Back online!!

Well, after about a week and a half, I have managed to land in a city with real internet service. SO much has happened in the last 11 days that I will only be able to cover everything with a list. If there is a real interest in anything listed, let me know and I will elaborate. Here goes:

1. We left Zaragoza by AVE, the 180 mph train to Madrid. It only took 1 hour and 15 minutes.
2. We took another train to Albacete, in La Mancha, and my/our friend Llani picked us up.
3. We spent 10 days in Llani and Olallo's house (actually their vacation house) in the little town of El Bonillo, a town of about 3,000 people on a hill overlooking the plains of La Mancha. (The rest of this list takes place in El Bonillo)
4. I went for several mountain bike rides with Olallo (rhymes with Oh-MY-oh!) in 95 degree heat under the Castillian sun.
   
5. I spent several nights not sleeping, because my body was desperately trying to return some of the heat it had absorbed during the bike rides (it is cool in El Bonillo at night).
6. I learned how to cook Gazpacho Manchego from Olallo's brother Emilio.
7. I watched Chaia try snails and rabbit, and like both.
8. I went rabbit hunting with Olallo, his son Carlos, and his brother Emilio (and yes, I did the Elmer Fudd voice at least a dozen times). I did not shoot at anything. I just took lots of pictures.
9. We went to Villabuena de Los Infantes, a VERY Castillian town with a beautiful plaza, several notable mentions in Don Quijote, and where Francisco de Quevedo spent the final days of his life (there is a Quevedo museum there).
10. We spent a day with Llani's cousin and his wife, who run a summer camp out of a giant manor house built for a survivor of the Titanic (complete with staircase designed to match the grand staircase on the ship).
    
11. We went to a series of small lakes, called lagunas, that form the birthplace of the Guadiana river (one of Spain's major rivers). There, we discovered that both Ben and Chaia love lamb.
12. We ate an absurd quantity of meat, the staple of Manchego food.
13. We, along with Llani's family, ate 15 kilos of tomatos in 10 days.
14. We toured the church of El Bonillo, a neoclassical building with origins in the 14th century, a baroque altar, oh, and tucked up in the 1-room museum, a pair of original paintings by El Greco and Ribera (WOW!!).
15. We went, almost every night, to the street fair of El Bonillo to let the kids jump on trampolines.
16. Because of the Spanish summer schedule and the fair, we had dinner (as did our kids) at 10:00 every night. Ben and Chaia got to sleep around 1AM every night.
17. We cooked, we ate, shared recipes (Andee is now the patron saint of El Bonillo for making scones and chocolate chip cookies for everyone), and met some terrific people.
18. We went to a quesería, where Manchego cheese is made by a family. We took home Manchego cheese infused with and covered in rosemary. Truly delicious.

After a wonderful time, we left El Bonillo (in Llani's borrowed car) to travel to Toledo, one of the most monument-filled and magical cities in Spain. From Toledo, we will go to Valencia, and the town of Cheste, where my love for Spain beganso many years ago. There is a Tortilla de patatas waiting there for us...