At breakfast we fell into conversation with an American couple who were curious to know where we were from. When we told them New Zealand the woman gave a loud laugh and told us her first husband had been an ambassador to New Zealand. In a loud voice the whole room could hear she asked us.

"Do you know how much it cost him to be ambassador to New Zealand?"

We assured her that we had no idea.

"Two million dollars"

We tried to look as if this information was a huge shock to us.

"He wanted to be ambassador to Ireland but that cost five million so he had to take New Zealand" 

Before we could delve deeper into the price list for ambassadorships her second husband began a long story about 'bare boating' in Turkey which wasn't as interesting as it might sound. Apparently this is the technical term for hiring a boat with no crew. 

Suddenly the wife interrupted to ask us if the cathedral in Christchurch had been rebuilt after the earthquake. It seemed quite a random enquiry but I'm guessing she had heard husband no. 2 wax lyrical about bare boating a few too many times and wanted to cut him off. We reassured her that all was well with the cathedral and made our excuses and left.

We decided to head for a small village about 40 minutes from the hotel called Ledesma. The countryside is totally flat in this region with few animals in the fields. We were hoping to see some of the many pigs who generously donate themselves to produce the Iberian ham so beloved of the Spanish. There were none. Just the odd random cow.

Ledesma turned out to be a jewel. it had all the appearances of a ghost town as nobody was stirring and all the houses were shuttered. We wandered the narrow silent streets and ancient houses.