Spanish summer and wild amapola blooms

When the wild amapolas are in full bloom, summer in Spain has begun. In their quiescence on a patch of land, in a nook or by the roadside, these wild flowers, many times unnoticed even if they are in red-orange profusion, are a telltale sign of the season of the sun.

“Perhaps the amapolas know their place, they cannot compete with the beauty of Spain in summertime. Yet they bloom. Very quietly. Only few notice them,” says Maria Jose del Pozo, a tour guide in Avila, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Castilla y Leon.

The beauty of amapolas, even if they grow below the Walls of Avila, is drowned when one comes face to face with this impressive stone barricade that serves as sentinel to the monuments and treasures of the city. These best preserved fortifications in Spain dating back to 12th century were constructed by Muslim prisoners. So, it is no surprise that even if the walls are generally Romanesque in feel and design, the Moorish touch is also seen. 

In summertime, which begins in Spain in the month of June and ends in September (or maybe even up to October, observes Maria, “because of the climate change”), being on top of the fortifications brings some sort of rebirth to the soul — the sweet breeze kisses your face; your mind makes love to the view from the top as it is enthralling as the attractive vista of the city and the district unfolds.

Every step forward on this formidable stone barricade is a step back in time. The eastern section of the walls, the Adarve, is said to be the most attractive. It has a length of 2.5 kilometers with nine entry gates, 2,500 battlements and 90 towers. The Alcazar and San Vicente gates, if only to experience how it is to walk on the ramparts, are the most interesting entry points. 

On your way down the Walls of Avila, your feet will lead you to a simple museum that houses many relics of Santa Teresa, an important figure in Avila because she initiated the construction of many Carmelite convents, thus the religious order flourishes to this day. In Avila, your faith in God and man is fortified. It will not hurt if you fortify it further by partaking of the yemas of Santa Teresa, a famous Avila sweet made from egg yolk.

Talk about food, your cravings will bring you to Mesón de Cándido, an 1884 restaurant in Segovia, also in Castilla y León. Purists call it the home of the cochinillo (roast suckling pig). But aside from its mouthwatering food, its importance in the landscape of Segovia can be attributed to its location. The restaurant is situated right beside the Roman Aqueduct.

Segovia

In the mid-‘80s, the old city of Segovia and the Aqueduct, which to this day is still in use to deliver potable water, were declared World Heritage Sites. The Aqueduct, built at the end of the first century and finished at the beginning of the second century, slices right at the center of Segovia’s old-world charm. It’s an engineering wonder how the Aqueduct was built using 25,000 granite blocks held together without any mortar. It is 818 meters long with 170 arches, the highest arch measures 29 meters high. At both ends of the slender Aqueduct, unruly amapolas grow side by side with other greens and blooms.

Because it is summer in Segovia, cotton trees are spewing white fibers in mid-air, and you catch them as you frolic in the promenade area that serves as your viewing deck as you ogle the Alcazar of Segovia, the royal palace built on a stone peninsula, sandwiched by the rivers Eresma and Clamores. There, at the promenade area, with the tiny blades of grass as your carpet to dreamland, you close your eyes and imagine yourself in your most elaborate finery, partying with the royalty.

Toledo

Another World Heritage Site in Spain that will make you dream of the glory of the distant past is the old city of Toledo, famous for its swords and El Greco, the artist and sculptor who moved to the city in 1577 from Crete. The landscape of Toledo is encompassing. From a promontory, you see the city — the cathedral to the right and the Alcazar to the left — like a lovely queen rising from the rays of the morning sun. A river surrounds the old city, giving birth to the healthy lungs of greens that make Toledo bearable even during summer.

On a personal note, inside the Cathedral of Toledo, as I gaze at one of its intricate altars, I experience a faith-lift. The summer sun plays a trick on the smoke-glass windows of the church, casting a colorful and playful shadow on the cathedral floor. That moment I play with God and giggle with Him. I am sure the 24,000 Catholics in the city, out of the 80,000 people living in the old and new cities of Toledo, experience, too, that glee. 

It is the same joy I bring with me to El Escorial because, like in Toledo, this is my second time to visit this place known to be a historical residence of the King of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. As one of the Spanish royal sites, El Escorial operates as a monastery, basilica, palace, library, museum, university, hospital and pantheon.

El Escorial — perhaps considered as the greatest structural legacy of King Philip II, after whom the Philippines was named, in the 16th century — is one of the reasons why the political capital of Spain was moved to Madrid from Toledo. By proxemics, El Escorial is closer to Madrid than Toledo. It is about 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid. Philip, with Juan Bautista de Toledo, designed and built El Escorial, now a World Heritage Site, too, as a monument to Spain’s position as a center of the Christian faith.

At the pantheon of El Escorial Monastery, I “meet” again King Philip II, albeit in his Carrara marble coffin. He’s been at the pantheon forever — and his legacy is felt in the many customs and traditions of the Filipino people.

El Escorial and the cities of Toledo, Segovia and Avila are a bus ride away from Madrid. You can make Madrid your hub and spend a whole day in one of those cities then come back again to Madrid.

The capital city of Madrid is alive, frenetic. It throbs pulsating energy in the graceful yet intense steps of flamenco dancers at Las Carboneras, a restaurant just outside Plaza Mayor. 

Madrid is mad, and madder is the cult-like appreciation of its people for football that the stadium of Real Madrid, even on a low season, is populated by fanatics who cry as they navigate through the Bernabéu Tour. The excursion to the stadium, before it culminates at the football field, leads you to a gallery of Real Madrid’s trophies and medals among other mementos of the team’s legendary players.

Madrid is an arts destination, what with Prado Museum that houses its most prized artwork Las Meninas by Velázquez, considered a giant, a hero and a god in Spain. Or the Guernica by Picasso at the Sofia Museum of Modern Art. Truth is, Madrid is a large, breathing museum. Consider walking on the grounds of Palacio Royal and you will breathe and be bathed in art.

Even in the city capital, amapolas make its wild presence on a patch beside street vendors selling Spanish fans. But the flowers cannot steal the attention from the armada of abanicos, a ubiquitous and flamboyant Spanish symbol.

The amapolas, like the throngs of visitors to this European country, are the spectators of Spain. They may come in their most beautiful attire or background but they can never compete with the old-world charm of Spain.

And, on a few days of summer, I become a spectator, like an amapola flower. I will  continue to thrive in order to talk about the splendor that is Spain.

(For your new beginnings, e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday.)

(Cathay Pacific flies to Madrid from Hong Kong every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Call the Cathay Pacific Philippines 24/7 hotlines at 1-800-8739-5117 (Globe) and 1-800-1441-1011 (Smart/PLDT) or visit www.cathaypacific.ph.)