Enjoying Cáceres off the beaten track

         The heat was unbearable, so after my boyfriend arrived from work, he picked me up and went to have a bath in a relatively nearby brook. The spot is superb, with its stone bridge and its crystal clear waters, not to speak of the fantastic mild temperature. It's known by Garganta de Cuartos.

No crowds, plenty of space to swim.

Just a handful of people in the water

             Loved the quietness of the place, it released peace... It was utterly relaxing to be there, just swimming and listening to the river, the birds... and enjoying those last hours before dusk. It was perfect.


           We also had time to go for a stroll along a little path alongside the river. All the people there were very respectful to the environment, so no-one left rubbish behind and the whole place was very clean. Nobody would bother the other visitors, either. On the contrary, everyone had impeccable manners.There weren't the typical annoying yelling children running around, nor the gangs of drunken youths like in most beaches, which was great!

Little hidden paradise.

             We explored...

Lovely leafy walkway.

... and explored...

... and climbed like goats.

   
             To get to this wonderful spot; a pond of crystalline waters and countless golden fish.

It left us spellbound!

            We decided to cross the brook to have a look at some remains we had seen on our way here.In spite of being getting gradually darker, we went on and found them.

The building was formerly used to produce electric power.

Scary, right?

         Not as scary as the fact that we did get lost at night and could't find the walkway back, though. It seemed as if all the creatures in the forest were waking up and making noises in the bushes around us. My overdeveloped imagination saw all sorts of hazards lurking in the darkness.

Hello...? Is anybody/anything there?

         Luckily, we managed to cross back the river and arrived save and sound.

             Given that our long stroll had worked up a big appetite, we were feeling faint with hunger!. On top of that there was a mouthwatering aroma of fried squid...

But we had got leftovers from the lunch at home and wanted to make the most of them. A way of cutting costs, you know. What we did was to quench our thirst having a pair of soft drinks before returning to the village.

There were still swimmers messing around.

         All in all, it was a great afternoon! Looking forward to being able to repeat it.

Different expectations

         I admit to being addicted to travel blogs, since they enable you to read about the interesting experiences you'd like to live yourself but owing to one thing or another can't do it. In addition, reading them you can take a closer look at certain issues.

          The thing is that many of the Anglo-Saxon bloggers usually explain their desire to travel as a form to escape their 9-5 jobs... I guess that moaning about a nine to five job is a way of speaking to complain about their tedious, boring, stressful, or whatever works, rather than about the hours themselves... The average spanish worker would kill for them!!! 

         Here few people, if any, who had such a job would quit easyly. And those who did quit, would never do it on account of the hours!! Imagine ending your work at 17:00... In summer daylight lasts until around 22:30; you would have more than five spare hours in which you could do lots of things, ranging from going to the beach to attending classes or whatever. That's why our so called "funcionarios"  (Government employees) never ever quit!  ;)

      

Is justice blind...?

        ... Or it turns a blind eye to certain matters?

        It never ceases to amaze me how easyly certain politicians or bankers - I'll name no names.- get away with much worse offences than those for which normal citizens would be imprisoned almost for life. Worse still, they don't just go unpunished, but their social acceptance rises all the same and get important jobs despite having commited crimes.

        Maybe the point is that they often steal enough money to share with powerful people and to sweeten other politicians or even magistrates. Thereby everybody is happy and therefore, silent. I can't think of any better explanation.

        In the highly improbable case that the people thought to be responsible for the rescue of Spain and some of its banks were found to be guilty, I dare to bet that they would neither be imprisoned for too long nor have their vaste properties attached to pay back at least part of the stolen money. The Spanish citizienry on the whole will have to replace it. I daresay that within a few years these same people will continue to be sickeningly rich and powerful due to their influential connections and the heaps of dough they will have hidden in other countries to avoid police and get round taxes. What makes my blood boil is that while all of us suffer financial difficulties, they'll get again important posts in government or in new banks as if nothing had happened, laughing in our face.