Day 4 Sunday 28 October Parador Gredos (Anniversary day)
Every day starts with a Parador hearty buffet breakfast. As
today marks our 48th wedding anniversary, Paul brought 4 flutes of champagne
to the table to toast his bride and UK friends. Only at a Parador breakfast
buffet do they include Cava!! Overnight there has been a very wet snowfall
of about 4-6 inches covering everything. There were breaks in the clouds
allowing patches of deep blue clear pockets of sky to shine through and
illustrate the 6 inches of ‘New’ white stuff covering everything. It was a wet
snow so the youngsters at the Parador had built a small snow bunny next the
Parador placard.
Forgot to mention that on Saturday we had passed a small
mini-van bus with about 25 hikers each with a 2 quart wooden woven basket for
collecting the mountain mushrooms in the near hillsides around the Gredos
national park. The privately held fields had signs posted to the mushroom
hunters to enjoy themselves and hoping them a plentiful harvest but keep the
area unspoiled during their ramblings, please. There have been loads of hikers
setting off from the Parador parking lot. No wonder Spain is now # 1 worldwide
in life expectancy! All that fresh food and exercise must be doing something.
Sat around the lounge before
setting out to a fancier place for Menu of the Day at 15 euros a person. Oddly
enough there were no others in the dining room, most unusual for a Sunday
lunchtime. After lunch we went back to see the mountain goats at the Plataforma
de Gredos, part of the Parque Regional de La Sierra de Gredos. There are mountain
walks and for all levels which I declined to participate in, as I had left my
hiking boots at home and because it was so damn cold that my poor feet, which
are numb anyway, were like blocks of ice! My companions used my excuses as their
own but that’s ok because we are too old to go hiking down icy mountains in an
early snow storm anyway!
What a surprise, because of the
fresh snowfall and artic winds, the herd was down the hills on the roadway and
the park’s parking lot, many were licking the salt from the blacktop’s surface.
The snowplows had put grit on the road along with salt. Dave took a couple hundred
photos and everyone felt the blast of cold air each time we stopped for someone
to exit for that final pic! It really was an amazing sight. Huge males with magnificent
curved horns keeping an eye on the youngsters and the ladies. Youngsters
playing and butting heads and leaping from rock to rock and virtually paying no
attention to all the humans gawking at them. Stupid people moving up close to
get pictures on their cell phones and scattering the whole herd. (it is a herd isn’t
it? I’ll have to check on that). It
proved that persistence pays off. It is magnificent country which would be
better enjoyed warmer!
Off we went back to the Parador to
thaw out, to sit and talk and reminisce and drink wine. We have not run out of
things to talk about, perhaps that is encroaching age or just being with people
you truly love and do not see often enough. Whenever we meet we pick up where
we left off and our friendship strengthens.
Because of our anniversary we decided
that Sunday evening meal would be in the Pardor restaurant proper. We had the
place to ourselves as most hotel guests had packed up returned to the warmth
drier climbs in Madrid.
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