Home, sweet home

After spending a lovely time with Jero in Toledo, we headed towards our be-loved Guisando, the village where we have our second home (Casa Dos) is.

This would be the longest we would stay here since we bought the house, ten years ago. When we were working, we used to split our annual leave between spending time in Guisando and traveling elsewhere. As Guisando is relatively close to the UK, our visits had always been brief, although nonetheless, often. We used to come for at least a long weekend at three or four times a year.

This time, with no hurry to go back to work, we are going to stay here for at least three weeks, surely until christmas, maybe a bit longer. We will then continue our journey to Portugal and Morocco and come back up to Guisando again for a week, before we leave Spain to continue our journey to Italy and East Europe.

We are so looking forward to the next few weeks. We need a break from the year break, turning back to a sedentary life for a while. It is now that we truly feel we will live in Guisando.

One month sounds like a really long time for us to spend in one place. But I bet it will go very quickly. We have so many things to do.

As we won’t be using Dora that much, this is the ideal time to thoroughly clean her ; hoover every single corner; clean the bathroom and the fridge; wash up all the clothes, even the unused ones, to freshen them up.

Two weeks here and only now are we seeing the pile gradually getting smaller.

Of course, our walking boots deserve a full waxing treatment. They looked like a wreck after our adventure in La Pedriza circuit. You cannot believe they were still damp after our wet adventure in La Pedriza circuit, a week ago.

The kayaks also need a deep clean. Last time we took them out was in San Sebastian, at the beginning of October. They were still slightly wet and encrusted with sand from the beach.

In addition, there are so many things we always wanted to do around the house but we never had the time, such as doing a full general clean up, which we haven’t done since we bought the house; getting rid of the tat that my parents have stored over the years and we never knew we had; review books and films, we have accumulated over the years; giving away the kitchen crockery and cutlery that people have been giving to us and we’ve never used…

It is amazing how much stuff accumulates. As with Ebbsfleet, we find it really therapeutic to deep clean, deep clear. There is no point in keeping stuff that you are not using and know you won’t use in the future. Our video player, for instance, no longer works. It is not worth repairing, and replacing will be really costly. A lot cheaper to replace those videos we want to keep with DVD’s, so all the old cassettes must find a new home. Rober , Susana’s brother, wants to use them to practice his English- nice that they get a good home. GDR

Obviously, we are also planning to see the family and friends who still live in my hometown, Talavera de la Reina. But for the first time, we won’t be meeting them in a hurry. There won’t be any need to turn anyone down because of lack of time. On the contrary, I will try to see more friends than usual and, hopefully, some of them I will see more than once .

And last, but no least, we will have plenty of time to do long treks in Sierra de Gredos, maybe for a few days. If the weather permits, we are hoping to repeat the experience of the Pyrenees and climb the three highest mountains in the area; Almanzor, Morezon and La Galana. The first two we have already climbed, although in summer. But we cannot wait to attempt them in winter. The same mountain never looks the same.

We will enjoy the company of my parents. They tend to come up every weekend, with the excuse of looking after the house. However, we all know that they also love the village. Over the years, they have integrated well with the locals, meeting more and more people. Every time we come they have expanded their circle of friends. It is nice to see that not only do they come to look after the house, but they also enjoy their time here. In a way, by coming here they feel closer to us.

And it is not surprising really that they like Guisando that much. It is one of prettiest and more picturesque village in Sierra de Gredos. For us it is perfect; it is the head of the south valley, the highest village in the area.

A river straight from the mountains, splits the village in two. At the start and at the end of the village, it widens enough to create big pools where we can go for a swim in summer. Although, for me, as the village is so far up, the water is close to freezing all year around. I am an extremely cold person. Under forty degrees in mid July, I still give the swim a great deal of thought.

Rural and simple, some of the houses have not been renovated for years.

Even though, it doesn’t take longer than a few minutes to go around the village but we don’t get bored of it. After all these years, it still surprises us with its numerous hidden and cute little corners.

This particular one was recognised as one of the most attractive streets in the area back in the eighties.

The village sits in the shadow of the mountains. Each house cascades onto the one below. They often overlap with each other. Ours, for instance, one of the rooms sits under the house above us. There are lots of small streets, tiny cut throughs and steep steps connecting the different layers of the village. Most of the village is free from traffic, as the streets are just too small. There is just one street through the centre and through the main square where traffic flows. This is usually chaotic, with several layers of cars, many trapped. There are just a half a dozen shops; a small general store, a butchers and a couple that sell pan (bread). This lack of commerce is made up by the numerous bars that are around every corner; we have counted a dozen to serve the three hundred inhabitants (and of course the visitors) GDR

Another thing we like about Guisando is that, because it sits in a valley, it is unlikely it will grow any bigger than it currently stands. This is quite a selfish thought, actually, and one of that the authorities wouldn’t probably agree with, as understandably, they will like to see the place growing economically prosperous. We believe that the location of Guisando, although loved by tourists, may be the cause of either its death – when the current habitants die – or its radical transformation – and it will not be the scenic Guisando as it is so well-known today.

From anywhere you look up, you can see the mountains. As the village faces south, the sun brightens shining in the mornings. This light combined with the fresh smell of the pine trees forest that surrounds the village revitalises us. No need to go to spas for expensive regenerating treatments. We just need to come to Guisando.

Five minutes up, and you are in the woods. Next to one of the natural swimming pools, there is a place for BBQ’s. Everything here is made from stone, the granite from the area, what the mountains are made of.

The bull ring, also stone, currently used for the fire bridge headquarters!

And the obligatory panoramic! Weird and cool.

A perfect day in Guisando has to end with a game of ‘Pocha’, a Spanish game played with Spanish cards. Blame my brother and I for this. We learnt this game at University, and introduced it to everybody else. Now, everyone is so addictive to, even Gary!!

SM