Is this the real Spain?

In the end we stayed at Chipiona for 5 days and on Sunday we cycled the whole length of the Via Verde (and back!) again, having found a window in the weather which had rather turned against us! The forecast was for rain and we certainly got that during the night but after about 10am the rain held off and we could enjoy our cycle ride without getting a soaking!

We did have an incident along the way though, the overnight rain had turned one short section of our trail a bit muddy, a very sticky mud which got caught up between the back tyre and the mudguard and we both ground to a halt with our back wheels refusing to turn! In the end Keith removed the back mudguard on each bike to clear the clod of mud out, we then wheeled the bikes to the next section of the path which was not at all muddy. Strangely, on our way back we were able to traverse the same section without any problem because the sun had quickly dried all the sticky mud. It was as if we had had a trick played on us - very odd!!!

Our campsite owner, Alfonso, had made a point of being friendly and helpful right from our arrival and he always made a point of calling out to us " Hello Kate" and "Hello Anhela"  we didn't have the heart to correct him...

All sorts of people stayed on this campsite, only one other English couple ( ask Keith to tell you about the Two Poodle Puppet Show when you see him (!) ) mostly Spanish families, a Belgian couple, three French motorhomes and a Swiss van occupied by a short man with a very long grey pointy beard and long grey hair wearing a wooly hat, we called him the 'Motor-gnome'.  Oh dear! We have become such terrible people watchers, you'd think we had nothing better to do!

The promenade at Rota
Here are a few observations about the real Spain that we have found on our journey:

Spain is the land of the barking dogs especially early evening, nothing you can do - just get used to it because the Spanish obviously do! It's a noisy country.

Some places expect you to put your used toilet paper in a basket or bin by the loo and not to flush it down. Not easy for us and not nice when the bins are full (a bit stinky!)

The Spanish are very family orientated, you will often see all three generations out together and they love children (I'm not sure how they feel about their dogs?)

Sunday is family day, all the shops close after lunch and the families will gather in a local restaurant, enjoying a long lunch, they always wear their best clothes on Sundays.

The Spanish are great conversationalists, they can be seen walking or sitting together having intense conversations, what about I don't know - I wish I could understand them! 

The older men all sit about under the trees in the town square, gabbling away and maybe putting the world to rights

Generally speaking, food in the supermarkets and eating out is much cheaper then the UK.

Green grocers will often throw in something for nothing with your purchase- a few oranges, a pepper or a lemon. It's a nice gesture to get something for nothing!

The Spanish people will always greet you with 'Hola' or 'Buenos Dias '

Blue skies over the lighthouse at Rota 

Their weather is much hotter and better than that in the UK - no wonder so many people chose to move out to Spain! We love the endless (mostly) days of sunshine and blue skies!

And finally (for now) it's a great country with a lot to discover - and some wonderful trails to cycle along! And maybe some of the best places are away from the well worn tourist track

An undiscovered part of Spain.....

Have you ever heard of the Spanish resort of Chipiona? No? Well, neither had we, it's a real hidden gem of a resort.

It's a lovely seaside town at the northernmost tip of the Costa de Luz about 50 miles north of Cadiz. 

We travelled here after arriving on the coast a few days before, having spent a few nights on a couple of rather non-descript campsites along the coast, being brought here for our sixth Via Verde - the Entre Rio.

The town itself is very typically Spanish with lots of whitewashed houses, a smattering of low rise hotels and long streets full of tapas bars and little shops selling all sorts of goods from shoes and handbags to bazaar shops with their baskets and plastic flowers.

The skyline is dominated by a very tall and elegant lighthouse. The beach is golden sand with a wide promenade and plenty of beachside bars to suit all tastes.

There are tourists, but these are mainly  Spanish so the town maintains its typical Spanish atmosphere. 

We were pleased to find our camperstop was right on the seafront- the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep at night. And once again the Via Verde was just a few hundred yards down the road.

We planned to cycle out on the trail the day after we arrived but unfortunately our gas bottle gauge went from 2/3 full to almost empty overnight so we had to decide what to do - we needed gas to keep our fridge running. 

Using an app called Park4night we located a place nearby where we could go, a small campsite where we had most importantly, electric hookup but also wifi, water toilets and showers - perfect!  And it was located just down the road from the Via verde and a few steps away from the beach. The owner Alfonso was incredibly friendly and helpful he went out of his way to get us a gas cylinder from a local company, but sadly it wouldn't fit in the van cabinet so it didn't solve the problem. It's a funny thing that across Europe gas bottles are not standardised which makes it very difficult to obtain an exchange - our only answer was to have our cylinder refilled and as luck would have it John and Gill had told us about a place on the Spain/Portugal border. We had planned to go
along the coast to Portugal so it was an option to seek out this place on our way there over the next week.

Anyway, enough of the trials and tribulations of motorhoming!

We set out on Thursday morning along Via Verde Entre Rio and cycled the whole length of it to the lovely town of Rota - another lovely Spanish seaside resort - we really have found an undiscovered corner of Spain ( but please don't tell too many people about it!)

The trail took us through mainly agricultural land with lots of greenhouses full of horticultural plants and the two main crops being sweet potato and cotton - I never realised cotton wool balls grew on plants (!) We also enjoyed our first Via Verde which had a hard surface for it's entire length of 13 miles.

We enjoyed this area of Chipiona so much we decided to stay for a while......

Our favourite place for dos cafe americano 

Tunnels, vultures and so much more...

About 100 miles southwest of Cabra we arrive in the town of Olvera and Campsite Pueblo Blanco where the pitches are terraced into a steep hillside giving spectacular views to the mountains beyond and the town set into the nearby hillside, the castle and huge church perched at the top dominating the area. We are here for our fifth Via Verde - Via Verde de la Sierra. The trail is 32km long and has 30 tunnels, the longest almost 1km long and descends gently from the edge of Olvera to Puerto Serrano, but here's the strangest thing the railway line was not completed so trains never ran along the line. It was commissioned at the turn of the twentieth century but work came to a halt during the Spanish civil war and was finally and definitely abandoned in the sixties, all the stations, viaducts and tunnels had been built but no tracks had ever been laid. Fortunately it was later to become a trail for cyclists and walkers passing through some outstanding scenery and was awarded the First prize in 2005 - the best Via Verde (or Greenway) in Europe.

The helpful site receptionist provided us with a map to locate the start of the trail at the old station building in Olvera and on Wednesday morning we set out in the sunshine to cycle half way along. The surface started as tarmac but after a couple of miles became compacted gravel, but not too bad for cycling. The surrounding mountainous scenery was wonderful with ever changing views. The frequent tunnels adding to the interest, the longer tunnels had automatic lighting so we didn't really need our cycle lights at any time.

After a long viaduct the Rock of Zaframagon comes into view - home to one of the largest colonies of griffon vultures in Europe (about 200 breeding pairs) The nearby information centre offers the opportunity to see the nesting and perching sites of the vultures using powerful zoom cameras, the images shown on large screens. Unfortunately the centre was closed on this particular day! But we were able to see the vultures soaring above on the thermals

Eventually we reach the old station building of Coripe and our turnaround point. We stopped and had our lunch and decided at this point that one way or another we were going to cycle the other half of the trail. We just had to work out how to get us and our bikes to the other end to do it!

The route back was steady uphill until we got back to town then we had to get up the steepest hill to return to our site, I pushed my bike up it was so steep! By the time we got back to the van we had
cycled 33 miles so we decided to have a day off the next day - we only cycled 6 miles to get to the
town and back for coffee and a cake, the afternoon was spent 'chilling',enjoying the sunshine and the
lovely views from our pitch.

Friday morning and we packed up and headed out to the end of the Via Verde at Puerto Serrano, finding the start of the trail easily on the outskirts of the town with good car parking to leave the van. We cycled through the countryside through all the tunnels, alongside the narrow ravine of the river Guadalporcun, through meadows and past livestock farms of cattle and goats. Eventually we find ourselves back at Coripe - our first completed Via Verde! Surprisingly the station cafe/restaurant is open so we celebrate with a cafe Americano.

We take a steady cycle back to the van taking in the breathtaking scenery and the 30' heat. This may not suit everyone but to us it is definitely Cycling Heaven!!

Our mission to cycle as many Vias Verde as we can has taken us well off the beaten track to wonderful places we would never have visited, it's been quite an adventure and great fun!

We arrived back at the converted Station, it's almost deserted so we decide to 'wild camp' for the night, perhaps haunted by the families of the railway workers who lived for a few years in the station buildings as if waiting for a train that was never to arrive.

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The route back was steady uphill until we got back to town then we had to get up the steepest hill to
return to our site, I pushed my bike up it was so steep! By the time we got back to the van we had cycled 33 miles so we decided to have a day off the next day - we only cycled 6 miles to get to the town and back for coffee and a cake, the afternoon was spent 'chilling',enjoying the sunshine and the lovely views from our pitch.

Friday morning and we packed up and headed out to the end of the Via Verde at Puerto Serrano, finding the start of the trail easily on the outskirts of the town with good car parking to leave the van. We cycled through the countryside through all the tunnels, alongside the narrow ravine of the river Guadalporcun, through meadows and past livestock farms of cattle and goats. Eventually we find ourselves back at Coripe - our first completed Via Verde! Surprisingly the station cafe/restaurant is open so we celebrate with a cafe Americano.

We take a steady cycle back to the van taking in the breathtaking scenery and the 30' heat. This may not suit everyone but to us it is definitely Cycling Heaven!!

Our mission to cycle as many Vias Verde as we can has taken us well off the beaten track to wonderful places we would never have visited, it's been quite an adventure and great fun!

We arrived back at the converted Station, it's almost deserted so we decide to 'wild camp' for the night, perhaps haunted by the families of the railway workers who lived for a few years in the station buildings as if waiting for a train that was never to arrive.

Another Via Verde, somewhere near Córdoba

After an overnight stop at a site near Córdoba we headed into Andalusia, the province of endless olive groves and towns of white painted houses nestled into the hillsides. The temperature slowly rising as we head further south. Our destination being a camperstop in the town of Cabra and our fourth Via Verde - The Subbetica, the route of the old Olive oil train.

We couldn't believe our luck when we arrived there and found the camperstop was within 100 yards of the trail, there was space for 4 motorhomes but our only neighbours were another English couple - John and Gill who are on the road for a year in their motorhome. We arrived at lunchtime which gave us time to head out for a 26 mile ride heading north on the trail. Within a mile we arrived at a disused railway station now converted to a visitor centre and cafe, but most exciting there was a real live steam locomotive! 

After stopping for photos the trail headed out on a picturesque route along the foot of the mountains across spectacular viaducts, deep cuttings and a our first tunnel ( luckily not too long as we had forgotten to bring our cycle lights! ). 

The route had fabulous views of the olive groves as far as the eye could see, the heavy smell of olives hanging in the air and  at Zuheros, perched high on the mountainside the remains of a Muslim fortress.

 

At our turnaround point at another converted station in the town of Luque we stopped for a cold drink surrounded by noisy Spanish families out for a Sunday afternoon before we headed back to the van for our evening meal

The Camperstop seemed peaceful for the night but this was not to be the case with nearby rubbish bins being emptied at 2am, a jackal making a very weird Ha-ha-ha noise at 3am, a man with a leaf blower and a noisy road sweeper cleaning all around us at 6.30am - it was definitely not a quiet night! Still, that's Spain for you!!! And the overnight parking was free!

The next morning we set off on our bikes along the track this time going south. This time the scenery was different, we passed through more industrial areas and the countryside was a mixture of olive trees and vineyards, the trail was also much quieter for it being a weekday. 

For our picnic lunch we found another converted railway station where we could sit under the shade of the trees to eat our food and relax for a while before plodding back up the slow but steady incline to Cabra and our van. 

We certainly think that this Via Verde is the best one yet with marvellous scenery, but little did we know that our next was even better!!

Our first of many tunnels

Keith fell in love with this beauty!

Somewhere in the middle of Spain.....

On Wednesday we headed out 11 miles to the nearby town Navalpino not realising we had to cycle up a mountain and down the other side to get there! Once there we found a very typical Spanish bar where we could have a coffee, enjoying the unspoilt atmosphere, the gabble of the locals in the background (as well as the TV set up on the wall!). Outside there was a fruit and veg stall where we bought some juicy mandarins and some tomatoes, he also gave us some over-ripe pears and a red pepper which was nice!

We found a bench in the village centre where we could stop and eat our lunch and some of the fruit we had just bought. The locals all stare at you but will always return your greeting if you say 'Hola', they are not unfriendly, just not used to strangers!

Some of you may wonder why we chose to go to all these out of the way places. We love the empty (and wide) back roads which take you out to the middle of nowhere, the smell of the hot pines on the air, the Eagles circling above on the thermals and the Azur magpies with their beautiful blue wings squawking across the road as you disturb them cycling by, but most of all we love the blue skies, the sunshine and the heat. The less visited National Parks of Spain are their hidden treasures away from the hustle bustle tourist resorts of the coasts, a haven for bird watchers and nature lovers. When you're out on the trails you can really enjoy the tranquility of the open countryside. 

In the dead of night the only sound is perhaps a dog or two barking in the distance and the clanging of the bells on the sheep nearby. Even the church bells are silenced until 7am!

The 8 o'clock church bell is our waking alarm, we  have a cup of tea and decide what to do for the day - usually breakfast, pack up a picnic and head out on our bikes. When we get back to the site we will maybe have a swim in the pool before our showers and evening meal. Sometimes we meet other people and will share a cup of tea or glass of wine and exchange motor home stories, meeting fellow travellers and exchanging experiences is all part of the pleasure of our trips. Some of the people we meet we still keep in touch with and will maybe meet again.

Keith gave his bike a rest and went out for a run!

We stayed at Mirador de Cabaneros for 5 nights but there always comes a point when we feel we have done all the exploring of an area we want to do and so we have a 'Planning meeting' and work out where to go next. This time it's to another Via Verde further South in Andalusia with an overnight stop on a campsite to break the journey. 

We feel sad to leave, the little personal touches such as flowers and little baskets of herbs in the toilet block and meeting some new friends -Ian and Sue, make us feel more at home than a lot of places, but once again it's time to move on to pastures (and cycling trails) new!

From Camping Hell to Camping Heaven!!

We were up and away to Madrid by 8.30am defying the Satnav and taking the quieter roads to the motorway thereby reducing our journey by a good few miles, sometimes  it can pay to do your own navigating! We arrived at the Camping Arganda and if we weren't on a mission (and if we had somewhere else nearby to go) we would have turned around and left. The campsite was abysmal, full of scruffy static caravans, right on a busy main road and the facilities were appalling, but we wanted to cycle the Via Verde Tajuna, we have all our own facilities on board so we pitched up and stayed.

That afternoon we had time to go out and see if we could find the start of the trail and it was a good job we did as it took some finding, once again the signposting could have been much better. But once we found it, the trail was as described - well surfaced in red Tarmac and once on it, you couldn't get lost (luckily - we do seem to be quite good at getting lost!)

 So, Sunday morning we packed up our lunch and set out on our third Via Verde climbing steadily through the olive groves to the summit of a hill (and a huge cement works!?) before going down to the town of Montana. The trail then undulated along to another village where we stopped for our lunch, the only thing missing from our journey being a suitable bar for a coffee, but that's what you get when you stray away from the usual tourist track.

Although the trail continued on, we decided to head back to the campsite where we took our showers in the van rather than use their awful facilities! The worst thing about the campsite was it was the most expensive place we have stayed at 24€ a night when we would normally expect to pay 16 or 18€ for a good quality campsite! But it served it's purpose and we were able to cycle another Via Verde.

We didn't wash our dishes here.....

Or take a shower here....

The next day we headed away from the pollution smog hanging over Madrid into the mountains and the National Park de Cabaneros and the most wonderful site at Horcajo de los Montes - Mirador de Cabaneros. 

The view from the restaurant

The site boasts a bar/restaurant, a swimming pool, excellent (and sparkly clean) facilities. We leave our Via Verde mission for a while and spend a few days here out exploring the area on our bikes

Much better facilities! Sparkly!!!

Along the Camino.....

The journey to Castrojeriz was eventful in as much as travelling along the roads we were buffeted by very strong gusty winds, we felt that the wind would get under van and blow us right off the road! The whole of Northern Spain was battered by storms and we wondered how one couple we met at Hora were getting on - they were sailing from Santander that day and had a large caravan - not a good day for towing or sailing across the Bay of Biscay. We hope they made it ok and weren't seasick!

The town of Castrojeriz is dominated by the massive remains of the medieval castle perched on the hilltop and the beautiful old churches which line the route through the town for the pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrim route from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in the North-west of Spain where tradition has it the remains of the Apostle James are buried. Over a quarter of a million people walk the route every year either as a tourist or as a religious pilgrim. My friend Bridget walked the Camino with her cousin a few years back, all 500 miles from the Pyrenees, it was quite an experience and a wonderful achievement, she is still in touch with some of the people they met along the way.

The campsite where we were staying is right on the Camino and has cabins and camping for the pilgrims, it also has a very good and reasonably priced restaurant which we sampled on two occasions during our stay. We like it there because it is a small family run site - Roberto, the son, speaks good English and checks all the campers in, waits on table and is general dogsbody, Mama works in the kitchen and makes delicious Paella or roast lamb and Gabriel the Dad sits about and tells everyone what to do! Whilst we were there pilgrims of many nationalities arrived to stay overnight including Russians, Americans, French and Japanese, we also met a couple who were there to administer first aid to the footsore travellers.

Another reason we like Camping Camino is for the wonderful roads in the area for cycling, over the few days we were there we ventured out to a few of the villages and towns in the area. The area is mainly flat grassland, wide open spaces mostly turned over to cereal crops or sunflowers, their faces once following the sun now dipped down as they die off ready for harvest. The few hills are all crowned with Wind Turbines and add interest to the flat landscape.

The villages are quiet and sleepy, few people to be seen and not many places to be found for a coffee and cake - our favourite stop enroute! Even the tiniest of villages has a massive church.

The roads are wide and smooth with very little traffic, we got the impression it is a very underpopulated area compared to south of England where we come from, a real joy to cycle around.

Having endured some rather low temperatures whilst staying at Castrojerez - the temperature dropped below 10*c and we even had to wear our cycling tights and gloves on our first day! So we planned our next stay on a campsite to the east of Madrid in a town called Arganda del rey, hoping for hotter weather and our next Via Verde cycle route.

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