Five Days in Spain, Five Stories to Tell

1. Cow bells

There is something very pleasant about waking to the sound of distant cowbells. We’ve just done that in a small country hotel in the Asturias region of Northern Spain. After flying from Madrid, taking the high speed train to Santander, and then driving to the village of La Pedrera, their gentle morning wake up call was a perfect start to our holiday.

 

In the countryside and off the beaten track. Perfect. 

2. Spanish siesta

I’ve always known that these two words go together and that they refer loosely to the Spanish belief in an afternoon nap. However there’s more. I now know that in the interests of siesta, all shops, including supermarkets and restaurants, shut at 2.30 and then open again at 8.00ish.  Consequently, if you want a late lunch or an early dinner, you are dead out of luck. Which is why one of us has now started referring to our holiday as the Spanish Diet Plan.

3. Fortuitous finds

Beautiful Potes nestled among the mountains of the Picos de Europa.

 Market day and local cheeses for sale 

I love discovering things unexpectedly, for instant a market day in a small village square, such as the one we came across in Potes. Or the really extraordinarily unexpected, such as the exhibition we came across, also in Potes, housed in the fifteenth century Torre del Infantado. It was entitled, somewhat enigmatically, The Cosmos of Beatus of Liebana and included among other things, illuminated manuscripts covering John’s apocalyptic messages from the book of Revelation.

Now I’d like to read more about the Apocalypse, because I’ve realized how little I know. Perhaps there’s a potential Christmas present in there somewhere.

4.  Lovable oddity

One of my favourite books is Prayers from the Ark by Carmen Bernos De Gasztold.  It's a collection of small poems, each one written from the point of view of an animal on the ark.  So for instance, the elephant talks about being “embarrassed by his great self” but then also reflects on his need to rejoice “in the lovable oddity of things.”

We’ve had a few “lovable oddity” moments ourselves. Yesterday in Aviles, for instance. We heard the bagpipes before we saw them. It was a street procession with a difference.

I'd thought it odd when I came across Saudi bagpipers at Janadriyah a couple of years ago, but now I’m wondering if assuming bagpipes to be the exclusive domain of the Scottish may be a major error of judgment. 

5. Déjà vu

We’ve also had some déjà vu experiences. In the Museum of Altamira, we looked at an exhibition featuring Palaeolithic cave art from the surrounding Iberian coastal area. 

As part of the exhibition, we saw a map displaying examples of cave art worldwide.  And there, marked in the area of the Middle East was the very same cave art we’d quite literally walked past when we visited the Nabatean tombs at Madain Saleh two years ago. 

Seeing it here, in so significant a context, felt quite extraordinary.

We've another five days in Spain and then a week in Portugal.  I’m guessing there’ll be more extraordinary moments to come. 

One Yellow Plastic Duck and a Very Little Boy

I’ve just spent the last seven weeks with family in London. When you live as far away as Riyadh, family time becomes very precious, and so there are many, many tales I could tell – feeding the pelicans in St James Park, doing the London Eye, a Dedication service and a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed first birthday party.

Hofuf: Highlights and Adventures

I loved taking my school children on camp in New Zealand. The bus would drop us at the Governor’s Bay hills just outside Christchurch, and we’d follow a track downhill to our campsite.  We’d have a busy two days and then, before returning, I'd ask the children to reflect on their time away. They had to complete a list of defining moments. These were experiences that crossed a range of emotions - the scariest, the most amusing, even the most delicious.  They were always good to read and, when shared back at school, would make us all smile as we relived some of our experiences.

I’ve just spent two days with some friends on a farm a little way out of Hofuf. Like my children at camp, we covered a lot of ground in two days. Among other things, we visited an old fort, a souk, a museum, a cultural centre, a traditional pottery and the Hofuf caves.  

KIng Abdulaziz Arabian Horse Centre

I’m only exaggerating slightly when I say that I barely know one end of a horse from the other. The real truth is I’ve never been especially fond of animals and, unlike many of my friends, I never ever went through the “I want a horse more than anything else in the world” stage.

However, a few weeks ago I was invited to the King Abdulaziz Arabian Horse Centre at Dirab, and I said yes.  You see if there’s one thing I’ve learned living in Saudi, it's that you grab any opportunity with both hands. So if that means scrabbling up rocks at The Edge of the World one weekend, or seeing Arabian stallions another, I’m there.

Edge of the World - Another Riyadh Desert Adventure

The temperatures last Saturday were perfect for visiting the Edge of the World. But this week each day’s been hotter than the one before, so I suspect we had the last of the mild weather. It will soon be too hot to even venture outdoors.