Mar 15: Our European tour: Tondos, Cuenca - Mar 28 - Apr 5

Saturday 28 March

Another day of travelling from San Pedro del Pinatar to Tondos - a tiny little village about 10 miles out of Cuenca.  To reach Tondos you come off the main road and pass through another small village – at which point there is a notice saying more or less that the road from there onwards is in a state of disrepair and you use it at your own risk!!  It’s not that bad though and is used regularly by the villagers – the 24 of them that live there permanently  and other who still maintain their family houses there.

Isabel was there waiting for us with a lovely fire – and her new cat Cafe.  And as usual the stray cats were out and about...

The sunsets are always lovely in this village...

Sunday 29 March

We walked up to the Plaza Mayor in the old part of town to see the Palm Sunday procession and we watched it from the balcony of Isabel’s friend Julia who has a flat on the route...

Everywhere was extremely crowded but eventually we managed to look in the Cathedral and then we had a drink in the sunshine along with hundreds of others!...

Monday 30 March

A walk round the newer part of Cuenca and a beer on the main street...

Then a walk to have a look at the Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) ...

The church in Tondos  has been undergoing repairs ...

And then a walk in the fields to one of the fountains...

Tuesday 31 March

A walk from the river up to the old part of town in Cuenca – Las Angustias...

A meal with Amparo, Bernardo, Auntie (she does have a name but she’s always just ‘Tia’ – Auntie!) and one of the daughters Monica.  Amparo is a fantastic cook and we had a great meal and she had even made torrijas – an Easter dessert with bread, wine and sugar.  Delicious!...

Then the procession of Forgiveness...

Julia knows exactly the right place to stand to get the best views of everything – and for this one it was directly outside a bar so that as soon as the final bit of the procession had passed she was able to nip inside and bag the only table in there so that we could sit down to eat our hamburgers!  Clever girl...

Wednesday 1 April

First job today was to get a new number plate made to replace the one which someone partly broke off yesterday while they were trying to park!  So we now have a full number plate again – with the E emblem for Spain!!...

The glorious view from Julia’s flat...

Procession of Silence – best place to see it was by the arches leading into the Plaza Mayor as it looks very impressive as they bring the ‘pasos’ with the olive trees underneath.

Sometimes these processions go on for hours – depending on which church they come out from and the route which takes in the old town and the new town – quite distinct areas with the old part of town being up a long and winding steep hill!

I’ve counted up to 40 people carrying the ‘pasos’ as they are very heavy.  And people pay for this privilege! – probably something like 2000 or 3000 euros per person!!  Big money for the brotherhoods.

Isabel says that in Seville (I think) they now wear electronic monitors under their gowns so that they can be taken off the paso if they are showing any signs of stress.  I suppose this is because people have collapsed with heart attacks or something in previous years.  And it would be needed this year as it has been well over 30 degrees in Seville for the processions.  In fact it has been very warm here too in Cuenca – mid 20s some days – it is usually much cooler apparently.  And indeed we have been here before when they haven’t taken some of the pasos out as the weather has been so bad (some of them are hundreds of years old).

So once the procession of the pasos had gone up the hill into the Plaza Mayor it was time to move again over to the other corner and watch the other three come down from churches which are even higher up near the castle!  I don’t know what time they would have returned to their churches...

And in the middle of all this I spotted Rodrigo – Amparo’s son – on his way to join his brotherhood to come down with his ‘paso’...



Thursday 2 April – Friday 3 April


More processions, more meals and eventually the arrival of Luisa, Ema, Callum, Molly and Lola...

Some of these nuns shinned up the wall to find a better place to see the procession from...

One of the first stops for the girls on their arrival in Cuenca (they have a tick list of things they need to eat/drink/see/do!) was to prop up the bar and have a meal at our ‘local’ the Bar Polo – bocadillos de lomo and prawns.   This bar (and their staff!) haven’t changed at all since before the girls were going there at Lola’s age!...

Lola tried on Alexandro’s gown that he had been wearing for the Turbas procession with his dad...

Saturday 4 April 

The girls remember being on this swing under the grapevines in the summer – Lola’s turn now...

Fun in the park and a bit of sunbathing.  No one here can remember it being so hot at Easter (neither can we – it has usually been rainy and cold – or snowing!!) so it has been an unexpected treat!...

Isabel and Fernando cooked ‘gachas’ for us all – a hearty country dish which was cooked for the shepherds and the families after the killing of a pig (I think).  It is made with special flour (not EU regulated but used to make animal feed!) and belly pork.  Chorizo and other things would be added if the people had them.  It is very much a get-together meal.

So Amparo and Bernardo arrived and three of the boys from the flat in Cuenca (my boys – Javi, Agustin and Charlie con gafas)- along with Sergio.  What a great afternoon!  And a huge THANK YOU to chef Fernando and sous chef Isabel for a wonderful meal!...

And we tried out the selfie stick again...

We went round to have a look at the renovations in the church.  Bernardo and Emilio (the priest) had studied together many years ago so it was nice for them to have a catch up – and some of the neighbours followed us in for a look round too...

Then a short walk around the fields.  A wonderful afternoon surrounded by friends...

My boys (even though I’m only a couple of years [or in one case a couple of months] older) – Javi, Agustin and Charlie con gafas...

And then to end the evening – a drinking game with the children!!  

Fernando (with sous chef Isabel) had a great time making churros of all shapes and sizes which we ate with chocolate (very thick chocolate drink – delicious!).  The game – you had to dunk your churro in the chocolate – but then you had to feed the person next to you while you tried to eat the churro from the person to your other side.  Very funny and very messy but no pictures!...

Great end to a lovely day...

Sunday 5 April

Easter Sunday and the last procession of Semana Santa...

This is always a lovely procession to watch.  The ‘Christ risen’ paso approaches from one direction and the ‘Mary mourning’ from another.  They meet in a small central square (always absolutely packed with people of course) and when Mary sees Christ her black mourning cloak is taken off to reveal another brightly coloured and beautifully decorated cloak underneath.  At this point people cheer loudly and doves are released.  It’s all quite emotional whether you are religious or not!  Then the bands strike up and the pasos start off on their long trek up to the Plaza Mayor and back.

We bumped into Amparo and Bernardo watching the procession before going to mass – very smart unlike us!...

Back in Tondos Ana and Lara had arrived (Isabel’s sister and niece) and Fernando had left – he was going back to Madrid and eventually back to Cheltenham to work.  Another lovely meal made by Ana (fish and chickpea stew – traditionally each day at Easter has its own particular meal) and then just time for a few fireworks before we moved camp to Cuenca...