Thanksgiving in Spain

It's Thanksiving weekend and we are in Spain. What to do? Go warm go South-to the Atlantic, and the famous Donana National Park.

We took the bus, as usual. It is so cheap and convenient. The bus drivers even sing! Got in Matalascanas, a resort town on the border of the National Park and arrived at 5:00-just in time to walk the beach and see a great sunset. The beaches are wide and clean. This town has about 1,500 people now, but in the summer, it escalates to 100,000. This is the first town that shows some real wealth-a little bit of Naples in Spain.

Most of the town was closed down so we hit the first hostel with a view of the ocean. At 5:00, it looked adequate with double bed, tiny bath and clean room for $28. At 10:00PM, it was cold with no hot water-lots of layers of clothes that night-we were the only ones staying there.

We were at the park before sunrise so, when the birds began to chirp at 8:00, we were in the heart of the park. We got into a dune buggy vehicle built for 12, one for Spanish and one for us mostly English speaking passengers (which helped on this trip) and a knowledgeable guide. We had some serious Brit birders behind us and we learned a lot during the 4 hour trip. We traveled along the Atlantic and through incredible sand dunes, and corrales, the forested areas between the dunes. We saw hundreds of flamingoes, herons, storks and even a Spanish Royal Eagle very rare and known for its Flamenco. We saw 2 falcons do an aerial fight with sea gulls, many wild boars eating in the marsh and lots of deer (white and red tailed), looking spectacular in this setting. The strangest sight were thousands of grey-line geese who descend from all over north Europe. They eat the sand in the for their digestive system ( a little like granola).

The rest of the day, we spent exploring the dunes and the ocean area on our own. What a delight!

We took the bus that evening to a little town (pop700) called El Rocio-something out of the old wild Spanish west. No paved streets or sidewalks just dirt. The houses all have hitching posts in front of them. The church housing the famous virgin called 'white dove' (Paloma Blanca) is a real baroque stand out. The town is known for its pilgrimage-1 million people come in and walk through the sand dunes for 3 days to be with and contend for the Virgin statue. Each home in the town represents a brotherhood, from many areas all over the country. For 2 Jews we really are learning a lot about the whys and wherefores of the Catholic religion.

The town is also on the edge of the National park and there is a huge marsh at the entrance to the town. Michael and I decided to upgrade from `1* Hostal to 2** Hotel---central heating, Tv, and warm water. Also an incredible view of the marsh. When we woke up, we were able to see the flamingoes, storks, and herons feasting right in front of our terrace. The town has wild horses and cows just roaming around and eating in the marsh-definitely one town we won't forget.

Michael liked it so much that he stayed an extra day while I returned to Sevilla and classes. No turkey this Thanksgiving but lots of great nature and interesting things. We are thankful for all of you keeping the home fires burning