Alcala-Frailes and a bit more

Dear Friends
Yesterday and today have been a bit complicated. My friends from Gandia
arrived on Friday evening, and we went out on the town for a drink and
supper. I must have dined on food that was too rich for me because the
following day I was somewhat out of sorts.
We made use of Saturday to visit my next two destinations, because I was
unsure about whether I could get to the second place in one day, and
whether there was anywhere to sleep when I did get there. To my relief we
found someone who knew someone who had a house for rent. Result: I have
somewhere to stay on Monday evening.
Once we'd got this sorted, we went for lunch in Jaen. I'd been there once
before (30 years ago) and remembered the castle on top of the mountain
overlooking the town. It's a parador (a posh state-run hotel) and has been
restored and extended. The view of the surrounding countryside is
impressive: the mountains here are higher and more jagged, and the scenery
more desert-like. Of course there are still olive trees everywhere. Jaen is
the olive capital of the world. The trees here have all been badly affected
by the harsh frosts: most of them are completely brown, and the branches
are being lopped off and burnt, presumably so that they will grow again
next year.
Back in Alcala we visited its castle for good measure.
Today (Sunday) Nestor and I walked to Frailes, which is where I'm staying
tonight. It's only 10km from Alcala, but is the only place to stay until
Carchelejo, another 30km to the north. We'd heard that there was a romeria
happening in the hills above Frailes. A romeria is when they take the
statue of the Virgin Mary out of the church and process up to a chapel
dedicated to her at the top of a hill nearby. It's generally an excuse for
a party/barbecue for everyone round about. We thought we might go up in the
car to take a look. It was a mistake. The whole mountain round the shrine
was a car park. There were cars parked in bushes, in the road, on top of
each other. We crawled along in a queue for an hour before could get out
again. There was a whole funfair going on, with bouncy castles, hamburger
stands, rides, a division of police. This was 4500 ft up a mountain!
I'm writing this in Frailes, sitting on the terraza of the Lady Diana cafe,
and watching the people coming back from the romeria. I have to wait till
later for the hostal to open, because they're all at it as well.
Tomorrow it's a long day to Carchejo, over the highest mountains so far.
Distance today 15km.
___
A wayfarer in Spain