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Published: October 11th 2004
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Campilera, Pompinera & Boubion
The 3 small mountain towns viewed from the approaching road. The Car
So, after picking up ourselves a sporty little Peugot (thanks to Ferdanand and Sondra for the ride to get it and Ethel for funding it!), we headed of into mainland Spain to do the city tour. Upon leaving San Jose, we quickly realized that the road signage in Spain is less than adequate for those unfamiliar with the area. An hour later of driving in circles and getting a smaller detailed map, we got orientated. We headed up to the Sierra Nevada mountains to spend a couple of nights in a small group of mountain towns. The lanscape in Southern Spain is very arid, a rolling desert spotted by absolutely massive olive
orchards, giant windmills and bulls that are a hundred feet tall.
Campilera, Pompinera & Boubion (Sept 2 & 3)
After passing Almeria, the road quickly turned into a winding, climbing road that clung to the side of the mountains. It was like a Grand Tourismo track. No straight stretch lasted more than a hundred feet. We arrived at the towns in the evening; a very beautiful area, very high up in the mountains. They are 3 little towns full of tiny, steep, streets with apparently
Fresh Water
All over the 3 towns are small fountains with water running from natural springs. Perfect for hiking. no planning about them. A really quiet place with a beautiful view. The area is famous for its cured ham. This was apparent when we went out for a snack and drink at a local bar and there were about 13 hug pig legs hanging from the ceiling right above our heads. An unpleasant environment for any moral vegetarian. We also learned that the easy access to large quantities of good, cheap olive oil meant that they smothered everything they cooked in it. We also went for a awesome hike along one side of the ridge and back down the other. The trail consisted of a bunch of old shepherd trails, spotted by old farm houses and stone shacks (most of which have deteriorated with time); and of course, olive orchards. Overall, the three little towns were very quiet and calm. A true taste of old Spain and definitely off the beaten track!
Granada (Sept 4)
So, onto the big cities. Another beautiful drive, this time out of the mountains. More olive groves and windmills. The landscape flattened out a bit and the driving became a little more relaxed. All along the highways of Spain, there are huge statues
Shepherd House
One of the few mountain shacks that seemed to survive time. of bulls. They were originally ads for Osbornes (liquor company) and became such a recognizable and famous part of the landscape that they now are protected monuments. Driving in Granda was insane! Scooters EVERYWHERE, weaving in and out of traffic like flies buzzing around rotten meet. They don’t even wear helmets! After an hour of trying to orientate ourselves with our hostel and driving through the
smallest streets I ever saw (1.5 meters wide), we made it to the hostel. A pretty bustling city. We walked for a long time and took in the sights. The night life seems pretty active and young. We ate, sampled some local wine and enjoyed the atmosphere. We drove around the Alambra the next morning, but opted not to go in and just have an external look. It is an impressive fortress atop a hill that overlooks the city. We headed off with Madrid in our sights.
Madrid (Sept 5)
A flatter drive, but still as beautiful with even larger olive plantations. I mean as far as the eye could see! Found the hostel with a little less trouble than Granada, but still crazy driving in the cities. The hostel was really cool;
Julio (owner) has spent a lot of time restoring the “old feeling” of the building. Some cool architecture in Madrid, most notably was the cathedral. Crazy gypsies would come up to you, tell you your fortune, give you rosemary, then demand payment. It was quite strange. Cirque de Soliel did a show in the courtyard right across from the hostel. The downtown area has a huge main street that is pedestrians only and is covered with huge tarps (for shade and rain I assume). We just walked the streets and covered a lot of ground. A pretty cool place, but all in all, just another city. It is cool to think of the history these places have been through, but it’s harder to see with them being so modernized. Eating the cultural meals is nice, but here we took advantage of more conventional options, notably smoothies, which oddly enough are hard to find over here.
Barcelona (Sept 6)
Well, we were really enjoying the car. The drives are some of the best parts of the days. We knew Spain was hot, but never realized how arid it was. The drives are constantly filled with awesome landscapes that go on
After the long hike
The town of Bubion in the background. forever, and more bulls of course. Barcelona was no picnic to drive in, but we found our hostel easily as it was located right on La Rambla (the main street in the area). We had a patio right over it, which was excellent for just people watching. It is filled with vendors and scammers at night and huge exotic pet
shops in the day?! We hit the streets to explore, and try some grub. Tracey tried her luck at the street gambling. No luck. It down-poured for a bit, so we got some drinks for our patio and watched the people move about absolutely oblivious to the rain (which stopped abruptly in a short time). Just like Van. After the storm, we headed out for more exploring. In the morning, we checked out the Sangrada Familia (Gaudi’s cathedral) and it is quite an impressive structure to look at. However, we were honestly disappointed when we paid to go in. Not worth it. Now, it is beautiful, but Gaudi died when it was only half done. Also, the civil war saw it get ransacked along with the plans and models. It is still under heavy construction and the whole inside is
full of scaffolding and workers. We climbed to the top of the tower, which had a person on every step, literally. It was a snails pace, but a interesting view. Later, we came across a large square where people were tangoing in the night, very Spanish. We covered a lot of ground and the city is interesting, but we’ve learned that you get such a better taste of the culture and history if you stay out of the big cities.
Next on the agenda was Life and Times of Salvidor Dali. We would head to Figures where he lived and built his Museum and then to Cadaques, where he spent much of his time and claims to have drawn a lot of inspiration from.
To be continued.
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Lewis
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TnTravel
Thanks so much for your input! it really sounds like you had a great time.