Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Of Baths and Bridges Redux


This Sunday we went again to the old railway bridge over the river north of the town, by a different path over a wooded hill. Crossing the bridge, we went along the bank, through the reeds and peat bogs to be more accurate, and along a walkway picked out in stone among the rushes, which leads to the baths. They are known as the 'Baños del Emperador,' although I cannot find out which Emperor this refers to, nor when they were built. They were declared 'of public benefit' in the middle of the 19th C and were briefly run by a family called Trujillo before the Civil War. That's about it.

There are two baths, one for men, one for women, with stone and brick containing walls around the pools, and muddy bottoms through which CO2 bubbles up continuously in a large number of places, creating a background fizz which can be heard against the sounds of the birds and the swishing of the reeds in the breeze.

A pleasant way to spend a morning, and as good a place as any to eat a ham and cheese sandwich.

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