Life: Idiotropic

Along much of Spain's coastline lie a chain of mountains enabling those living in one to enjoy the other.  As in Granada where you can ski all day, then dine on the beach, here in Valencia, you can do the same with ski resorts just one hour away in the Teruel Province of Aragon.

Knowing this, I should know that the climate is a wee bit different, but of course, I forgot and though it warmed eventually, I was met by a shocking cold when I first got to Teruel today.

This was a day trip to see this town famous for it's lovers which I hadn't seen before.  It also contains two beautiful churches and a collection of Mudejar (Moorish style) towers sprinkled throughout the town which you can climb for a small fee.

Known for it's ham and pottery as well, I was able to see the latter and enjoyed a walk around the town with a friend poking my head into little shops, walking up one tower, and seeing the main cathedral.  Sadly, we missed three attractions in town which happen to be all grouped together in one area with one entrance and one ticket.  These all close at 1:30 which is ridiculously early even by Spanish standards and extremely irritating for me.

So, with that all closed and time to kill, I thought I'd go taste some of this ham that Teruel is so famous for, but all the little restaurants and cafes that were open earlier were now closed, which doesn't make a bit of sense, but then again, this is Spain and I've learned to accept the quirks.  We walked instead to the steps near the train station where a nice carving of the lovers adorns the wall and the teenagers at the school below stand around smoking.  Lovely.

I would share this all with you now, but in my flurry of activity these days trying to upload photos and make space on my computer for more, I ended up only partially downloading my photos and then deleting the rest.  Sad.  I guess this just means I have to go back...

It is, after all, the capital of the Teruel province and a city that has beautiful architecture and an interesting history along with it's famous legend of the two lover's, the Romeo and Juliet story of childhood lover's torn apart by families and ill-timing whose mummied bodies were exhumed and buried side by side so that they could at least be together in death.

Instead of lunch, we munched on old triscuits on the hour drive home, then stuffed ourselves on leftover chicken and home made spaetzle from the night before.

Along with these photos, I did leave with one other souvenir, a beautiful piece of white and green pottery that is typical of this region.  I bought it from the artists wife and was able to meet and photograph the artist himself when I came back to pick up my vase later.  Sadly, this photo was one that was lost along with others of his magnificent little shop with the tiled floor.