Cáceres

Once again, Juan wowed us by taking us to an incredible city with a rich history. This time it was Caceres, an hour o so away from Badajoz. It might have been our favorite city. besides the others. Ha ha. I'm channeling Nana. By the way, DeBrys, I became the official favorite the other day. She said, "You're my favorite," and then she looked like she was going to say the next part, but she couldn't remember what it was, and I hurried and left! Ha ha ha! If you escape the "besides the others" part, are you the actual favorite? 

Anyway, we walked around the old city of Caceres, where much of the architecture has been preserved. Maybe it was too far out of the way for some of the border fighting to destroy it.

Everything was so lovely and pictureseque, especially Ruby. We fell in love with every cobblestoned street.

Before we went to Caceres, Juan prepared a wonderful meal for us at his apartment. Gema came over and everyone laughed about old pictures and videos of Victor and Sofia. You can't have Gema around without having hilarious laughter.  I forgot to tell you, before we met in the square, she had come to Sonia's house in the morning the day before and walked into the bedroom to wake me up. Scott was in the shower.  She is so funny! Bleary-eyed, stumbling out of bed was not how I envisioned seeing my friend after 20 years! But, as Gema described it, "I knock...I don't hear any sex....so I go in! ja ja ja ja ja!"  She is THE funniest.

And backing up again, this is from the museum of contemporary art in Badajoz.

Ptolemy gave Scott a bundle of worry dolls to take on the trip. He needed them! Scott handles all the worrying in our family. This trip was nice in that we didn't have to worry about how to get from Point A to Point B, or even what Point A and Point B were. Our wonderful hosts took care of all that.

More laughter, reminiscing about running from the cops in Bloomington and how our roommate, the only one who wasn't participating in the revelry, got caught.  And about how we drove around Portugal lost and 5 of us had to sleep all night on the sidewalk next to the car. In the morning, we had baguettes and canned tuna on the hood of the car for breakfast. Adventures definitely don't have to be perfect, or anywhere close, to be memorable. That is one of my favorite memories.

We went in a museum in Caceres to see the ancient things. This was where the population stored their water.

Fortunately, we were there in time for the city's passion play. As you can see, it depicted Christ on the cross. There was cello music and the priests took Christ down from the cross, lowered him into a casket, and carried the casket through the town. In spite of the corpse looking like a crash test dummy, it was a solemn and reverent occasion. We ended up being trapped in the old city because every alley we took led us to the procession. It was fine with me. I wanted to stay there forever!

I loved this guy. There is such beauty in daily work.

Next time maybe we'll stay in the Caceres Medeival Tourist Apartments. :) My computer doesn't do accents, so I can't spell Spanish words right unless I'm on my phone. Annoying.

We stopped in a tchotchke shop for non-alcoholic beverages and souvenirs. This city has a long history with Knights of the Templar just like Jerez de los Caballeros.

Or maybe we'll stay at Hotel Don Carlos. This picture, which I sent to Freestone, led us to a long text discussion about our dog's pretend secret life. I said, "I can't believe Don Carlos has been operating a hotel in Spain this whole time and we didn't even know." Freestone took it and ran with it. He is so funny.

We were wandering around, enjoying the scenery, when suddenly we were at the trendiest, hippest restaurant in town. Juan has been orchestrating the whole walk to lead us here. See what I mean about not having to worry about the planning? Juan did all the worrying and planning for us! Scott and Juan have the same personality. They like the same things. Scott looked up all the restaurants we went to, and they were all rated super high. They were all the exact places Scott would have chosen. This one was so fun.

Desserts. The cheesecake was SO cheesy. It was made from cheese that most Americans would not touch. It took some getting used to, but I ended up eating the whole thing and loving it.

The restaurant was called Perhaps.

Gema and I had to say goodbye. This time, she didn't barge into our bedroom, but it was pretty early in the morning. This woman works hard! She does one TV show in the morning and another one in the afternoon. I was sad to leave her. I hope she can come visit soon.

Last Spanish breakfast, which Juan kindly brought to us. Every morning, everyone in Spain has fresh-squeezed orange juice. Oranges are so cheap, and so delicious. We lamented many times at how affordable and accessible fresh food is in Spain compared to the U.S.

Driving to Portugal in two cars, and on to the next adventure.

Jerez de los Caballeros

Every day, Sonia had a wonderful breakfast ready for us. We loved eating on the balcony overlooking the park.

Ruby stayed in Sofia's room and spent some time writing in her journal. It's easy to forget all of the amazing things you do and see. I spent two summers in Spain, and I can't even remember what years those summers were.

I do remember that I stayed with Gema's family in Badajoz. In case you're unclear on the history, I dated Victor in college. When he left Indiana University after his graduation in December of who-knows-what year, he has brought Gema to the States a few days prior. She didn't speak any English, but she and I drove Victor to the airport and then it was just the two of us. With Gema, it doesn't matter if you speak the same language. With two or three words in English, she can communicate the whole breadth of human emotion. We became best friends and lived together at 414 S. Ballantine. We had some extremely fun parties at that house. Gema was in the ESL program and had friends from every far-flung corner of the world. The music school was hardly less international, so we had quite the mix of cultures gathered around our giant buckets of home made sangria. The police only actually arrested us at one party. Good times in court. Every moment with Gema is an adventure. She taught me how to have an open heart, and really shaped who I turned out to be. I was so excited to reunite with her and introduce her to Scott, who has heard a LOT about her.

Now Gema is a TV star hosting two programs in Extremadura. She and her husband and two boys recently returned from economic exile in Chile. They were there for a couple of years while the economy was the worst in Spain. Now they're happy to be back with family in Badajoz. I didn't get to meet her husband and boys, who were with Luis' family in Caen for Holy Week. Next time!

As I said, every church had Semana Santa preparations going on. Gema and Sonia took us to the very special village of Jerez de los Caballeros, where their father grew up. Their father, Feliciano, showed me around Jerez when I was in Spain all those years ago. This time, he was ready and waiting to give us the grand tour, looking just as dapper and dignified as I remember him. Feliciano is the official historian for Jerez do los Caballeros. He has written many books, the most recent being a tome about Nunez de Balboa, who hailed from Jerez, as did Ponce de Leon. It gave me a whole new perspective to see the region that those explorers left. It is extremely beautiful country. They must have been very courageous to go from this land-locked paradise to sail into unknown territory.

We have a picture of me leaning against a wall in Jerez when I was about 20. Scott has had the photo in his office forever. I sent it to him when he was on his mission. (Can you believe I wrote him every week after I Dear Johned him? Cruel.)
 Anyway, we found the street and recreated the picture, first with me, then with Ruby. She's almost the same age I was when I was last in Jerez!

 I just think the Mormons could learn something here: church is way more enjoyable if there is a full bar in the chapel.

There is Feliciano's latest book!

And here's the famous picture. Last time, it wasn't Holy Week, so there weren't the purple banners on the balconies.

Isn't Ruby beautiful?

There is a Holy Week tradition in Jerez do los Caballeros that the important people in town serve food to the citizens. They serve garbanzos. When I spoke to Gema before the trip, she would always say, "Circilia! We will go to Jerez and eat garbanzos!"  I was like, "Okaaay...sure." Now I get it, that it's a tradition. It was like being at a civic or church function in Utah, in a big bowery where everyone is running into people they know. We ran into Blanca, one of Gema's close friends, who lived with Gema when I stayed with them for a few weeks in Sevilla.

Feliciano is the godfather/mayor/king of Jerez. :)

After "eating garbanzos," it was siesta time. The streets were pretty quiet. We walked up the hill and knocked on the door of Feliciano's brother's house. His name is Manuel, goes by Manolo. Manolo and his wife had just hosted a big lunch with their old childhood friends. They all come back to Jerez for special occassions, and this was one. Manolo and his wife sacrificed their siesta to sit around the outdoor table and chat with us. Manolo spoke slowly and assumed we were picking up everything he was saying, so I learned a lot listening to him tell about the history of the region. We had snacks and looked out over the beautiful countryside for hours.

Manolo and his wife were extremely dignified. They welcomed us in with no hesitation and entertained us as if it was second nature to them to be gracious hosts, which I'm sure it was, through many years of practice. They live in Madrid, where Manolo has met all kinds of important people through his job. He has even worked in partnership with the CIA. He showed us bunches of medals and awards.

Can you believe this view?

Lemon trees

Little Manuel, a grandchild. He was the only kid there, and I wished he had someone to play with!

After a lovely afternoon, we headed over to the procession with a gelato stop on the way.

It's adorable how they have the little kids in these caps, learning the traditions of their fathers, showing their devotion and piety.

This is how the enormous floats are able to move through the cobblestone streets. In the old days, they would do this for penance. I think they still do, but in a symbolic sort of way.

It gets hot under there!

People reach out and touch the floats as a sign of their faith.

Our dinner was at a hotel/restaurant where the Correas have known the owners forever. They toured us around the hotel. They had these miniature Holy Week floats on display. The dinner was so good. I loved every morsel of the meat and the creamy sauce.  I don't know if Jerez de los Caballeros is a place that is more special than others, but Feliciano made it come alive for me 25 years ago, and the memories of being included in the family meals and late-night-into-the-morning celebrations there are dear to me. Now, I have more memories of the place to hold close. The garbanzos, recreating the photo, being able to show Scott right where that was, seeing the procession, and most importantly, being with friends.

Gotta love this bakery decoration!