When we got to the donkeys I looked at them and studied them. I thought that they had very thin and long ears. They were very close to horses but one difference is that the donkey is smaller than the horse. Jose Maria came to me and lifted me upon the donkey. There was a saddle made only of blankets. The donkeys ears swiveled if they heard something. Jose Maria pulled at the rope and the three donkeys started moving.
It was a weird feeling at first. A horse goes up and down, up and down and a donkey goes side to side. As we clip-clopped through the roads my Mom said that there was a big slant going down and to lean back when we go down. When we went down the cobblestone path I had to lean back very far. When we got past the drop I noticed the surroundings. There were cloud white sheep grazing on plush grass and cow bells tinkling like the church bells I hear. I saw clear, sparkling streams with chocolate colored stones.
*We saw baby piglets.
I learned that you can have a great time riding a donkey with your family.
I also learned that the Roman's put stones in their roads vertically to stop erosion.
Last, but not least, I learned that donkey sweat smells horrible!
*Note from Mom- J and Gigi ended up having to ride together on one donkey because Baby-O got tired super quickly (J is exactly right- it's definitely more side to side than up and down). I was holding a sleeping Baby-O in my arms instead of photographing. It's a shame because we went up, up and up an old Roman track (click here to see surviving Roman roads) that was pretty vertical, it looked a lot like an escalator. The donkeys' handled it flawlessly (us less so- lots of shrieking and giggles).
If you decide you want to learn more about Roman roads take a look here.
We visited a tiny hamlet that lies deep in the woods called Los Madroneros; Jose Maria told us an interesting story about how during the Spanish Civil War the town was spared because when soldiers reached a crest just outside the village it appeared no one lived beyond the woods. In fact, 100 families or so did live there; it was largely abandoned in the 20th Century but is now being refurbished little by little. Jose Maria pointed out where 'Germans' live now and we saw signs of rehabilitation in many of the houses. Jose Maria explained that the village children used to walk the hour and a half into town to go to school and then go back in for the afternoon session! Wow!
As we exited 'the town' (it took 30 seconds to 'cross it'), the most amazing sight came into view- a half dozen (dozen?) horses grazed along a hillside. They were stunning. Nearly all of them came close to peer at us as we made our way onto the original cobbled track laid by the Romans- it's hard to see them in this photo but three of them are in there, living across from the town well that still flows.
Jose Maria is the foreman at Rio Molino. He works hard, we saw him doing any number of things on the property during the week we spent in Alajar. We learned that his daughter graduated with a degree in Economics recently and the pride he feels that she received a job was palpable. Spain's unemployment rate is a whopping 20%, the highest of any industrialized nation. He has a 12 year old son at home whom they were shepherding through 'exam' week while we were there; he made clear he worked hard for his children's future. Spain teeters on the brink like Portugal, we have heard from everyone everywhere we have visited that 'times are tough' and 'there are no jobs'. The town panaderia had gone under (bakery), as had other establishments. Spaniards as we have seen them have been resilient, positive with a heavy dose of stoicism. . .an apt description of Jose Maria and his three sweet donkeys.
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