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