Day 16: Elche to Cazorla - westwards towards the mountains
Disclaimer: All voyages in this blog are being taken safely in the comfort of our imaginations - based on our plans and intentions for travel in 2020. What is reality after all?
We've generally tried to keep each day's travels moderately short. Today was to be a little over 4 hours from Elche to Cazorla, the longest trip so far (and the longest for a while we think), but we add to that a couple of stops for sightseeing and for lunch.
First stop out of Elche was in the small town of Lorca. With a name like that, we guessed that there would be something to see. There's probably more to it than we could do on a quick stop - but we drove up to the castle (which is quite near the highway) to stretch our legs after about 90 minutes on the road - bypassing Murcia:
This is obviously a site for all sorts of re-enactments and festivities, as the trebuchet in the fields indicates:
or maybe they are still in preparation for the next siege.
The highway continued, as highways do (anonymously) and with lunchtime approaching, we jumped off the road into the village of Puerto Lambreras, 20-30 minutes further on. Here we found a lovely little restaurant, La Rambla, on the edge of the village, that allowed us to park right outside:
We ate moderately ...:
Onwards then for another couple of hours (or a little more) - westwards and then turning north. Between Elche and Cazorla is the range of mountains and national park that we'd come here to see (more on that in the next two days), but that means that our route had to loop either south or north of the range: the Parque Natural Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas - and we chose the most southerly highway. But the road became smaller as it circled close to the hills:
And it dived through some small villages like Quesada, instead of going round them, which slowed us down at least once, when the main road really should have been a one-way system (but wasn't):
Eventually we looped round the hills and headed back eastwards towards Cazorla. We could see the range ahead of us, at the foot of which Cazorla nestles.
But our accommodation is on an old farm in the countryside, a bit west of the town (so we'll need to drive a short distance in for provisions and for meals). When the GPS led us to the turn-off, onto a small dirt road, it was blocked by a roadside barrier:
Thank goodness we had researched this on google maps, and found we had to go further towards Cazorla, come off the highway to the right and return parallel on a service road. Easy if you're prepared!
Therefore, this led us seamlessly to the Cortijo los Abedules, an old farm building converted into a series of small apartments, with the British owners living upstairs:
We knocked on their front door:
and they showed us to the Oliva apartment on the end of the building:
which had, like all of them, a small private garden at the rear:
and access to a shared garden, pool and rooftop patio - where we're sitting as the sun descends, waiting to head off for a meal in Cazorla.
Over the weekend, we'll reacquaint ourselves with the town, but mainly with the roads through the mountain range. Keep checking this blog to join us...
We've generally tried to keep each day's travels moderately short. Today was to be a little over 4 hours from Elche to Cazorla, the longest trip so far (and the longest for a while we think), but we add to that a couple of stops for sightseeing and for lunch.
First stop out of Elche was in the small town of Lorca. With a name like that, we guessed that there would be something to see. There's probably more to it than we could do on a quick stop - but we drove up to the castle (which is quite near the highway) to stretch our legs after about 90 minutes on the road - bypassing Murcia:
This is obviously a site for all sorts of re-enactments and festivities, as the trebuchet in the fields indicates:
or maybe they are still in preparation for the next siege.
The highway continued, as highways do (anonymously) and with lunchtime approaching, we jumped off the road into the village of Puerto Lambreras, 20-30 minutes further on. Here we found a lovely little restaurant, La Rambla, on the edge of the village, that allowed us to park right outside:
We ate moderately ...:
Onwards then for another couple of hours (or a little more) - westwards and then turning north. Between Elche and Cazorla is the range of mountains and national park that we'd come here to see (more on that in the next two days), but that means that our route had to loop either south or north of the range: the Parque Natural Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas - and we chose the most southerly highway. But the road became smaller as it circled close to the hills:
And it dived through some small villages like Quesada, instead of going round them, which slowed us down at least once, when the main road really should have been a one-way system (but wasn't):
Eventually we looped round the hills and headed back eastwards towards Cazorla. We could see the range ahead of us, at the foot of which Cazorla nestles.
But our accommodation is on an old farm in the countryside, a bit west of the town (so we'll need to drive a short distance in for provisions and for meals). When the GPS led us to the turn-off, onto a small dirt road, it was blocked by a roadside barrier:
Thank goodness we had researched this on google maps, and found we had to go further towards Cazorla, come off the highway to the right and return parallel on a service road. Easy if you're prepared!
Therefore, this led us seamlessly to the Cortijo los Abedules, an old farm building converted into a series of small apartments, with the British owners living upstairs:
We knocked on their front door:
and they showed us to the Oliva apartment on the end of the building:
which had, like all of them, a small private garden at the rear:
and access to a shared garden, pool and rooftop patio - where we're sitting as the sun descends, waiting to head off for a meal in Cazorla.
Over the weekend, we'll reacquaint ourselves with the town, but mainly with the roads through the mountain range. Keep checking this blog to join us...
I love it how Roger keeps even the most mundane of road trips, getting from A to B, as part of the great adventure, after all the journey is just as important as the destination. As the sole driver, I cannot stress too much how important preparation is, and I do little if any of it, as Roger is the navigator, having learnt from the best (Vasco da Gama I believe). Road closures, barriers, name changes, all pose little challenge.
ReplyDeleteAh Vasco! Now there was an adventurer! I had to over-ride his exuberance on several occasions, especially when the demon drink took him in its clutches. Would you believe he wanted to sail round the world? Ended up in Cochin I believe - I refused to accompany him on that trip, unless he treated us better... just as well!
DeleteI love the use of the word 'moderately' in regards to lunch! What a relief that the weather has been so good for your virtual journey! And again...gorgeous accommodation, such a lovely reward after a day on the road!
ReplyDelete