Monday, 23 April 2018

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.


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