The end of the week marked our five year anniversary. Despite the day being rather crummy for us, we did our best to enjoy the evening. We made reservations to eat at a nearby Lebanese restaurant and walked there just before sunset. We enjoyed a delicious meal of uzzi - a baked pastry filled with lamb - and fire grilled chicken rubbed with spices. After dinner we took the bus to the center of the city and walked around. The night was warm and it was a good end to a bad day.
On Friday we received some good news, which immediately resulted in bad news. Some paperwork we submitted to the Spanish government was completed and approved, but I needed to make an appointment for the final step. The earliest possible time I could get an appointment was the 18th of June. Our departure date is getting set back even more.
The further our departure date gets set back, the less time we have to travel. One of the biggest consequences of leaving later is a shortened time in the five country entente. Our visa for those five countries - Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Niger - is only valid from July 7 to September 4. We suspect it will take us about 45 days to get to Burkina Faso, and if we are leaving the 18th we will only have about a month in the five country zone. This is still acceptable, but limits our time and puts more pressure on us.
With the stress of the week, we needed to get out of Madrid. There were a couple options we considered: the Sierra de Gredos to the west of Madrid, or the Sierra de Guadarrama to the north. We finally decided on Guadarrama, because then we could go and visit Javier's childhood summer home.
We left the city in the afternoon and headed north. I planned a zig-zagging route through the southern part of the mountain range. Our first stop was at a trailhead just outside of Colmenar Viejo. I had originally thought this trailhead was open to vehicles from looking at the map, and I was hoping we could take the landy along the dirt road. It was unfortunately not open to vehicles, but there was a Medievel bridge nearby that we visited.
The next stop on our route was a village called Manzanares el Real. Above the town are the mountains, composed of beautiful granite walls and spires. The town was lively. A craft fair was set up in the center of town, and there was a Renaissance fair for children at the castle.
The castle was clearly made by Daleks.
After exploring the castle we ate some lunch in the landy and continued north through the mountains. We started climbing higher and passed through small mountain villages on our way to Bustarviejo. When Javier was a child his family spent most weekends and most of the summer in this village to escape the heat of the city. It was many years since he had been to the village, and although there were many changes, he still knew his way around.
The fist place we visited was the house his family used to rent. Little had changed. There were even the same roses Javier used to trample while playing football in the yard.
This is how the story goes...
Javier was beginning to get confident on his bike, but still was not very good with peddling or braking. He and one of his sisters were out in the street, and he was practicing by using the gentle slope of the hill in front of the house. He cruised down the village and made it all the way to the central square.
The hill has since been repaved and is less steep than before according to Javi.
He began to roll down the hill and lost control. He neither had the skill to turn, nor the strength to pull the brakes and stop. He went careening down the slope towards some concrete benches.
On the benches were two old women having a nice chat in the summer air. They had no idea there was a crazy little boy flying towards them at high speed. Javier began to scream and the old women - noticing the imminent calamity - scattered like squawking chickens.
With the women out of the way, Javi collided with the concrete benches and went flying over the handlebars and down the back side of the seats. It is amazing he walked away with only broken glasses and a gash on his forehead requiring only two stitches. The drop behind the concrete benches is anywhere between six and ten feet high (two and three meters). As an adult I certainly would not want to fall over that ledge.
After walking around the village for an hour or so, we left to climb to the Puerto de Canencia (a pass). By the time we arrived to the top, the sun was past the horizon and it was getting dark. We decided to park the car and spend the night on the pass. It was a perfect spot: dark, quiet, and much cooler than in the valley below.
The next morning we woke up to beautiful flower covered slopes and a bicycle race. We ate our breakfast and started slowly making our way down the other side of the pass. The bikers were making their way up the pass in the opposite direction. With each passing group we slowed to a crawl. It's funny how even tired bikers riding up a pass will turn their heads to check out our awesome rig.
I love all the little lizards that are always scurrying around the rocks.
We made our way through the valley to Rascafria. This area is very popular for weekend excursions. There are dozens of trails, the tallest mountain in the Guadarrama range (Peñalara), and the Monastery of Santa Maria de El Paular.
We parked at the monastery and walked into Las Presillas. These are a series of natural pools enhanced with some low dams. The whole area was packed with families enjoying the early summer heat and bathing in the pools. We jumped into the water and went for a swim. The water was frigid. Even in the heat of the day the water was too cold to spend much time in.
After a short lunch in the sun we began the 3.7 mile (6km) hike into the Cascada de Purgatorio. The forest was beautiful. Yuccas and juniper growing beneath a dense canopy of oaks. The hike was smooth until the last couple kilometers, when it got rocky and rough to traverse.
Hiking out, we rushed to try and get to the monastery before they closed. Unfortunately all our jogging was in vain, because they closed half an hour before we arrived at the gate. There was only one chapel we were able to visit.
As the sun began to sink behind Peñalara, we drove up to the overlook. The view of the valley was beautiful. We drove back to Madrid through the pass and ski resort Navacerrada, and arrived home after dark.
