La Mancha

La Mancha

A few weeks ago we took a great trip with the Hawkins south of Madrid to the region of La Mancha.  Most people associate La Mancha with the famed character of Don Quijote, from the novel by Cervantes.  I have been very anxious to see this area since we arrived in Spain.  I was not disappointed.  It is a beautiful, charming area with great diversity.  

Before we left on our trip I had to take a picture of this tree on temple square
 that was absolutely gorgeous! Fall was beautiful.

La Mancha is famous for the windmills.  These were the first two we came across.
They had no arms, but I was still excited.

These bulls are all over Spain, and we wondered what the significance was.  It turns out that they used to be an add for a beer company.  Advertising beer like this became illegal, so they just took off the ad, but the bulls remain. Everyone remembers what the ad is for, so they still accomplish their purpose.

Consuegra was our first stop.  If you look on the hill you will see a row of windmills.

This pretty church was at the bottom of the hill from the windmills.

On the top of that church was a very common sight in Spain.  A big stork nest, with a stork at home.

Everyone is in love with Don Quijote.

There is an old castle on the same ridge as the windmills.
 As usual, there was a huge crane spoiling my view.

This is the town at the bottom of the hill.

Every little burg has a bullring.  This is one we saw from the ridge.

Calatrava La Vieja

This is a ruined castle outside of Calatrava La Vieja.  It is huge!

It was a popular place for bikers.

This picture gives you a look at how rocky the ground is everywhere in Spain.  This field has already had the rocks "removed."

This castle was originally a Moorish castle built in 785.  It was conquered  by Alfonso the 6th in 1085, and then was placed under the protection of the Knights Templar.

The old Castle Keep has been turned into a museum.

A view from the castle.

Very interesting excavations.

You can still the Arab influence.

The museum in the Keep.

This is the town of Calatrava La Nueva.

Now we're talking!

And you haven't had chocolate unless
you're spoon can stand up in it.

You haven't been to Spain until you've had chocolate and churros.

Want to know what makes my face look like this?
Chocolate and churros!

Heaven on wheels.

Almagro.

This was the most charming little town, with the most charming Plaza Mayor.

1712

One of their claims to fame is the handmade bobbin lace.

An interesting array of light bulbs.

I'm crazy about this happy guy!

Manzanares, where we stayed for the night.
Something about this town reminded me of Tijuana.

Bolanos de Calatrava, a cute little town with an awesome ruined castle named, Dona Berenguela.

There was such a pretty garden all around the walls of the castle.

All of the walkways were set stone by stone and had beautiful designs in them.

Catapult stones.

This cat was taking a little stroll on the ledge of a very tall wall.

The tower was restored and had several room telling the history of the castle.

Arrow slot.

View from the tower.  

Give the guy a hand.

This burg's bullring.

It is so rare to see houses in Spain.  Most people live in apartments.  But this housing development made us do a double take.  I have found my new home.

In every town there is a group of old guys hanging out together shooting the breeze.

The front of my new home.

This one is Charlotte's.

Now the interesting thing about this neighborhood, is it is in the same town that looks like Tijuana.

So is this beautiful church.

This made me think of Sam.

Cute Spanish kids.  I love the way they dress their children.

The lobby of the hotel had some interesting antiques.

Their cafe was the local hangout for all the old geezers in town.

Our parking lot.

This was an interesting license plate.

Beautiful old church in La Solana.

The baptismal font.

The reflection of the window.

We passed a sheep and goat herder.

The hilltop town of Alhambra.

The town geezers.

They had a very unusual altar.

Roman ruins from the town.

Ruidera Lakes.  This is a national park with lakes, lagoons,
waterfalls and all kinds of natural beauty.

We spent a delightful day here with gorgeous weather.

My man and my chariot.

We had to stop for a bathroom break, and a cup of hot chocolate.
Sadly, the spoon could not stand alone.

I have no idea what these are for, but I thought they were interesting.

Back to windmills.  This charming town, Campo de Criptana, was set on a hill.  On the top of the hill they had a group of old windmills.

Don pops up everywhere.

From this hill we could look across the valley to another hill
where we could see a line of windmills.  Of course we had to go find them.

Don Quijote showed us the way.

First we came across this statue looking over the valley.

Here we see them in the distance.

Looking from the new ones, back to the old ones.

It was an absolutely perfect trip!  I also got the chance to try out my new camera, and as you can see, I took a few pictures.  I had to narrow down my favorite 2,000 pictures to the mere 500 or so I have shared here.  Spain is a very picturesque place, to say the least. Every trip brings new experiences and new sights.