Shazza had not had the best of night’s sleep, due to the small quantity of Prawns, that she had eaten the previous evening, making their bid for freedom during the early hours of the morning 😲 She had not woken whilst I made my early morning coffee so I just left her to sleep, when she did finally awake she said that although tired, from the lack of sleep, strangely enough she actually felt a little better than she had done over the previous couple of days. This made me strongly suspect that she was actually suffering from some kind of stomach bug, rather than anything much more serious, although of course this didn’t explain her earlier symptoms of loss of appetite or fatigue 🤔 We both came to the conclusion that perhaps she should have starved herself for a little longer, her last meal being the Pizza, consumed just 24 hours earlier. “Do you feel well enough to take another longish car journey ?” I asked, “Where to” she asked, “Home” I said.
I should just say at this point that Shazza and I have never argued, I think that we had both learned, from our former lives and relationships, before we got together, that it actually serves no beneficial purpose. Don’t get me wrong, we are not Saints, we do have differences of opinions on a multitude of topics but, generally speaking, they are more often about things that are going on elsewhere and which do not directly involve ourselves or our lives, so external issues rather than personal matters, and on those occasions we usually just agree to disagree and leave it at that. Shazza is the first to admit that she tends to often be a bit more ‘Radical’ in her views and opinions and can often respond to things she see’s, reads or hears with ‘knee jerk’ decisions and personal opinions on matters, I on the other hand tend to be a little more ‘Contemplative’ and tend to think a little more about both sides of an issue before voicing a judgement or opinion 🤷♂️ I am of the belief that Governments, and Individuals, can always manipulate facts, figures and other information to support their own Agenda’s so, in my mind, you need to have access to ‘all’ the information in order to be able to make an ‘informed’ decision on whatever the subject matter happens to be. However, on this occasion I have to confess that I found myself losing a bit of patience with her, it reminded me of a statement several of my former military senior Officers had said about me in several annual appraisals, ‘Eric doesn’t suffer fools gladly’ and the truth is, twenty-two years after retiring from the military, I still don’t. I could not understand Shazza’s rationale in relation to her blatant refusal to get the professional medical advice or treatment that could identify her ill health and get some immediate treatment for it 🤷♂️ So, after a sensible discussion we came to a compromise, I would give her the next twenty-four hours and, if she didn’t get any better, or indeed, if her condition deteriorated, she agreed that we should seek immediate medical intervention, if she did not improve, but did not get any worse, we would go home from here where we would re-assess her condition and take any necessary appropriate medical action.
The thing was, Shazza did not feel strong enough, or confident enough to be very far away from bathroom facilities, to go out exploring the town or visiting the Alcazar, or even just relaxing around the pool area out in the fresh air, which I could certainly understand, and to be honest I would probably feel the same if the boot were on the other foot. I on the other hand couldn’t stay confined in a hotel room all day, so we agreed that I would go out by myself to explore these historic streets and alleyways, it would have been a shame not to now that we were here, but I said that I would leave visiting the Alcazar, in the hope that she would be fit enough so that we could do it together the following day. However, whilst I didn’t anticipate being out the whole day, I didn’t want to leave Shazza without some fresh supplies of bottled water, so I went to the supermarket first, about a ten minute walk away, she had given me specific instructions not to get her anything else, she probably correctly anticipated that I would buy her one of those pre-prepared salads that I know she quite enjoys, but in addition to the sparkling water, which is her personal preference, and some still water, I also purchased a mixture of some soft fruits, just in case, and which I would always eat if she didn’t.
I didn’t have any plan, in fact I didn’t even take the street plan, I had a tongue in my head if I needed directions, but half of the fun of exploring these historic old towns was getting lost. I just made my way towards the Plaza Mayor and would follow my nose from there. Initially, it did feel odd not having Shazza alongside me, making those constant ‘tutting’ noises every time I stopped to take a photograph, I afforded myself a smile, as she would certainly have been a doing a lot of tutting on this particular day 🤭
From the central Plaza there were lots of directions that I could have headed off in, but as I scanned the area, I saw a narrow road leading uphill, past the large church and equestrian statue, I thought that whilst my legs were still fresh, I would do the steps and uphill bits first.
Once inside the main part of this old town’s narrow cobbled streets it was just a maze of streets, around every corner there was another street, another view, another hill to climb, but I appreciated the shade that some of them provided. I did not see a lot of people, either residents of the houses or other tourists, just the odd one here and there, but everyone that I did come across were friendly enough, either with a verbal greeting, nod of the head or a smile. Sometimes I wasn’t sure wether I had already walked up, or down, the same street, but I just kept wandering and, wherever possible, walked in an upward direction, my logic being that I would have to come to the top at some point 🤷♂️
I kept walking, and clicking away, there was just so many beautiful and characterful streets and old buildings, churches, towers, thick walls, it didn’t take much for my imagination to start running riot, I could see this medieval fortication and its crowded busy streets, people, carts, horses and other livestock making their way to and from the market stalls in the central Plaza, I could feel the history ouzing out from every nook and cranny, what a story this walled town could tell me from over the centuries that it has existed, that is if I had the patience and was not a history heathen and so took the time to research it 🤔 but I do so like visualising my own version of events.
I finally reached the top, well the top of at least one part of this old town, for It was only when I started to wander, what I thought was downwards, did I begin to truly appreciate the vastness of this place, and soon was taking in an upwards direction again but I realised that I still had not, as yet, found the entrance to the Alcazar itself, which would have been the interior area of the castle fortress. I didn’t feel tired at all, in fact I felt exhilarated, this had got to be one of the best old medieval walled towns that I have ever visited and explored and this place would certainly take some beating and, as I was to discover, I hadn’t seen anywhere near all of it yet. I felt a little sad, because I knew that Shazza, if she had have been fit and well, would have really enjoyed this experience too, she may not be overly enthusiastic about visiting crumbling castles, but a medieval town that was still being lived in today, well she would have certainly thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the narrow cobbled streets and archways, the memories we would have taken away together from this place would have been very different from the one’s that sadly we will now actually have 🥺
By this time I began to realise that I was totally disorientated, I didn’t know which way I had come, or which way to head next, I just kept wandering up and along different cobbled streets, so I decided that if I just started to follow roads that went downhill that, at some point, I would get back to the central Plaza, again it seemed a logical deduction. But, what I had omitted to remember was that to get to the Plaza in the first place from the hotel, I had to walk in an upward direction, a fact that became quite evident a little later on 😳 Where was a local when you needed one, in fact, where was another human being coming to that, I hadn’t seen, or heard, another person for quite some time when I began to think about it 🤷♂️
I had been walking downhill for at least twenty minutes and still not reached the central Plaza, I was going to just keep walking downwards, it seemed the natural thing to do, but ‘Fate’ thankfully intervened, in the form of a woman with a full shopping basket who had appeared from an alleyway behind me. I asked her for directions to the Plaza Mayor and she pointed back, in the direction I had just walked from 🥺 I obviously looked confused so she gestured some directions with her hands, take a right turn then another right and I would find it. I thanked her, more than once, turned around and followed her directions.
The Plaza Cafe/Bars and restaurants were fairly busy and as I passed one, that had been closed the previous evening but was now open for business, I stopped to look at the menu that had been placed on a table at the pavement entrance. I became quite excited as amongst the starters it listed a cold tomato soup, one of Shazza’s favourites, and then amongst the selection of mains, under ‘Vegetarian’ options, it listed a selection of grilled vegetables, ‘Yes !’ I heard myself shout under my breath, finally, a proper ‘Plant Based’ meal for Shazza to enjoy, if and when she was up for it. It was busy with people eating formal type lunches, rather than Tapas or Sandwiches, so I made my way across to the Cafe/Bar where we had eaten the previous evening, as I just wanted a nice cold beer after my long walk and explorations, I hadn’t really thought about food and, although I hadn’t eaten since the previous evening, I wasn’t actually feeling hungry, but that was quite normal for me, god knows what I would be eating for dinner this evening, I thought to myself, that would depend very much on how Shazza was feeling I suppose 🤔
Sometimes, unless you sit and take time to observe your surroundings, you can miss some nice intricacies of what is actually around you. So whilst I was partaking of what I truly considered to be my well earned refreshments, and unexpected but very tasty Tapas snacks, I was doing a spot of people watching, as you do, and my eyes also started to scan around at some of the buildings positioned around the Plaza.
Sat, alone with my thoughts, I realised that I still hadn’t found the ‘official’ entrance to the Alcazar on my explorations, I would need to check Google Maps once I returned to the hotel. Then, as if the word ‘Hotel’ had rang an alarm bell in my mind, I started to feel a little guilty about having left Shazza alone for so long, I had been gone for a good three hours, maybe even a little more, what if she had taken a turn for the worse whilst I had been out enjoying myself ? What if she was too ill to call for help ? She had asked me to put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the room door as I had left so that the cleaner would not go in ……….😲 I finished my glass of wine, paid the bill and made my way back to the hotel with a bit of a pace in my step, all the while my mind playing worst case scenarios in my brain.
”Did you have a nice time ?” she said, as I entered the room. She was dressed and sat up on the bed with her iPad. “How have you been ?” I asked, “I have had a shower but I felt a bit dizzy” she replied. I told her that that was probably due to a combination of spending a lot of time laying down and also not eating. She told me the Diarrhoea and Sickness had quelled and she had been drinking a lot of water but hadn’t risked eating anything. She was certainly a lot more conversational although she obviously still looked pale and gaunt, I told her about finding the restaurant with the menu that offered something that she could eat, if and when she felt up to eating again, but she said she would probably not risk eating anything now until the following day. “Do you think you may be up just for a little walk a bit later on, just so you can have a bit of fresh air and stretch your legs ?” I asked, “Maybe’ we will see” she responded, although not very convincingly. “The England men’s football team are playing an International qualifying match tonight and it is on TV” she announced. Now that was a positive sign, we both like watching the football and if she was up for watching it she must be feeling a little brighter I thought to myself, I have to admit, I felt hugely relieved as she did seem to be showing the first proper signs of being on the mend. However, during my explorations I had also had plenty of time and space to think, and I had decided to scrap any of my plans about travelling anywhere else when we left here on the Thursday, other than just getting Shazza home that was. I made myself a nice hot cuppa, Shazza didn’t want one, and I spent the next half an hour or so burning her ear about what I had seen, she laughed when I told her about getting lost a couple of times and having to ask for directions and me still not finding the entrance to the Alcazar. “Don’t worry, we will work it out before ‘we’ go, there will be an official entrance where ‘we’ have to buy the tickets” she said, which was a really positive sign as I picked up on the double use of the word ‘we’ in her sentence 🤗 As the afternoon moved to early evening, I didn’t want to push her on the going out for a walk and she didn’t mention it, so I said that I would pop back out to the supermarket to get myself something to bring back and eat in the room, she just said “Okay”, so that had answered the question that I hadn’t asked 😉 I returned with a couple of small baguette sized rolls, a pack of ham, cheese slices, tomato and pack of crisps, and some extra bottles of water to replace the one’s she had consumed. I also purchased a bottle of Coke for Shazza, now wether it is just a myth I do not know, but many years ago someone had told me that if you let it go flat, then drink it, it replaces the ‘electrolytes’ that your body has lost when you have suffered with excess loss of bodily fluids, it was worth a go I thought to myself 🤷♂️
In our hotel room we had a small two-seat settee and a small round table, so I sat there, prepared my rolls and ate them, I did ask Shazza if she wanted some, although I already knew the answer, but I felt a bit guilty of eating in front of her. Later, we sat together on the bed and watched the football on my iPad, it was a good result for England, which always makes us feel good too, but by the time the game ended it was nearly 11pm so Shazza got back under the covers and went to sleep. I sat up and just scrolled through stuff on my iPad, it was far too early for me to go to sleep, but I felt a lot more settled and relieved now that Shazza appeared to be on the mend.
To be continued…………….
Hasta Luego mi Amigos
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