{"id":3190,"date":"2022-04-01T19:25:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T19:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2026-08-16T08:48:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T08:48:49","slug":"spain-14-cherry-blossom-at-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=3190","title":{"rendered":"SPAIN 14. CHERRY BLOSSOM AT LAST!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had a couple more days at Aranjuez before heading off to Plasencia.\u00a0 \u00a0I guess the highlight was the Sunday brunch at La Dolce Bailarina.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But the walk in the Jardin del Principe was pretty good too.\u00a0 It’s allegedly the largest fenced-in park in Europe.\u00a0 Yes, well, maybe.\u00a0 But we can say it’s definitely fenced in and it’s not at all small being over 3 km on one side!\u00a0 The park was not well tended, but there were lots of blossom trees and one group of trees clipped to look like a castle (?).\u00a0 Personally I thought it resembled a spider more than a castle…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We also visited Oca\u00f1ia about 17 kms SE.\u00a0 It has a rather pretty square, we’ve been told.\u00a0 What we weren’t told was that it was market day on Monday.\u00a0 And guess where the market is held!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yes, you got it!\u00a0 So we beat a hasty retreat (but not so hasty that we couldn’t sink a coffee or two, a toasted croissant and a couple of pieces of orange cake in a cafe under the arches!).\u00a0 We were looking for the Palacio de C\u00e1rdenas – mainly because it sounded good.\u00a0 While peering tentatively through the massive doors from the street, we were hauled in by the security guard.\u00a0 After one of those conversations where both parties talk a lot with not a single word in common.\u00a0 Much gesturing and pushing us through the body scanners and clear instructions that we could walk around the courtyard, but that if we ventured into any rooms we would be arrested for treason and probably shot.\u00a0 At least I think that was the gist.\u00a0 Hey presto.\u00a0 We were in the Palace courtyard…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

… except,\u00a0 after a bit more research, we found that we were actually in the centre of the local Court.\u00a0 There were a few dubious characters (car hijackers and the like) waiting to see various judges and legal advisors.\u00a0 \u00a0And anyway it didn’t feel very palatial with lots of plaster work falling off the columns.\u00a0 Still, it was peaceful, sunny, out of the chilly wind and with a total absence of street traders trying to sell us stuff we really didn’t need!\u00a0 We did visit an upstairs room for personal reasons, so we are expecting court papers to arrive at home any day now!\u00a0 As we left, our best friend in the security department, let’s call him Diego, asked us which side of the quadrangle we preferred and whether we had any suggestions for remedial work on his pillars.\u00a0 I think that’s what he said – that and possibly that if we paid our fine for trespass promptly there would be a 50% reduction.<\/p>\n

We never did find the Palace!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although we did come across a rather sour looking royal – Queen Isabella I!\u00a0 Maybe she tangled with the courthouse security staff when she got lost after a boozy night on the town and knocked on the wrong door!<\/p>\n

Now, at last, it’s time for the cherry blossom!\u00a0 So Camping Monfra\u011fue here we come.\u00a0 It’s just as we remember it.\u00a0 Rather scruffy, with no mowing of grass or weeds, a number of permanent pitches with collections of ancient Spanish caravans wrapped up for the winter in odd tarpaulins and bits of string.\u00a0 However, on the plus side there is no mud and the showers are red hot with phenomenal water pressure.\u00a0 In fact, don’t tell anyone because they might change things, but the showers are dangerous on two fronts – they can be scalding and they can pressure-wash your skin off!<\/p>\n

Why is it when there is so little water in Spain, the campsite water pressure is so excessively high?\u00a0 I can fill my 40 litre water container in 8 seconds! Apparently, based on the country’s size\u00a0 Spain is amongst the leaders of nations when it comes to numbers of reservoirs.\u00a0 They have over 1000 large embalises and many, many smaller ones.\u00a0 To be fair, most of the ones we have seen have been far from full – even after all the rain we’ve been having.\u00a0 Maybe the authorities should have a word with campsite owners!<\/p>\n

The Jerte Valley is the place we have been cherry scumping in the past – and that’s where we are going.\u00a0 First to the village of Jerte itself.\u00a0 We have to secure a posh lunch at the Hospederia Valle del Jerte.\u00a0 Last time we had difficulty getting a table!\u00a0 Sorted, so now we can go for a pre-lunch promenade.\u00a0 I don’t think we are far off with the timing of our visit.\u00a0 Many of the trees were in full bloom, but some have a week or so to go.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Walking over the River Jerte we took the via pecuaria (ancient drovers’ trail) up the valley.\u00a0 The trees were magnificent with their flowers.\u00a0 They flowed up the hillsides on both sides of the valley.\u00a0 But, because the trees are kept small (for easy harvesting of the cherries) and because the flowers are almost exclusively white, the impact is rather less than we were expecting.\u00a0 After all, the publicity material said:<\/p>\n

A unique, dazzling event, where\u00a0two million cherry trees burst into bloom and turn the landscape completely white. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I’d say they’ve underestimated the number of trees.\u00a0 It’s certainly at least two million and fifty because we found a newly planted field which had escaped the census.<\/p>\n

We have decided that growing cherries on the steeply terraced slopes must be hazardous to health.\u00a0 Certainly it’s not good for knees and hips.\u00a0 We met a group of local ex-cherry growers on a boys’ afternoon stroll – and all of them were walking with the aid of sticks.\u00a0 Some of their number had stayed behind on seats by the bridge unable to continue, even with the aid of their zimmer frames!\u00a0 (And, yes, i am aware that one of the group was a lady – she was either identifying as a bloke, or she was their on-call nurse.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After a super lunch (although somewhat spoilt by the portion control of salmon in the pastry case), we decided to visit a “hostal rural” that Glenda had seen advertised, for coffees.\u00a0 This hostal, it turned out, was a couple of kms down the via pecuaria.\u00a0 Along what might just classify as a route for cars.\u00a0 On the short trip we met three cars and a tractor.\u00a0 So lots of reversing and maneuvering – only to find said hostal was closed until May.\u00a0 So a 21 point turn and, following the sat nav, we ended up in dead end after dead end in the back streets of Jerte.\u00a0 Excellent!\u00a0 Switch the bloody thing off!<\/p>\n

Back at base, as dusk settled over our peaceful surroundings, we discovered something new about the campsite.\u00a0 All the holme oaks on site and in the neighbouring field are hosts to cicadas.\u00a0 Millions of them.\u00a0 And they all switch on in concert at 7.55 pm.\u00a0 Deafening.\u00a0 Until 10.20 pm when, as if by magic, they all settle down for the night!<\/p>\n

Although only males produce the cicadas’ distinctive sounds, both sexes have membranous structures called tympana by which they detect sounds, the equivalent of having ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing;<\/sup> a necessity because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB <\/sup>which is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.<\/p>\n

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched nymphs drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives (sometimes as long as 17 years!) at depths down to about 2.5 m!\u00a0 Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers in close proximity to roots, where they feed on tree sap.<\/p>\n

Now here’s an interesting fact…\u00a0 Bacteria landing on the wing surface of a cicada have their membranes torn apart by the nanoscale-sized spikes, making the wing surface the first-known biomaterial that can kill bacteria.\u00a0 Well, I thought it was interesting, anyway!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Well, that’s enough for now.\u00a0 Just off to buy some earplugs!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a couple more days at Aranjuez before heading off to Plasencia.\u00a0 \u00a0I guess the highlight was the Sunday brunch at La Dolce Bailarina. But the walk in the Jardin del Principe was pretty good too.\u00a0 It’s allegedly the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain-22","category-travels-in-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3190"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8073,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190\/revisions\/8073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}