Saturday, October 27, 2012

Cercedilla

Two weeks ago I went to Cercedilla, a small town an hour by train from Madrid. It is a popular destination for madrileños because of its proximity and good hiking trails. After three weeks in the city, I was ready for some fresh air.


The temperature was perfect and the air was clean and crisp. I met a few other English teachers and we made our way to Los Miradores de los Poetas, an outlook with great views of the Fuenfría valley below and the Guadarrama mountains in the distance. 



Once at los Miradores, I began to see verses of poetry written on the rocks. Then I saw a metal box in a rock that declared there were books inside written by the Spanish poet Luis Rosales, who wrote poems about Cercedilla, and they were for passerby to read while they sat on the rocks. I looked inside and to my surprise I found a plastic box with papers and books inside. Unfortunately, there were no books by Rosales, but it was a nice thought nonetheless. 

(The box with books)

(The painter and the painted)

After a good rest, we continued the hike. We missed a turnoff somewhere along the way, and ended up on the Carretera de la República, a fortification used by the Republicans (the good guys) in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). 




Then we arrived at the Roman road, dating back to the 1st century. It descends from the mountains down into a valley. It eventually brought us back to where we had begun the hike. 


The missed turnoff was fortunate, because we were able to see much more than we had planned to see. The hike was around 10 miles, with great views, good exercise, and most importantly, fresh air. It's a great day trip from Madrid, especially if you need a break from cigarette smoke and exhaust. 

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like such a great hike. How cool to have a box holding poetry!

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