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...