ISBN 1590481291

Bridle Roads of Spain, George Cayley -  Think of the words “forgotten classic,” then look at this book.

For resting under the words “Bridles Road of Spain” is the most beautifully written equestrian travel account of the 19th century. Even in that age of bold and prolific Long Rider authors, no other work enjoyed this book’s unique mixture of dashing exploits and enchanted writing. For this was no mere “boy’s own adventure.” Rather, it was the keen-eyed memoir of a mounted poet, whose unique journey recorded a beloved country and then passed into literary oblivion itself.

Oh, to be twenty-five, young and in love. For that was what George Cayley was, when he set out in 1852 to ride across one of the most romantic countries in the world. Accompanied by a fellow wandering spirit, the young Englishmen donned the dashing clothes of caballeros, bought two fiery steeds called the Moor and the Cid, then never looked back.

Travellers seldom realize they are witnessing the passing of an age. Yet having just arrived from England, with its enthusiastic embrace of the mechanical marvels of the Victorian age, Cayley appreciated and wrote about the still-tranquil life he discovered in Spain.

A student of the classics, he wrote movingly about the landscape before the intrusion of the motorized age. The young horseman saw no trains, just lonely mountains. He found few good roads, but plenty of sun-swept villages. He enjoyed scanty fare, but mixed with jubilant people. His journey took him through a slumbering Espana, from brooding Gibraltar, past glorious Granada, round Ronda, across Segovia and on to the peaks of the Pyrenees.

Thus, it was while he was intoxicated with the magic of Spain, that Cayley stumbled on the birthplace of that country’s greatest literary work of art. At the village of Argamasilla del Alba, the young writer made a pilgrimage to the cellar where “Don Quixote” had been written. It was there, in a damp, underground cell that Miguel Cervantes had penned the magnificent novel, while draped in chains.

The words Cayley wrote about Cervantes and “Don Quixote” serve as a signpost to us today.

“Rare heart, bright focus of human sympathies, which in one book couldst stuff so much good-fellowship, and wit, and truth, that all thy fellow-men, generation after generation, must go on reading it for ever and a day; while every one of the millions who read, feels towards thee as a personal friend,” the Englishman wrote about the Spaniard.

Those kind words, written to enshrine the deeds of his fellow author, now ring true when applied to Cayley’s masterpiece of equestrian travel literature.

ISBN 1590481240

Spanish Pilgrimage, Robin Hanbury-Tenison - This is the delightful story of Robin and Louella Hanbury-Tenison’s journey to Santiago de Compostela in 1989.

For a thousand years a long, hot and dangerous journey over the mountains, the dusty plains and the rich countryside of Spain has led millions of Christian pilgrims to the great cathedral of St. James at Compostela.  The story is as old as medieval history and the route is still alive with the churches, monasteries and shrines built by the faithful.

Readers of Robin Hanbury-Tenison’s other bestselling travel books will be delighted to hear that once again he and his wife Louella went to Santiago de Compostela in a traditional way – riding on white horses over long-forgotten tracks.  It was a family pilgrimage as their four-year-old son, Merlin, went with them.  In the process they discovered more about the people and the country than any conventional traveller would learn.  Their adventures are vividly and entertainingly recounted in this delightful and highly readable book.

ISBN 1590480546

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