Last Saturday I went on a trip; well, two trips with a group of Japanes tourists who had come to Spain especially to visit Romanesque buildings. They had a guide with them; a lady who could understand English. She spoke to the people in Japanese through a discreet mocrophone into the earphones they all wore. Although the trip was meticulously organised and the guide had printed sheets with all the information, I did a lot of explaining. Every little detail I could think about, concerning any of our surroundings. They were interested in everything!
I love showing off the amazing buildings we have in the area. There are some ancient and very singular ones, in amazing surroundings.
In the morning, we went to see three churches in the Serrablo, near Sabiñánigo.
This is San Martin, Oliván. The photo isn't mine; if I'm offending, I'll take it off.
Inside, it's a nice little 11th century church, extended with a double nave and a non-original tower, but the look outside is rather spoiled by such a showy graveyard. It does show that people are living and dying in the village.
To get to the village of Oliván, you have to drive up a long narrow road. Poor bus driver; he was rather worried about turning the bus round in such a small space; it was a 30-seater. Last time I did it, the driver wasn't at all nervous and his bus was much bigger!
From Oliván we went the few kilometres to Lárrede. The church of St Peter there is probably the prettiest of them all and it's kept locked. You need to call and ask for it to be opened by its caretaker .
This one is Latin-cross shaped and has a tall, elegant tower with Mazarab windows at the top. It was heavily restored in the 1930s. The graveyard here is discreet, with small tombstones.
I deliberately left St John of Busa for last. We had to pass it to get to Lárrede; just a couple of kilometres, but it's rather special. The chapel stands on its own in an empty field, just off the road. Of the village it was made for there is no trace. It looks to me like an attempt which didn't quite work. The apse is covered with what looks like the prow of a ship; possibly they couldn't work out how to make the stone dome. One side is as crooked as the Tower of Pisa.
My tourists looked at the architecture, the flowers, the mountains, everything.
In the afternoon the trip was to San Juan de la Peña (St John of the cliff). I love taking people there to see their reactions when they see the buildings nestled in the overhanging rock.
Although the "pathways" weren't actually taped off, it looked as if they had been; there were shreds of plastic tape all over the place, and the route was rocky scree most of the way.
