Into Andulucia
Waking up Sunday morning on the Coast north of Almerias, we finally had some spectacular weather, and it looked like it was the last for a long time. Well, to be honest, the weather forecast cannot figure out what is going to happen at the moment, it'll say blazing sun, then pour with rain and visa-versa. Anyway, we had woken up at a lovely little beach area and spent the morning here before a lot of deliberating about how the next week or two should play out.
Eventually we came to the decision that it was probably best we have a chilled morning and then head off around midday for a long drive across the Sierra Nevadas toward Granada. So we set off around midday, stopping about 1 hour in for a quick lunch. We continued south west and then turned up into the more mountainous terrain toward the Sierra Nevada mountains.
As the road rose ever higher up through the foothills, it became more twisty and windy until eventually about 3 hours in we found ourselves climbing up a particularly steep mountain side toward Capileira. We had considered stopping here and hiking but the weather was forecast to get terrible up here the next day and we wouldn't have gotten any hikes in safely. However, we did get a good half hour to walk around this little mountain village. The main reason (other than potential hiking) that we had detoured off the main road to Capileira, was the J.Brown Leather Workshop as recommended by our trusty Lonely Planet guide! Here Ellen bought herself a new handbag and replaced her handbag/rucksack that she'd been using for many many years. I also bought a second wallet for all the coins we need for laundry and van washes etc and even got another bracelet thing thrown in for free. (I can't help myself). Walking back to the van we called into Abuela ili Chocolate, a local artisanal chocolatier for some goodies for the road too.
Heading out from Capeleira, we decide it was probably time to look at booking Alhambra tickets for the following day...
"Oh my sweet summer child" - I now say upon reflection. We really should have thought about this, the Alhambra even in a very wet and windy March, is fully booked 8 weeks out. Yes, 8 weeks. So, time to rethink.
Do we turn back to the coast for a day? Or, do we find somewhere south of Granada and try get some tickets in the midnight rush?
We chose the latter and soon found that getting Alhambra tickets was harder than getting tickets for the Oasis reunion tour. For the record, I can't stand Oasis, the Alhambra would have obviously been far preferable, but then I guess so would sticking knitting needles in my ears so take from that what you will...
What was I talking about? Ah yes Granada!
So effectively the next morning we had barely slept and were a bit down about the weather, plans having to change and generally worn down a bit from long drives and trying to get a lot in with the Schengen time we have. (Don't mention the "B" word...) Eventually we decided we would get fuel and then head up into the hills north of Granada for a slow day. I've probably said this before and will probably say this again when we fall into this trap again. But, building in "weekends" or at least a day to relax and do nothing, is so important when travelling like this. There's no real sense of what day of the week it is, which is very freeing, but at the same time you can get so caught up in doing things and not wasting time that you don't think of weekends or days off the same. Burning out is very real. Also, we're nearing the month and a half point now and if you were to ask others doing similar, they'd probably agree that this is the "hump" point.
So, weather sucked, but the place we found had a spectacular view and we could stay here all afternoon and just do nothing productive. Ellen went for a couple of hours walk when the sun came out and managed to get back just as the rain started to come down again. The next morning was also a slow one deliberately. Breakfast in bed and we probably didnt get up until 11am. Bliss.
Refreshed, we hit the road again toward Cordoba. Crossing into the Sierra Subbèticas we took a brief detour to the quaint little "white town" of Zuheros with its steep, narrow streets, waterfalls and castle on a rocky outcrop overlooking the mountain valley. In true Spain-in-March style, we arrived in the sun and half an hour later it was pouring with rain again and we were not dressed for it! A quick selfie at their selfie stand and we gunned it down to Noodle who was parked down by the waterfall bridge.
We pressed on further and eventually made it to Cordoba. First stop as the sun started to peek out again, was a park up in the north west so Ellen could do some bits on her laptop and I could walk to El Corte Ingles to buy a Drone. Yes, I apologise, there will be aerial shots included from this point forward! We then set off up to a great little park-up north of the city in a small overlook next to a hermitage and looking across a valley to another smaller hermitage.
We spent a blissfully quiet night here and woke early ready to head to a motorhome parking area west of the city from where we could head into the city by bus. We made it into Cordoba for midday and were immediately blown away by how beautiful this city is!
Flowers line the narrow streets of the Jewish quarter, yes there's a lot of touristy shops that you have to avoid and many of the bars are very much tourist hotspots. We found this to -our cost at what actually on the face of it seemed a pretty decent establishment. None of the red flags: No pics of food, no-one trying to get you in the door, no loud Americans. But, unfortunately the food was lacking a fair bit. Shame, but never mind.
We had tried to get tickets for the Mesquita, the Moorish mosque turned cathedral, online but similar to the Alhambra it was all booked online, though admittedly only a week in advance this time. We decided to go anyway as the orange garden in the former mosque wash courtyard is open to the public for free and the sky was finally clear blue and the temperatures were finally reaching 20°C+ at long last! Wandering through the orange trees, we thought we'd try the ticket booths anyway, people were clearly queueing and getting served still. We tried the automated machine and we were in luck! there were still tickets available at the gate! This obviously left us wondering if the Alhambra could have been the same. But, we've heard from many that this is very much pot luck for that location.
Tickets bought, our entry was still half an hour away, so we took a wander round the outside of the Mesquita and then up onto the Roman bridge that crosses the river Guadalquivir (Used as the set of the bridge of Volantis in Game of Thrones). You can see from the photos how much rain there has been lately by just how high and fast this river was flowing. There are normally little islands and spits of land all around, but it was now a torrent of muddy water and debris. An old water mill was stranded by the high waters and on it were also stranded a number of stray cats, a bag of dry food had been thrown over to them by some caring local.
On our wander we also couldn't help ourselves but buy some little tiles for above our bathroom door in the van. Yeah sure, Tourist tatt but its a bit of fun!
Then into the Mesquita!
The first thing that hits you as you enter the Mesquita of Cordoba is how calm and peaceful it is, despite the numbers of people. Then, the sheer scale... the arches of the old mosque disappear in each direction from where you enter. A ceiling candelabra hangs in the middle of each squared dome formed by the arches on four sides. The Catholics have turned the outer archways into chapels by walling up arches on either side and in the very centre of the building, the church was built in a more traditional catholic style, sticking out in the very middle of this sea of arches. We have to admit we were more interested in the Moorish areas than the church. Though this may have been due to having been around so much catholic iconography since entering Spain. So, the change in architectural styles and the juxtaposition of the two was more interesting to us at this point.
We spent a good hour and a half wandering around the Mesquita looking at the dubious artworks and treasures horded here before moving on back into the blazing sun of the courtyard garden.
We wandered for a bit to decide what to do. We ended up in the tourist office where we picked up a map and found a bar to sit and have a look. We really should have planned a bit better, but we sort of enjoy arriving in a new place and figuring it out there and then. Though of course as with the Alhambra, this can sometimes backfire.
This time however, the only issue we had was asking the waiter upon arrival at the bar for "dos para beber por favor" which, given the number of tourists here, must have been misunderstood to be a stereotypically British inattempt at Spanish - "dos beers por favor". Ellen doesn't like beer, but here we were waiting for a menu at our table and he turns up with two halves of Estrella! There are worse issues to face though I guess!
We formulated a bit of a plan over our halves, well... Ellen over a quarter and me over one and a half!
First up we headed off from the bar and to have a look down some of the streets with blue pots all along the walls, it just looked like the rest of the old city streets in all honesty, so I'd just say "visit the old city" rather than remember a specific street name. Next was a quick ice cream stop, because it was 21° and I wanted to feel like it was summer!
Then, onto the Alcazar of the Christian Kings. A former residence of Ferdinand I and Isabel II after the defeat of the Moors. The main courtyard inside the walls is now a ruin with evidence of stone structures within but the main spectacles that remain are the hall of mosaics, the towers and the main event is the gardens. The mosaics on display here are pretty impressive, including one with the head of the Medusa in the centre. Unfortunately only one of the towers was open this time of year and we had to compete with a number of French (or maybe French-Canadian) school groups. But the views from the top were as impressive as to be expected looking out across this beautiful city. As for the gardens, the main pools with fountains were drained for maintenance, but the majority of it was otherwise in full swing and fantastic to walk around and up into the orange tree courtyard.
The Alcazar thoroughly explored, we headed out and back toward the "city gate" the archway that leads out to the Roman bridge. We found a bar here for a drink in the remaining sun and were reminded of how the Spanish have their Gin and Tonics... about half and half and they free pour the gin in front of you at the table... needless to say, Ellen's beer earlier was made up for by her gin here! This was probably a sign of things and the next morning to come...
We decided that we would do a couple of bars with tapas before heading for dinner at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, which of course this being Spain and a good, less touristy place, it didn't open until 8pm...
Thats a cultural difference we are truly struggling to get to grips with in all honesty. Anyway, we headed to another bar and grabbed some tapas. The patatas bravas ranking maybe one or two positions higher on the list that the poor performance at lunch and a Spanish measure gin for me and a bottle of water for Ellen. By this point it had reached 8pm, our restraint was open and we were a little tipsy (which shall shortly become relevant). We arrived and thankfully they had space for us without reservation. But we were English speaking and here near opening... they stuck us in the empty back room of course.
Never mind, we ordered some food and drink, but of course being tipsy as we were, we didn't really think about the fact we weren't asking for 2 glasses of wine, but a bottle with 2 glasses. Well... we have to say, people did start to join us in the back room, first a family of typically loud Americans not long after us, then groups of locals from around 9:30 onward. (Again, this is so weird to us Brits, I should be in bed by 10pm!)
The food was great here as expected, though veg really isn't big on the menu when you order a main here it would seem. A huge steak each, half a potato and three Padrons each. Bloody lovely though! Less can be said about that bottle of wine though, bit rough or "unfinished" and resulted in a hell of a hangover the next morning!
So, needless to say, the next morning was a very slow start followed by a not too long drive south toward a lake park up near(ish) Ronda. With a quick supermarket stop for supplies, a meeting and a nap, we eventually arrived at this park up.
The road in was a bit fraught, a rough track and where we wanted to park was a bit muddy from all the rain (have I mentioned all the rain we've had?!) which gave us pause for thought. But, it was nice enough, we were shattered and we just settled in for the night after a bit of playing with the drone.
That night, it poured! A yellow weather warning was in effect and this was why. Wild winds and rains all night but then glorious sunshine in the morning. I took the opportunity to get some good drone shots in in the clear skies and then we set off just before midday, hoping that the sun had dried out the swamp of clay and mud we now found ourselves in.
It hadn't.
A very tense few minutes followed. Ellen took the chocks out and had to tap out a swarm of earwigs from each one! That was just the start, chocks away and I told Ellen to get in so I could turn us around and get us out. Now, as I said, it hadn't dried out and now we were about to find out how bad the surface really was. I put the van in "slippery surface mode" and started the three/four point maneavoure to get us free. But one way or another we would have a moment where the wheels would slip and the panic started to grow. Brave face, don't give away that you're not sure if you're getting out of here!
We did get facing the right direction ok, but then I moved us forward toward the decline onto the more rocky track. As I did, we felt the rear wheels start to slip to the right... toward the lake! Slowly, with alot of counter steer we moved forward, both instinctively leaning to the left as if that would make any difference to the 3.5 tonne of steel, wood and water leaning precariously toward the lake.
I'm glad to report that we did eventually make it free and back onto the track. But traversing the off road tracks half washed away, we did have to both stop and take 5 to let our heart rates drop.
I mean, I wasn't worried at all...
Honest!
The rest of the day, the wind didn't really die down but we did get a few respites in the rain at last and so headed off (flinging mud everywhere) toward the Nature reserve at Laguna de fuente de Piedra, the largest natural lake in Andulucìa, about half an hour north.
We spent that morning trying to clean out the mud from Ellen's shoes and I put up the toilet tiles we had bought in Cordoba. Then onto the visitor centre for lunch and then a walk around some of the nature reserve where I got to see my first Flamingoes in the wild! Oh and a great many other new species for Ellen, that I honestly could not tell you what they were. Nonetheless, well worth a trip if you are into that sort of thing as we are.
The next stop was a park up near Ronda, We also needed fuel and to wash all the mud off from the morning's fiasco. But as we neared Ronda, the heavens opened with a vengeance and did the latter job for us! Swings and roundabouts I guess.
We did refuel though and had to feel sorry for the Czech couple on the KTM 1250 adventure bike who had pulled in to escape it. Though I can't say I felt too sorry for the lady on the pillion who had to put some waterproofs on over her bare jeans!
That evening we parked at a lovely spot on top of a hill overlooking Ronda and the valley below and got ready for another stormy night and what turned out to be a very changeable day in Ronda itself.
