From Madridejo, we went west to the town of Consuegra, which, like most other Manchegan towns, hosted a giant cathedral at its center. I walked around a bit in the back alleys before we headed up a hill, past a castle used in the Moorish-Christian wars and to the top, where 11 five hundred year old windmills stood in a line overlooking Consuegra.

We walked underneath the mills, looking out over miles of cork oaks and olive groves. Cervantes traveled through Consuegra around the time the capital of Spain was in transition from Toledo to Madrid, and wrote about it through the adventures of Don Quixote. His adventures not only defined the first modern novel, but established a kind of archetype for the obliviously romantic and confused traveler. It is said that Cervantes chose La Mancha for the backdrop of his novel because its 'backwoods-hickishness' would be endearing to the literate elite of Madrid.