Day 26. Wednesday 2 April.

Today’s road took us into the Parque National y Natural de Sierra Nevada, negotiating the digital-blue-spaghetti-screen line past the skiers & down the southern canyon side to the sea.

T chatted with a recently retired motor-cyclist (Dutch) out for a glorious ride who mentioned the solar & wind farms below…bringing far more income than agriculture & an indulgent lifestyle.

When T mentioned her surprise at how strong the religious traditions seemed to be, given this is 2025, his take was ‘the Spanish have nothing better to do but their fiestas’. Interesting take. There is definitely an air of leisure/not bothering/not-employed & crumbling urban stuff abounds – but we are not, of course, seeing the whole picture. T reflected on the story of power/ wealth/conquest & the Dutchman mentioned 2025 Putin/Ukraine….nothing has changed. 

Moving on in search of a coffee, eventually finding a bar in Torvizcon, a crumbling village & the only other customer (beer-time for this ex- Belgian) explained how the almond orchards planted on vertical land are worthless now since mechanical harvesting methods in USA & Australia mean that it’s not viable to farm almonds here (terrain can only be accessed by human labour) & villages have been deserted by young people. 

There are huge plastic enclosures throughout the mountains, presume that any piece of land remotely flat (or that can be flattened) is identified for vegetable growing…tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans….anything that appears on fruit-shop shelves.

Lunch break was in Orgiva at a halal cafe & although D was craving chips – spotted on nearby table, and not all eaten – the Shawarma or for T the vegetarian alternative was plenty. No beer either, not even non-alcoholic.

Excellent autovia & tunnels brought us down to sea level (Costa del Sol) & to Frigiliana (a small village behind Nerja). National roads are fantastic, so some folk are employed!

D had been in text contact with Lucia & advised of 1600 arrival…we got in at 1555 & waited. Around 1630 Lucia & husband Sebastian arrived to welcome us: Sebastian a little apologetic that Lucia doesn’t look at her screen constantly but it was a non-issue – we had time to relax after our long drive. 

While D unpacked the car all by himself (poor boy) an intensive language class followed (T on the receiving end this time) with T & L & S chatting about where the water comes from (rivers seem dry like central Oz) but there is plenty of local water, one dam supplying for domestic/urban & another for agriculture including the avocado orchard that they manage. One tree supplies their household & other young trees have been established by grafting from this. T asked about fresh herbs and the absence of them in markets & supermarkets. Lucia pointed out the fresh mint planted beside the driveway.

D has investigated where to assess the condition of rear passenger tyre injured in a too-sharp turn when leaving Guadix this morning, so presume that is first task tomorrow. (Confirmed). Sebastian has given a big tick to the local tyre place. But this situation is Italy redux, where the replacement of an injured tyre became a saga over about a week. We can only hope.

Aldi & an escalator(!) took us to essential re-supply of real milk. Tapas on the mirador, with seaview and a glass of something refreshing is hard to take!

Dinner. Chicken Surprise with mash (and some greens, no doubt).

Day 25. Tuesday 1 April.

Initial plan was to head into the Parque National y Natural de Sierra Nevada but were a bit spooked by the snow covered mountains on a cloudy (is it misty?) morning, so opted to head to Almeria on the coast instead, about 100 km (more if you take into account our wrestling with GPS instructions). Landscape changed from almond orchards to arid, orange hills & canyons as we came down from the plateau to coast level. 

Took a real plunge and entered an underground car park in central Almeria, wondering if there was some sort of different process. No, just like home: get a ticket, pay, get out. And there were lots of spaces!

Walked from port area, through old town until we found a coffee shop that appealed: again coffee good, but pastries not so. And 20 metres further on, a little patisserie that had very appealing offerings. Of course. Central Almeria: upmarket shopping streets.

Started a search for a charity shop, and struggled a bit with the map, (back, forward, left back, right, back) but lo and behold – there it was. Shut. But as we dejectedly trudged away T spotted a rather large second hand clothing store so spent several hours (according to D…but really it was half an hour) looking at rack after rack of ‘crushed seconds’ and then coming away with nothing….fabrics don’t appeal, being all synthetics, but interesting to browse.

Wandered back to port & came across the Alcazaba, the huge Moorish fortress overlooking the city, another amazing construction & below a vast newish Mediterranean terraced garden.  The fortress has obviously had a very serious makeover.

How about a waterfront  picnic?… but in  passing a little restaurant, T spotted some customers with grilled octopus. However, that choice or calamari wasn’t available for some reason, possibly related to it being well after 3 PM and closing time was imminent, but did have grilled fish (no chips!) with a couple of non-alcoholic beers.

Then a walk onto the beach – very Gold Coast but with coarse grey sand, no wave action & stiff breeze. (Almeria, with an airport, attracts many  Brits escaping for winter).

So home again to plan the Easter break & remove any stress around being ‘homeless’. Successful – we  have accommodation booked outside Tavira on the Algarve coastline in Portugal. Tavira hosts traditional Easter rituals but (we hope) without the crowds. We now have a roof somewhere until 21 April.

Dinner. Chicken stew…T has been surprised at the absence of fresh herbs, especially the daily chili, coriander & parsley…we now have a supply of dried & tonight’s pot has definitely got a fiery taste!

Day 24. Monday 31 March.

First thing, around 1000, drove into town to get D’s prescription sunglasses fixed (a lens had popped out). After a bit of shopping, two very good espressos and two not so good pastries, dropped into the Tourist Information. Spent some time with a very helpful lady who had very good English – she provided lots of advice, and chuckles – and explained the religious procession from yesterday. In the weeks leading up to Easter (or rather Palm Sunday), huge statues & floats are carried to key locations. What we saw yesterday would have been one such. She also described the processions that happen daily thru’ Semana Santa, starting Friday 11 April – Resurrection on 20 April & that the tradition is very strong in the south (Castille & Andalucia).

What’s a day touring without visiting a castle and a church? No castles here (well, maybe a little one), but an impressive cathedral and bell tower. Note the repair van parked at church steps

Marveled at the cathedral first, especially the sculpture of Mary holding a crucified Jesus, a copy of Michelangelo’s original (no, not David), which is preserved in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Every thirty minutes there is a 5 minute light display over the statue – also impressive.

Then it was the ascent of the bell tower: 154 narrow spiral steps up….and the same number down. A good aerobic work out. Great 360 degrees views over town, farmland and mesas stretching to the sierras. Very glad that the bells only ring for the Angelus at 1200.

And then, a visit to Aldi for some more supplies, mostly essential. T searching for Twinings tea…fail) with David racing to the checkout with a bottle of something that looks like Uisce beatha (staff waiting, rather breathless).

Going native, we retired to our cueva for siesta time, but instead of sitting around drinking beer or wine we started trying to put together a plan for the next few weeks – which cover Easter. That starts in earnest here on 11 April, so we don’t have much time. Managed to book a place at Ronda for four nights, but hit a brick wall west of there (Cadiz is very serious about Easter, hence so is accommodation). The research goes on.

Late afternoon, around beer time, T suggested a drive to check out the local scenery/geography/agriculture, so off we went. Our first primary destination was a bit of a fizz – just a suburb essentially, but we ventured on. We then drove through a range of landscapes: flat agriculture land, almond plantations  (on the high mesa)….then dropped down the plateau into a deep valley, pink & yellow desert canyons & cliffs before heading up again to view the same magnificent natural sculptures. Drove into Goroffe, a little village, that seemed to be the stop point for quite a lot of very tired cyclists we had passed in the last few kilometers. We had a couple of deep envy moments as we passed solo campervans that had secured spots overlooking the valleys, away from all civilization.  Views were again spectacular.

Dinner: Baked (if we can get the portable wall oven to work) or poached (if stovetop) trout with steamed vegies.

Tomorrow to the Sierra Nevada. So off to sleep very soon, under strict supervision.

Day 23. Sunday 30 March.

Sun came up a bit later today (start of daylight saving – we’re now on CET )…air very crisp.

Got ourselves packed for departure & as we left came across Maria (host- Sara’s mum-in-law) in the little street market. She told us to come back next year & there were fond farewells.

Today’s journey would be long….all of 100 km to the ‘cave town’ of Guadix, just east of Granada. 

Olives gave way to plains running up to snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Exquisite scenery. Then there seemed to be a mesa, with ochre cliffs dropping into a valley. Yes, we were in Guadix. A river has carved this wide valley, but there’s no sign of water.

Finding our cueva proved ‘interesting’. Digital maps various were no help, and house numbers equally un-useful as there was often no obvious sequence; fortunately D had a Whatsapp conversation happening with host, who sent directions, & after an hour we were at the right abode (we’d been so close all along, but numbers went from 30s to 70s, back to 100s and Doris the digital guide had us going north, west, south, left, right all simultaneously, with lines & dot markers dancing all over the screen). The kicker is that we did arrive pretty much at the right location the first time, but were told to go down a one way street, which we assumed was a wrong instruction (as it was!) – but that’s the one we are on. 

The cueva is just that…a cave with 3 bedrooms (room for Theo if he can make it) & living/kitchen spaces. And there are a couple of electric heaters, just in case. We’ll be cosy as.

After picnic lunch in the courtyard, a walk down into town was lovely, yellow/ochre colours against blue sky. Nothing was open (apart from taverns where folk sat chatting & drinking& eating in the sun…perfect Sunday arvo stuff.

The walk home, uphill presented a (pre-Easter) ritual?…45 men bearing a wooden structure, covered with canvas, slow shuffling to a command, some recorded music and a leader hitting the side of the structure. The carrier team had changeover points…presume it held (or will) a monstrance/statue of someone for an Easter ritual (still 3 weeks away).

Tapas in our courtyard completes the day. And then to learn how to operate the next induction stove top: so far, there has been no consistency across our bookings for which buttons to push.

Dinner: Sunday pasta (not a potato in sight, but there are some greens).

After dinner a stroll. Generally quiet, very cold. The wooden structure had made it into the church and although there was a lot of activity inside, we weren’t allowed in. Came across a young girl on a donkey – in and out of a doorway. We assume schooling rather than rehearsing a role for three weeks time! And we saw some cueva renovations, but there didn’t seem to have been much work for some time.

Day 22. Saturday 29 March.

Another brilliant sky morning in Zamoranos & 3 lovely phone calls ‘home’…so clear, could have been just over the hill! After brekky & coffee, & a load of washing…let’s go for a drive/walk…to the exquisite village of Zuheros & see what’s what. 

Saturday morning the day before a major mountain race event, that’s what (tomorrow 30 March) but we were in luck and snagged a car park – not like the motor home that had been blocked in, and was still so after we left! Some, sympathy, excepting the sign does say ‘passenger vehicles only’.

The village is in the national park Sierras Subbeticas (white houses & caves & bike/walking trails). We judged our level of competence, opting for an oldies ramble around the castle area rather than the mountain goat tracks & found a bustling terrace cafe looking directly over the valley & up at the castle. D asked if anyone spoke English – a young woman was pushed forward so D ordered dos cafes con leche, extra caliente  – she and the staff smiled, and that’s what we got, without the extra. Z is the ‘cyclamen town’…

Then up, up, up to the top view & a picnic lunch…

After lunch, ‘why don’t we just take the road on the noticeboard down to the big lake Iznajar’ (only 60 kms on narrow winding roads, but our little Peugot GT will love it, even if the passenger doesn’t). Plug in the name & away, winding through mountain roads. Yes, arrived at Iznajar late afternoon to find that the early birds of summer had arrived with fabulous campsites,  reminiscent of our alpine lake sites at home – fishing rods were out, kids preparing for some ‘jetty jumping’,umbrellas, camp chairs, wine glasses…The lake also has a sailing club & cafe/bars.

Return to home base via a goat track that had T saying she prefers ‘N’ roads…someone else had had Saturday tasks…

And our own Saturday tasks were complete. 

Tonight – Daylight Saving starts in Spain.

Dinner. Baked potatoes with Jamon and Brie, with a tuna salad.

Day 21. Friday 28 March

This week has reminded us that we are a long way from our family and loved ones. They are not, however, far away in our thoughts. We hope the love reaches you.

End of Week Three. An early start for us, with a drive of 70 km or so to Cordoba for the day. Pretty easy trip – traffic was light until we got to Cordoba. Having had a surfeit of roundabouts so far, there seemed to be few in the CBD, so when we missed our pre-booked parking it was quite a long turn around. Made it, checked in, but needed a new ticket, we presume because the system didn’t recognize the French number plates. But the attendant was very helpful. D pleased with himself (T very impressed) as it had worked.

Walked down to the Historico Centro, with first priority getting a coffee. Not so easy, so headed for the Mezquita, where, fortuitously there was a cafe just waiting for us! Shared a table with a gentleman of our age from Ireland, and a young couple from Turkey, and had some lovely chats. The gent from Ireland was an American draft dodger from the Vietnam War, and had, eventually, become an Irish citizen (D didn’t admit to his career). He became an artichoke farmer (Irish mists perfect for artichokes…T has been wondering about buying/cooking) and an environmental writer.

Wandered up to the Mezquita entrance, where T had her fortune told by a ‘special rosemary’ wielding seer. Apparently she is going to live a long life, is a grandmother, and will/has married a handsome stranger. Things turned sour when a paper note was asked for and T only had a few coins.

Entered the courtyard to the Mezquita to see a sign offering online login, so D hastily began booking entry and audio guides, at 1254, for an entry at 1300. Needless to say, the process was slow, but we made it through the checkpoint on time to find that the audio guides had to be picked up at a booth on the other side of the courtyard. D rushed over, picked them up and we were away.  And although entry is regulated, exit is not, so there was actually no pressure to rush.

We started listening to the audio guides and were somewhat bemused that the commentary didn’t match the numbers on the various significant points. It took about 10 minutes to realize that the numbers on those points weren’t the same as the ones on the audio guide pamphlet – duh! So, having got that sorted, we were away.

It is a magnificent structure – mosque built on church built on mosque (or some such progression). Over centuries, some parts were destroyed, taken over, modified but the essence has remained. We later heard of the tolerance between the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities, and this building perhaps demonstrated it somehow. In the end, the whole experience was overwhelming.

We took a walk across the Roman bridge, where we saw what we think was a rescue of a young boy who had jumped into the mud, but was rescued by a couple of teenagers.

But now we were whacked and ready to finish up. Then we noticed a Big Bus, ticket seller, so opted for the overview: two tours – one around the Historico Centro and the other more generally around the city, with some overlap. As we have found before, a good way to get an overview.

Stayed on the bus until we were able to get off close to our parking spot. T suggested some refreshments at the Mercado Victoria, which she’d spotted on the city tour. The Mercado seemed to be a bit of a location for what seemed to be hen and stag parties: it might get interesting later. We had a couple of non-alcoholic beers and our first tapas! Picked up some supplies at a nearby Dia and then tried to exit the car park, but the ticket machine wouldn’t recognize the card. After several attempts, a very kind gentleman came over and also tried unsuccessfully. When D said he had no Spanish, he pushed the button to the attendant, and after much discussion back and forth, the boom lifted. Muchas gracias, Senor. An easy drive back to ‘home’ before dusk.

The little Peugot has been great, and easy to drive as we’ve become more familiar with it. D is a bit bemused by the fuel consumption: the range increases the further we drive! It is a hybrid.

Dinner. Rump Steak Medallion substitutes: New York burgers with red onion, tomato and chili salsa, with fresh bread and extra virgin olive oil.

Day 20. Thursday 27 March.

A brilliant morning streaming through the bedroom windows…T decides on a walk through the olive groves and up the hill behind our house while D does the ‘screen homework’. With instructions sent from Craig, we’ll later try the espresso machine for a good coffee! (It worked – thanks Craig and successful random pressing of buttons).

Thinking of home with sad news of Leonne Grant’s passing and sending hugs to Fiona, Cam and the Grant clan. To us, she had always been a lovely, gracious lady.

Walked into the village and caught up with Maria on our way to the Museo Almandra. Although small, it was very well laid out, and the old equipment well renovated, but the descriptions were in Spanish so we had to guess. Part of the museum – about half actually, was dedicated to Manual Benitez Perez, the matador known as El Cordobes. In a bizarre way, that took D back to 1969 and the goings on at RMC, but that’s another story. And some interesting topiary on the way back.

After a slow afternoon we ventured out with Jose to visit some historic sites at Luque and then Zutheros. What did we find? At the first location, a church, a castle (no surprise there), a mural against domestic violence (these are common) and some Spanish men playing boule (a first).

At the second location, patient traffic (us), a photographic session of a young girl in her Confirmation dress (proud parents happy for us to also take photos), a lovely quiet village, and a view of some caves occupied centuries ago by the Muslims.

So, back home for dinner. D decided to detour via a nearby village, Fuentes Tojar, to try to find a supermarket to buy bread. No such luck, and we totally confused PeuDo by ignoring the inputted destination of ‘home’: she retaliated by rerouting us on some longer obscure route (13 km), but we’re aware of her tricks so simply retraced our route (3km). We think we’re beating AI.

Dinner. Vegetarian meets carnivore. This started out as a vegetarian meal: freshly cooked chick peas, sweet potato, potato, red onion, garlic, herbs & spices, tomatoes, spinach –  which was then topped by jamon.

Day 19. Wednesday 26 March.

We made it out of Callejon Pilar de la Imprenta unscathed for the last time. Peugot Doris (PeuDo) decided to take us on a circuitous route towards our first destination Martos, Cradle of the Olive Grove, where we found parking – a miracle – right alongside the walking track we planned to take, the via aciete. We followed the instructions in a booklet: there was, however, no map so it was a bit of a challenge. The stroll took us through olive groves towards a pomace factory, where we were promised views of 500 year old trees. We think we saw them, and have convinced ourselves we did, but are not really sure.

Back to town, to find we were too late for a cafe coffee as they had closed at 1230 and it was by now ‘beer o’clock’. But we picked up some sweet things from a Patisseria and got good coffees at a bar, for 2 Euros (less than 4 AUD). Take that for cost of living, Jim!

So, on to Zamoranos, our home for the next three nights. As we left Martos T noticed a sign pointing to the centuries old olive trees so we did a turn around to see if we could confirm our sightings. No. By now PeuDo had tried to unsuccessfully get us back on track a few times, so in a fit of pique she took us on some round about way to our destination, then refused to find our actual address. We switched to the phone, and after running us around in circles Doris eventually guided us there.

We had messaged back and forth with the owner, Sara, who lives in Majorca. Maria, her mother-in-law, met us to introduce us to the house, which was managed without her English or our Spanish, partly with the help of the translating device, partly by broken phrases, gestures and just common sense – and lots of laughs.

After 5PM we headed into Priego de Cordoba, about 10 km up the road, to get supplies. Mountain views spectacular! Had a wander around, noting the absence of fresh milk but T marveled at a bunch of spinach (no prizes for menus for next 3 nites), resisted the salted fish (a reminder of Scandinavia, but,  done with tomatoes, it’s a traditional stew here), 2kgs of enormous strawberries for 3.75 euros (pass, as we can’t consume quite that amount) then headed back with dinner (spicy marinated chicken bits) and a bit more, arriving just at dusk.  PeuDo again gave us the run around in Zamoranos, but we got there!

Day 18. Tuesday 25 March.

Last day in Jaen, and we did go back to Ubeda, the Renaissance city & purportedly the oldest city in Western Europe, with map and guide in hand this time. The first challenge (excluding negotiating the narrow streets to drive out) was finding parking when we arrived. We lucked in, the last spot, and were then able to applaud, along with her crew and a few others, a lady who managed to squeeze her car into a very tight spot opposite us.

We opted to select the Ruta de las Tres Culturas tour (there were five suggestions), of 13 sites, but that also gave us a good overall view, as we passed many others not on this list. We took a minimalist approach, using the guide and the excellent multilingual signage.

The one exception was joining a tour, only offered in Spanish, of the Synagogia del Agua. We were handed a book in English, so we’re able to appreciate the tour, the simplicity of design & decoration, notwithstanding we had no idea what was being said! Interesting to see Christian symbols, including the crucifixion.

A lot of this site is underground: T enquired about this and was told that this was because the Jews were obliged to build their edifices to be lower that the Muslim or Christian ones. No comment required.

We are now at the stage of having exhausted our ability to take hugely different photos! Ubeda is a beautiful & fascinating city that blends the stories of 3 big religious/cultural groups.

The afternoon sky looked ominous, but we were blessed and returned to Jaen high & dry, if a bit route-befuddled (so many roundabouts and the car GPS insists on us walking part of the way!)

Then there was a short walk to a recently discovered tourist information office where we picked up some stuff on Cordoba. And T asked again about the ritual happening each day at the church Sanctuario Camarin de Jesus. We were told that at this pre-Easter time, visiting & venerating the statue of Jesus is a routine thing (we’ve seen all ages & lined up in hundreds) & we were asked if this happened in Australia. No.

We’re now booked up a bit ahead: Zamoranos (accessible to Cordoba), Gaudix (cave house) and a bit later, Granada to do the Alhambra. There is a bit of a gap before the last two, but there is no particular pressure, so maybe T can relax!

Dinner. We had rather a big lunch in Ubeda – paella and chicken noodle soup (which had boiled egg and, we assume, chicken meat in it), both dishes shared, so dinner is home-made simple tapas (aka leftovers).

Day 17. Monday 24 March.

D headed out early to source (not in priority order) milk, wine, garlic, chili and cherry tomatoes. No luck with the vegies.Then it was time to check out some charity/second hand shop and a few other odds and ends. Nothing really to grab us (us?) but D found a new bag – the one he had was not meeting his needs, so he needed to upgrade.T was gobsmacked! But doesn’t feel threatened.

We enjoyed walking in the sun and T dropped into a few shops to see the springtime palette and fabric stores. Decided to go local for lunch in the sun on the apartment terrace (yep, we got stuck again with the siesta-closed timings trying to find a patisserie).

Struggled for a couple of hours trying to program a visit to the Alhambra, with ticket availability mostly not until May, but opted for a small guided tour on 9 April – not cheap, but it’s fully inclusive of the major sites.

So, where to live is the next challenge – and where to live/drive before we get there! All part of the adventure.

Around late afternoon we took off for a walk around 14 murals listed in a brochure T found in the apartment (in fact, there were more than the 14 listed). The stroll took us to an area close by, but which we hadn’t ventured into much, although it was past all those church queues mentioned in earlier posts.

The area had a cared-for feel – plants and decorations in most of the streets we passed through. Mind you, the parking was still chaotic! A gallery of the murals follows. Sky was clear, sun bright tho’ cold, but the feeling was so uplifting.

And a couple that weren’t in the brochure….

The weather forecast is good, so tomorrow we plan to go back to Ubeda, armed with maps and guides.

The day has finished with a pasta dish, a decent red & and an apartment booked in Granada. All good.