Adventure in Andalusia

Bologna-Figueres

-about 1050 km. Departure at 18:00, arrival (with a 5-hour stop in France to sleep) at 10:30. France offers many rest areas, fantastic for sleeping peacefully and also having services. Figueres is a small town that deserves a day of visiting. Besides the Dalí museum which is truly curious, it has a pretty center and a cozy Rambla. On the rambla we recommend a bar in the bowling-club style, the Cafè Royal, where the very kind manager introduced us to beer together with orange juice: it sounds like a horrible combination but it is truly excellent!

Valencia

In Valencia we dedicated the whole day to the museum of art and science, it is so large that it is inevitable to get lost there for at least 4 hours. As much as the exhibitions are honestly things already seen, it is worth visiting the complexes that host the exhibitions: at some moments it seems to be on the moon, and on a sunny day the white of the structures is blinding! The modernity of the neighborhood I find has a great harmony with the complex built. We are sorry to have left Valencia in the evening because even the center seemed very welcoming to us, full of little squares and typical little places where you can relax.

Moreover the garden that winds around the center in a ring, jardines del turia, is so full of greenery that it doesn't even seem to be in a city and it is nice to see how the Spanish crowd it to amuse themselves and keep it clean, just think that there are even free-range parakeets...;)

The desert...all the way to Granada!

From Valencia we moved on to reach the legendary desert.. 460 km divided into: 200 at night until around Elche where we stopped to sleep at a service station, and the other 260 the next morning. We made a brief stop at Sorbas and Tabernas, 2 little villages lost in this desert. They're a bit reminiscent of the small towns of our south, with people looking at you oddly and following you with their eyes when they think you can't see them. All decked out with the classic decorations they use in Andalusia, which seem to say that celebration is omnipresent even in the little villages. Arriving in the middle of nowhere in this peculiar desert made of arid, sandy mountains and fleshy vegetation, we spot the first sign directing us toward "Texas Hollywood," one of the various places where some spaghetti westerns were filmed.

We were actually looking for the one where Sergio Leone filmed his movies, but only later did we find out it wasn't ours:( so it's best to do your research beforehand to know which one is the most original: at the cine studio "Texas Hollywood" they nevertheless filmed various movies like "Indiana Jones" or "Lawrence of Arabia," then there's "Minihollywood," more recent and with many reproductions, less original. Then there's "Western Leone" and surely that's the one worth paying 15 euros for, where The Good, the Bad and the Ugly etc etc were filmed.. In any case, after this mini cine-tour, you can venture down any road that crosses these rocks to feel lost in the middle of nowhere and hear only endless cicadas..an unforgettable and unique landscape! The tour lasted until about 1 pm, after which we reached Granada: magnificent!

Granada

The city of a thousand and one nights, with its ancient Arab charm and enchanted places! No one had ever recommended we go to Granada and we had never read that it was such a splendid little city, 2 days are enough to visit it, but you should stay at least a week to enjoy every corner of it. The Sierra Nevada campsite is very convenient, clean and well-served, with large pitches separated by flowerbeds. It's 5-10 minutes from the center with bus 3 or 33, the ticket costs 1.20. Unfortunately we didn't go to the Alhambra because stupidly we hadn't booked tickets in advance and by 8 in the morning they were already sold out, and in August that's common. But at least we saw it from the characteristic hillside neighborhood of Albaicin.

To come back down you have no choice but to go through the narrow streets where it's full of North Africans who have opened loads of little shops selling typical knick-knacks, tea rooms where you smoke excellent hookahs and eat their specialties..it no longer feels like you're in Spain... In the evening it's lovely to get lost in the little squares and narrow streets of the center, full of little tapas and beer places with 1-2 euro prices and musicians singing popular flamenco songs.

Malaga and unfortunately....Torremolinos!

If we could go back we'd erase this experience from our trip and stay one more day in Granada. The center of Malaga is also quite nice even though it's super mega-packed with shops that we see every day back home too. Unfortunately the nearest campsite is the one in Torremolinos, a town that's part of that long chain of concrete we mentioned in the introduction. It's sad to come from a campsite equipped with hot water, clean, pitch etc etc, for only 11 euros, and go to one, the Torremolinos campsite, where they place you under canopies stuck to other tents, without hot water and at nearly hotel prices: 17.50!!! (and on top of that, only rude Italians!). About Malaga we can only tell you this and later about the Feria (which we'll talk about further on) which is why we came back exclusively a few days later.

So to anyone who loves nature, tranquility and true fiesta we say: never Torremolinos and the Costa del Sol!

Ronda

Finally what we wanted: Andalusia with a capital A! This little village is fantastic. Besides having a very high bridge that makes it truly peculiar, it enjoys a lively center and a fantastic panorama. To forget the sad Torremolinos experience, fortunately we find a campsite in the greenery, super quiet, with a pool, hot water, clean, large pitches at 11 euros! The "El Sur" campsite is the closest and just a few meters from the center! From here begins a route through the pueblos blancos that's very easy to do in a day but it would be interesting to stop a few more days!

Grazalema - Zahara de la sierra - Arcos de la frontera

This tour is beautiful and crosses the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park: the little village of Grazalema is very pretty, made up of maybe 4 streets and a small square all decorated with little lights, ready to celebrate the evening of Ferragosto! The most fantastic landscape of all is Zahara de la Sierra, another white village perched on a hill from which you can reach a castle from which you can spot a lake of a color never seen elsewhere. Arcos de la Frontera is the least pretty of the villages seen and we wouldn't recommend a detour, besides the only campsite there, where fortunately we didn't decide to stay, was maybe worse than the Torremolinos one, with very large families, rather dirty, everyone in front of the TV or playing Playstation! go figure..no point commenting. Fortunately we found an honest little hotel at 35 euros per person..

2 days in Seville

We dedicated the 16th and 17th to Seville, which unfortunately was another disappointment on this vacation. Seville, unlike what we expected, is cold. The center set up just right for tourists, full of horse-drawn carriages and poor horses in the sun for hours, restaurants set up just right for tourists with photos of half-empty plated dishes and higher prices, and a high presence of crime which is certainly a big scourge for livability, and the filth that goes with it.

Naturally there are various places that were nice to visit like Plaza de España, the Plaza de Toros, the narrow streets of the Barrio Santa Cruz and the Jardines del Alcázar...but beyond all these marvels, Seville didn't manage to make it into our hearts! The campsite we decided to stay at is about 15 km from Seville, in Dos Hermanas, it's not that inconvenient but hard to find so when heading toward Seville or Cadiz take the exit at km 53 and then ask...

Costa del Luz - Barbate and Los Canos de Meca

August 18 and 19 This coast undoubtedly deserves a few days. Poor in infrastructure, it preserves a natural landscape of hills that serve as a backdrop to these mega beaches facing the ocean! Finally at the sea..Barbate is a resort town like Cervia, full of Spanish families, quite quiet with many little restaurants along the seafront and markets run by various hippies who came here seeking peace and selling crafts. We found a fantastic and super isolated campsite: "Los Molinos" among the hills of Vejer de la Frontera, only flaw a bit dirty but with a breathtaking panorama: 12 per person! there are certainly many campsites on the coast for those who love being packed in. The most beautiful beach is definitely the one at Zahara de los Atunes, very long and isolated, where big waves and lots of wind start appearing..El Palmar isn't bad either.

Los Caños de Meca is full of hippie stalls, it's nice to take a stroll there..

Tarifa and a short stop in Gibraltar

20 - 21 - 22 And more sea... In Tarifa we truly spent 3 lovely days. In itself the town isn't very pretty, but it's full of little narrow streets, restaurants, bars, little shops that make it a pleasure to stay there! And then you can see Africa, it's so fascinating.. The Tarifa campsite isn't bad and in any case there are many others one after another, a few km from the town but all on the beach.

It's not easy to resist the temptation to buy a slightly more professional kite, because with the wind that blows it's guaranteed fun, no wonder it's the mecca of surfers and kite surfers: and in fact we bought one;P Don't miss the sand hill that dominates Playa de los Lances..it's impressive to run on such a high pile of sand, a feeling never experienced elsewhere! Gibraltar didn't do much for us except give the impression that it was yet another country milking tourists, with the only difference that the English pocket the money. The only thrills?: crossing the airport runway and drinking a Guinness in an English pub! p.s.: The little monkeys that live on Upper Rock, who knows what they think of all the tourists who arrive there ecstatic..

Feria de Malaga

Now this is what you call a party. 2 very long avenues full of venues that do nothing but give free paella, 1 euro beer, jamon...fantastic! We, used to the Festa dell'Unità or our local fairs, didn't even know that all this could mean so much. And they, the Andalusians, have crazy fun, all dressed as local tradition dictates, even the dogs and newborns. Every venue blasts music at full volume and everyone knows how to dance flamenco! Very few tourists, you almost feel out of place in this case..Definitely an event to see.. n.b.: Naturally we didn't go back to the Torremolinos campsite..we're not crazy.. but we found a 2-star hotel right behind the feria, "El Romerito," 35 euros per person, nice and clean.

Cabo de Gata

24-25-26 This place is magnificent! The most beautiful of all..San José is the main town, welcoming and full of life with its little square and seafront, where there are also craft markets here! There are various campsites, we chose the one in San José, even though it's small it's excellent! The beach you can't miss is Playa de los Genoveses, a spectacle of nature, to reach the beach you have to cross a desert, impressive, and there are even beetles in the little sand dunes..the Mediterranean water is warm and the waves are always pleasant. At Cabo de Gata you should stay at least a week because there are various trails to do that offer sights never seen before! unfortunately we didn't manage to see many little beaches except the one at Los Escullos and La Isleta del Moro. Another very busy beach that's favored by English tourists is the one at Mojácar.

Even though it's already outside Cabo de Gata it's worth a detour! We'll definitely come back one day...

Barcelona

27-28-29 And we decided to end the vacation here... I'll detail later what we recommend!