Author: CaravanRamblings

An early start and drive to Puerto Serrano to cycle the Sierra Greenway. We would take a taxi from Puerto Serrano to Olvera (complete with our bikes) and cycle back to Puerto Serrano before spending the night at the hotel at the start of the trail in Puerto Serrano.

Vías Verdes / Greenways are the product of converting disused railway lines into cycling and walking routes. Easy, accessible, far removed from motorised traffic and with hardly any steep slopes, they are specially recommended for nature lovers and people who enjoy outdoor exercise.

There are already 7.600 kilometres of disused railway lines throughout Spain and the Olvera to Puerto Serrano ranks as one of the best not only in Spain but throughout Europe.

No trains ever ran along the 36 Km of the Sierra Greenway route which lies at the foot of the southernmost mountain range of the Iberian peninsula,  between the towns of Puerto Serrano and Olvera in the province of Cadiz.

We will absolutely return in a future year and camp at a site near Olvera to cycle the route again and explore some of the natural beauty of the region.

This outstanding route, running parallel to the banks of a number of rivers, passes through some truly spectacular scenery such as the Peñón de Zaframagón (Rock of Zaframagón), home to one of the largest colonies of griffon vultures in Europe. In fact there are some 200 breeding pairs present at the Rock.

 

The Sierra Railway, which was to run from Jerez de la Frontera to Almargen, was a project conceived at the turn of the 20th century. It had been the dream of generations of people living in the Guadalete basin and on the higher land near Olvera.

The military were also keen to have a railway link between their bases at Cartagena and Cadiz. With the blessing of all, work began swiftly under the auspices of dictator General Primo de Rivera.

The Spanish Civil War brought the work to a halt, and once the war was over the austere post-war years were not the best time to re-launch the project. Finally, in the mid-sixties, the project was finally and definitively abandoned following a report from the World Bank.

All the stations, tunnels, and viaducts had been built but no tracks had ever been laid.

Of the 119 kilometres of this vast project, only 21 kilometres from Jerez to the Jédula sugar plant ever went into operation.

Tracks were laid as far as Arcos de la Frontera but only test trains ever ran on them. A family of railway workers lived for a few years in the station buildings as if waiting for a train that was never to arrive.

 

The journey took most of the afternoon but the ride was taken at a very leisurely pace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was fully deserved and the steak didn’t disappoint!

It took some time to shake off the excesses of the previous night and the late arrival, 2:00 am, back at Camping Rosaleda.

On the agenda today was the cliff-top walk to Puerto de Conil and the now familiar port restaurant. Weather was excellent and the return walk is around 8 miles.

See this previous posting for more details. Lunch at the Port of Conil.

We both ate the tuna main course. As good as ever and of course, a stunning location.

Day 2 and a cycle ride with Rich to the location of the battle of Trafalgar.

You can see details from a prior trip. Cycle ride to Trafalgar.

The weather had cleared up somewhat and the day was relatively warm and very sunny. However, a wicked Westerly wind was present all day and the ride back from Trafalgar was particularly difficult.

 

Rich found it all a bit much at one point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finally made it back to Rosaleda, we were impolitely late for dinner at Paul and Andreas. Paul was leading us on a pub crawl around Conil that night, our arrival back at Rosaleda being around 2:00am, Tuesday morning.

Paul is a keen pool player but Rich pulled out a few surprises and came out on top including an ‘eight ball’ break.

 

 

A 3:30am start to the day after a long evening exploring the highlights of Weston-Super-Mare on a Sunday night…

The flight was on time and we arrived in Malaga ahead of schedule at 09:30 Spanish time. A slight difference in the ‘we’ being that Mo was staying behind in blighty for another week and I was entertaining a friend of mine, Rich.

We had a full program of events planned for the week ahead.

The schedule got off to a poor start as the weather in Andalucia on this particular Monday was dreadful with extreme winds and heavy rain.

We walked into Conil in the evening, dripping wet and freezing cold. We needed a bar with a roaring log fire and lots of hot mulled wine. We found neither…

 

Evening was dinner at the Rosaleda restaurant. Tuna starters followed by the signature filet steak kebabs.

 

 

The final day of the trip was a drive of around 130 miles to Malaga airport and a Ryanair flight into Leeds / Bradford at 11:35.

We allowed 2 hours for the journey to Malaga (not enough!!) and arrived at the airport around 10:00am. Then the problems started because we couldn’t find the pre-booked long-term parking. When we had eventually located the car park, we were still waiting for the courtesy bus at 10:40, just 25 minutes before the gate was due to close.

In the end, we made the gate with a minute or two to spare and were then greeted by a 1 hour delay due to French air traffic controllers industrial action.

Not for next time. Allow more time…

Today began with some more sorting out in the van before we leave for Malaga tomorrow morning and our return to Blighty.

Lunch was at the Micro Brewery in Conil de la Frontera where we sampled most of the ales on offer and a selection of Tapas.

 

 

 

Dinner was at the campsite restaurant. The kebabs were just awesome.

Internet problems at home have affected the ability to post recent blog entries but now the connectivity is all resolved, it’s time to catch up on a week or two of posts.

Today was preparing for our departure at the weekend. Some laundry in the morning and coffee at Paul and Andrea’s.

A late lunch was taken at the Harbour restaurant and later in the day we found our first geocache on the route from the Port Lighthouse to Cabo Roche.

 

Day 33 and we drove to Barbate which is a coastal town located about 25km from Conil and some 11km along the coast to the east of Cape Trafalgar and within the La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park.

We hiked around the National Park, around 6 miles in total. Stunning views were to be had from the coastal path heading east into Barbate.

When we had visited Seville recently, the waitress in Puratasca had told us that the Conil area is her favourite part of Spain and provided us with 3 restaurant recommendations. One of them, El Campero was in Barbate so we decided to test out her recommendation. The second was Trasteo in Zahara de los Atunes and finally, La Fontanilla in Conil itself.

The approach to the restaurant was through several streets of run-down apartment blocks and the general feel of Barbate was something of an old fishing port which has seen better days. We were not entirely sure what to expect.

Anyhow, El Campero was just superb – including the miniature Tuna Burger – and we have two other recommendations from her so we will be sure to check them out also.

It is Monday and Day 31. A relaxing day at the campsite, reading and chilling. Another beautiful day followed in the evening with pre-drinks at Paul and Andrea’s and then a table for eight of us at La Rosaleda restaurant for Fish ‘n’ Chips night.

This is so Spanish…

Tuesday we visited Vejer de la Frontera, a Spanish hilltop town on the right bank of the river Barbate and some 30 minutes by car from Conil. The town of Vejer de la Frontera occupies a low hill overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar and surrounded by orchards and orange groves.

It contains several ancient churches and convents, and the architecture of many of its houses recalls the period of Moorish rule, which lasted from 711 until the town was captured by Saint Ferdinand of Castile in 1248. Agriculture and fruit-farming are the chief industries; fighting bulls are also bred in the neighborhood and a running of the bulls is held annually.

 

Many of the streets are too narrow for cars and as you walk around if you look through an open doorway you are likely to see beautiful inner patios with lots of flowers and plants. The main square, the beautiful Plaza de Espana, shaded by vast palm trees, has a wonderful old fountain with traditional ceramic Andalucian frogs, which spout water high into the air, thus forming a fountain.

 

Saturday was another rest day and an opportunity for Mo to take care of the laundry and to familiarise herself further with the additional duties she’s been assigned following Joe’s injury. Such fulfilling tasks as emptying the chemical toilet and ensuring the water barrel is fully topped up!

Late afternoon and a packed bar saw England take on Wales in the six nations rugby and secure a thoroughly deserved win.

Sunday and we decided to visit one of the local Andalucian hill-top towns. Wikipedia states: Medina-Sidonia is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is considered by some to be the oldest city in Europe, used as a military defense location due to its elevated location. Locals are known as Asidonenses. The city’s name comes from Medina (Arabic for city) and Sidonia (of Sidon), meaning “City of Sidon”.

First of all, upon finding a car park, we were directed by a “local” in fluorescent jacket to our spot and charged 2 Euros. After leaving the car park, a true local stopped us and told us not to pay the guy in the yellow jacket – car parking was apparently free. Mo seemed to think his actions were somewhat entrepreneurial – I on the other hand think he deserved a good slapping… So beware who you pay for car parking in Spain!

Medina Sidonia was a fascinating place to look around and at this time of year, reasonably devoid of tourists. In fact, the town was very quiet until we found the main square around mid-afternoon. Every bar and restaurant was absolutely packed (mainly locals, no doubt some spending their car park fees) but we managed to find a table and enjoy a beer and Tapas for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived back at Camping La Rosaleda just in time for the Rugby – Scotland vs France, followed by Lamb chops cooked on the Weber.