Spain - The Green Landscape Of Navarra - From The Pyrenees To The Ebro (26/151)

Spain - The Green Landscape Of Navarra - From The Pyrenees To The Ebro (26/151)

Navarra is rather like a microcosm of Spain. Except for the blue sea and the long beaches, everything that Spain has to offer can be found here in this smaller area. There are the Pyrenees with their shady forests, cool lakes and streams, the cloisters and the valley of Roncevalles, the battlefield where Charlemagne's rearguard under the command of the legendary Paladin Roland defended its retreat to the death. Pilgrims making their way along the various paths of the Camino de Santiago (St. James' Way) rest in the tranquil cloisters on the southern slopes of the mountains. Pamplona, the capital of Navarra, is a modern city and yet somehow quite different. Here it seems as if Hemingway might still be waiting for death in the afternoon. In the small medieval cities such as Artachona, Olite, Puente and La Reina time seems to have stood still. In the fertile valley of the Ebro lies Tudela, renowned for its excellent vegetables and provenance of famous wines in the production area of Navarra. The Bardenas Reales in the south is an arid desert area with rock formations resembling those of the Grand Canyon. Here vultures are often seen circling around in the leaden grey haze of the summer sky.