Blogs from Ruidera, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe

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Europe » Spain » Castile-La Mancha » Ruidera April 17th 2013

This is to be our last day here in Los Batanes, Lagunas de Ruidera, so we made it an "in-camp" day. John spent most of it photographing birds (of the feathered variety). There is a large family of Azure-winged Magpies living in the trees around us. These birds live in large families in only two places in the world, one being here in the Iberian Peninsula and the other in Eastern Asia, mostly China. It is the first time that we have ever seen them. When they spread their wings to fly they look magnificent - the wings and tail feathers are the deepest blue. Due to the abundance of leaves now on the trees, our photos of the birds in the trees are not brilliant, so here in this blog we have just included a ... read more
Iberian Azure-winged Magpies

Europe » Spain » Castile-La Mancha » Ruidera April 16th 2013

If there was any doubt that this was indeed Quixote country, then the references to Cervantes and his crazy knight are everywhere in Ruidera. For example, "Restaurante Quijote" "Bar Sancho Panza" and we had a beer and a tapa today in the "Plaza Cervantes"! The day started well. Mutley didnĀ“t try any Colditz-style escapes from the awning in the night, thanks to pegging in more tent pegs (which we should have done initially). We drove up to Ossa de Montiel along the "Ruta de Quixote" past many places mentioned in the story and then back around to Ruidera for a walk along the river and a chance to explore this picturesque litlle town. This is a great place for free tapas. So far, every time we have ordered a few beers in a bar we have ... read more
Down by the river, Ruidera
What a great little picnic spot!

Europe » Spain » Castile-La Mancha » Ruidera April 15th 2013

We left home in Alicante yesterday to drive to the Parque Natural de Lagunas de Ruidera en route to Northern Spain. We are taking a slow route to the End of The World, as the Romans named the most westerly tip of Galicia, Finisterre. We shall probably take a week or so to get there and then several weeks to get back home, via the Picos de Europa in Asturias and Cantabria. The journey from our house in Orihuela Costa, Alicante to Ruidera took five hours including stops to walk dogs and drink coffee, just 317 kilometres to our campsite, Los Batanes. The campsite is right beside one of the lagoons and waterfalls in this scenic wonderland of water. We are camped on an island, with roaring rapid water gushing on three sides of us, down ... read more
Nearest falls
More falls!
Roaring water




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