Candanchu

The ski resort of Candanchu is an easy drive from Jaca. Saturday afternoon threatened storms so we went for a short walk in the morning. The weather was lovely.
We had heard that they were saving snow like they do in the Alps. Apparently there had been up to four metres of snow. What we didn't expect was to find the mound of snow at the bottom of the slopes. It is covered with bales of straw for insulation, but I wonder if there will be any left by the time the first snows fall.

                                              David is standing at the base so you can see how big it is.

There were some patches of hard-packed snow on the cross-country slopes, and we saw some people skiing down the 45 degrre slope beside the "Slipper" rock face-you have to be very sure of yourself to do that, especially on spring snow!

Gentians

Hepatica

Second recreation of the Tercios

This weekend Jaca is celebrating its second edition of the "recreation of the Tercios". (perhaps reenactment is better in English?) The area around the castle is buzzing with people in 16th century costumes, even wandering round the supermarket with swords on! It's very well done, and the Ciudadela is the perfect centre for it.
This afternoon, Before the rain started we went down to see the action, paid our five-euro tickets and joined in the fun.
Here are a few photos;  I took- you can find much better ones by following the link at the bottom of this entry.

http://ganasdevivir.es/blog/2018/05/08/jaca-programa-ii-recreacion-tercios-espanoles-ciudadela-de-jaca/http://ganasdevivir.es/blog/2018/05/08/jaca-programa-ii-recreacion-tercios-espanoles-ciudadela-de-jaca/

                                                                      Drawing a child's tooth, with authentic screams!

Encampment on the battlements

The costumes really are splendid

This man explained in gory detail what parts of the body were the best to stab to disable your enemy.

The ladies of the court out walking

These were from Laredo in Cantabria; really strange headgear!

Men with muskets. They were lighting wicks-I believe they were called slow matches. What a smell of burning!

The men were paired up to light their slowmatches; they only look as if they are kissing!

                                         Out into the central area to fire.

Then the Inquisition arrived-well, that's what we thought it was, but the Court came too-Phillip II and some ladies. He wasn't a popular king in Aragon. The only statue of him in the Autonomous region is a fairly modern one, here in the castle.

                                           Every recreation we see has a Friar Tuck!

The court went to mass in the chapel

A solitary pikeman

one very loud  cannon

Phillip II and his queen

One of the splendid guards at the exit.

It's mid-May, but by 7.30 we were freezing! I wouldn't be surprised if there were more snow on the mountains by tomorrow. The temperature is set to go down again.

https://recreacionterciosdejaca.es/

Shop window

This is a window display that caught my eye

Zaragoza weekend, Los Sitios

More than 200 years ago, Zaragoza suffered a great siege during the Peninsular War. It was a really terrible time and there are many stories of heroism from that time. The city has monuments to the heroes and heroines, and there are areas named after events and people.
This weekend there was a recreation. It was great fun and rather noisy. 450 people took part. There were so many spectators that we saw very little, so I took these photos from the Heraldo de Aragon.

In the Plaza del Pilar, with la Seo in the background

We were struck by the way you could see sparks from the guns and cannons, but this photo is exceptional!

Sunday morning, the Aljaferia palace was the ideal scene for the recreation of a battle.

 In the dry moat

There were so many people watching there was little chance of seeing anything.

Drums

Uniforms

Impressive headwear.