Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! Green beer will not touch these lips but I am wearing green today because I always have due to my dear departed Grandpa. Bruce and I are actual Irish Citizens due to legacy from our grandparents and very proud of that. This doesn't mean we are any less proud to be Canadian, we are just thankful to be both. Grandpa had this saying on a tile in the kitchen of their home.
   “An Irishman is never drunk as long as - He can hold onto one blade of grass and not - Fall off the face of the earth” |
Ivan picked us up in his Mom’s Land Rover, soon
understood why, we were headed to Donana Park and a town who’s streets are not
paved but sandy called El Rocio on the estuary of the park.
We drove into the park on sandy trails under large pine trees that have
their bottoms clipped to discourage fire. So they look sort of like big
popsicles, there is a better and more respectful description I’m sure. The
smell of pine is wonderful!
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| Pine tree lane, picture doesn't show the really green tops of them |
Kilometres of these trees all over the very large
park. Most of the park is protected as a nature reserve. It has had and still does have hazards
from surrounding agriculture, the strawberry farms runoffs into the soil, well I won’t go on. This is Spain's biggest strawberry farming area. Kilometres for an entire region of covered beds of white plastic on frames that in the distance look like caterpillars over the landscape. Trying to get you a picture, I found out that the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever" was written in Spain, well there you go.
In Donana Park the Iberian Lynx cat is an endangered species (one of many endangered species) and lives here, would have been
wonderful to see one but they tend to come out morning and evening. It is an important migratory spot for many species of birds. So peaceful among the trees, access to the park is limited to Ranger guided tours which Ivan used to do.
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/rocio.htm You can also follow further links under the andalucia website about the area.
Then to El Rocio to view the estuary, part of the Park, which is
absolutely fascinating with the many types of birds, most visible to us were
flamingos, storks, ducks and many, many others, frankly, none of us knew the names of.
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| Zoom would only go so far, these are flamingos! |
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| Boardwalk along the estuary |
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| This statue represents the fellow who plays the flute and drum at once and wakens everyone. |
The different species of bird one sees is indicative of the season of the birds migration. It is a bird watchers paradise and they come from all over the world to view.
We saw a small salamander in a bush. There
are wild horses, culled annually to tame some of them for domestic use.
We lunched at a hotel/restaurant overlooking the estuary. They specialize in game meats and Bruce’s meal of venison
was very well done.
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| Bar of the restaurant, quite typical, but note the trash can and napkin dispenser |
Aside: First the napkin dispenser, allows you a continual supply for wiping fingers from tapas, they are a bit tricky to get out without shredding, my method, finger on top, grab the fold half way down and lift up, works every time. Now to dispose of, most, almost all bars have buckets under a leg of the table outside to get rid of refuse like used napkins and sugar packets for coffee. Coffee is very strong here and always served with sugar which everyone but me seems to use. I was told "I was sweet enough". It is perfectly practical to have the patrons clean up after themselves isn't it?
El Rocio is the site of an annual pilgrimage for the Virgin El Rocio. Legend has it that a fellow found a statue of the Virgin in a tree, the Romeria de El Rocio (pilgrimage) has people coming from Sevilla, and all the surrounding area, it is a very big event! People ride horses, they pull covered wagons with oxen with the statues from their churches or walk the entire way. They camp overnight and being Spanish, enjoy their time in camp singing and dancing.
The Church is beautiful, and although we weren’t supposed to take pictures,
Ivan did. It was empty and we weren't part of any group snapping away. The altar area is completely covered in gold inlay, most ornate. The light you see is coming through the skylights with stained glass scenes. Other than those details it is completely white, almost austere, but that background certainly does highlight the altar.
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| Yes, that's me, looking a bit like a penguin I think... |
No pavement in the town, all sand streets and gets very dusty when the
thousands of folks are in town for the pilgrimage. The Church brotherhoods all have houses there, more like two story old style condos, with tile signs indicating which belongs to which. There are hitching posts in front of every
building for the horses.
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| Okay, so when was the last time you've seen a hitching post? Honestly I don't think I ever have! |
A real “wild west” town. It seems to survive on
tourism and the pilgrimage only.
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| El Rocio, a mix of old and new |
We drive to the beach on the Costa de la Luz ("Coast of Light" on the wild Atlantic ocean (ah, we meet again, Atlantic, haven't seen you since Britain a year ago)) to a town called Matalascanas.
Ivan surfs here often and it was sleepy being a week day but he says it is packed on the weekends.
It’s about half an hour drive from Sevilla and there are many hotels for people
to stay in, a true resort town close to Sevilla.
Note for clarification, this writing does not have the special accent over the "n" that would make it have better spelling, it's my fault, I just don't know how to do it! Simple as that, and sorry folks, but too lazy to find out I suppose. See the first link, that's what it should look like.
We rue the only few days left here but are also looking forward to going back to Germany. As said last year, we get to experience two spring times, not a thing wrong with that.
Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat
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