A month in the country - Leon

Leon is the area where FR's family are from - not Valladolid at all. On his father's side, he has two aunties who live to the north east of the provincial capital. In Leon itself, FR's mother has two sisters and their families and this is also where Segundo, FR's grandfather has been living - well, been looked after - in an apartment with one of these sisters in turn. The house where these sisters, another and two brothers were born is to the east of the province in a typical little Leonese village called Valdepolo. 

Despite a plethora of mosquitoes and flies, ancient beds, awkward cooking arrangements and the occasionally cutting off of the water supply, we are very fond of the house in Valdepolo and when I say we spent a month in the country, it is this house that is central to the concept.

Add to this the proximity of family, who joined us for lunch from time to time and brought pipes along......

....glorious, glorious countryside and natural surroundings.....

....amazing sunsets....

....outdoor baths....

... lazy, hazy evening strolls.....
 

....in late golden sunlight....

...and making campfires on which to toast marshmallows....

....I think you'll see why we like it here.

And a short drive away, we were able to visit Segundo just a few days before he died. 

I hadn't been able to go on the day this photograph was taken as I was unwell but I went the next day and saw Segundo in his bed. FR suggested I sing to him - I don't know why - but I obliged with the first thing that came into my head, which was 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. I had his rapt, if somewhat bemused attention from start to finish. I think he liked it. I hope so. 

What I didn't capture, because I forgot my camera that day, was the beautiful cathedral of Leon which we went to visit before returning to Valdepolo. I have borrowed an internet image as it is such an amazing building it would be a shame not to include it here.

It is a huge tribute to Alcala la Real that we don't choose to live in Leon. I wish we could have two - no, three homes - one in Alcala la Real itself; one in the campo nearby - for weekends and holidays, with a swimming pool, of course; and a third in Leon province for our month in the country and possibly for longer as our children grow up, leave school and make their own way in life. I think FR and I would appreciate the peace and calm of the countryside in years to come. 

Though right now, I'd be glad of just the one house - the one we're searching for in Alcala! But Leon can rest assured that we will be back...

Putting the 'fun' in 'funeral'.

On the eve of our return to Alcala la Real, we received a phone call to say that FR's abuelo, Segundo, had died. Like all expected news that is not good, there was an element of shock involved, despite the knowledge that an ailing 96 year old cannot go on forever.

We secretly think that Segundo had hung on to see all the family together over the summer before he decided it was his time to go. And he thoughtfully saved us an additional journey and gave us what turned out to be a wonderful day together to remember for all time.

Amelia and her sisters arranged things the following day and the funeral took place in the beautiful little church in Valdepolo on Friday at 12 o'clock. The church was packed with family, friends and neighbours and was a simple, solemn occasion during which one of Segundo's 11 grandchildren, Adrian, read a short, touching piece that he had written in memory of his grandfather.

In the cemetery, he was put into the burial wall in his reserved spot, just above his wife, Segundina, and then bricked in - something I have never seen before. I had always assumed the little plaques on the walls in Spanish cemeteries held urns, not whole coffins...

After this very final act, Amelia, my mother-in-law, visibly relaxed. It has been an increasingly hard job for her as she has devoted a good third of the past two and a half years, feeding, cleaning and looking after her father all day every day - sharing the task in the end with Eloina and Ines - and travelling between her own home and the apartment in Leon to do this. And now, it was over and I suspect it will take her a little time to adjust to having her own life back.

Afterwards, we walked the short distance down to the house in Valdepolo, where we'd spent much of the past four weeks and which we have grown very fond of. It's not a big house and sometimes felt a bit cramped with just the five of us. With thirty-two of us, it was hilarious! Fortunately, there was nothing but sunshine and we set to, putting tables and chairs into the garden. Ruz, another grand-daughter, was an absolute star and stood over the inadequate stove making chicken, steak, soup and tortillas for us all, with a little help from others who put together some excellent salads - but all credit to Ruz (pronounced 'Ruth') - who told me she reads this blog, which made my day!

And had what turned out to be the very best day of our holiday - full of fun, laughter, chatter and family. Segundo would, I am sure, be very proud of the family he left behind and which I am happy to be part of.

Chefs at work

Let the feasting commence

An excellent spread

There was not much left, either

Family 

Castilla y Leon - our take

A world apart from Andalucia, Castilla y Leon has big skies and flat plains.

It has pine forests.

 
And lagoons.

It has fearsome beasties.

Our children played like puppies in the garden.

 
We stayed in the old, old house in Leon where many grandparents, aunts and uncles were born and raised.

New pleasures in rediscovered toys.

 

Spending time with family and laughing a lot.

Watching storms at night. A difficult photographic subject! This is lightening, not the moon.

 Finding old friends in unexpected places. Another story to follow about this one.

And it's where we have spent the past 10 days, together with the new addition to our family, who seems born to travel and enjoy new places!
I present Darwin!

A stretch of the leggies outside Madrid

Picnic en route

Family photo

Finding a new friend - guess which one is Darwin!

This is a good place for a snooze, methinks...

Happy memories in the making.

Frozen north

Yes, we've been to northern Spain today - to a place just west of Leon. I know you don't believe me when I say it's cold here - and I know it's really bad in the UK at the moment - but I'm not trying to compete, just to say, when I say it's cold here, I really do mean it! There has been no snow this week but the temperatures are well below zero and all the way from Valladolid, the scenery was white, icy and frozen. I kept thinking of Wordsworth and 'The Prelude' which I studies at 'A' Level, several passages of which have stuck firm in my memory; there is a lovely section when he goes skating with friends:

                    

          And in the frosty season, when the sun

          Was set, and visible for many a mile
          The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,
          I heeded not their summons: happy time
          It was indeed for all of us--for me
          It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud 

          The village clock tolled six,--I wheeled about,
          Proud and exulting like an untired horse
          That cares not for his home. All shod with steel,
          We hissed along the polished ice in games
          Confederate, imitative of the chase
          And woodland pleasures,--the resounding horn,
          The pack loud chiming, and the hunted hare.
          So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
          And not a voice was idle; with the din
          Smitten, the precipices rang aloud; 

          The leafless trees and every icy crag
          Tinkled like iron;

I love the alliteration of  'all shod with steel, we hissed along the polished ice..'  and the last two lines have always been favourites - and they come to my mind whenever I see a frozen landscape - and so it was today. Everything was tinkling like iron today.

Yes, this really is Spain!

 

We were going to Leon to haul out those boxes that we think we will need - or want - once we move down to Alcala la Real. Not necessarily to take with us the first day or so, but to pile up a bit of our 'home' so that Cesar can come back and get it once we've got ourselves settled. It's surprising what we have missed and what we haven't! I positively hugged my ironing board.... and Ruy was delighted that we found his wind-up bat torch.

Finding anything was a bit of a challenge:

Sofas and wardrobe?

More sofas

Looks like mainly chairs..

Upstairs in the barn..alsorts of things

Chairs and mattresses..

A few of the 100+ boxes

Definitely some pictures here

Some more boxes and more chairs!

But soon we'll be able to take it all out of the barn and put it in its new place, our new home..soon..well, hopefully in 2011.

For now, it's just sort of nice to see it again!