(Before anything...I have always used 'Mediaeval' as the spelling but I checked and double-checked and it would seem that the current preferred spelling is 'Medieval' even in the UK so I'm going with that.)
On Sunday afternoon, Ruy, Romy and I went with our neighbour, Sergio, to the neighbouring town of Priego de Cordoba.
It's a lovely town about the same size as Alcala la Real but with a different and rather more prosperous feel to it and once you get into the town, its much flatter!
It has lots of narrow streets that in May are awash with colour from the potted plants that are typical of the provincial capital - Cordoba.
However, it was already coming to the end of June when we went and the flowers had passed their most abundant. And we hadn't come to see the flowers anyway.
We came to the Medieval Market that was being held in front of the old castle and for a another more specific reason...I'll get to it in a mo but first a bit of background!
I remember when we lived in Huddersfield checking out local Archery clubs as I felt sure it was something my children would enjoy doing - and we were surrounded by lots and lots of clubs, all within 5 to 10 miles of us and all offering classes for young beginners. We never actually got round to joining any of them as it happens but obviously, the idea stuck with me and when I discovered the opportunity for them to have a go at archery here in Spain, I signed them up at once. I wrote about the
day here. All three of them enjoyed the session but Ruy had either outstanding good luck or was something of a budding archer. Indeed, he got a bow for his birthday last year and has been practicing (on and off) ever since. Finding a club has been more difficult though!
The nearest is in Priego - about half an hour away - but the club only meets informally and sporadically - usually, a text message is sent out as the weekend approaches to say if there's a meeting. I spoke to the president of the club and he said he'd let me know but I've only had one message and it was on a weekend when we couldn't go. And there's no teaching per se.
However, how incredibly lucky are we that our wonderful neighbour, Sergio - who turns up and helps whenever we might need him, who is a fount of knowledge and wisdom about what's going on, when and where, who offers advice on dogs, cherries, cars - is also a passionate (and, more importantly, a non-hunting) expert in archery!!
He knows all the archers who ran the session that my children went to last year and has taken Ruy under his wing. He was going to the Medieval Market in Priego as part of the archery club and was dressed as a monk (I resisted the temptation to call him Friar Tuck....but it was difficult!) and as Ruy just happened to have a very convenient 'Knight' costume, which he donned without hesitation - we were whisked off for a bit of 'authentic' target practice in the grounds of the castle. Sergio had made all his own arrows from wood, finished with feathers, including an amazing one that whistled as it went - to frighten the enemy, apparently.
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| Deserted streets....where was everyone? |
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| Doesn't Sergio make a great monk...? |
The Archers were all at the old castle - in costume and with some great Mediaeval props.
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| There was music... |
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| ...and madness |
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| A Medieval shopping mall... |
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| And quite a bit of nifty bow work....well done Ruy! |
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| And of course, Romy had a go too. |
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| And there were demonstrations of excellence all evening from various experts - including Sergio, of course. |
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| Choose your target, Ruy. |
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| Not bad...though he went on later to hit the centre spot. |
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| Entertainment - albeit of a rather gruesome sort...this creature was quite grotesque! |
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| Romy in middle, keeping only a fairly save distance! |
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| Monk with camera.... |
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| He moved very quickly..... |
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| But was happy to pose for photos after the show...Romy snook on the end for a picture |
We had a great evening and Ruy proved that it wasn't just luck that afternoon. He has a natural ability and will be going regularly to the meetings - apparently they use a mobile app to keep each other informed and I don't have it - hence the lack of information. But now, Sergio will keep us informed. He likes to do that.
