Looking for Don Quioxote

La Molina
We woke up after a fun night to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and coffee at Christine’s. As they headed off to celebrate Palm Sunday, we hit the road. This time we headed south. As we were leaving we watched some of the participants of the Madrid marathon run by. Luckily the race turned into the Parque de Oeste just before where we parked. Otherwise, we would have had to wait for the last person to cross the line before being able to free the car. Jumping back onto the highway we drove towards the southern coast. Since we were driving through La Mancha we figured we better go looking for Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.


The new windmills
The old windmills









Just southeast of Toledo we arrived at Alcazar de San Juan. To reach this town we drove through several small villages. These areas appeared to be primarily reliant upon olive oil factories. As we approached edge of town we were greeted by the sight of several white windmills defending the hill tops. There are many windmills (or Molinas) remaining in this region.

A windmill with personality
Each town claims that theirs are the “real” windmills that Don Quixote fought. We stopped at the windmills and walked around. The blades turned slowly in the wind, creaking. The views from the hilltop were long. In each direction fields stretched into the distance. The occasional, round hill, swelling gently upwards. Before leaving, in homage to Cervantes, Luis had a brief one sided battle with the windmill.

Back on the road again, we aimed for Mengibar. Why Mengibar? Because, it is located just a short trip north of Granada, yet far enough away from the chaos of the city. We intended to see the Alhambra the next day before continuing onto the coast. I also believe that Luis picked this spot because it is another ….ibar named town. We were tired after staying up late the night before and driving for a good part of the day. We had booked a hotel that morning and were really wondering what it would be like after seeing the outskirts of town. Turned out the center of Mengibar was in full swing when we arrived! The entire town was in the Plaza Mayor celebrating Palm Sunday.

Olives

Poppies
The town itself is very agricultural and definitely off the tourist guide. However, seeing the small plaza filled with people was exciting. We arrived at the hotel, which turned out to be a small castle located on the plaza. This beautiful hotel had been the ancestral home of the town’s most important family. Up until three years ago it had still been their home. It was still owned by the same family and had been beautifully renovated into a charming hotel. As we sat on our balcony late in the evening listening to the festivities wind down, we could hear the call of the raptor that lived in the giant nest on the town’s bell tower echoing through the air.

The Castle

Sometime later we stopped and took a walk through the olive groves. The entire region is literally covered with olive trees. We walked along a small stream with colorful wild flowers and poppies. The sun was shining and it was beautiful.
Da Bulls
Driving onward we passed another one of the metal bulls. I had been wondering what they were for. Turns out they are part of a battle between art and advertising. Originally erected in the 1950's these 3 ton metal bull cut outs were once ads for Osborne Veterano brandy. After Spain outlawed roadside advertising along highways, these bulls were meant to be torn down. However people protested and complained as they had become cherished symbols of Spain. The Spanish government argued that they had no authority to make an exception to the rule, so the battle has raged on. Still owned by the same company, these 90+ bulls no longer bare any advertisements but they certainly make the road more interesting.

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