Yesterday finished with normal service being resumed in Scrabble; I (David) came second.  It is a hugely frustrating game.  Then we repaired to the converted stable which was our apartment and slept (as we do when cycling).

We managed to get off by about 8.30am and started with a 150m climb, but it was pretty gentle.  It is interesting how fitness slowly comes up on us, without a fanfare or anything obvious, but something that would have been tough a few days ago becomes “well, OK”, and that is fitness.

Then a glorious descent reaching speeds of 55kmph (OK not that fast but we did have panniers) as we dropped into a quiet agricultural valley.  We could have followed the N630 to Plascenia but chose to go the “scenic” route – along small roads in a wide agricultural valley.  After about 30km of wonderful quiet riding we got to the hilltop village of Galisteo, surrounded by huge walls.  Although it is not wholly clear, this appears to have started life as a Jewish settlement under the Moors, and the name of the town is a corruption of the word “Galilee”.  After the Christian conquest of Spain in the C13th, the existing Moorish citadel was rebuilt as a Christian fort and in 1429 King John II of Spain granted the lordship of Galisteo to Don Garcia Fernandez Manrique.  His family held onto the fort and surrounding lands for about 200 years and then they hit bad times and the properties were sold, and the town went into decline.

Today the town is thriving (population 2001 – number not year) and the bar in the main square was lively at 11am.  Much drinking of coffee and various forms of alcohol was going on and the bar staff could not keep up.  The noise in the bar was tremendous as everyone spoke at the same time to make their point in whatever was being debated (and my Spanish was not up to explaining what that was).  But it was lively and fun, and we suspect we hit a typical day.  There were house martins (birds not the band) nestling in the Bar’s eves, and we saw a young chick stick its head out of the nest wondering where mum had got to with its lunch. 

The church was closed but, as we cycled towards it, a friendly woman offered to open it up for as she had the key.  We politely declined (or I hope we were polite) and spent a few minutes marvelling at the storks who had built major nests on top of the bell tower.  We wondered where they nested before the churches were built. 

The descent from the town was gripping – we gripped our brakes (and Bernie’s were singing loudly – and did so until fixed later that day).  We then ambled across the countryside towards the village of Carcaboso (for those following our route on a map – and yes I am amazed to say there are people who do this).  The last 10km to the town of Plasencia was on a much busier road and mostly uphill, but again the gradient was kind to us and we just plodded up.  Then we swung down into the town and found a superb bike shop amongst the colonnaded old buildings.  We explained about Bernie’s singing brakes and the mechanic set to work.  15 minutes later we had the benefit of 20 years experience and expertise and they were silently effective.  Just knowing what to do and having the tools to do so is one thing; doing it quickly, efficiently and all for 15 euros (including new brake pads) is astonishing. 

Then we found our apartment and rested after a pretty easy day.  We then walked to Carrefour – a hypermarket very similar to hypermarkets across the continent – to buy food for supper. 

Our aim to visit the Cathedral was thwarted by the fact that it was closed on a Monday – of course.  It looked impressive from the outside but an internal view will have to await our next visit. We opted for a glass of wine on the Plaza Mayor instead and watched the world go by.