Mother's Day in Cuenca, Spain (2nd Part)

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This is the continuation of the blog I wrote a couple of weeks ago on Mother’s Day in Cuenca, Spain

Just a few months ago the new High Speed Train station was opened.

This is a totally new line built from Madrid & going to Valencia, on the East coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Cuenca is situated almost exactly at the midway point between Spain’s first & third cities.

This is a view of the all new High Speed train station in Cuenca.

A view of the exterior of the new station from its interior. Rather empty as no train was expected for another hour at least. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay around for me to get a look at the new High Speed train.

Here is a view of the interior with my son & his wife.

A couple of views of the platforms which are extremely long!

Now for a few more of my photos from La Mezquita

Some lovely double Geraniums to start with:

Close up of one plant:

These climbing roses were 3m high! Reminds me of a few Gerry bought in the autumn. He got them by post but two died during the winter. He showed me the only survivor which had a flower bud forming a mere 50cm from the rootstock! It’s supposed to be a climber! At least that is what he ordered & that’s what it says on the label but the plant is no more than about 60/70cm tall! (Around 2ft)

Who wouldn’t like a mature Olive tree in their garden? This one is probably around 50 years old or more! They can be successfully transplanted even when they are a 100 years or more old – so don’t let the modern plastic pot fool you! I’ve seen Olive trees that used to be in enormous orchards transplanted into new parks built in the cities & they have grow well!

Some photos of where my son, Jonathan, lives & all the new houses & blocks of flats that have been built close by.

The houses built in terraces are quite a new idea in Spain, or at least in Cuenca.

When they first built a few rows, about 12 years ago, the area of Cuenca where they were being built came to be know as “Little England” or “New England”!

A new kind of interactive museum has been built in Cuenca, (my brother-in-law works there), called “Ars Natura”

“Located in the city of Cuenca, the Center for the Interpretation of Nature ‘Ars Natura’ is a complex of about 60,000 square meters with lakes, trails and landscaped areas, with about 400 species of trees and plants, representing the range natural wealth and environmental heritage of Castilla-La Mancha.”

Quoted from: http://en.m.lacerca.com/news/cuenca/interpretation_ars_natura_year-74250-1.html

Here then are some photos I took from inside of the marvellous views of the Old City of Cuenca:

A (not very good!) view of the New or Modern City of Cuenca:

Luscious green grass when here in the UK it’s turning to straw!

Many of these new houses are still not inhabited – probably a fruit of the tremendous building boom Spain experienced during many years but which came to an end a year or so ago with the result of 1,000s of houses built but for which there are no buyers!

Patrimony of Humanity

Cuenca enjoys the status of Patrimony of Humanity but can’t live on the Laurels of the past forever. Fortunately many people recognise this & have for many years pushed for modern communications like the “AUTOVIA” I mentioned earlier & the very latest High Speed Rail network.

Satellite broadcasting that we take for granted now was “experimented” with over several years in Cuenca. Dish antennas bigger than a person were set up & images from space were beamed into our living rooms – back in the 1990s!

There are some very modern museums in Cuenca that employ the very latest, cutting edge technology. The Science Museum is an example. It also incorporates a very modern Planetarium.

Well I think that’s enough of Cuenca – for now! I hope you enjoyed some of the things that make the city "*UNIQUE"*. I’ve tried to include some things that bring the city bang up to date with the 21st century.

• 22 May, 2011
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