Adios Amigos

I've just remembered this blogpost I wrote last month - we've been home four weeks and although its lovely catching up with family and friends as I look back at this post I cant wait to hit the road south to the warm Spanish sunshine soon!

After six weeks away it's time to head for home across the plains of Spain towards Zaragoza, the
temperature falling as we travel, the distant hills touched with snow in the recent cold snap. You haven't heard much from me these last few weeks, the reason being is the useless Internet data speeds in many of the places we visit leaves me somewhat frustrated (despite having a very good little mi-fi device) watching that circle going round at the top of the screen somewhat quells your creative juices!

I'm writing this as we head up to the Eurotunnel terminal on our way home so this post is a synopsis of the highlights of the last few weeks. After we left the hustle and bustle of Benidorm we spent a few days with our friends Janet and Frank - the highlight being Janet's Paella (pronounced Pyeya in Spanish) I even managed a dip in their swimming pool to build up my appetite (well it would be rude not to!) We then headed to the Camperstop at Totana where intended to stay for a few days and stayed for a fortnight! Janet and Frank (and their four dogs) had intended to join us but sadly couldn't make it due to a radiator leak in their motorhome. We put our electric bikes to the test cycling into the mountains of the Sierra Espuna, one day we were very pleased with ourselves when we cycled 28 miles with an elevation of 3500 ft only to be upstaged the very next day by another British couple who did the same circuit on their conventional bikes - Wow! Super fit people!!

The view from the top in Aledo

Another day we cycled up to the village of Aledo where, in a small cafe bar, we met Nigel. Having discovered that Keith shared his birthday with Nigel it was decided that we had to go out together to celebrate the next day and so Nigel picked us up in his car and took us 25miles to one of the best restaurants in the area for an All you can eat Chinese buffet. As well as the cooked food buffet you can select your raw ingredients and take them the chef to be cooked in the Wok, always wanting to try something new, Keith had the Chinese delicacy (?) of frogs legs cooked for him - tastes like chicken he says! Not for me thank you...

The weather turned wet and windy and I learned that this is the season for the Gota Fria - these are intense flash floods usually occurring in a dry riverbed (known as a Rambla) this is really important to know about if you 'Free camp' as you could get swept into the sea if you parked up in the wrong place! As it happened the rain wasn't too bad, but Nigel took pity on us cooped up in the van and chauffeured us about for the weekend, taking us out to Campasol an urbanisation near the coast inhabited by many British ex-pats - we had a delicious Sunday lunch (the best of British!)

After a few days of unsettled weather the blue skies returned, we said goodbye to Totana and our new friend Nigel and headed further south to another of our favourite haunts - La Azohia, from here we headed up to the gun emplacements at Cabo Tiñoso, built before the war to protect the port of Cartagena, the stunning views bizarre architecture and massive guns are well worth a visit. Interestingly the guns were only ever fired once!
As the time to head north got closer we decided to return to the Benidorm area for a couple of days where we discovered a lovely camperstop near Altea. From here we were able to cycle to the pretty (but very touristy) village of El Castell de Guadalest, sadly we didn't a chance to stay long because it started to rain. This was our last cycle ride of the trip, all good things come to an end and its time to head home for Christmas and the grandchildren.

This is me with Violet, Lyndsay our daughter with Pearl (aged 4 months) in the carrier at Drusilla's Zoo Park

Our Benidorm experience

Have you ever been to Benidorm? Well we hadn't, we had just seen it on the comedy series on the telly! Having driven past on the motorway in the past and seen the high rise skyline we were curious to see what Benidorm was really like. We checked into Villasol Campsite for three nights and set about exploring the town. Apart from all the massive hotels there is every type of bar and restaurant lining the streets, especially along the busy beach promenade. Karaoke, music themes, sports bars with huge TV screens and every nationality of cuisine is on offer. The weather was perfect whilst we were there and during the day the beach was packed with holiday makers on the blue sun beds topping up their tans. Cycling around the busy streets we had to be careful not to run anyone over - tourists don't make good pedestrians- often looking the wrong way when crossing the road or staggering  into your path!

And we have never seen so many mobility scooters! People hire them just to get about - it's a cheap means of transport compared to getting a taxi. You can get a tandem scooter to tootle about together if you wish! Although apparently you need to be over 50 to hire a mobility scooter - too many young people in the past hired them, got drunk and crashed (or lost!) them.
Benidorm is a great place for people watching - so many colourful characters (including many lookalikes of the cast of 'Benidorm').
All the young people tend to gather at the bars selling a pint of beer for 1.50€ and even the local circus people come to do a bit of impromptu acrobatics for the crowd. At night the place is alive with revellers particularly groups on hen or stag parties and the choice of venue for them is endless!

On our third day in Benidorm we took to the hills and discovered the beautiful countryside a few miles back from the coastline. We set out on a circular route only to realise after about 15miles of climbing that the route was a bit too long and we risked running out of battery power on the bikes if we carried on, so we headed back downhill. Just a few miles inland you can escape from the hustle bustle of the city and enjoy the traditional Spanish villages where time still passes slowly and the afternoon siestas still the order of the day.

Review: Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0 Part 2

Part two of my review of the Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0 - don't read this unless you have read the first part!

This is the beginning of the E-bike revolution and in ten years time many people will have an electric bike, just like the smart phone revolution- everyone will want one! Once you have experienced an electric bike there is no turning back! Riding an electric bike is easy and uncomplicated just a few things to remember- don't try to exceed the governed speed when cycling on the flat, when you cycle uphill select the Turbo setting and a low gear so that the motor is not laboured (if the drive becomes a bit jerky the gear is too low) once in the correct setting/gear the bike will sail up the hill without having to apply much pressure on the pedals at all. It doesn't take long to learn how to ride an electric bike efficiently with optimal use of the battery and drive components.

The Haibike S-Duro Cross comes with front suspension which you can lock out if required - sadly with all the pot-holes in our roads these days this isn't often! The front suspension certainly gives a more comfortable ride especially over a long distance.

We have now owned our Haibikes for a few months and have cycled over 1000 miles so some day to day maintenance is needed. We had our initial service within a few weeks of purchase and Keith checks the bikes over regularly- checking tyre pressures, checking nuts and bolts are tight, particular attention to the chain - using a dry lube often (not wet lube) as an ebike chain has far more load put on it than a conventional bike so will wear more quickly. Its recommended that chains are replaced every 1500 miles and its best to use a quality chain.
Looking after your battery is important and we charge our batteries after each ride, which usually takes a couple of hours.
Our motorhome has a bike rack to transport the bikes and we also were able to buy a suitable rack for our car from Richard at E-Bike Sussex. When transporting the bikes we remove the batteries to reduce the weight on the back of the vehicle. It's important to check the weight limit of your rack when transporting e-bikes.

We have no regrets whatsoever about buying the Haibikes, we often turn heads with their stylish looks and bright colours. Owning an electrically assisted bike has transformed our rides, I don't feel any less fit as we go it for much longer periods (imagine sitting on an exercise bike for three hours!)
If you are considering buying an electric bike we would  also recommend a visit to Richard at
E-Bikes Sussex

https://ebikesussex.com/



This is my own personal review not a technical review and all words and opinions expressed in this review are my own. I have not received any financial incentive to write this review.

Review: Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0 Part 1

If you had asked Keith and I what we thought of electric bikes a year ago we would have said what a lot of people say to us now, which is that they are for getting about when you're that bit older, less fit and that having an electric bike is not real cycling it's 'cheating'. But then we realised that actually having an electrically assisted bike adds another dimension to what we can do and where we can go on our bikes with the added bonus of still keeping fit by going out more often and on much longer rides. Plus having converted to an electric bike we just love our cycling even more!

So where to begin when choosing the right electric bike? As a starting point we researched the most popular brands, read loads of reviews and talked to other owners of electric bikes. Having done that we decided that the Haibike with the centre driven Bosch Performance  CX motor (German engineering) seemed to be the best option, we also wanted a bike with on road/off road capabilities with gravel trails in mind. So where to go to see and try out our chosen bikes? Fortunately for us we have within a 30 minute drive just the right place to go -
 E-bike Sussex in Shoreham-by-sea.


We phoned ahead to find the right time to visit the store, it's an expensive purchase buying an ebike so you need to feel you have all the information and not to be rushed.
Richard at E-bikes Sussex is both passionate and knowledgeable about his product and gave us the time and the information to make the choice that was right for us. We were also able to have a test ride of a few different bikes. We eventually decided on the Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0, it seemed to meet all our requirements.

Having made the purchase our bikes were ready and prepared for the road in a few days and on collection Richard gave us detailed instructions on riding and caring for our e-bikes.
We were so excited those first few trips out on our new bikes (in fact I still get excited a few months later!)
When you reach a hill you select the Turbo setting and just sail up effortlessly - Wonderful!
We have found that we are able to go twice as far, twice as high and have twice as much fun!!
The bikes have a comfortable riding position and we changed to gel saddles to improve our comfort on a long ride. As you can see from the photos we have added some other useful extras for our touring, racks, pouches, a rear luggage box (essential for our picnic lunch!) and mudguards. We also have lights, ping bells and high quality shackle locks and the propstands are supplied as standard.
Riding the bikes is so easy with the 10 gears and 4 power settings, they handle well and we have been able to put them through their paces touring in Spain, climbing rough gravel and rocky trails and also climbing on tarmac roads into the National parks to almost 4000 ft of altitude.
We are often asked about the range of the 36volt/500watt battery supplied and of course there are many variations depending on the amount of ascent, overall weight, headwinds and rider usage of the bike, but we regularly ride up to 40 miles with battery range left when we return. We are able to charge the batteries using our inverter in the motorhome or the more usual direct to mains 240v (battery can be charged on or off the bike) and the approximate charging time is 2.5 hours.
One thing I learnt along the way is that when riding on the flat the pedal assisted motor is governed at approximately 16.5mph (a legal requirement) so it's no good when you reach this speed trying to pedal faster it will only tire you out! But going downhill is another matter and I reached 38mph the other day, the disc brakes back and front work really well which inspires confidence when whizzing down the hills. Another thing we have found about riding an ebike is that we are never daunted by the prospect of a long hill or strong headwind or worry about the hills on the journey home, you just relax and enjoy the scenery as you ride the hills with ease. We often go on mini adventures exploring an interesting looking deviation from our planned route.
To be continued in Part 2!
If you would like to look at the E-bike Sussex website, here is the link:

https://ebikesussex.com/

This is my own personal review not a technical review and all words and opinions expressed in this review are my own. I have not received any financial incentive to write this review.

Up into the hills of Spain we go

On our way to the town of la Vall d'Uixó

Without a second thought we decided to head into the hills that loomed behind the Aire where we were staying in Moncofa. In the days before our ebikes we couldn't really contemplate such an adventure as I have to admit I just don't have the level of fitness for mountain climbing.
We headed out towards the quiet town of la Vall d'Uixó where we stopped for a coffee in the town square by the ancient church. We were only a few miles inland, but the Spanish towns are so different to the coastal resorts, the old men still sit chatting under the trees like they have done for thousands of years - the difference now is that they answer their mobile phones when their wives call them home for lunch!

The ancient church of la Vall d'Uixó

After our coffee we continued up into the hills, past the quiet villages set into the hillsides, pedalling up with the minimum of effort, just enjoying the scenery.
After about 15 miles we decided to turn back and head down the hill and Wow! so exhilarating whizzing back down- we were back in no time at all!
After a couple of days at Moncofa we continued our journey south, skirting around Valencia and heading inland to a camperstop at El Paloma, a quiet Spanish town. We made good use of the free washing machine there and whilst the washing was drying we headed off on the bikes in search of a slightly elusive castle a few miles away.  We headed up a pretty steep hill, but this time it was a rugged off road trail with a few sections which were quite 'technical' ( by this I mean difficult!)
Eventually, having almost given up, we came across the castle which turned out to be more of a tower really, but the views were spectacular nevertheless and we stopped for a while to eat our picnic lunch.

On the way down the track from the castle 

This was the first time we had put the bikes through their paces on some pretty rough ground, but the bikes handled well and lived up to our expectations.
After our off road adventures at El Paloma where to next? Having never been before, we decided to go to Benidorm- somewhat of a contrast to the Spanish countryside!!

Heading across Spain to our favourite trail

The wide Sandy beach at Castellon de la Plana (right opposite where we are parked)

Leaving St Georges on a rather wet and windy day we headed south, skirting Bordeaux and on to the outskirts of Biarritz where we spent our last night in France by the peaceful Lac du Marion. We set the sat nav for Donastia-San Sebastian, but before we reached the city we turned in a south-easterly direction to head across Spain via Pamplona and Tudela to Zaragoza and our next overnight stop at a remote Park4night spot at Alfranca near Pastriz. Suitably refreshed the next day we continued on the wonderful A23 motorway towards Valencia, turning off to Castellon and the motorhome parking area by the Aerodrome.

A shady cafe - busy today its market day (great for people watching!)

And here we do what we love to do - pedalling  along the long cycle path to Benicassim and on to the Via Verde to Orepesa, stopping along the way for coffee.
We stayed in the area for about five days, the weather was unusually hot for the end of September and we were able to go out cycling every day, enjoying our electric bikes and the ease with which we cover the mileage.

I even went for a swim in the warm sea, showering under the cold water of the beach shower - refreshing!!!
On our last day we cycled to Orepesa and surprised our Dutch friends Paul and Gea who stay for the autumn at Camping Didota every year, we met them there five years ago but have kept in touch ever since.
Our next destination was Nules, only about 15 miles south along the coast, a free motorhome parking area behind a restaurant. Water, waste and free wifi thrown in, the owner hopes that you will have a meal in his restaurant. We had a delicious meal but on staying a few hours we realised that we were being invaded by Super-size Mosquitoes!! We decided to make a hasty exit and moved another couple of miles down the coast to the free Aire at Moncofa away from the wetlands at Nules and the pesky mosquitoes!! From Moncofa we went on our first mountain (read big hills) adventure on the electric bikes but that's another story - see you next time!!

A sad end to the beginning of our travels.....

Pretty village stopover at Fyé in France 

One of the exciting things about going away is the couple of weeks before you go, you start loading the van, making lists, buying those last minute essentials (i.e. plenty of teabags) and generally feeling that buzz of anticipation. But this time, just a few days before we were due to travel we had a call in the middle of the night from my sister in France to say my brother-in-law had died suddenly. Our plans were thrown into disarray at this tragic news, but we knew we had to get to my sister in France just as soon as we could. I managed to get an earlier crossing on the Eurotunnel and we quickly finished our preparations, setting out on the afternoon of the14th September. We headed for an Aire we had visited before at Mesniere-en-Bray (near Neufchâtel) only to find that at the late hour we arrived it was almost full, one space left but it was occupied by two cars. We discovered that the owners of the cars were in the hall next door playing Lotto -the French equivalent of Bingo. They won't be late we thought, it's just bingo - Humph! Big Mistake!! We decided to block the cars and wait for that last space on the Aire - it was 1.20am when the car owners returned and we could eventually move into the space - we were somewhat bleary eyed and not very happy, to say the least! Lesson learned the French take their Lotto game very seriously.....

The next day we continued our journey across France to St Georges de  Didonne where my sister lives, fortunately her son had been able to fly out to be with her, so she at least had one of the family with her. When we arrived we found a fabulous place to stay at Medis just a few miles away adjacent to the Royan-Medis Aerodrome, we had electricity and water on pitch, the use of showers and toilets as well as daily entertainment of watching the planes and parachutists - all for in incredible 8€ a night. From here we were able to cycle easily to my sisters house. The family and friends gathered from France and the uk for the sad day of the funeral- a day to celebrate the life of Terry, the sun shone and we all wore our casual summer clothes, the coffin was draped in beach towels. A fitting send off for a much loved man. 

Plenty of cycling on the Cycle path from St Georges to Royan 

We headed off on Friday knowing that my sister was doing well and was supported by her step-daughter who was staying with her.

Our next destination was back to our favourite haunt - Castellon de la Plana in Spain.

Viva España!!

RIP Terry Stevens 

Farewell España 💃

The white cliffs of Dover

After over five months travelling around Spain it was finally time to make our way back home to our home in Sussex. We felt sad to be leaving especially as the weather seemed to have settled, every day was warm and sunny and the wind had finally settled. Spain was doing what it does best by offering fabulous weather!!
We had a truly wonderful trip, visited lots of amazing places and made many new friends. We feel that we have become part of a new community and feel sure we will be meeting up with many of the people we have met along the way, it's all so much easier to keep in touch now with social media - Facebook and Whatsapp etc.

The lovely promenade of Mojacar Playa

We didn't always have an easy time of things, it was challenging trying to book the vehicle in to a garage to have the work done for an urgent safety recall, Google Translate is brilliant if you want to send an email but it's not so easy when you come face to face with someone who doesn't speak English and you don't speak Spanish!! But we got by and managed to get the work done although we did have to spend the night camped up on the Industrial estate for the night so that we could check the van in at 8am! We also had to find a dentist when Keith developed toothache, but we solved that problem easily by travelling to Mojacar where we found an English speaking dentist where we were given excellent treatment.

Islamic arches in the Cathedral of Córdoba

We enjoyed the coastal resorts, revisiting some of our favourite haunts as well as finding new places, but we also travelled inland and enjoyed equally exploring the city of Córdoba as well as some of the less visited areas such as Ubeda. We ventured off the beaten tourist track and found what felt like the 'real' Spain.
Our final week was spent at Castellon de la Plana (one of our favourite haunts!) on the area designated for Motorhomes by the airfield so not only could we enjoy the cycle path right outside the gate but when we were back at base we could watch the light aircraft and parachutists. Every day we headed along the cycle path to the Via Verde from Benicassim to Orepesa, we just didn't tire of it with its beautiful views.

Our last Spanish stopover by the airfield at Castellon 

Whilst we were there we met a couple, Anne and Terry. Anne introduced me to Polarsteps a great app for recording your journey.









I have set it up for our journey home if you want to have a look:
https://www.polarsteps.com/AngelaGardner/648016-home-from-spain?s=27695db8-89fd-41fe-a0f7-18f57e05efce

Back home cycling the disused railway line in Sussex 

And so my blog for this trip comes to an end, but it's certainly not the end of our travels - we are planning our next trip already, inspired by Colin and Sandra, we hope to make the journey across Europe to Greece in 2019 - just watch this space!!

Our Motor-Roaming life

I was wondering what to write next on my blog and I thought you may be interested in what it's been like to be living in Spain in our motorhome for the last five months. It's wonderful to be free to go where you want whenever you want and to visit so many different places - cities, countryside or coast.
Spain is such a diverse country there is always somewhere new and different to discover and their customs and culture often surprises us. Sometimes we get a bit lonely when all we have for company is each other, but over the last months we have begun to feel more and more that we are part of a large community of like minded people touring around in their motorhomes for months and sometimes years (or sometimes the motorhome is their home having sold up in the UK)

With every place we visit we have ever-changing neighbours and if they are from the UK we often get chatting over a coffee or even enjoy a cycle ride or a meal together. One couple, Alan and Sophie, we met in Chinchilla, we chatted and Sophie and I contacted each other a couple of times using Whatsapp. A week or so later we were cycling along the Benacassim cycle path when we thought we recognised Sophie going the other way, so I sent a Whatsapp " Was that you we just saw?" I said, and it was! We were both parked up at Castellon about a mile apart, the next day we met for coffee and the day after a cycle ride along our favourite Via Verde. We have a lot in common, Alan being a keen runner and Sophie is a hypnotherapist like me, our friendship was cemented and we hope to keep in touch as they live in Sussex (like us). With all the people we have met over the last few years, I think we now have more motorhoming friends across Europe than we have at home in the UK. With today's social media it's so easy to keep in touch and we exchange ideas, information about gadgets (Paul Steel especially!!)  and our favourite places to stay - there's nothing better than recommendation - so many of the great  places we have stayed have been as a result of a recommendation from a fellow Motorhomer.

The practical side of life as a Free camper can be challenging at times especially finding somewhere to do your laundry.
Can you imagine my delight when we found the El Palomar camperstop on our route? I had been told by someone we met that you had use of the washing machine free! And the added bonus was they only charged 5€ a night to stay.
We stayed two nights and in that time I did four wash loads and got it all dry on our makeshift line.

It's the simple things in life that can give you great happiness, who doesn't like to snuggle up at night in between fragrant clean sheets!!

Yet another Via Verde

You might be imagining when you read about our Moho adventures in Spain that we are having wonderful weather, but I think you have to agree there is definitely something unusual about the weather right across Europe. Being April we expected the temperatures to be soaring and we could put our winter woolies away, but we have experienced so much wind in the last months often a cold wind, yesterday it was a hot and sunny 25° yet today the day started at 3° and has only risen to a chilly and very windy 12° with frequent showers including hailstones . Weird eh? What is going on? Back in the UK the weather has been much, much colder - so much for global warming!
Nevertheless, we get out on our bikes or walking almost every day and we love nothing better than a Via Verde for our cycling.

Which is why when we left Ubeda, we travelled to Alcaraz, where using Park4night, we found a car park right at the start of the Via Verde de Sierra de Alcaraz, we stayed three nights and in that time we had the car park to ourselves and very nice it was too, peaceful at night with another interesting historic town to wander around and explore close by.
Not everyone likes to stay in this kind of isolated car park on their own but it suits us just fine.

On the Via Verde we hardly saw a soul as the trail wound through the rather lush hills, sometimes literally as there were quite a few tunnels (with automatic lighting, which worked well most of the time, just occasionally there was a delay on the motion sensors and we found ourselves cycling in the pitch black - Scary!!)
It's a bit strange really (and the kind of thing you find all the time in Spain) but this wonderful Via Verde which stretches 74km from Albecete to Alcaraz has hardly any access points along its entire length, which probably accounts for why we saw so few people!

Chinchilla-that's us in the bottom left corner!

Our next stop was recommended to us by a fellow motorhomer, another hilltop town called Chinchilla. Here there is a massive Aire with room for up to 50 vans with all the usual facilities of water and waste disposal with an added bonus that it was really peaceful at night (except for the chiming of the church bells - not so good if you're a light sleeper!)
Once again exploring the town on foot left your calves aching from the many steps and steep hills, but it's always worth wandering around the winding narrow streets that have hardly changed in the last few centuries.

Spain - Inside out

Portuguese windmill - photo taken on one of the few dry days!

I cannot begin to tell you how much we have been enjoying travelling around the interior of Spain these last few weeks. We had a brief visit to Portugal but left a bit hastily when we encountered day after day of heavy rain, it was enough to see us off! 
We had a second attempt at visiting the Roman ruins of Italica - this time we had time to visit the whole site, although it was a bit wet from a previous downpour. 

Located just north of Seville this amazing archeological site is a bit of a hidden gem when it comes to Roman cities, the ruin of the amphitheatre is the 2nd largest in Europe and the remains of the city cover a large area with some beautiful mosaic floors still in situ.

We then travelled to Córdoba where we took a local bus into the city centre and visited the Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral dating back from 784 AD with its vast columned prayer hall, in 1236 it was converted into a Catholic Church and to this day has a strange feeling of a fusion of two religions. 
We also visited a museum of all the different torture items from the 16th century Spanish Inquisition, we left feeling nauseous- you cannot begin to imagine some of the implements of torture that were used on their poor victims!

Our journey of discovery continued when we arrived in the historic town of Udeba where as you strolled the narrow streets a beautiful old building would appear.
We also had the best coffee and pan au chocolate of the trip so far!!
For fellow motorhomers - there is a brilliant Aire where you can stay, it's very safe as it's right opposite the Guardia training centre!!

Cycling the 'Olive Oil route' La Subbetica Spain

After my last blog post we continued our journey West, stopping at Isla Cristina where we discovered the most wonderful wide sandy beaches completely deserted apart from the occasional dog walker. We then headed into Portugal where (like many others this Spring) we endured some very dismal weather so decided to scarper back to Spain in search of better weather. For a day or two we followed the weather front, but after a couple of brief stops we arrived at Cabra to cycle on the Via Verde de Aceite in the Subbetica region (located inland - south central Spain).

Our first overnight stop was at the disused railway station of Cabra which is now a busy Bar/restaurant where the locals congregate as well as the walkers and cyclists stopping of the trail for refreshment. There is also a restored Steam engine and railway carriages converted into dining areas. At weekends the Via Verde and refreshment stops are very popular with the locals and stopping for a quiet coffee when you're out is not going to happen - the Spanish when they gather are such 
noisy people!

We then moved to an Aire at Doña Mencía a few miles along the trail where we were able to cycle more of the route. The weather was lovely and the scenery spectacular- none more so than the 'Bonita' (beautiful) village of Zuheros, dominated by the tumbledown castle built into the hilltop rocky crags by the Moors in the ninth century. The narrow streets wind steeply upwards, past all the typical white andalusian houses up to the top to the Plaza with a restaurant where we enjoyed a beer served with rather chewy garlic flavoured olives and the magnificent panorama, the tranquility broken only by the chiming of the church clock. 

The area has been inhabited for thousands of years, nearby in the craggy cliffs are caves where artefacts have been discovered from the Palaeolithic age. We hope to return to Zuheros another time to visit the caves and the local museum (it was Monday and closed - which seems to be something we have a habit of doing on our travels - arriving somewhere only to find it closed or just about to!) We also would like to visit the area and cycle on the Via Verde again on one of our future trips. We love exploring inland Spain it's so different to the coastal resorts, you feel you are discovering the Real Spain.

A wander around Ronda and being a proper tourist in Andalusia

Have you ever been to the Spanish town of Ronda? This medieval town is split in two by an enormous deep gorge, hundreds of years ago a bridge was built to bring the two sides together and what a construction! It really is quite a breathtaking sight, this gigantic bridge across the deep, deep gorge as well as amazing views from the town perched on the hilltop.
The only downside to this incredible place is the coach loads of other tourists also visiting the town, everywhere was packed with people from every corner of the world, every corner you turned there was someone taking a photo with their selfie stick!

Despite the crowds I would still say that Ronda is worth a visit as despite being a major tourist attraction as it is a truly incredible sight, it has an authentic Spanish feel and the views are spectacular! The drive through the countryside to get there was very enjoyable, the landscape is much less arid, in fact it almost felt like we were back in the UK with lush green fields all around.

The disused Olvera station at the start of the Via Verde de Sierra,
 the castle perched on the hilltop in the distance

We were in the area to cycle on our favourite trail - the Via Verde de Sierra. We arrived at the Aire at Olvera, right at the start of the trail, really looking forward to
cycling through all the tunnels and seeing the vultures soaring in the National park along the route. The information centre was open so we went in to look around and were told that the Via Verde was closed along its entire length due to landslides caused by recent storms. We were gutted!! We had been looking forward to this particular ride since we set out from home.

With nowhere to cycle we walked up into the town of Olvera and visited the church and castle perched right on top of the hill. The lovely Spanish town with its steep and winding streets made up for our disappointment.

The spectacular view from the hilltop castle Olvera

Spain - a country of contrasts

Sometimes when you write a travel blog you don't feel inspired to write, but these last few days whilst travelling across Spain the contrast from magnificent tranquility to the hustle bustle of a major tourist resort was striking. After spending some time on the beach on the outskirts of Mojacar we headed inland on the A92 towards Granada, stopping by a stunningly peaceful lake en route.
Surrounded on all sides by distant snow capped mountains this out of the way location is like an oasis, a little bit of paradise.

We stayed in a car park on the shores of the lake, no facilities but a small restaurant open during the day where we enjoyed a cold Alhambra beer served with a plate of tapas. Even though there was a campsite up the road there were no marked footpaths or cycle ways, it was just completely under exploited. The quietness made your ears ring, the silence broken only by the occasional chirping of the birds.
From here we headed to the sprawling metropolis of Granada towered over by the snowy mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

The towering mountains of the Sierra Nevada

Having decided we wouldn't stop to visit the Alhambra again we headed south to the Costa Del Sol to revisit Nerja, a place where we spent many happy days when we used to visit my parents' apartment here. But it's now seventeen years since our last visit and the change in that time was quite surprising . Nerja is now a busy, bustling resort, almost every square foot has been built on and developed like so many other tourist resorts around Spain. But the narrow streets still have a rustic feel about
them even though the shops and bars are mainly for the tourists.

The main centre of Nerja is the Balcon de Europa and on that warm, sunny afternoon we saw so many tourists of all nationalities enjoying the sunshine and the holiday vibe of the place.

This time our ears were buzzing with the sounds of so many people!!
We love being in Spain and visiting all the different places, experiencing all the contrasts of this diverse country.
What are your experiences of this wonderful country? Do you love it too?