Where is the respect??

Covadonga is a famous sanctuary in Asturias, located at the base of the Picos de Europa. A sanctuary is frequently visited mainly by religious people, even important religious figures like the Pope John Paul II. We are not in here precisely for its religious significance. So, why then?

My parents brought my brother and I to this place when I was a child.  The sanctuary has been built in a cave. A small chapel with few benches for pray is laid out in front of the image of the virgin of Covadonga. Next to the cave, a square has been built with a few buildings around it; a church, a museum which narrates the history of the place, and a convent.

From here you can drive 12 kilometres up the mountains on a steep and narrow road which ends up in a valley where the Covadonga lakes are. I don’t remember much, other than the lakes were of stunning beauty and my father getting really stressed driving up that narrow road, full of cars and coaches.

However, for some reason, I have always remembered this place with fondness and this is probably why I suggested it to Gary a few days before. However, since then, I have regretted it at times. What if the memory of this place has simply been distorted and nothing is as wonderful as I remember? In any case, I was intrigued to find out.

We got there late at night and, after having a natural cider in the only bar opened at that time of night, we went to sleep.

The sunlight is hitting our faces. We forgot to close up the windows last night. Lets have a coffee and go up to the church and the sanctuary, I think we will skip the museum.

The place was empty. Too early for buses packed with tourists. We are lucky to have got up so early.

The church like many others. Fussy decoration, with a combination of different styles from different ages. No one is inside.

I must admit that the best thing about this place is the location, a chapel perched on a hill surrounded by mountains. We are so lucky the day has woken up bright and sunny. We shall have a nice view up in the lakes. I was hoping this view was as breath-taking as I remembered. Otherwise, I will have lots of things to explain to Gary.

The entrance of the convent. In fact, it was a school. The night before, we saw children playing outside until the bells from the church called them in for prayer. That makes us think that it is more like a seminary.

The school looked like it was mainly attended by boys, which was unfortunate. The reputation the  catholic church has of looking after their young disciples leaves a lot to be desired. It is an outrage that they continually fail to investigate the atrocities perpetrated by their vile paedophilic priests. Shame on them and shame on pope Raztsinger. GDR

Nothing else to do here. Should we go down to the sanctuary?

We start walking along the corridor which is the entrance to the cave. We pass a sign, another sign requested silence.

But in the  distance, we hear voices, gradually getting louder and louder. We reach the chapel and suddenly find out where these voices came from. Dozens of middles aged people, mainly women are excitedly cheering and laughing at the seeing of the  image of the virgin. This behaviour  is rather surprising. Being this a sacred place, surely silence is compulsory. Where is the respect?

What really surprises us, that level of idolatry, superficiality and immaturity displayed by fifty years old adults. They look like teenagers in front of their adored rock stars, fighting for a photo to show off later on.

Puzzled and shocked at this complete lack of respect we leave to get the car and drive up to the lakes. Hopefully, we will enjoy a few minutes of peace before the bus take them up there.

The drive is beautiful, less stressful than I remember in my father’s car, maybe there are less coaches, maybe Gary is just calmer! The scenes are breath-taking.

Low clouds sitting in between mountains. In the distance, you could mistake them with snow.

Twelve kilometres up the mountain road and we are at the lakes. The view is stunning, the snowed capped mountains can be spotted in the distance. The sun continues to shine brightly. Again, we have been so lucky with the weather.

 

Empty car parks are scattered around, two restaurants and well paved paths suggest this is a place frequently visited by people of all walks of life.

The water of the lakes, clean and peaceful. The paths are flat, comfortable to walk on. Lets look for a bit more challenge and walk around the lake.

No chance. It rained so much the night before that the soil was boggy and muddy. Our feet are getting wet and we keep sinking. We better go back.

Buses and private cars start to arrive. The tour guides are shouting aloud, “We only have fifteen minutes, you are allowed to go to the bar and walk around but don’t go too far. Otherwise, you will make everybody wait”. He sounded so dictatorial. We couldn’t cope with that way of travelling.

On the way down, we find sings to an old coal mine. Asturias used to have plenty of minerals. In fact, it used to be its main economic activity many years ago.

Some of them were located in Picos de Europa and they are now part of the trekking routes to go through them.

Finally we get to the car park and drive down the narrow mountain road. It is now slightly busier, but still a smooth drive down, delighting ourselves with the Picos de Europa landscape one more time.

Gradually, we drive south towards Castilla-Leon, where we are planning to visit another famous wine region in Spain, La Ribera del Duero. Firstly, we have to go through a mountain pass to finally leave Picos de Europa.

We are starving. Lets wait and reach the top of the pass which is only forty minutes away. It will much nicer to have lunch with a mountain view. The day was still bright.

The road to the pass takes us through a dramatic gorge. The road becomes narrower. At this rate, Dora’s ceiling might end up being hit by a overhanging rocks, she would not be happy about that!

Forty minutes later and we are still going up. The drive has been slow but gorgeous. Perhaps we have been a bit harsh with Asturias.

At last, the pass. The fall is in full flow here. A rainbow of colours is displayed in the distance by thousands of trees. How come the autumn is so late in Spain? I love this season, so I can’t really complain.

 

We finally stop for lunch, at an altitude of 2,380 metres. Even in Dora with her heating full on, it feels cold. Lets eat quickly and press on.

Soon after we are in the Castilla-Leon county in the province of Palencia. We are still driving through the mountains. Suddenly a beautiful peak appears ahead of us.

High, majestic, elegant, fully covered in snow.

We reluctantly leave her behind when going down a valley towards the village of Riaῆo. This village is bathed by a huge dam, so immense, we can’t see the end of it. The mountains in the background form an image worth painting.

After leaving Riaῆo we go around the corner. Suddenly, she appears again!! Such an spectacular mountain. However, we can’t work out her name from our simple map.

It is 18.00 and we have got to our final destination, the city of Palencia, where we will spend the night and visit it the next morning before heading off to Valladolid.

Why Valladolid? Two reasons. First, to see my good friend Fermin, who I haven’t seen for ten years. Two, to explore its wines. Valladolid has five different ‘Denominaciones de Origen’, one of them, ‘Ribera del Duero’ is fast becoming the first choice for Spanish wine drinkers instead of Rioja wines. My uncle Manolo and my father have highly recommended a visit so we had better go.

 

A good night although a bit rainy and windy. The next morning was still miserable. Our visit around this city may be shorter than anticipated.

Palencia, although the capital of the province, feels small. Not much bigger than my hometown, Talavera de la Reina.

Christmas lights are up. It feels wintery on such a grey and cold day.

A quick visit to the cathedral which is located in the main square. The square is deserted and bleak.

Quite old. XII century. It looks good from the outside but really badly conserved.

The question is, do these buildings deserve conservation or should they be razed to the ground?

The Catholic Church has made no attempt to properly put in place a conservation program, even though they have billions in the bank. Any works that are done are of exceptionally poor quality, with no consideration to either the historical context, the materiality, or the long term well being of the building. In this example we have a cloister being glazed in with single glazing, so poorly there are gaps all the way around the edges. Heating has also been installed, presumably so the nuns don’t get too cold! They are effectively trying to heat the whole of Palencia, so much for saving the planet, perhaps they can’t be bothered as they are waiting the imminent return of christ!

GDR

The visit doesn’t last long. When you have seen one cathedral you have seen them all. However, thanks to the cathedral, our visit to Palencia has lasted a little bit longer.

Time for a quick tapas and call about five ‘bodegas’ in Ribera del Duero to reserve a tour. Out of six, only one answered. The next visit starts in two hours. Sh..!! We are still fifty kilometres away.

We neck our wines and scoff our tapas and rushed up to the park where Dora is waiting.

We still have time to walk down along the river.

Across the old bridge.

and enjoy the view of dozen of ducks waiting for some bread. Sorry guys, we have had no time to buy any. We may no have lunch today either!

SM