Our second day in Isaba, a leisurely morning and, despite being at an elevation of 820 m/2,690 ft it is another very hot day. After breakfast and before the heat of the day comes, we walk up the hill into the village of Isaba. There are hundreds of swallows swooping and diving over the small river valley and returning to their nests in the eaves of a large wooden-raftered roof. Isaba has the typical layout of a small mountain village, a narrow main road that winds its way uphill through the village. At the top and just off the main street is the old market square with covered and pillared corn market area, now a museum on the ground floor (council offices upstairs). There are some very large (12ft) doll replicas of local people in traditional dress, possibly a flamenco area at one time with a poster advertising the flamenco dancers.

We wander around the old square and find the Iglesia (locked) which is a pity as it is always interesting to see inside. It is on the ground floor of a very heavily built tower, almost like the old keep of a fortification. It has interesting buttresses on the side and some ornamental arched stonework around the main door. Various escutcheons feature on the outside of this: coat of arms in stone and some metalwork on and around the huge wooden doors. We sit in the shade and rest for a while, there is no one about apart from a couple of old ladies who have a baguette purchased from the nearby Panaderia.

We also find a huge sports hall (huge as in both tall as well as ground area), it seems out of proportion to the size of the village and number of inhabitants! There are boxes of bananas, watermelon and snacks together with water and Coca-Cola stacked up by the entrance, possibly for the mountain bike event tomorrow. The Lassa Belagua bike ride is an annual high-altitude, long-distance cycling event in the Pyrenees mountains, the Isaba section taking place tomorrow. Back at Hymer we have lunch, the temperature is in the high twenties and getting hotter. By mid-afternoon it is 34°C both inside and outside Hymer (which is mostly in tree shade)! Mr C. sketches at the top end of the parking area and I stay inside, rest and read, it is not cooler in the shade or anywhere.

Today is the hottest day yet, the temperature reaching 34°C inside and outside with not a whisper of a breeze, it is really hard to get comfortable. The afternoon passes slowly as we see campervan after campervan arriving, our area is full. Mr C. says they have also opened a field up the forest road behind us for additional parking, it is most definitely needed. Campervans are parked everywhere at every angle in all directions (later we count them there are over 70!). About 6.00 pm, as the sun has moved round into the southwest and is dropping down towards the mountain, the full heat of the day begins to wain and sitting on the wall by the stream in Hymer’s shadow is quite pleasant.

We open wine, cold and fresh from the fridge, very refreshing. We watch as many more vehicles arrive, cars as well as campervans and feel very secure parked in the spot we are under trees. Later, much later, about 8.00 pm we have the remainder of the beef stir-fry and enjoy the cool air and the tinkling sound of the river over the stones.

Photos in and around Isaba, Spain

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