Last Sunday, Maria and I took a trip to Don Quixote’s infamous public enemy number one: The Windmills. Before moving to Spain, I assumed Cervantes had just made them up, but the ‘ferocious giants’ his anti-hero battled against really do exist, and they are none the worse for wear!
Said windmills can be found not far from Toledo, about a half hour drive away, stuck on a hill by a small town called Consuegra. The town itself… erm… how to put this delicately… has not much to commend it, but this set of ancient pre-industrial buildings was definitely worth the trip. Each one of them even has a name.
As a backdrop, Consuegra has its merits…
Maria taking a break. We were in our winter coats – in the middle of May! And it was very windy, as you’d expect…
The sign on the right-hand side of the door is the windmill’s name plate
For the other posts in the Weekly Don Quixote series, click here.
Lady Of The Cakes 
I think the view could almost make up for what the city might lack… Damn!
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It so does!!!
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Love the idea of the windmills having names….
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They are oozing character… how could they not have been given names?! 😉
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Quite! 🙂
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Your pictures are fabulous! But I see what you mean about the town. It doesn’t look like the most, let’s say, happening place.
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And it’s not just dead… it’s… fugly! 😉
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How picturesque they are. That top pic is a winner.
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It does look lovely in the background! I could do with some lessons in diplomacy from you 😉 What are their names? Like Pablo, Juan, Windy etc?
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I’ve learned it all from you and your dealings with the Latvians.
All I can remember is that they were not named after cakes…
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Let’s see how diplomatic I am tomorrow!!
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Ooooh yes, Library Day!!!!! I cannot wait for THAT post!
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I’m having a dilemma about what to wear tonight – I’ve given Latvians such a lambasting that I have a feeling I will be judged pretty harshly! Couldn’t blame them for that! 😉
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If they’ve already got it in for you, it doesn’t really matter what you wear. So you can relax!
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Oh, good way of looking at it! Just hope that a post about egg cups isn’t the last anyone ever hears of me – seems like a very banal way to go! 🙂
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Am happy to fix that for you when I write your obituary.
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Would that be a step up or a step down from world of meat??
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Dead meat: Totally my gig!
You’re in expert hands.
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I was waiting for that joke – I knew you were the one to write it! 😉
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Got the draft ready. Best to be prepared.
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Ha ha ha, I’ll come back to read that!
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Now you’re scaring me! I shall hang lots of garlic round my windows, and I’m NOT going to ask you in.
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Mmm, garlic 😉
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I had a Lithuanian flatmate once (In London), who would eat the stuff raw to ward off colds etc. Oh my. That brings back memories… And this was one of her most sane behaviours! Have you ever read this…?
https://ladyofthecakes.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/london-lore-flatsharing-with-the-crazies/
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Good lord! She sounds totally nuts! Glad somebody else has had the ‘Baltic Experience’ 😉 One of my student’s mother used to feed her raw onions for breakfast when she was a kid for the same reason. Can you imagine the beatings you’d get in Britain or Ireland showing up at school after that?!
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LOL, I can imagine!
I don’t think that my flatmate was representative of Baltic people. God, at least I hope not….!
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Well… haha, no probably not. But I’ve never lived with any of them! My friend in Dublin took in an American flatmate to help with the mortgage. All sorts of weird things started happening, they had real problems getting her out of the place and when she left, she did all these bizarre things that they were still discovering weeks later as everything looked normal on the surface. Like she’d take the batteries out of things like remotes but leave the remote in the same spot, empty the salt and pepper shakers, take the lightbulbs out of lamps… But I don’t think she was representative of all Americans either 😉
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Aw, flatmates….! I shared with different people for about a decade, and the experiences were overwhelmingly positive. Only three nutters among that lot, two of whom I wrote about. Did you see (probably not) that in the comment sections under one of these pieces, a production company working for Channel 4 left me message about making a documentary? Things that happen in the blogosphere! lol
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Wow, I didn’t read the comments! That’s so cool! You didn’t do it?
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Nope. I do not want to be on telly slagging off ex-flatmates, no way. Also, they wanted to speak to people who were still living in London, so it wouldn’t have applied to me anyway. Still, it cheered me up that week 🙂
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I’m sure! Amazingly flattering! Wouldn’t much fancy going on TV here doing my thing either – the human library will be as public as I go. And that may be a step too far. I hate public speaking. You’ll probably hear my knees knocking all the way from Toledo!
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Do you have to give a speech…? I had the impression it was all 1-2-1.
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I have to write a 5-minute monologue but not sure if I have to read it to everyone at the beginning or read it to each person/group who ‘takes me out’ – time will tell I guess!!
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Let’s hope it’s the latter! It’ll be great fun 🙂 Good luck tomorrow with it all!!!!!
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Thanks! Leaving some wine in the bottle in case I need it in the morning 😉
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Yeah, don’t lose your bottle!
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Hm, the Latvians upstairs have just started singing. May need to down the wine and use the bottle as a weapon.
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No, no! You don’t want to be turning up tomorrow with a black eye, glass in your gums and bloody knuckles.
Give them the bottle. Mix in plenty valium in first…
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You’re so wise. Like a cake-loving Yoda. 😉
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Growing smaller and wrinklier by the minute, and it’s only a matter of weeks till I start mumbling all my sentences back to front. In fact, I do that already.
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I hear ya on the smaller and wrinklier bit! Suppose I better go to bed. Want to be at my best tomorrow – will need all my wits about me! Hopefully we’ll chat again – if not, it’s been great and thanks in advance for the obit! 😉
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Good night, and have a great time tomorrow!
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I’m only two months late commenting on this post. And you won’t notice this comment anyway, at the end of all the Latvian-Spanish gossip. But I love those windmills. They have real character – it’s easy to imagine them as giants.
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That post is as fresh as a daisy 😉
They were impressive, those windmills. Not so much for their size (they are weenie), but indeed for their character. I wasn’t expecting anything quite like this.
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OMG! They’re so cute 🙂 What’s not to love about a windmill? I had no idea there were so many different designs. I don’t understand why he called them feracious giants though. I think of them a gentle giants 🙂
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Remember that DQ was mad… 😉
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Oh, right … and if I remember correctly, more than a little stoned 😉
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I’m actually going to have to read that book one day…
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I think it might actually help if you read it stoned too 🙂
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Do you also like lighthouses? ??
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YES!!!!
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That confirms my theory that people who love windmills also love lighthouses 🙂
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There is just something about those quiet sentinels standing out there in the fields, on the cliffs ….
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Curved walls…
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Does that mean you also love buildings with turrets?
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Turrets!!!!!!!!!
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Excellent! 😀
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