DAY 10- WIND POWER or MONK POWER?

SPAIN

DAY 10 

From:           Pamplona - (NAVARRA)

To:               Surround area - (NAVARRA & ARAGON)

Distance:     100km / 60 miles

Climate:        12C = 55F and windy

WIND POWER or MONK POWER

PERFECTA! ( and not the type you gamble) We were so lucky with the weather! Sun all day and I didn't lose one photo!! And since a photo tells a 1000 words, I am hoping these photos will tell a perfect story.

Since Navarre (Pamplona) is such a beautiful provence we decided to stay an extra few days to see the "RUTAS" (routes) in the surrounding areas. What we didn't know at the time was the surprise we were in for.......

We randomly chose the Red and Orange "Rutas". How did we pick? Just by color!

Little did we know we would end up at ABBEY ROAD. (Stay with me on this one!)

The view out of the car window!

As we headed to the country side following our "red" guide, we were struck with how each valley was so lush with a variety of green colors. And regardless of which small village your eyes would set upon, each had  a tall church steeple in the background.
 Even if only as few as 3 homes were there!
There is always a Church to be found dominating the surroundings.

IBERDOLA - WIND POWER

If you have ever travelled throughout Spain you may have noticed the  many many wind power units high on the mountain tops. That is because Spain (IBERDOLA) is the leading and largest company of Wind Power in the World. Second behind them is FPL in Wind Power. Between the two companies they are starting to transform alternative energy. (More power to them!)

CANOLA FIELDS (Biodiesel)

When traveling throughout Spain your eyes will enjoy the vast bright yellow Canola fields covering the countryside. But!! But....these Canola fields are NOT used to produce the Canola Oil which most of you are familiar in the USA as cooking oil, but instead as Biodiesel - again alternative fuel. 

(Remember, Spain is very rich in Olive Oil... so no need for Canola Oil for cooking purposes.)

FACT: Navarra being a large wine producing region adds wine to almost everything. They offer wine pickled onions, wine vinegar, etc... everything has a bit of red added...

Bright RED Poppy Flowers along the side of the road - everywhere!

Bob on the side of the road - everywhere!

THE SURPRISE VISIT!!!

CASTILLO JAVIER!

We had an incredible surprise when we randomly choose to stop along the way to visit CASTILLO JAVIER. Who is Javier? Why is there a castle named after him? Well we wondered the same and decided to turn off the road to find our answers. 


Well to our amazement when we not only shocked but quite pleasantly surprised at what we found. The most incredible looking and well preserved castle we had ever seen. The grounds were immaculate and the castle intact and enormous. We  could not believe what we had carelessly stumbled upon. No big sign, no major announcement. But oh so worth it. 
We 

paid the meager 2.50E to visit the castle.... and the inside was as a restored art museum. 

So who is Javier, you may still be asking? And why such an elaborate castle?

The answer is simple!
Javier was born in this castle. He is St. Francer Javier, patron of Navarre and Catholic Missionary who travelled the world for 11 years. He came from a wealthy family, studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and was befriended by Loyola. He died at 46 years old in China. His mom continued to own the castle.

The castle was built in the 10th century and was used as a defense against neighboring Aragon. It holds the only Skelton painting in Spain and was completed in the 14th century.

Modern day Javier - ready to save the world or play his Game Boy! ( I had to take his pix)

Beautiful manicured grounds.

Lovely hotel and restaurant on premise

Cafe, bar as well!

My usual daily lunch. Ensalada Mixta

In Spain - a mixed salad always comes with egg, tuna, asparagus, olives and lettuce/tomatoes

FACT: A vegetable sandwich in Spain includes Ham, egg, tuna and sometimes beef. 

Next stop! The Catholic King!

In the provence of ARAGON

This delightful side stop is host to the birthplace and home of King Fernando. The town is a walled Medieval village. 

Stress? What stress?

His siesta!

I couldn't resist snapping this of him napping.

Inside a local shop

A rooftop view

Bronze chairs.. Bob says they were super comfortable. I found them stiff.

Springtime flowers everywhere.

Tunnels everywhere... to escape 

The Bronze Age. Bobs new best friend!

On the way up to the Kings Palace.

The inside of a persons home.

Can you imagine trying to fit a pick up truck in this gated city?

Yes that actually says the EXIT FOR CARS.. I don't think 3 bikes will make it thru

The view from above

Time standing still... riding to the next pueblo

AND NOW.... MONK POWER!!

ABBEY OF SAN SALVADOR DE LEYRE
( Abbey Road)

This was one of the most beautiful monasteries. Even our Tom Tom could not find it. Bob had to drive up and down so many back roads to try to find it. And why? All because we saw a purple sign about 5 km back. We were curious. And what a delight!

This monastery is over 1000 years old!! Yes 1000 years old! The entire outside wall is original and well preserved. The monks are Benedictine of Santo Domingo de Silos. They devote their lives to Gregorian Chants, praying and research studies. 

He told us he was disappointed in Obama and wished Clinton were President.

We met one of the monks who allowed us to visit their private Cloisters. I wish I could have taken a photo for you to see... so clean, so well preserved, so rich. You can see they live a very good life. 

These 31 monks living and working in this Abbey make their own cheese which is quite famous. It is called QUESO RONCAL ( for the Roncal Valley) as well as their own honey. They grow their own food and herbs. They pray 7 times a day and in between eat and work the monastery. There is a hotel and restaurant on premise.

For 2.70E we took a guided  tour and although these photos did not come out very good you can see there is a large crypt below. They do not know what the original crypt was used for except that it was built to hold the church above steady.

Since the monks were very educated, these tunnels for the monks to escape in case of war. 

The view from ABBEY ROAD

Summary: Because the sun was shining today and we had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful surprise monuments, I added a lot more photos for you to see. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. 

Tomorrow: How about the beach? Tapas in San Sebastian? We are going to roll the dice and see where they land on the map!

TIDBIT: 

Q. How many provinces does Spain have? 

This is a tricky question... 

A.

Spain has 50 provinces but 17 communities (which one would think are provinces)

.

1. Andalusia  2. Aragon   3. Asturias    4. Balearic,  5. Basque,  6. Canary   7. Cantabria

8. Castille & Leon  9 Catalonia   10 Extremadura  11. Galicia  12 Rioja   13 Madrid

14. Murcia    15 Navarre  16. Valencia.... oops I forgot 17. La Mancha

Bob and I live in #1.. Andalucia.

That's it for tonight from Espana.....

Hope you enjoyed Navarre...post comments so I know I am not alone.



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