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?

A surprise around every corner....

Sometimes when you are travelling around you have preconceived ideas of what a place will be like before you get there only to find that it's surprisingly  different to your expectations. Our next destination after 'turning the corner' of Southern Spain was Roquetas de Mar, I was expecting a typical busy tourist resort filled with tacky souvenir shops and loud bars, what we did find was much more relaxed, not a tacky souvenir outlet in sight and the bars and restaurants looked very inviting.

We found a place to park a little way from the many motorhomes crowded together in  the huge car park by the beach. We were right next to the cycle lane and the long promenade where it seemed the world and his wife were out walking, running or cycling! In fact you needed to be careful not to step out of the van too quickly for fear of bumping into one of the passers by! We discovered that you could cycle for miles either way along the coast and the weather was warm enough to spend the day out on our bikes with a picnic lunch.
After a couple of days the novelty of being in a rather public place wore off so we moved a mile or so along to a quieter  spot right on the beach.

Looking out over the bay of Almeria in a more secluded place suited us much better - when people pass by they can't help but look in on us, after a while you feel like you're living in a goldfish bowl.
At night you are lulled to sleep by the sound of the rolling waves and in the morning woken by the sun rising on the horizon. How perfect is that.... well perfect until they have a running race pass by you on a Sunday morning that is!

At least the runners didn't have time to stand and stare...

Locked out in a far distant corner of Spain

Cabo de Gata - the view across the bay to Almeria and the snow capped mountains of the
 Sierra Nevada  in the far distance

Have you ever locked yourself out? Do you recognise that heartsink feeling when you realise that you are outside your vehicle but all the keys are inside? Well, that is precisely what happened to us! We arrived at a lovely area to park at Cabo de Gata - the national park on the southeast tip of Spain. The sun was shining and we had taken our chairs out to enjoy a cup of tea and enjoy the view of the rolling waves, when I came to get back in the van I found all the doors were locked, the keys were inside - it's a ghastly feeling!

Fortunately (now, please don't repeat what I'm about to tell you) the van has a security weak spot and we were able to remove all the contents of the underbed storage area from the outside access door and Keith wriggled his way into the van, lifted the bed from underneath and got in to rescue the situation. Phew! Panic over but lesson learned not to operate the internal central locking system and then get out of the vehicle and shut the door! Take note other Motorhome owners!

One thing we discovered about Cabo de Gata that its very beautiful but it is also very windy. Not only that but just down the road there are saltpans and the salt seemed to permeate the wind covering the van in such a sticky layer of salt that we could hardly see out of the windscreen in the morning!

Nevertheless we enjoyed a couple of days here cycling along the long beach road to the nearby village stopping to watch the flamingos in the wetlands (sadly they were only distant pinkish blobs!)

Far distant Flamingos (the pinky white blobs)

Mooching in Mojacar

The cliff walk to Mojacar

Mojacar Pueblo

Our next stop was in the coastal town of Vera (pronounced by the Spanish as Bare-ra), we found a great place to park right by the beach and next to a lagoon, the added bonus was it was also on a cycle path which took us along the coast to Mojacar. It was also close to a launderette where we were able to catch up on a bit of a back log of washing!

The weather turned colder (relatively speaking!) a cold north wind meant we had to wrap up if we went out walking or on our bikes. One day we decided to cycle up to Mojacar pueblo (the village on the hill, not the sprawling Mojacar playa - the seaside resort) We soon warmed up cycling up the steep hill to the village! 

Mojacar pueblo was in the sixties almost derelict until it became a tourist resort and is now a thriving resort town with many ex-pat inhabitants enjoying the winter sunshine - it may be colder in Southern Spain than is normal for February but when the sun comes out if you can find a sheltered  spot it's lovely!

The car park in Vera we made our home for 5 nights

As you know we don't tend to stay anywhere long so after five days we moved about eight miles south to a beach bar car park we have visited in the past. It's a great place to stop for a day or two but you have to just watch out for the slightly dodgy bloke who runs the bar (ask Keith for the story about his encounter with him!) We were able to park right on the edge of the beach and have access to water and toilet. From here there is a two mile long scenic walk cut into the cliff side into Mojacar. We were also in the area at the right time to see the Carnival which, unfortunately for all the scantily clad participants, was on a rather cloudy and cold evening! It wasn't a massive event but the music was loud and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves!

A strange natural sculpture at Bolnuevo

After leaving Totana our next destination was Bolnuevo a delightful coastal resort renowned for Gredas de Bolnuevo - a curious formation of naturally sculpted rock formed over millions of years by wind erosion of the soft limestone creating a magical landscape. A vast car park by the Gredas meant there was plenty of space for a handful of motorhomes to park (ignoring the 'No motorhomes' sign - during low season the police regularly patrol but don't bother to move us on)

We were also able to walk along the coastal path south, a rugged path following the ups and downs of the coast with a few secluded rocky beaches. We were joined by our friends Maureen and Andy for the walk on what turned out to be the hottest day of our trip so far. 

The sea was a beautiful shade of turquoise on our walk from Bolnuevo

We then returned to La Azohia having left last time with 'unfinished business ' i.e. Walks and cycle rides still to do. The weather became changeable, but we were still able to get out every day either walking or cycling. We felt we were getting to know the area better and went out walking in the hills, but without Andy guiding the way we got lost and never found our way to the secret beach, instead we found ourselves wandering around in the scrub having lost the path. Nevertheless we had a lovely walk with fabulous views.

Andy and Maureen took us out one day to one of their favourite restaurants which is actually a truck stop, but forget all thoughts of 'Greasy slice' ! For 10€ per person we had a four course meal with coffee and drinks included. The food was traditionally Spanish with a shared mixed salad as first course followed by mixed seafoods soup or meat stew then for main course was Pork cheek stew, fish or lamb chops. Dessert was Flan (creme caramel) , chocolate or cheesecake or icecream.

The atmosphere was typical Spain with the TV in the corner and noisy hustle & bustle, but the staff were friendly and welcoming, busy with lunchtime trade and a fairly rapid turnover of customers.

Andy and Maureen weren't sure we would like it there, but we loved the traditional Spanish ambiance and really enjoyed the food. If you're passing that way it's called La Cruce at Ramonete on the RM-332.
Well recommended!