In the footsteps of El cid

After a few days of R and R, Dad said we could go and find El Cid’s castle today. That sounds exciting especially since it involves a trip in the car! Dad said the castle is in a town called Morella, about an hour from here,up in the mountains. Castles I like but who is this El Cid guy? Must be a big cheese to have a castle!

So it turns out that El Cid is actually a guy called Diego Rodriguez and is a pretty bug deal here in Spain. He was a famous medieval knight back in around 1050. Apparently he fought for both the Christians and the Moors and was known as El Cid – meaning the Lord in Spanish – because he was so fierce. He was born in Burgos which is a town in the North of Spain and Morella is on the ancient road linking it with the coast at Vinaros. The road was twisty and dangerous and would have taken weeks to travel. Luckily we are soon whizzing up the new expressway over the mountain passes and then down into the valleys. Soon the town comes into view!

Dad says there has been people living here since prehistoric times and there was a castle high up on the hill from the 8th century. El Cid rebuilt it and you can still see it standing grandly towering over the town below. From the main road I can see the old medieval houses hiding behind the huge fortifications with the castle above. Soon we pull into the car park – no donkeys for us unlike El Cid and we walk towards the gatehouse that protects the old town. It has two huge stone towers that housed the gate and as I look up they seem to go up forever!

We pass through and come into a pretty little square. Hooray! The first thing I see is a shop selling my favourite food – cheese! All traditionally made and my nose goes into overdrive with the yummy smell. Dad says I can’t go in! Morella is famous for it’s traditional cheese industry as well as handmade blankets and honey. The old streets are lined with shops selling all of them.

We walk down the main street which is now car free – luckily for me! It’s cobbled and the stones hurt my feet. We are looking for cafe for some lunch. I’m not that impressed. I want to have a rest but most of the places are full! We find one that has tables but doesn’t want me to sit there so we go elsewhere – the cheek of it! Another waitress is more interested in her phone but we do finally find a place for a yummy waffle and a coffee. Dad shares a bit of his waffle with me. How lucky am I!

After lunch, we follow the winding streets. No need for a map and no worries if we get lost. The road passes up into the old square in front of the church. I can see the castle hiding behind. The church has been here since the 13th century and I can see the statues have been worn away with the bad weather over the years. In summer it can be up to 40C here but in the winter the hilltop setting goes as low as -10C! I sit with Dad and wonder how many dogs have also sat in that square over the years.

The sun is starting to disappear now – well it is the middle of October, so we start our walk back to the car. There are hundreds of steps – going up and down – and the road seems to go on forever! I’ve only got little legs so I have to walk double the distance. I wonder how El Cid would have managed getting up and down to his castle in all that armour.

As we set off back down the road towards the coast, the car rocks me to sleep. I start to dream about all the battles El Cid had. Good knight!