Non-canonical cheese

This week's cheeses were distinctly non-canonical.  They don't appear in the sketch at all.  But I couldn't not be tempted by this delicious piece of dolcelatte.  A lovely strong-tasting Italian cheese.

At the same time, for associations with the Spanish tour and its sheer yummyness, I couldn't not buy a slice of the Picos de Europa.  Probably a cabrales but I couldn't tell from the wrapping or label.  A distinctive taste, different from the Italian cheese.

But, still, another 'azul queso', and also quite scrumptious.

Both of these cheeses came from the East Dulwich Deli. Today it seemed to be specialising in fancy cheeses that don't appear in mid-seventies cult comedies.

The bread in the pictures is a Kentish Flute from the same place, and equally tasty.

Spain Tour 12: Potes to Leon (Preamble)

So where is this? The next Spain posting will tell ...

Spain Tour 10: Tunnel to Bulnes

Pobcebos and Bulnes aren’t really that far from Potes, but there are mountains in the way. So we had to drive North (back through the Gorge again), then West, then South to get there.
The chief reason for including this picture, taken in the Gorge, is as a reminder of the speedy, scary Spanish drivers up in those parts, and their careful lane discipline...

Finally we reached the southern leg of the journey, along the A264 (Carretara de Poncebos), through the Cares gorge. If anything, these mountains seemed even more stark and rugged than the ones we had left in the Eastern Picos.

At Poncebos is the entrance to a most unlikely construction. The Funicular de Bulnes. Bulnes is the only town in Asturias - apparently- with no road access. So before 2001 the only way to reach it from Poncebos was to take the steep, narrow, winding track by foot or donkey.

However, with significant EU funding the mindbending decision had been made to bore a tunnel 2.23 km long, rising around 400m, to carry a small funicular railway between one and the other. The journey takes 7 minutes, the inclination is 18%, the car takes up to 28 passengers, there is a van for goods as well (if wanted) - it really is a marvel. And the residents of Bulnes go for free.

But what astonishes me is that it was built at all. The decision wasn't uncontroversial, and from the OJEC records, there seem to have been some serious questions:

Work has begun on the funicular railway which will provide access to Bulnes, despite the fact that appeals havebeen lodged and that the work has not even been approved (as is legally required) by those responsible forrunning the national park. This irregularity was pointed out by the Environment Ministry in a document of6 November which was signed by the head of the national parks division and which points out to the AsturiasRegional Government that there are irregularities in the project.

In specific terms, three irregularities are mentioned:

− The works project should have been the subject of a prior report by the park management.

− The plan (PLAN) made available for public consultation does not correspond to the one ultimately put intoeffect by the body promoting the funicular railway.

− The lack of legal backing for the project in its attempts to circumvent what is laid down in the Picos deEuropa natural resources plan.

Many environmental bodies which have appealed against the Bulnes funicular railway maintain that thedocument from the Environment Ministry justifies their claims.(Written Question to the Commission at OJEC (98/C 323/71) - answered on the following page)

Well, it's there now - surreal as that may be - so the youngest and I decided to have a go.

Its long, very long, and seems incredibly steep. Some of the effects from inside the car are quite spectacular.



At the top, after leaving the funicular, you seem deep in the mountains. A path leads away along reasonably level ground to the pueblo of Bulnes.



We stopped at Bulnes for a snack. The village is very touristy, with lots of cafes and places to take refreshment. While we were there it seemed crowded, but that may just be because a group of teenage International Scouts had stopped a little way outside the village - and they seemed to be everywhere. Large numbers of walkers and climbers also come to this part of the Picos.

While we were there we finally witnessed and heard the harsh sounds of the Asturian bagpipes. I really enjoyed them - youngest was less sure. (Actually he was very sure - he said he thought they were horrid).

We waited a while, wandering around the village, and then finally met up with the others who had come up by the donkey-path. They certainly looked as if they'd had sufficient exercise!

This is the upper entrance to the funicular. We all took the railway down...
... and here I managed to catch a picture of the two cars passing at the mid-point - where the single track railway suddenly blossoms into a passing place.
However, given that two members of the household took the trouble to climb up the hard way, it seems only reasonable to end with a few of their photographs:

Spain Tour 9: Santa Maria de Lebena

Pre-Romamesque churches. Sigh. I don't entirely blame Cees Nooteboom for this; Spain had these churches well before he started writing about them - and actively promotes them at tourists. But I think he prompted this visit of ours.
A hot day; but only a short drive North from Potes - just back into the Gorge - and there is a hidden-ish turn-off to Lebena. The Church is a few hundred metres from the village, and although they have built a new car park, it felt quite deserted when we were there. Just a couple of other cars.

Mr Nooteboom drives there too. He finds the church locked, goes into the village, and meets an old couple who feed him strong liquor (orujo), and then open up the church for him. Nowadays there are published opening times. We get them wrong, can't be bothered to go into the village and just sort of hang around outside for a while.
It does all appear to have been very nicely refurbished, and there may be wonders inside, but we don't get to see them.

It's Tenth century and "a notable example of Mozarabic church architecture". Lots of people have researched it - and written a lot about it.

But what really excited us in the end were the lizards. Having a bask.

The church is meant to have a mighty fine yew and an impressive cypress outside it. But the yew, I fear, is no more and I got confused about which one the cypress was.


... and so we went away again...

Spain Tour 8: On Cowardice

Next we headed out to Fuente De. Climbing the road into the valley (about a kilometre above Potes). A cold, airless morning. We knew that at the top of the valley there was a fairly high mountain, but there was a cable car up it. We would ride that, if there was space. However. It. Looked. Like. This.
Right at the top of that picture, a long way away and very high up, you can just make out the top end of the cable. Even when they were closer they looked unnerving. There were lots of spaces. We put it to the vote. Three out of four said No.

So we stayed on the ground and looked at some relics of earlier cable cars.

And then we crept away and went home.

Spain Tour 7: Up at the Monastery

High above the campsite sat the monastery of of Santo Toribio de Liébana. Famous for its major relic- the largest remaining piece of the true cross - and its associations with Saint Beatus of Liebana.
From Wikipedia:

According to tradition, this relic is that part of the True Cross that Saint Helena of Constantinople left in Jerusalem. From there, Saint Turibius of Astorga, Custodian of the Holy Places, took it to the Spanish city of Astorga. When the Moors invaded Spain in 711, the relic was hidden along with others in a fold on Mount Viorna in the Liebana Valley, next to St. Turibius' relics. Both relics were eventually transferred to the monastery that became immediately an important place to be visited by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Documents dated 1507 state that, "since time immemorial" the Jubilee is celebrated every time the saint's feast-day falls on a Sunday.

Fr Sandoval, chronicler of the Benedictine order, this relic is the "left arm of the Holy Cross. It was sawed and assembled post-mode Cruz, leaving intact the hole was nailed down the hand of Christ". The vertical bar is 635 millimetres (25.0 in) long and the crossbar is 393 millimetres (15.5 in) long. The cross has a thickness of 38 millimetres (1.5 in)[1]. It is the largest preserved relic of the True Cross.

The Wood was embedded in a Gothic silver gilted cross, manufactured by a workshop of Valladolid in 1679. It lies in housing of golden wood in a baroque, domed, early 18th century chapel in the north wall of the church, looked over by an effigy of the chapel's founder, Francisco Gómez de Otero y Cossío (1640-1714), inquisitor of Madrid and archbishop of Santa Fé de Bogotá, who was born locally.

We went inside and could just see the window in the gothic cross, but I for one could not make out any wood.I found the stories around Saint Beatus (c.730-800) in some ways more interesting and accessible. A monk, theologian and polemicist from around the Picos area. He is not that famous today but his Commentary on the Apocalypse was hugely influential at one time (often referred to just as a 'Beatus'). He took part in the religious disputes of his day, and arguably his writing helped to inspire the early Asturian movements that eventually resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from Spain and its re-establishment as a Christian kingdom. The Wikipedia article is helpful - see here - but the whole story is a complex one, and the details are fascinating. The books about Spain I decried in On Holiday Reading are, to be honest, quite helpful in this regard.

The monastery itself seems set up for far more visitors than we saw. There is a huge car park, and multiple bench seating for a (rather weak) video show. Presumably it is inundated on special feast or holy days, or whenever the Cross is brought out on show.

We spent very little time on the monastery, however. There is a very nice cloister, with a series of images from Beatus's Apocalypse, which is cool and restful, and the church associated with the monastery is worth popping into for a look (and a squint at the relics), but we were more interested in the walks around about.

Scattered across the hillside around the monastery there used to be a series of hermitages - tiny dwellings where hermits would be found - now marked by small chapels and other commemorative buildings. Walking up the paths into the hills to look at these, we came across some quite astonishing views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.


The photograph above doesn't really do justice to the glaringly white patch of snow we spotted in the arms of the distant mountain range.

Nor does this next one really give a sense of how high up we felt we were.


These next few give a sense of one or two of the small chapels commemorating the hermits. At night they are lit up and look quite exotic and surprising from below.





And we were surrounded by butterflies...