Consuegra, Toledo. Exploring the La Mancha of Don Quixote
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- čas přidán 15. 04. 2024
- Join us as we explore the beautiful town of Consuegra in Toledo, Spain, known for its iconic windmills that inspired the literary adventures of Don Quixote. Get ready to immerse yourself in the magic of La Mancha!
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I film my videos on #lumix cameras and lenses and sometimes on an iPhone.
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Beautiful town Stu! It looked so clean and tidy. Thank you for taking us there with you. It’s great to see a historical town that many of us have read in Don Quijote de La Mancha. 😊
What a lovely town. Thanks for taking us Stu. Just wished you gave us more on the windmills.
Classic looking La Mancha town. I visited Consuegra in 2016 on a drive from Malaga to Avila. It was a hot day but I walked up to windmills and castle. The evocative windmills across La Mancha were a brief import from from Flanders when it was part of the Spanish Habsburg empire. They've been tidied up for tourism but had you visited Consuegra 40 years ago they would have looked like ruins.
As always in these towns, you have modern buildings side by side with empty houses built centuries ago. The ubiquitous 'Venta' signs and painted on phone number from an age ago. There's hardly any chance of a sale as many of these buildings are just a shell inside. The populations in these towns are becoming increasingly older due to the relentless demographic collapse and exodus of young talent to larger towns and cities. There are hardly any jobs and even the tourism is seasonal. I remember another CZcamsr living in Madrid commenting during the Lockdown how nice it was to see Madrid and other parts of Spain without all the tourists. My response was that I thought the restaurant and hotel owners in poor regions like La Mancha were unlikely to agree.
I love the constant twittering of the birds in your video. That's my idea of hot Spain. Despite the difficulties of La Mancha I am very fond of it. It's a sort of hinterland between Castile and Andalucia. My journey in Consuegra concluded with a wonderful meal in a restaurant owned by a fantastic guy that reared his own meat and was so proud to tell my wife and I about his son's achievements in the outside world. Love Consuegra and the sleepy towns of La Mancha. WT
Nice one Stu! I love that place, and the stories behind it of course, by the wise and witty Miguel de Cervantes. I also take traveling groups there for a 360 view of "La Mancha" (and a few stories I share their from the literature), before heading about 30 km south to another spot in Puerto Lápice. Consuegra is an iconic place, although quite isolated, very representative of La Mancha, isn't it! Saffron is one of the main products harvested in that area. Manchego cheese, wine, and other dry fruits also make the region famous.
The tourist buses will mostly move onto the road, they usually go to the "next stop" which for touring groups is likely Puerto Lápice, where we visit "La Venta Del Quijote", a medieval style old "lodge" which still works as restaurant and themed areas with an exposition about the novel "Don Quijote". Don Quijote is actually a pandora box of wisdom, full of imagery of Spain's landscapes and popular social characters of all levels. It is mostly appreciated by Japanese and Corean tour groups, because of their own cultural backgrounds (Samurais) resonating with the character, I think.
At Consuegrs, since a few years back, buses now need to pay a fee to drive up to the mills, I think it is a 1€ fee per person, and you pay it at the first mill. The mills, imaginary giants in the story of Don Quijote's fatal delusions, are named after characters in the story. "Sancho" (his bachelor or partner of adventures), "Rucio" (Sancho's donkey), and other significant characters "El Caballero del Verde Gabán" is my favourite. And then there is a castle, open to the public also, but I never went inside it. There would have been the "princess" that those "Giants" were keeping hostage, and whom our brave hero "Don Quijote" wanted to save by liberating the world of those giants... a sign of infinite (and delirious) courage, and probably why the Japanese, and others love it.
Thank you for taking us there today! I had never been around the village, although I have explored the main road street, driving, and got stopped by the Guardia Civil when exiting the town, so I probably looked suspiciously errant while exploring.🤣😅
Lovely, lovely blue sky
I sure love the birds in the background !
Thanks so much Stu for taking us thru this town!! Wanted to visit it for years but hasn’t happened.
Very pleasant, Stuart. Love your walkabouts. Thank you 😊
Thanks Stu - loved your walk round Consuegra. Love those windmills. When I drive down to my house, further down country, I always drive past them up on the hillside. Now that you have done a little walk round, I may well stop next time! 😊
Another great video Stu. Just got back from a week in Barcelona with my grandson. PROS- Good weather, fantastic architecture, plenty of transport, no problems with scams, pickpockets etc, no language problems. CONS - Expensive, lots of graffiti everywhere, very busy / crowded, no fountains due to lack of water, fast food everywhere, no football stadium as it is being rebuilt. The Sagrada Familia is truly incredible, still got a few years to complete but the important parts are in place with Mc Donalds right next door & Subway over the road. Advice to visitors- Book several days in advance or the attraction you want to see could fully booked.Some can only be booked on line, tourist office or at some hotels but not at the venue itself.
Died laughing at your comment, “that wasn’t a metaphor “. 😂. I’ve been to Toledo twice but wasn’t aware of that part so now I must make another trip to Toledo which is fine because I love Toledo. Wonderful video Stu and thanks for sharing.
Greetings from La Mancha. It's already more than 20 years I'm living here. Once my sister in law told me that it is better to have a mancha in the family than family in La Mancha. She's from Liverpool!
This summer is going to be really hot here and the country is green because it rained quite a lot = wildfires. On the other hand, it's a good year for crops. Agua, sol y guerra en Sevastopol. It's an old local saying from the old Crimea War when Castillians made a lot of money selling the crops Ukrayne couldn't. So it might be that the harvest is hugue but the prices keep spiraling
Not to get all political here ( I am NOT a supporter of the war in Ukraine !!!) but back then it was Russians, not Ukrainians. I understand you want to be politically correct now, and I fully respect that, but historically it is not an accurate term and cant be applicable to the time of the Crimean war . Sevastopol was populated by many nationalities, but predominantly Russians or at least Russian speakers, the subjects of the Russian Empire ( after Russia took the area from the Ottomans ). Again , in no way do I say , like Putin , that Ukrainians didn’t or don’t exist , so don’t get me wrong :). But thanks the interesting comment - I didn’t realize the war affected the economy Spain in such a way, good to know !
@@olgaphelps9763
The city of Odessa was founded by a Spaniard
Quaint little town went there during covid not many souls out and about then but still lovely
Great video by the way you really capture the essence of Spain better than most
Not a tree in sight but birds chirping all the time !!!
A very good video, Stu. 😊
Beautiful sandy coloured buildings. The wooden doors of the convent are beautiful. Thank you Stuart very interesting trip
I love nuns biscuits.
Mil gracias por el vídeo Stuart .Lovely town .Don McLean castles in the air .Was in Saratoga in 2009 popped in a bar called the hint and tint . Found out it was were He wrote mr American pie whilst having 🍺 beers
If you think a tobacco shop selling fruit and veg is good you should come to Ireland..we have undertakers that are also pubs..😊
Sometimes here a lot of small shops bakeries etc sell produce from their own land. Fruit or veg that they grow themselves
This film is timely. A week ago i found a copy of Don Quixote in a free book swap. As i read it when i was 15 and that was 54(!) years ago i thought id reread it to see if my ideas of it would be different. Well it was as compelling and page turnering as i recalled but even better as i "got" more of it,having now lived in this wicked world so long. But sadly i left it on the bus seat,i hope someone else is reading it now. I wouldnt like to live in that place. It looks very arid. Because it is i guess.
Great word, consuegra, meaning the mother-in-law of my married child. No equivalent word in English.
Great video Stu and what a nice place. I've driven past it a few times but never stopped there. So nice to see a town that has not been spoilt by high rise and concrete monstrosaties. No grafitti either.👍😀
Interesting name for a town. Mother-in-law
That is "suegra", "consuegra" is your son's or daughter's mother in law
Very nice
We really enjoyed the video of Consuegra but missed any reference to the saffron that is grown in Consuegra and the adjacent area. And specially the "Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafrán de Consuegra" - the festival of the saffron at the end of October.
Hi I tried some of the village cheese spectacular with a rough red.
👍👍
Can you get inside the church and film ?
Doesn’t consuegra refer to one’s opposite number ie the other mother in law? No equivalent in English
Yes, "consuegra" is your son's/daughter's mother in law but it is also the name of this town in the province of Toledo
Thank you. I was wondering how it is in English
@@AlbertHernandezTorneThank you. I guess it’s just a name in this context with no translation
Hi there's unrest about tourism in the canary Islands at present most aimed towards British people. I have been visiting fuerteventura for 30 yrs and have also lived and worked there in my younger years. If the tourism tax comes in I'm with many British people who will never visit there again. In 30 yrs I must have spent over 100k on the island.if they don't want my money some other holiday place will.bring it in and do your protests it will be your downfall.