Last Day in Gaucin

We are getting ready to leave Gaucin. Tomorrow morning we are heading for Marbella on the Costa del Sol. It's only 85K from here, 1 1/2 hours by road.  Marbella is a fairly major tourist area. It will be interesting to compare it with other places we have visited.

This past weekend in Gaucin has been quite interesting.  Gaucin hosted "La Gran Vuelta de la Valle Genal"   or  loosely translated "the big tour of the Genal Valley"   It is a 132k run though 15 communities in the valley. It can be done solo or as a team of 3 event.  Also there was a the short run event... only 50K !!!?

The event essentially took over the town. The main entrance to town, shown in the first photo, was completely closed to traffic for the best part of two days.  The start for individual runners was at 6 am. Teams started a couple of hour later. In order to finish, all runners had to be in by 1 pm today.   Most must made it much before the deadline because the finish line was torn down by then. 

The fish line on road into town

First finisher in the 50K event.

Busy afternoon in one of the plazas

 We spend part of the day getting organized for our exit but we managed to get in some good walking.  We didn't quite make it to 50K, but pretty close!

Sunset on the terraza

 This afternoon we went to El Ático, a restaurant in Gaucin. The owners had been on holidays so this was the first opportunity that we had to go, although we had seen the menu and location on our exploration of town.  By far this was our best restaurant experience in Gaucin!   The location is fabulous. It is located on a hill looking toward the coast.

The food was superb! Linda and I each had a starter. I had a wonderful bowl of the soup of the day. Linda had the spiced black bean quesadillas. Then we shared the main course, salmon and vegetables.  Wonderfully prepared.  We finished off with a couple of decadent deserts and coffee.  Great wine, great service. Our only regret is that we didn't discover it until the day before we are leaving. Thanks Lisa, for a great experience. See you next year!

The view from our table at El Ático.

 After dinner we went for long walk around town and up to the castle.  As you can see in the photo below, the oranges are almost ripe. Another reason to stay longer.

I just want to say how much we enjoyed our stay here in this little pueblo.   The house we rented, Casa Muñeca,  is great. It worked very well for us. It is a small two bedroom house in the upper part of town. Even though the house is small, it works very well. That is to say, that the layout of the house makes it seem larger than it is.  The main living area is open and bright. The outdoor patio is wonderful and the kitchen has all you need.  We would highly recommend it. It can be found on several accommodation listings including AirBnB, VRBO, etc.






 

I'm getting a bit behind on my blog updates. It has been almost a week since I made the last entry. Nothing too exciting to report. We are just relaxing and enjoying our time here.in España. 

We have been busy, despite some less than sunny weather. Really, it only rain one day in the last week but it has been foggy in the mornings and partly sunny in the afternoons. Still pretty nice temperature for outside activities.  14 or 15c in the mornings, 21to 23 in the afternoon.  We have been doing a lot of walking and we did another hike from Gaucin one morning this week. There are several trails to explore, that leave the village in various direction thought the surrounding hills.

One of the many public water supplies.

Camino de las piedras... trail of stones

 Here are a couple of photos of the local flora.  Succulents abound as well as some interesting evergreen varieties. The one below (left) looks like a cedar if some type.

On one of the cloudy days we noticed that it looked quite a bit brighter at the coast.  So we jumped on the bike to find out.  It is only short ride to the coast and when we arrived it was sunny and very pleasant.  Although it is quite touristy, there are not many people and it is nice to walk along the almost deserted beach.

Actually, we had been waiting for the weather to improve so that we could go back to Olvera to do some more bicycling. The weather picked up so on Wednesday we rode back to Olvera, with a stop for lunch in Grazalema, a small mountain town.  I am starting to get more used to riding on the narrow mountain roads.  Many of the roads are not much wider than my driveway and most of the time you can't see around the  corners.  Needless to say... you don't make good time.  You hardly get above 3rd. gear. But is an interesting and challenging ride.

Grazalema ..  The adventure capital of the park

A public water supply. In regular use before water was piped to the houses,

We stayed at the same B andB in Olvera as we did on our first trip there.  " Calle Maestro Amado  31". Once again we had a wonderful stay with Peter and Sherri.  On Thursday we rented a couple of bikes and rode 44K, out and back on the Via Verde de la Sierra.    It was an easy ride down hill to Coripe for lunch but it was bit more effort on the way back. Even though it is a rail grade, there are a few steeper sections. Also, we were against the wind. The temperature climbed back to 27c on Wednesday afternoon so it was quite a sweaty ride as well.   Fortunately there is a great bar / restaurant at the Ovlera station. The beer tasted particularly good.

Peter and Sherri offered to pick us up at the Olvera station on our return. This was a generous offer that we couldn't refuse, since is a 2+ K walk back uphill to their place. When we arrived back at the B&B they offered us some wine and tapas. We sat in the lounge and chatted for quite some time.  It was interesting how our lives were entwined.

We really like Olvera. I think I mentioned this before.  Olvera feels authentic. The number of Brits in Gaucin is a little overwhelming!   The fact that Olvera is located in a great location to travel easily in any direction, is an asset. Also there is great biking, road or mountain. 

We found a place for next year. We put a deposit on a 2 bedroom, 3 level house with 2 outdoor patios and a fabulous 270 degree view of the country side.  It is located near the top of the hill so it is good exercise walking into town but road access is quite easy.

We will be saying adios to Gaucin on Monday.  We have a place rented for the week in Valencia and we have 9 days to travel the 850K from Gaucin to Valencia.   We plan to travel along the Mediterranean coast for this part of the trip.  The next stop is only 85K down the road, Marbella for 2 nights, then Nerja for 2 nights.  From Nerja we don't have a definite plan.  

Hope everyone in Canada is doing well...

A Hike from Gaucin to El Colmenar

After seeing a couple of route signs and doing some research we discovered that a portion of one leg of the Gran Senda de la Serranía de Ronda (Great Track of the mountains of the Ronda region) connects Gaucin to the village of El Colmenar.   The Gran Senda de la Serranía de Ronda is 6 day hike out of Ronda, returning to Ronda. Each leg is between 18 and 25 kilometres.

Today we hiked he trail from Gaucine to Colmenar. The sign post says that it is 8.5K.  The single track trail is generally well marked, although we managed to loose the trail for a while as we approached Colmenar.  Since Gaucin is located quite high in the hills and Colmenar is located in the next valley bottom, most of the trail, in this direction, is down hill.  There is a 200 metre climb leaving Gaucin, part way up the northern slope of El Hacho but once you reach the ridge line it is clear sailing. The track is well worn at the Gaucin end but less so at the El Colmenar end.  From the time we left the house until we arrived in El Colmenar we had covered 10K exactly.

Looking back at Gaucin from the ridge line.

The path passes through a few farms.

These are cork trees after a harvest.

Our destination El Colmenar

Another photo of our destination

 Once we reached El Colmenar we found our way to the centre of town. There is a railway station  in town. Across from the railway station there is a bar / restaurant. Here we stopped for a beer and a bite to eat.  We had not made any plans for our return trip to Gaucin. We hoped that we could find a cab but after talking to bar owner and a few of the clients, we discovered that finding a cab was not an option. They told us to relax have another beer, somebody will come by that is going to Gaucin. You can catch a ride with them.

So we had a couple of beer and enjoyed some tapas...  some really good "berenjenas fritas", eggplant fries with a balsamic reduction sauce.   One fellow, an Englishman who worked in Gibralter offered to drive up to the top of the hill, if we couldn't find a ride with anyone else. As the afternoon wore on, the beer flowed and the clientele at the bar became progressively louder. The fellow who had offered us a ride was sitting with others and we noticed that they were finishing off their 4th bottle of wine.   Linda and I started to get a little worried, but it all worked out OK.  It all worked out in the end. Three people on a road trip to Ronda had taken the wrong road and ended up in El Colmenar. They stopped at the restaurant for refreshments.  Linda spoke to them and they gave us a ride back up to the edge of Gaucin.

By the time we got back to the house we had walked 13.2K  23,587 steps and climbed the equivalent of 54 flights of stairs. (according to my iPhone)

We passed this field of Llamas on the way back into Gaucin.

Estepona and Carares

Just a quick update. We spent the last two days walking and exploring the closest major beach town (Estepona) and a spectacularly positioned white village (Casares) located at a high point in between Gaucin and Estepona.  Both are quite popular tourist areas.  Estepona because of the beaches and restaurants and Casares because it is only 14K from Estepona.

 The photo above is dedicated to our friends Carmen and Christa. If you sold the Bluebelle Christa you could buy this place. One short block from the beach.  

In front of this restaurant was parked an interesting car. One that I had never seen.   

Know what kind of car this is?

 It is a Smart Roadster.  Introduced in 2003 and sold until 2005. Production was halted partly due to warranty costs that exceeded E3000 per vehicle.   Cute but unreliable??? 

 Some of the delightful features of these Spanish towns are the small plazas, interesting architecture, lots of plants, car free streets, nice cafes and restaurants as well as a laid back afternoon atmosphere.

       These villages are literally built into the hill sides.
        These are a couple of hots from Casares. 




  The weather is starting to change now.  It is cooler in the evening and mornings and there is more cloud around.  At 11 am it is 19C with sun filtered through high cloud.  The forecast is for a high temp of 23C and possible thundershowers this afternoon.  Still nice to be out and about. 

Biking in Olvera

So... another holiday within a holiday on which to report!

Before coming to Spain I had investigated the bicycling opportunities. In Andalucia, there are lots of bicycling opportunities.  There is a huge network of back roads, all of which are paved (with very little traffic), that offer endless opportunities to explore the villages and countryside.

For a starter I thought it might be best to start with a ride on one of the Via Verde (Green Way, rails to trails) Pathways.  The one located fairly close to us is called the "Via Verde de la Sierra". It is a 40 K section of abandon railway line that runs between the towns of Olvera and Puerto Serrano.   The terrain between these two towns is anything but flat.  Within the the 40K route there are 18 tunnels of varying length. The longest being almost 1 kilometre in length.

( A note about the spelling of Andalucia or Andalusia. You see it spelled both ways. Spelled with a C is the Spanish spelling, with an S is the English spelling.  There is an accent over the i in the Spanish spelling that places the pronunciation accent on the last syllable. If you want to get the pronunciation just right, you can add the lisp, when pronouncing the last syllable. )

We found and booked a B&B in Olvera on AirBnB, simply named "Number 31"  ( Calle Maestro Amado ). Peter and Sherri, the owners, are Canadian but have lived and worked overseas for many years. Peter told me that he was born in Winnipeg, but only lived there 6 months and that he had been travelling ever since.  They have a lovely renovated house in the historic area of town. We had a beautiful room overlooking the street and enjoyed meeting Peter and Sherri.

It is always an interesting experience driving into these small towns and locating an address.  The roads were designed for donkeys, not cars. They are narrow and donkeys can climb just about any hill, so the pitch of the incline was not a consideration during the construction.  We had to stop a few times coming into the old town. One 180 degree, tight uphill turn on cobblestones was particularly challenging.  I had to stop, on the outside of the turn, about 1/2 way round corner, to see if anyone was coming the other way.  The B&B was located on a very steep hill. We stopped at the top of the hill,  looking down and considering the options.  Luckily, just to the right at the top of the hill was a double archway opening that entered into a small plaza.  We lucked in and found a motorcycle parking area in the plaza.We parked, walked down to "No 31" and were happily greeted by Peter and Sherri.

Olvera is not a tourist town. It might want to be one, but isn't yet. It is working town located in the middle of one of the main olive growing areas. 

I had made arrangements to rent a couple of bikes but Peter told me of a neighbour that had a bike rental business. I asked him to arrange a meeting and shortly after getting settled we met Geoff, a Scotsman living part time in Spain. Geoff showed us his stable of bikes and explained the options.  His bikes looked good and he offered to take us to the beginning of the trail and pick us up the end of the ride.  We made arrangements to meet at 10am the next morning. 

We had a great day. Geoff was so accommodating. After getting us on our way he drove ahead to a point where a road met the trail. He was waiting for at about the 7K mark just to make sure that all was going well and to see if the bike needed any adjustments. He then drove to Puerto Serrano and rode back along the trail to meet us.  If you are thinking about a cycling trip to Spain,  I would highly recommend that you check out Geoff's website:  www.cyclingandalucia.com   email:  info@cyclinandalucia.com

The trail was exactly what we were looking for. We rode the trail in the downhill direction but it is an easy ride in either direction.  The surface is about 30% paved and 70% packed gravel.  There are several stops for picnics  along the way. At roughly the 1/2 way point there is a town (Coripe) and the old station has been renovated with a nice restaurant, bathrooms and a few rentals rooms.  We stopped there for lunch.

When we started, at around 10:30 am, the temperature was only 15C. It was sunny but we needed jackets to begin with. By lunch time the temperature was into the low 20s. A great temperature for riding. Light winds and blue skies. Being a Saturday, there were quite few groups and families on the trail but it wasn't crowded by any means.

As I mentioned the trail runs through some hilly, occasionally mountainous terrain. This was not an easy rail line to build. In the 40K there are 20 tunnels, of which 2 have been closed and bypassed. As well, there are a number of bridges.  The trail passes at the base of a mountain called Penon de Zaframgon.  It is the home and breeding grounds of Griffon Vultures. These vulture are said to have a wingspan of over 2 metres. A great number of them were circling over the peak when we rode by.

Here are  few photos of the trail and surrounding area.

One of the moderately long tunnels

They make great coffee here. 2 Cafe Americanos. Often served in glasses like this. 

After finishing the ride we stopped for a beer  at the old Puerto Serrano station and Geoff drove us back to Olvera.  After getting cleaned up we Geoff took us up to a cafe hidden behind the cathedral. (one that we never would have found)  There we had a couple of glasses of wine and some delicious desserts while watching the sunset.  That was dinner for us.

We are already talking abut going back!  Soon.

Glad we delayed our side trip!

 The wet weather has returned to Andalusia.

We were supposed to head up to Olvera yesterday,  rent a bikes and ride the Via Verde (reclaimed rail line).  We had booked a B&B in Olvera for 2 nights. The B&B owners Sherri and Peter alerted us to the forecast of inclement weather and offered us the option the delay the trip for a couple of nights.  It was very nice of them to do that.  After checking the forecast we changed our reservation and we are going to Olvera tomorrow.

  Below is a photo taken yesterday, from the doorway to the patio. 

  Not quite the same view as you have seen before!

Yesterday it rained pretty much all day.  We spent most of the day indoors getting caught up on various administrative chores. planning ahead for the week after we leave Gaucin, booking a room in Barcelona, watching a couple of movies and drinking cheap wine.  We only went out once, to pick up a few groceries.

Today, the weather is much better. Thank goodness! We have been able to get out and explore the area some more on foot. After our regular climb to the castle we headed to the outskirts of town to see what we could find.  There is a nice path along the edge of the highway. We had followed it west, This time we went east. Hence more photos of Gaucin from another angle. I'm not sure how many of these you really want to see but here are a few more anyway.

The mountain in the background in"Hacho".  I have just been doing some research to find out is there is a trail up it.  I discovered that there is a trail and found direction on line.

While searching for information about a trail I discovered more information about the "via ferratas" that are located in the area.  A "via ferrata" in English, is called an "iron way".  It a set of steel hand/foot holds and fixed cables that are attached to the rock walls of the mountain. These fixtures create a route up and around the mountain that you can follow.  There are two via ferratas in Gaucin.  One is located on the castle mountain and the other on Hacho.  Pictures tell a better story. I borrowed these for the internet.

The first 3 photos are of the  Via Ferrata Gaucin, on the castle mountain. It starts from just below the south entrance to the castles and ends near the south-west point, not much below the elevation of the starting point. It looks to be primarily a transverse route.

This photo was taken on the Via Ferrata Hacho

I don't think that we will be trying these routes too soon!   But now that I found a trail map for the hike on Hacho, we might give that a go.   I'll leave the Via Ferrata for Dave. I think that he would enjoy them more that I would.

Here are the rest of the Gaucin area photos...

The Paco Pepe Restaurant

This is the view approaching Gaucin from the east. The castle is visible on the hill.

This photo looking north toward the mountains through which we will be travelling on the way to or from Olvera.  Actually there are two routes, around or through the mountains.  We will go around the mountains going to Olvera and come back through.  Either way the roads are winding and one does not make good time.  Hey! Who's in a hurry anyway.

An Afternoon In Ronda

After our regular morning activity, walking up to the castle then going for coffee to visit Neville the cat, we decide to ride to Ronda for an afternoon visit.  Ronda is larger town located 40K north-east of Gaucin.

The road between the two towns is very scenic. It runs along the ridges and around the peaks of the mountains. There are breathtaking views all along the road and plenty of scenic viewpoint stops as well. Several other villages hang off the side of the road and the occasional restaurant. It is great motorcycle road, smooth (except for the occasional slump) and winding.  The only problem with the road is the speed limit. The maximum speed for the 40 kilometres between Gaucin and Ronda is 50 kph, with 40 kph zones at village access points.  It seems to me that the speed limit philosophy in Spain (or at least this part of Spain) is that if the appropriate speed for many of the corners is 50 the speed limit for the whole road is 50.  Luckily, it seems to be that the speed limit is generally ignored so it is still a fun road to ride.

The town of Ronda is one of the main attractions for this area. For protection, the original town site was built on an island of rock. As the town expanded an elaborate bridge was constructed across the gorge. It is one of the main tourist attraction. The bridge was completed in 1793 after 40 years of construction.

 

 Ronda is also a main centre of the bull fighting culture. The Romero family of Ronda played a principal role in the development of modern Spanish bull fighting. (Wikipedia) 

The bull ring is a grandiose structure like none other I have seen.

A panorama from old town Ronda looking north.

We had a nice afternoon looking round town and a very nice dinner in one of the many outdoor cafes.

The weather forecast is for rain for the next day or so. We have delayed our planned bicycling adventure until the weekend when the weather is forecast to be better.

 

Weekend Update

It has been a couple of days since I posted a report so I thought I would write a quick one with a few more pics.  Not too exciting....

After arriving back from Tarifa last Friday we took it easy on Saturday. Hanging out, revisiting the old castle, by a new route, going for  coffee and meeting our new friend, Neville (A friendly tabby cat).  Then walking around town some more. Picked up a few supplies at our favourite "Super" (as the grocery stores are called here). In the evening we watched a movie.  The place we rented has a great supply of movies and music.  Better than Netflix!

 Sunday, we started the day much the same as Saturday, but Sunday afternoon, we went to the seaside.  Normally I would say that we went to the beach but there were soooo many Brits there, it was definitely the "seaside".  It takes about 45 minutes to reach the coastal community of Manilva on the winding, bumpy road.  The old town is located just into the hills about 5K from the coast. All along the coast and inland about a kilometre, are apartments building of all size and shape.  This is the Costa del Sol!  Holiday haven for the UK and northern Europe.

At this time of year it is pretty quiet. The beach is very nice, with a long paved promenade (Malecon in Mexico, Paseo in Spain) that divides the beach from the endless, side by side, restaurants.  We spent a few hours strolling along, people watching and enjoying the sights. It was a hot day, too hot to sit on the beach. I believe the temperature approached 30C. Much warmer than we had expected for this time of year.

This morning we went for the longer walk  (5 or 6 K) along the high road trail before returning to town just in time for lunch at one of the outdoor cafes. We chatted with a couple from Calgary for awhile and commiserated somewhat about missing the snow in Fernie & Calgary.  This afternoon we went to the outskirts of Algeciras to a "Decathlon" store. Spain's version of MEC.  Linda wanted to find some bike shorts. She found them, and a few things more!

On Wednesday we are off again on a vacation within a vacation, as some might call it.  We are going to the town of Olvera, about 100K north of Gaucin.  There is a bike route on an old abandoned rail line that runs about 40K to Puerto Serrano that we plan to ride on Thursday.  We are staying a couple of nights in a B&B in Olvera.

Here are a few random photos taken in the last few days...

Sign on the trail with walked this morning

A neat little electric assist bike

Pick an olive

 This is another photo of the view from our deck looking south. 

 In this photo you can see, 3 countries, 2 continents, an ocean and a sea 

(albeit a bit hazily)

Lots of decorative crocheting in town

Crocheted outfit anyone?