Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.

Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.

Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!

Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.

Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/

It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.

Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.

In Leon city centre, Gaudi's Casa Botines (1891/2) seen from Calle de la Rua

Before we get to Leon, another note about autovia service stations. The one pictured below is between Salamanca and Leon and, as with all others encountered, it was a model of professionalism, cleanliness, good value and so on. Firstly, on arrival at the pumps, a friendly, helpful hombre appears to 'pump your gas'. At the station pictured below, the hombre started to speak (perfect) English but I wanted to speak Spanish so we agreed - him English, me Spanish.

The third picture below shows that tables had been reserved for lunch, all set out with sparkling wine glasses ... at a motorway service station! This is how the other half lives!

Our order - a coffee, a tea and two bocadillos de queso (cheese rolls). The cost? Four euros 50 cents - £4! At any British service station this would be of the order of £10 (or maybe more). Our country has been and remains Rip-off Britain - a captive market to Big Business supported by rotten government.

Que diferencia entre Espana y el Reino Unido.

Our hotel. The Parador at Leon was originally a monastery founded in the twelfth century to provide lodgings for the pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela. It later became the headquarters of the Order of Saint James whose soldiers provided protection for the pilgrims. It was rebuilt in the sixteenth century and is regarded as one of the most beautiful renaissance buildings in Spain.

Talking of pilgrims, we thought we were being adventurous driving 1,200 km across Spain but then we met Marguerite, from Brisbane, who was walking 750 km from the Pyrenees to Cape Finisterre calling at Santiago de Compostela (of course) on the way. Good luck Sheila!

Leon's historic centre

And now a break for lunch in a local restaurant, La Taberna. What a restaurant, what a meal ... I don't think that we have ever raved so much about three simple items on any menu ... the bread, the simple lettuce, tomato and onion salad and the coffee. All three - out of this world. And the main courses were marvellous.

And we've rarely had such a good laugh at translations - look at the English translations on the menu below of Fritos de Pixin and Nata y nueces