Iter Facere

Monestery de Piedra to Zaragoza

We woke up to a beautiful day and headed off to Ambrona. The woman at the Turismo was very enthusiastic about the museum there. The countryside is rolling hills with very few trees. The museum was a tiny room that cost only .60 Euros to enter, and had a collection of mastodon bones. The highlight was the reproduction mastodon. There wasn’t much to see but it was charming.
From there we headed towards Zaragoza. The woman at the Turismo recommended the Monastery of Santa Maria de la Huerta and was she right on that. The monastery was Cistercian and was a terrific site. Other than a load Russian tour group departing, we were alone. Two cloisters, renaissance and gothic, a nice chapel and a great organ.
Back in the car, we decided we couldn’t get to our original destination, Bilbilis, a Roman site outside Catalayud before it closed for siesta. Instead we decided to head for the Monastery de la Piedra. I had read about it. It seemed like a spot to go if we didn’t have anything better to do...an expensive hotel in an old monastery in a park. I was wrong. It was a terrific place to visit. The park extended over several hundred acres. The primary features were waterfalls, various cataracts dropping over cliffs into narrow channels. The intriguing thing about it was the way the water dropped down over the cliff. Sometimes a direct drop, other times as if it was dropping dow the lawn in your back yard. The paths took us along the waterfalls, the climax being the path
Santa Maria de la Huerta
that dropped behind the fall in a cave. That was fun. Rather damp and wet, but fun. Along the way we say these huge birds circling in the sky. I asked the server at the kiosk what the word for the bird was. Buitre (vulture). Success. After the hike through the park we toured the monastery. Also pleasant. In 1835 the monasteries in Spain were forced to desolve and auction off their land. The family that now owns it (obviously pretty rich) .converted it into a hotel and have preserved the land around it. I’m sure glad we decided to go there. None of the guide books do it justice.
Looking at the clock, we decided we could see Bilbilis. Off on the N202 to Calatayud. The countryside is similar to Southern California around Ventura, semi-arid rolling hills with some steep spots. The inland parts of Spain are surprisingly attractive, in a dry, slightly bleak way. It is very attractive from the interior of an air-conditioned car.
Calatayud looks like many Spanish provincial towns, dusty, many new Euro-ugly buildings and attractive plazas. We didn’t give the town a chance, since we wanted to get to Bilbilis, but they do do outside cafes right. As we drove along the main road we passed a lovely stretch that was lined with trees and tables. Very inviting. The road to Bilbilis was blocked for construction. No signs for the detour. We wandered around a bit and violia! the way appeared. Another intersection without signposts arrived. A guess and we lucked upon the correct road. Drive, drive, drive and without warning the turn appears. We screech to a stop, back up and up the road. Obviously we are meant to visit this place. The museum is a tiny quonset hut with a very lonely, but nice guy in it. He gives us the what information is available and we head up the track, park and walk up to...nothing. Its a dramatic site, tremendous views, but not much to grab our attention. Unfortunately, we’re jaded by previous sites. If we had never seen a Roman site before, this would be good. Having seen some before, I think you’d have to be a professional to appreciate the site.
On to Zaragoza. Jump on the freeway and it should only be an hour. Wrong. Traffic jam because of an accident. We don’t arrive until 7:30 PM, the rush hour. We know where we want to be but the lack of a good map, and the fact that many of the main roads are dug up for construction mean that it takes two hours to finally get into the hotel. Desperate for food and wine we find a little restaurant, eat dinner and collapse. Right now we don’t like this city.

posted by Jim @ 6:29 PM