Moors, Meets & Meats

Well, after hoping I'd not leave it so long since the last blog post, somehow I find myself with another 2 weeks plus to write about! The last post saw us in Blanca, at a cheeky spot by the side of a reservoir in Murcia, just a week after leaving the comfort and ease of Camping Didota. We've been on the road pretty much since then, with only one campsite pit stop along the way. More on that later.

So the night by the reservoir passed peacefully enough, and we really cheekily got our washing dried as well. It's not really the done thing to draw attention to yourselves by doing "camping activity" but in that situation, needs must. The next morning we headed back out from the reservoir, glad that the bridge seemed to be open again (or at least they didn't display a no entry sign!), saving us retracing our steps the long way around!

From Blanca we headed to a small town called Mula, still deep into Murcia, but a town that was reputed to have heavy North African influence. The initial thought was to stop there for a service and maybe a few hours wander around. On arrival, I spotted a UK registered van and headed over to check on where the service point was. I was greeted with the full welcome pack of information on the site plus the town. Great and just what we needed. We duly parked up and headed into the town for an explore. The town was indeed full of Moorish style architecture, with stunning colours and designs. It was also a hill top town, and the views didn't disappoint.

The weather had been great today, really hotting up - we celebrated this fact with our first solar shower on the year - a big turning point this, especially for the off gridding. We'd also made our most solar energy to date 0.37kwh. Doesn't sound like much, but it's enough to keep all our electrical items ticking over.

Next morning and we'd decided to explore the town's Via Verde cycleway which ran 77km from Murcia to Caravaca de la Cruz. We'd opted for one of the mid routes from Mula to Bullas, around 24km each way - up hill all the way there, and then a lovely downhill run back. Being an old railway line it was a fairly kind incline, but gravel so a bit of a challenge on the road bikes! Lovely scenery though, and with a bakery stop at Bullas, we enjoyed the run back.

The following day (Wednesday 27th March) and another sunny one. With all our needs being met in Mula we decided to stay one more night and this time headed for a walk up to the hill top castle. It's more of a ruin these days, but with more stunning views all around.

On heading back to town we had one of the best Café con Leches I think we've had so far - and so pretty too!

Thursday morning and we though we'd better make tracks and head towards the Espuna National park. The journey from Mula was stunning, with rolling hills as far as you could see.

Camping in any national park is not permitted in Spain, so we'd spotted a place just on the edge, from our usual source Park 4 Night. Again by a reservoir, but this one felt like it was almost on the moon! Well worth the challenging drive up too. We had a lovely peaceful afternoon and evening enjoying the sunshine.

Friday morning was a cloudier affair, and with a bit of colder & wetter weather forecast we decided to head back towards civilisation and to a town called Velez Rubio. We'd picked this as it's the starting point for the white villages of Andalucía. We had a nice wander around, looking at the town's 3 churches mostly in the Baroque style.

Saturday morning, and having learnt that today was market day we decided to stay put on the Aire at Velez Rubio and spent a lovely morning enjoying the wonderful produce the town had to offer.

Our haul came in at around €8, including a pile of churros!

Sunday morning and although with the clocks change we were on summer time, the weather had other ideas! Very cold and wet indeed. We decided there was little point in moving anywhere as there would be no views visible, so we hunkered down and enjoyed a pizza in town!

Monday 1st April and today we had a pre planned date at a campsite. On route though we enjoyed a lovely walk along a hiking trail in part of the Sierra Nevada.

We'd booked tickets for the Alhambra in Granada some weeks ago (you have to book at least a couple of weeks in advance) and to make this easier, we'd opted for a campsite in La Zubia which was on the bus route into Granada itself. The site was definitely practical, but definitely not pretty! It had all the basics covered, which was all we wanted in fairness. At €27 a night, definitely not cheap, but you are paying for a city centre location I guess. Anyway, we put our time to good use and got the washing down (with a tumble dry for the first time in almost a year due to the rain!) and got all the electricals charged up etc.

Tuesday morning Alhambra day! When you book your ticket for the site, you get a timed entry for the Palace and are then free to do the rest of the site at your leisure. We had a very early start to make the most of it all, and were on the bus just after 8am - the morning was crystal clear and the snowy peaks just looked fantastic. On arrival into Granada, we had a quick 2nd breakfast to fuel us up for the day and headed up to the Alhambra. I won't wax lyrical about just how amazing a place this is, hopefully the photos will do that for me!

After over 5 hours of exploring, we headed back into the city itself and in search of a very late lunch. We ignored all the pizza/pasta/burger options and opted for what looked like a more authentic Spanish place which was offering a great 3 course lunch for €11.90. Each course was stunning, and we left totally stuffed but very happy.

The rest of the day we spent wandering around and exploring, and were totally shattered by the time we arrived back at camp - 11.5 miles walked!

Wednesday morning and another stunning day. We paid our campsite bill, and rolled away from the city. Our next port of call was a bit of a drive around the Alpujarras and to see some of the white villages of Andalucía. Our first property stop was the village of Capileira which is the highest village of 3.

After a wander around we headed down through Bubion, and then finally Pampaneira where we had a picnic lunch. This village was probably the most interesting, with houses made in the traditional style, and walls so white that it hurts your eyes after a while!

We found a spot just outside the village for the evening when Jase got a text from Stu, one of his riding buddies, alleging he could "see your van from here". We thought he was messing about, but on thinking about it, Jase did recall that both he and Amanda did often come over this way for riding trips. On pursuing further we realised that no only were we all in Spain, and in Andalucia, we were actually less than 10km away! We packed the van back up and headed off to find them. The rest of the evening was spent catching up over a beer or three. We were also able to stay in a layby in the same village with more stunning views.

The next morning and we rolled fairly early, wanting to see the last of the hilltop villages before the weather was set to turn. Our destination was Trevelez which has 2 claims to fame - firstly it is the highest village in Spain noted at 1,486m high and secondly is famous for it's air dried hams - apparently the dry climate at this altitude makes it ideal conditions for storing them. Being a hilltop village, it was of course steep in places, but we found a nice walking track to give us views over the valley, and once hunger bit, we headed back down to sample some of the produce. A total cliché I know, but it really was the best ham I've ever tasted.

After a stunning picnic lunch of (yes, you guessed it) ham rolls, we headed back down the mountains. The weather was starting to roll in & with heavy rain forecast (which could easily be snow at these heights) we wanted to spend the night back towards sea level. The journey down was stunning, and we found a great place by a reservoir at El Pinar for the evening.

Friday morning (now 5th April) and the weather forecast of pouring rain proved to be bang on! We had a bit of a journey to do today and needed some food supplies, so we retraced our steps back towards Granada initially and then onto Antequera for a tarmac Aire near a town which would be good for inclement weather. On arrival it wasn't the prettiest place, but nowhere is in the rain, so we pulled in, had lunch and hoped for a break in the weather. We were lucky and around 3pm, the rain backed off enough for us to pull on our raincoats (which hadn't seen action since France sometime last year) and headed into the town. It was an unusual place, famous for having 30 churches! We found about half of these, and by far the most imposing was the hilltop church Santa Maria which had great views over the city. We didn't get to look inside as it was currently closed for filming - I imagine something cool like Game of Thrones, but could just have been Spanish Songs of Praise....!

With the weather set pretty grim for the whole weekend, we decided to head towards Seville, via Moron de la Fontera - I know, who could resist a free Aire in a town called that?! The journey from Antequera was pretty cool, again rolling hills and valleys. We had hoped to pay a visit to Ronda, but the weather was simply too bad to see anything. We rolled onto Olvera, where we had a break in the weather and managed to have a brief walk around the town.

While in Olvera, Jase had read a sign about the local Griffon Vultures who are renowned in this area. We headed further into the hills and were rewarded with around 15 or so circling all around us - timed it would seem for the young goats being turned out into the fields!

Moron itself will have to wait for another visit, the rain was literally pouring down on arrival, and for a time the Aire was an island! Luckily the evening did dry out eventually.

Sunday morning (7th April) and we rolled from Moron towards Seville. We'd found a spot again on Park 4 Night which was a pay Aire - €12 a night for a parking spot within walking distance of Seville. The reviews were mixed, but the main point was although it wasn't glamourous, it was safe. It turned out to be parking in a port car park with all the brand new cars unloaded from the boats. If it's safe enough for hundreds of brand new cars, it's fine by us! In fairness, it was entry by gate, covered with cameras and was probably one of the safest places we've ever stayed. We pulled in and headed straight for the city.

Our first port of call was the Plaza de Espana which dominates the walk into the city. Moorish and colourful, and with some busking flamenco we felt like we'd landed in Spain proper!

Unfortunately, the rain had followed us, and within a fairly short amount of time we had to dive in a bar (I know!), for lunch, swiftly followed by another to sample some sherry. The afternoon followed a similar pattern, but we made the best of it to see as many sights as we could.

Monday morning and the weather was no better. We'd already decided we wanted a 2nd visit to the city, but had to hold out until after lunch when thankfully the sun did start to come out. We walked back in through the Jewish quarter and found a great food court type market with ever conceivable type of food available.

We rounded the day off with a selection of tapas (Tortilla, Iberican ham croquettes, Russian salad, Patatas Bravas, Meatballs, Spinach & chickpeas plus olives - yum!

Tuesday morning and finally we were out of the cruddy weather. I know we have no rights to complain here as it's the only rain we've seen for months, but it does make the camper life a bit trickier! Anyway, onwards and upwards. We'd decided to head back towards the coast, and see the Atlantic. On of the people we'd met in the Mula Aire, had recommended a place called El Rocio which was an old cowboy town. We stopped there for a while, and felt like we were part of a western - sand on the road, places to tie your horses etc! Plus the most amazing delta with so much birdlife.

Onwards from there we found a great spot for the night beachside near Matalascanas. Essentially just a layby, but with a fab view. A highlight of which was spotting a huge number of flamingos hugging the coastline.

Wednesday was spent beachside enjoying the view and taking it easy - 2 cities in a week was a big ask for us, and we felt we needed to recharge a bit.

Yesterday (Thursday) and we headed away from the beach and to Huelva - now as some of you will remember we are big fans of audiobooks in the evenings, and one we've listened to many a time is Operation Mincemeat - for those who don't know this is a WW2 story of British deception to disguise the 1943 invasion of Sicily. Essentially a couple of spooks obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael who had been a tramp, and disguise him as an officer of the Royal Marines. The plot was to identify him as Captain (acting Major) William Martin and show correspondence suggesting an invasion of Greece and Sardinia. Anyway, the reason why this is of relevance is that Glyndwr Michael is actually buried in Huelva. Having listened to this story, we wanted to pay tribute, and by the looks of the flowers, we weren't the only ones.

Onwards from Huelva (not a place to linger in our opinion) and we headed to a pay Aire near Isla Christina, very close to the Portuguese border. This area is another delta and is a magnet for birdlife. From our pitch I can see flamingos, stilts and storks all around.

And so to today, Friday 12th April. Jase is out having an explore on his bike, and the sun is continuing to shine. From my spot typing I can see flamingos, giving the sense of someplace very exotic.

Our plan from here is a bit fluid at the moment, although we will start heading North. We might dip our toes into Portugal on our way north, and we have plans to head towards the Galician coast in the coming weeks. We've also got Holy week starting on Sunday, which is a massive deal here in Spain. We could see some really interesting religious carnivals potentially. Our longer term plan has taken a more finite position now having been invited to the Vendee for 11th May to see Steve and Clare which is great.

Anyway, that's us all up to date. Hope you are continuing to enjoy
Until next time, stay safe all
J&J x