I was on a walk with one of the English students at Vaughan Town. We rounded the corner of the road and were confronted head on by a herd of cows. A pastor and his German Shephard were, uh, taking the cows for a walk. We spent the next twenty minutes watching this German Shephard boss around cows ten times her size. It was absolutely fascinating. Herman, the pastor, visited with us for a long time while Lila, the "shephard" took a rest in the shade. It is moments like these that make travel so fascinating.
We spent six wonderful days as participants of Vaughan Town - an English immersion program for Spaniards - at this amazing resort. The participants were all engaging, the conversations stimulating, the landscape breathtaking, the resort well appointed (there are even jacuzzi tubs in every room), and the meals terrific. See www.vaughantown.com for information on the program. It is truly an amazing experience.
I took a lovely walk one night at dusk to Llanos de Tormes - the next village down the road. I never saw a spectacular sunset there, but dusk (which doesn't really begin until about 9:30pm) filled the sky with a tranquil purple and blue serenity.
I've met many people I thought I must have known in another life but I must say it has never happened to me with an animal before. I never even learned his name, but his presence gave me such a powerful feeling of being loved, of being "home".
The wild poppies sprinkled through the countryside are just lovely. This one was perched high upon a rampart of the Castle Valdecorneja.
This was taken at the little bar in El Barco De Avila - notice the cash register and the array of bar "snacks"!
What a wonderful sense of being loved when you whistle and a horse comes running just to give you a kiss and a nuzzle!