Gredos Day Four
Tuesday
dawned, bringing birdsong, sun and early warmth. After a sumptuous breakfast,
we returned to our activity groups and continued around the carousel. 
It's a
few minutes walk to the stables, where we were introduced to our horses by the
welcoming staff and, after a brief lesson on how to control our mounts, we were
off on a ninety minute trek through amazing countryside. Luckily, our
four-legged friends were very well-behaved and obviously had coped with less
experienced riders before. Even our most nervous participants returned with
broad smiles.
During the morning, the clouds built up
and, shortly after we returned to the Centre, there was a thunderstorm with
majestic lightning and huge hail stones. Time for another fabulous lunch!
Luckily, the storm clouds have moved on
by the time we were due to start afternoon activities, but we were dodging
showers for the rest of the day. The carousel continued, with groups heading
for their remaining experiences. Community service involves removing fallen
branches and pine cones from the wooded area around the Centre. This helps to
reduce the chance of forest fires (an all too common problem) during the dry
season. The groups have been quite competitive in their approach to collecting
biomass and the resulting piles have been impressive.
The creative workshop has appealed to
the artistic streak within us, and some great T-shirts and paintings have been
produced. Our final supper in the Centre (sigh) after which many decided to
take the last opportunity to walk to the village shop. Nevertheless, we are all
looking forward to staying in the Parador tomorrow!
