Consuegra, Castilla la Mancha

On Sunday, my Oregonian friend/neighbor here in Madrid and I ventured to Consuegra for the Saffron Rose Festival. We spent a wonderfully relaxed afternoon and evening exploring the town and immersing ourselves in the festivities and historic monuments. Consuegra is among many destinations along la Ruta Don Quijote.  Part of what made being there so special was that we felt like we'd found a cool part of Spain to observe outside of dominant tourist areas. Most of the out of towners attending the festival were just Spaniards from other parts of the country!

Our view from buswindow of Toledo from la carratera.

Los vestidos tradicionales de Castilla la Mancha

Peaking in through the window, we see Flamenco dancers warming up.

El espectaculo

50th anniversary of the Saffron Rose Festival in Consuegra

Esos molinos tienen mas anos que los estados unidos, lo sabe Don Quijote.

Behind me, a castle..and ruins of an old wall.

We argued our way in before the castle guards took their afternoon siesta.

Teatralizacion. This was really funny. We had been promised by the manwho sold us our tickets to view the castle that we could enter any time before 1:30.We got to the castle at 1:20 and the entry gate had been locked. I could see a large group of tourists inside and so I rattled the door and asked to be let in. A woman working there came over and said that we had arrived too late and that we'd have to wait untilafter their siesta. I explained that when we purchased our tickets we'd been toldwe could enter before 1:30. She said, "Well, it's 2:30 now!" Well, in Spain, we "Fell back" yesterday, so actually she was off by an hour...and I informed her of this and she still argued her point, that we'd have to wait 'til after siesta to see the castle...I then asked, "Can't wejust join that group?" Once I asked this question, she said, "Que no, que no, que no...podais volver a ver la proxima teatralizacion pero no podais interrumpir esta. Si entrais ahora, no podais molestar!"And so, she let us pass before siesta but only under the condition that we not bother the dramatization in process. This was great. We explored the castle, tip toeing around medievalsets splayed throughout the castle, and running into actors dressed as fryers and princes and other such period appropriate characters. We also saw one very sorry castle visitor complain to the woman who'd finally agreed to let us in that she didn't want to watch the dramatization at all, that she just wanted to explore the castle freely, as she'd been told she could at the ticket selling windmill. She protested saying, "Eso es para ninos! Somos mayores!!!" It was a total hoot and Shayna and I lucked out, having a great time wandering around the old castle, not bothering anyone!

I haven't posted any of the sets...perhaps I should add one or two so you can see how beautifully decorated this castle is kept.

We were able to walk up and down spiral staircases into various chambers

at all levels. The views from and within the castle were quite beautiful.

Consuegra from castle window..

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Shayna!!!

Another view of Consuegra. The white building on the right

is a hostel perfectly placed for people trekking la Ruta Don Quijote,

a 2,500 kilometer footpath through the Castilla la Mancha region of Spain.

Shayna and I walked a few kilometers of it together! We both wished

we could continue on! While we walked along the path, we saw many

Saffron flowers, which look quite similar to crocus flowers.

Bailarines

Artesanias and campesinos set up selling saffron cheeses,

saffron liquors, saffron in bottles, saffron flowers in pots, saffron pins...

not to mention other cheeses, meats and wines of the region.

Baranjenas de almargo. Pickled eggplants! These are so delicious.

Gemma actually shared them with me two weekends ago

in Toledo, so I refrained from buying any at the fair...I

regret not bringing some home, I must admit! This is one of the

best foods I've tried in Spain...dad, try pickling little heirloom eggplants

with red peppers pinched through the center!

First windmill in a series of 12 that march up along a ridge.

It was fun to be in such a photogenic place! Oh wait, I guess

that's been pretty much all of Spain so far...

Shayna...windmill...enough said.

oh me, oh my a Butterfly!

I'm not the only person taking pictures!

Neither is Shayna! At this point, sadly, my camera's battery died.