30 Apr (Wed)-Cazella de la Sierra

30 Apr (Wed)- another big breakfast at A XIII, then depart for Hotel Palacio de San Benito (PSB), located in the small town Cazella de la Sierra at N 37 55.665; W 05 45.690. We arrived after a 2-hour drive through beautiful countryside, a cool day with cloudless sky. We enjoyed the olive and orange groves, the green lush countryside, the pine trees with spherical shape, rather than the usual cone shape. The soil was distinctly redder and browner than other areas. PSB was a royal summer palace originally, but was converted to a small hotel, and is full of various remnants of the glory days: paintings, tapestries, lovely tile work, hunting trophies, fine porcelain, interesting furniture, and is really a museum. The patio area is also quite interesting.
We had lunch at one of the few restaurants, Restaurante Manolo on Paseo de Moro: beer, 'ensalada mixe' (salad); and a dish we picked from a picture that the owner called 'entrecote of veal', a huge, tender slab of beef on a sizzling platter, covered in a white sauce with peppercorns, grilled green peppers, and potatoes with an orange sauce. It was really good! The owner played really enjoyable music, pop songs from the 50s to the 80's, all artists and styles, but all familiar and favorites. He said he personally picked the calves that would provide the veal when they became about a year old.
We walked around the town from 4 pm, when it seemed deserted - no cars, no pedestrians, nothing; then when the stores started opening around 6:30, suddenly the streets filled with cars and people. We stopped by the local market to shop for a snack for tonight - the lanes were really narrow, and there were lots of people, but somehow everyone managed without any seeming stress or frustration. The Spanish schedule takes a bit of getting used to... it's certainly different. I managed to upload another set of photos to http://hutchings.smugmug.com. It looks like we have about 300+ photos uploaded now.