduation from Stanford she heads to law school at Yale.  Alexa is a delight and helps translate for us non-Spanish speaking folks.  Javier has a nice surprise for us this afternoon and evening so we gather food and drink and head out in a four wheel jeep off road to the top of a hill where lies a 250 year old house they own and use only for parties and hunting rabbits and such.  

We are joined by 2 couples and as they bring in wood and prepare food, we tour the home.  Electricity is only available when they bring along a generator and running water is out of the question.  The house is a jewel and rings bells of recognition with the missions in California with thick white adobe walls and tile roof.  The main room has a good sized  fireplace and it is soon roaring and it feels good as the sun is headed for China and the temperature drops.  The weather is very similar to inland California with big temperature changes from day to night.  We watch the sun go down with a beautiful view of the La Mancha farmland below.

       

Key to the 250 year old White House

 

 

At Javier's 250 year old family home  

Time to head inside where our new friends lay out typical Spanish bites to eat that are delicious.  Now for the main event as Javier brings out the paella cast iron pot and puts it over the hot coals of the fire.  In goes all the stuff of paella except the rice and soon we have the best smell ever!  The Spanish wine hits the spot, the food is delicious, the new friends are wonderful and all is well.  

Party at the White HouseTime to head for home.  We are worn out and sleep like babies.  And sleep and sleep.  It is nearly noon before we face the day.