Sunday 22 September – Huesca highlights, a lead-in to Lleida

We left our comfortable Casetas apartment this morning and drove to Huesca, some 80km away.  Although somewhat out of the way from the most direct route to Lleida it looked like an interesting diversion – and we were not disappointed! Although a relatively small city by Spanish standards, with a population of about 220,000, it is important historically.  We parked the car and made the long trek up to the old quarter – very quiet, as it is Sunday.  We visited the Gothic cathedral, which took from the late 13^th to the early 16^th century to complete (we suspect that the builders’ descendants may have emigrated to Australia).  Built on the site of a former mosque, it is a most impressive building, as you would expect of a cathedral in Spain.

From there we wandered down the quiet, unoccupied streets towards the main square, to find the tourist information office and visit the historic school museum.  Suddenly we were confronted with a mass of people, countless stalls selling everything from local crafts, cheeses, cured meats of all descriptions, jewellery, food to eat, and almost non-stop entertainment.  We had stumbled across a Medieval Fair and there was certainly something for everyone.  For the kids there were scaled-down medieval activities including archery and jousting from toy horses.  A very old, traditional merry-go-round was running and while we were there we saw traditional dancing and singing and a musical display by a troupe dressed as old Vikings, including some on stilts with the most gruesome faces.  One of the Vikings was so bold as to grab John’s cap off his head and pass it around among his fellow Vikings.  The police were notified and the cap was returned – unharmed. 

After enjoying the festivities and choosing our lunch from a wide selection, including paella and fresh octopus (which John enjoyed), we caught our breath by spending time in the 11^th century San Piedro el Viejo church, founded as a Benedictine Monastery, one of the oldest churches in Spain.  It was originally the site of a Roman temple, then a Mozarabic church. The Royal Pantheon, formerly the Chapter House, has been used for exorcisms and contains the tombs of several local kings, as well as of the last prior, who died in 1494 in “an odour of sanctity”, which must have been comforting for him.

We made our way back through the Old Town to our car, noting how close some drivers are prepared to park to other cars, then drove the next 130km to our destination for the next four nights, Corbins, a small village about 15km from Lleida.  After checking in to our spacious apartment we headed into Lleida to do a bit of shopping and then returned for dinner on our balcony, watching the sun gradually set over the horizon.  Again, bliss!