Last weekend, we opted for a different type of excursion, walking between the towns of Morata de Tajuña and Chinchón, which are both located in the Madrid region (Comunidad de Madrid) and easily accessible by bus. We started in Morata de Tajuña, quickly passing the main square and heading to the outskirts of the town where we passed an old mill and learned that the area around the town had been part of the Battle of Jarama during the Spanish Civil War. As we left the town and turned onto a dirt road, which we would follow for some time, we saw evidence of the battle on the hillside. We climbed up briefly to explore the old trenches and earthen bunker openings.
Most of the beginning of the dirt road was busy with cyclists, dirt bikes, and ATVs, but despite this, the landscape was amazing and so different from what I know. While the mountains here are unlike the mountains I am used to, mountains, in general, are still so familiar to me especially since I have traveled to so many different mountainous environments both within the US and abroad. But walking along this road lined with old olive trees on the edge of verdant spring fields and occasional farms really made me feel that I was somewhere else entirely. It seemed that many of the olive trees along the road are no longer harvested and my partner and I noted that we should come back in December to collect some.
After passing spectacular gypsum formations, where I also found an owl feather (!), we left the road briefly to wind our way up through the hills on a trail littered with chunks of white gypsum before descending back to the road. However, instead of olive trees, now we had beautiful flowering almond trees. Also, dogs. So, so many dogs. Every farm we passed had at least one, and they were very, very good at their jobs, barking enthusiastically, some more aggressively than others, to make sure we knew who was in charge of the property. Fortunately, the countryside dog owners are more responsible than city dog owners and they were all safely trapped behind fences. Thank goodness! One was so scary that my partner asked, “Does that dog have rabies?” Considering it was with three other much calmer dogs, I told him, “probably not.”
Finally done with the dog gauntlet, we left the road again. This time to see what I had been looking forward to seeing – a castle. I just can’t resist a castle. In fact, I would make it my mission to see every castle in Spain, except that there are so many castles in Spain that it would likely be impossible. In fact, Spanish is often called Castellano (Castilian), derived from Castilla, a region in Spain, and, probably not by coincidence, also the word for castle. This particular castle, called Casasola, is, in typical castle fashion, perched on a dramatic cliff. It is also private, and I think people live there. At least, I know a barking dog lives there, so someone must care for him or her.
We climbed back up into the hills to see the castle and continued into the highlands, more like a grassy plateau. Here, the dirt road, also lined with olive trees, contains giant slabs of gypsum that have been smoothed through years and likely decades of use so that in some places it seemed that the road was literally paved with gypsum. On the plateau, the network of trails and road became more confusing, but finally, we could see Chinchón in the distance on the side of a hill – only a little more to go!
After a little more walking, we entered the town and donned our masks once again, feeling quite tired and hungry. Luckily, near the entrance to the main part of town was a little market. We bought two typical treats from Chinchón – tetas de novicia and pelotas de fraile. For the non-Spanish speakers, these are translated as “novice nun tits” and “friar balls.” They were delicious despite their dirty names, so much so, that I forgot to take a nicely staged photo to post here. Ooops!
After our snack, we explored the town, which includes a unique Plaza Mayor in a circular shape with an earthen floor, a clock tower, a church with a painting by Goya, which was closed so we couldn’t see it, and another castle (yay!). The Plaza Mayor is quite dramatic and lined with galleried houses from the 15th to 16th centuries. In the plaza, we bought some garlic scapes and garlic, which the town is known for and are grown in the area, at a small stand. I would like to return to the town with more time and energy, and less coronavirus, to explore and have, as one of my student’s would say, “unas bravas.”
