Adventures in Spain and France 2022 - mountains and towns

Into the mountains

Tuesday 

Drive a little way further along the coast to have a look what it is like then leave the Mediterranean sea and head inland into the mountains, to the Parc Natural dels Ports de Beseit. It’s an incredibly dramatic landscape, winding roads going higher and higher. Stop to take a look at and to photograph our surroundings and it’s certainly a few degrees colder even though we haven’t driven that far. Jeans and fluffy jacket come back out of the cupboard.

Carry on almost to the village of la Pobla de Benefassa which is built into the hillside. Drive down a track and find somewhere to park up for the night. Walk a little way into the mountains and see around 30 Griffon Vultures circling overhead. Further on see 2 Golden Eagles and what Geoff thinks is a Bonelli’s Eagle. What a place - it is so quiet and in a strange way the silence hurts your ears, which I find a little unnerving. 

La Pobla de Benifassa

 

Silent Site

Wednesday 

Spend the early morning in our amazing spot, listening and photographing amongst other things the rather elusive Blue Rock Thrush before carrying on our journey to Morella. Yet more really winding roads, with hairpin bends and small villages built into the rock. At one point we are travelling along at an altitude higher than the top of the Cairngorm mountain range, which feels quite strange. Arrive at Morella and park up for an explore of this beautiful town. It is built on the top of a cliff and, according to the information is regularly voted one of the prettiest villages in Spain. It is a medieval town but its history goes way back – not far away are cave paintings from 4,000 BC. It has very lovely streets and shops, a little museum which I go into for a look around and where I come across the Morella giants. They are enormous – around 5 meters high. These recent examples were ‘born’ in 1939 and represent the co-existence of Muslim and Christian religions and different cultures in the town. The giants take part in processions, celebrations and festivals and are pretty splendid. 

Morella Giants

We are peckish so decide to have our first meal out of the trip. We have been very happy with the meals we have had in the van so far as the food available in French and Spanish shops is excellent but we fancy something different. Decide on a small, family run cafe and after some time translating the menu I decide on prawns (I don’t eat meat but I quite like fish and there were no vegetarian options) and Geoff goes for sausage, egg and potatoes. When I go to the bar to order the lady tells me there are no prawns. When translating the menu earlier I had seen cod with pimentos so I thought I would go for that. Unfortunately in the fluster of the moment what I actually ordered was stewed beef and potatoes. So my first Spanish meal out comprised of ½ of Geoffs egg and potatoes! Never mind, it was tasty and I had a lovely cold beer to go with it. 

There are no campsites in this area and as we fancied showers and electricity we find a great hotel deal in a small village not far from Morella. The room is beautiful, shower fabulous and the hotel is in a very nicely restored 16th century building. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves, flicking through Spanish TV channels and even though we hardly understand a word that is being said we recognise the Spanish version of ‘First Dates’ and home makeover shows.

Thursday 

Although the night in the hotel was great, we are happy to get back into the van to carry on exploring. Stop at the village bread shop for home made, just out of the oven pizza, pastries and bread for breakfast and lunch. Drive slowly along, stopping every now and then for a look out, a walk or for food. We are travelling around an area known as the Maestrazgo and again, incredible landscapes - at one point we are at 1,700m, higher than the top of Ben Nevis. Stop to watch circling Griffon Vultures that are landing in trees near the side of the road. We get to the campsite we are heading for but they aren’t open until tomorrow as they only open Fridays and Saturdays at the moment. I’m guessing the visitor season hasn’t really taken off here yet so we find a nice spot in some woods to park up for the night. 

Friday 

It’s been the coldest night of the trip so far so sit in the van under the covers of the sleeping bag to write up my notes while Geoff goes for a mooch around. He returns and we sit inside with a coffee when I spot a Hoopoe feeding on the grass outside. It is brilliant and completely oblivious to us watching. We also see a wildcat on the prowl – it actually goes under the van and out the other side. Well, we think it’s a wildcat – it could possibly be a hybrid but fantastic all the same. 

Hoopoe photo taken by Geoff

Wildcat photo taken by Geoff

The temperature soon warms up as the sun rises and we return to the campsite as it’s now open. It’s a lovely spot in the mountains, with lots of space and very nice people running the site. I start to speak Spanish but the owner insists we use google translate, which she clearly uses a lot and it works brilliantly. I know I should practice my Spanish but we got the whole information sharing done a lot quicker than if we’d had to rely on me. I had noticed on their website that they are running a yoga/meditation retreat in June which would be right up my street but with my limited Spanish I think a google translate voice telling me to breathe in then out then go into downward facing dog would rather spoil the vibe for everyone else. 

To begin with, we are the only people on the site but later in the day a few Spanish vans/caravans arrive. In the caravan nearest to us there’s a couple and a boy who’s around 10 years old. They are playing Beatles tunes, including ‘come together’ which the boy keeps re-playing and singing along to. It’s lovely. For a number of years, Geoff played guitar at musical get-togethers with friends on a Friday night and ‘come together’ was one of the tunes they regularly played. Very sadly a key member of the get-togethers died then Covid came along so things changed, but this was a lovely bit of Friday night synchronicity. 

mountain campsite

Saturday 

We get chatting to an off duty Spanish police officer who is staying on the site with his family, as he interested in our van. After chatting to him and hearing snippets of conversation from the lad who sings ‘come together’ we realise we are close to a dinosaur theme park/attraction and the families on the site are taking the children to visit it. The area around here is apparently a prime archaeological site for dinosaur fossils. 

We leave the site and go into Teruel (most definitely the town of red rock) for provisions before heading out to an area around Ademuz that Geoff has visited before. We stop for lunch and a stroll around a very nice woodland spot. We then go along very windy roads and up a dirt track onto a plateau to a spot Geoff has recorded at twice before. I have heard a lot about this spot and it has become a bit mythical over the years in our minds so I am delighted to finally be here. It has been very warm so we go for a walk in the evening sun, but as soon as the sun goes the temperatures plummet and we head back to the van. 

Out on the plateau

Sunday 

Spend the morning out on plateau, walking, reading and photographing and it’s lovely. There’s no one else around – just the very occasional car going along the track. After lunch we decide to go back down to the woodland area we stopped at yesterday. It is the start of a walking route - the route of the Virgen de Santeron, who, after having a vision walked into the mountains to a hermitage. There are regular pilgrimages to the hermitage, following in her path. We are planning to stay here the night but there’s a bit of faffing as to whether this is going to be OK as cars keep going backwards and forwards and at one point we are surrounded by a lot of sheep and 2 shepherds, but we do stay and it’s very quiet. 

Love how specific the signposts are in telling you how long the walk will take 

Monday  

Geoff gets up early to record what is about and to also photograph 6 beautiful red squirrels playing around on a tree just in front of us. 

Red Squirrel photo by Geoff

Leave the area and drive up out of the village along a road lined with rosemary buses. Stop to take a photo and there is a little information board giving details about the growing and use of rosemary that has been taking place for many years in the village and there is a also a large, communal rosemary drier/crusher for all the villagers to use. 

We have decided to make a little detour from our original plan so we can visit the medieval city of Cuenca. It is known for its location and ‘hanging houses’ which are built into the rock and have balconies that hang over the river gorge. 

We get provisions and make our way to a campsite not far from the city as we plan to visit it tomorrow. It’s not a bad site – fairly big but quiet at the moment with a nice atmosphere but sadly the swimming pool is closed and is only being used by frogs, as I rather fancied swim. We are the only UK van on the site, in amongst Spanish, Dutch, German, Swiss and Italian visitors. I feel very european and that I am a part of europe which makes me happy. 

Tuesday 

Leave for Cuenca fairly early as the weather is very warm and we want to get to the city before things really heat up. Find a place to park by the river that runs through the city and walk in along the river - it’s a lovely walk. After a while the route starts to climb and we follow steep paths up into the old city. It’s quite spectacular - there’s a cathedral, castles, a convent, towers, churches and incredible views. At the top we find a cafe for limonada followed by a strong coffee to fortify ourselves to make the descent back to the van. 

Cuenca hanging houses

                                                                                     

The rocks have eyes

Wednesday 

We have been thinking of moving on today but Geoff has work to catch up on and it’s rather hot so decide to stay put, taking advantage of the shade of the trees we are parked under. We do go into Cuenca after lunch though to get provisions and top up with fuel for the next few days so we can carry on our travels tomorrow without having to bother sort out either. Go to a large, air conditioned supermarket where we get food, wine, marvel at the fish counter and Geoff also gets a nice T-shirt. 

Think I'll stick to cheese

Thursday 

Leave the site, for the Ciudad Encantada – Enchanted city. It is an area with amazing rock formations and the rocks have been given names for things they resemble. It was really good and a bigger area to walk around than we had imagined. There were a few people there, mainly taking selfies by the rocks but we just photographed the rocks themselves without our faces spoiling the view. 

La carra del hombre (the man's face)

Los Osos (the bears)

After the enchanted city we slowly make our way to through the Serrania de Cuenca. Eventually find a place to park for the night beside a stream. Go for an evening walk along the track and as I look down I see an incredible insect making its way along the track. It is quite odd, like nothing I have seen before. I call Geoff over for a look and he’s sure it’s a newly hatched Spanish moon moth. A few days earlier we had discussed what we might see in this area and the Spanish moon moth came up in conversation. I’d said I would love to see it – not just because it’s beautiful but it also has the most wonderful name, however it is very rare and the chances of us seeing one were very slight. But - there it was – I was rather excited and also chuffed because it was me that spotted it! As Geoff takes photos it seems to follow him and almost crawls onto his boot. Go back to the van and fall asleep to the sounds of midwife toads. 

Spanish moon moth - newly hatched. If you google it you'll see how fabulous it is when its fully emerged.

Friday 

Early the next morning we go back to where we had seen the moth, just in case it was hanging around but it wasn’t - we weren’t really that surprised though. Drive along some beautiful mountain roads, through very small villages including one where a black cat darts across the road in front of us (it’s Friday 13th) then come across a small village which has been given the name of the small ciudad encantada because of the very splendid red rocks in and surrounding the village . 

Carry on and stop by a river for a late lunch. After a while decide to find somewhere to park for the night and Geoff fancies trying out a track he is aware of. The track is very, very rough and I’m concerned about punctures, the fact we have no mobile signal should we get a puncture and rain is forecast so we turn around and find somewhere along the river. It’s nice though and the next morning Geoff finds some beautiful Golden Oriole feathers in the woods.

Saturday 

Leave for our next destination – the town of Albarracin. Along the route we see at least 4 eagles above us and as there’s a road signposted off to a skiing area we decide to follow it to see if we can get a better look at them. In the winter, cross country skiing takes place here so it’s a good road to the top of the mountain, but sadly no eagles to be seen when we get out for an explore. We carry on across yet more incredible landscapes until we arrive at Albarracin. We are rather surprised at the number of visitors when we arrive – lots of coaches and cars and people, but it is a weekend and it is an amazing place – another beautiful town built into the hillside and it was once the capital of a Moorish kingdom so it has a mix of Islamic and medieval influences. Go straight to the campsite which is also busy but we find a quiet spot. In addition to people our age and families, there are also lots of young people carrying large mats. It seems that the area is good for rock climbing, in particular bouldering and hence the mats. 

A shop for all your bouldering needs

Decide to have a meal out in the campsite restaurant, which looks good. We were going to walk into Albarraccin for a meal but decide to give the campsite restaurant a go and are pleased we did. Managed to get the menu translation right this time and have a delicious meal of huge prawns in a herby/salty oil and patatas bravas - cubed potatoes in a lovely, slightly spicy sauce. It was a feast. 

Sunday  

Walk from the campsite and into Albarracin. It’s really lovely, very narrow streets opening out onto a square and a cathedral plus ruins of castle walls going up the hill side. By early afternoon it’s getting hot and busy so we slowly make our way back. 

We are leaving this area tomorrow to head northwards to an area known as the ‘steppe’. It’s a hot, arid area with very few trees but interesting landscapes and wildlife. We are excited, but slightly apprehensive as the temperatures are forecast to rise to well over 30 degrees and that could become rather challenging in a van when there’s no shade. In my next instalment I’ll let you know how we get on!