Author: CaravanRamblings

Ordinarily I’m not a big fan of art and visiting art galleries. We always try to on our travels but I’m rarely left inspired – that’s not to say some of the artwork we have seen isn’t special but it just doesn’t work really well for Moe and I.

There is an exception though – Salvador Dali. A true genius and some of his work is just inspiring so a visit to the Dali Theatre Museum in Figueres was a must.

 

 

 

One of our favourite pieces is the head of Abraham Lincoln which close up features the naked body of a lady but at distance, is just Abraham Lincoln. How he painted such works I can’t comprehend.

We also visited the Dali museum at St Petersburg, Florida and for me, that was a better experience than the theatre museum. But maybe that’s because it was far more orderly, less crowded and everything was in English!

Still, a must visit.

This was our first full day near the town of Begur. Our caravan was fully stocked with provisions from the previous region so no need to perform any mad shop. We decided to take things easy (although that failed epically later in the day) and explore the area a little by car.

We drove to Flaca which has a direct train connection to Barcelona. We wanted to see what the parking will be like and to view the timetable. On this line Barcelona is served by three stations and the most central one which we will travel to is Barcelona – Passeig de Gracia. Service takes around an hour and a half on one of the medium fast trains.

We returned to Begur and headed down to Sa Tuna. A beautiful cove with the magnificent colour of the Mediterranean highlighted against the breath-taking coastal mountains. Our alternate agenda here was to assess the mountain path from Begur to Sa Tuna for a stroll one day. We decided it would be more than any stroll with hiking shoes a must.

 

Lunch was followed by a spot of sun bathing before we set off for a late afternoon walk to Fornells which takes about 20 minutes (down) and considerably longer back. It wasn’t helpful that we took a wrong turn and spent the first 30 minutes heading up the major trail to Begur.

 

Dinner was the most exquisite steak cooked to perfection on the Weber.

Transfer day from Dolores to Begur. As luck would have it, we encountered heavy rain for the first time on the entire journey. It started right on cue with the task of stowing the outside items, moving the van and hitching up.

The preparation day previous wasn’t a resounding success as I had previously detached the removable towbar and safely stowed it under all our gear in the back of the Kia. Another lesson learnt. Even less surprising, was that the rain stopped just as we were pulling away from Sheppards Rest!

The drive was 432 miles according to the satnav and the journey was uneventful. Traffic was quiet (albeit busier in the Barcelona region) and we arrived as expected at Camping Begur just before 17:00.

Camping Begur is a 5-star site and is immaculately kept.

Everything was ready for our arrival and whilst a nice pitch had been allocated, we decided to explore the site on foot to find the perfect pitch. Having found just such a pitch, we realised that a group of Romanian travellers were almost next door playing loud music and generally doing everything possible to spoil the tranquil setting. Rather ironical that this was the day news broke in the Times of Nigel Farage’s comments about Romanian neighbours. Still we turned a blind eye to PC and quickly sought out a different area of the site.

We chose well. Peaceful plot and close to all the site amenities

Transfer day preparation so the day was spent stocking up on provisions, washing and cleaning. Most notably was the decision to jetwash the car without understanding the instructions. Result was 3 Euros spent on a rinse and wax (that was actually 3 separate cycles as cleaning progress was slow) and then a further 3 Euros spent on the correct sequence of washes – it didn’t help that the wax had nicely encased all the dust and grime.

Friday is market day in Dolores. A large traditional Spanish street market is held the year round and we needed some fruit and vegetables. We had cycled the three plus miles from Sheppards Rest and our plan for the remainder of the day was a 12 mile circular ride through the local natural park with a nice long lunch in the middle.

Lunch was at casa Harrys in San Felipe Neri and whilst this might sound like a British export it certainly isn’t. The journey out to casa Harrys took considerably less time than we imagined so our initial error was arriving too early – merely to find the restaurant staff and family enjoying their lunch. Anyhow, service was friendly and accommodating to our lack of Spanish linguistic skills and poor timing. An hour later and the restaurant was full of locals imbibing on the traditional fare.

The 3 course set meal (with salad and bread also) was ticketed at 10 Euros per person. The cycle ride had created quite a thirst and this was thoroughly quenched with 4 bottles of the local beer (fortunately the return journey was all off-road). Anyhow, when the bill arrived, the total was still just a mere 20 Euros for the two of us. Needless to say we left a generous tip.

There are other reviews of casa Harrys and references to an exquisite wine cellar. Sounds fascinating and if I’d had the skills to communicate with the owner, I would have loved to have explored it.

Carrefour and chilling…

We had spotted a nice big Carrefour near Torreveija so we decided this was an opportunity for some serious shopping and we didn’t disappoint.

 

The afternoon was spent chilling at Sheppards Rest.

We cycled to Dolores for bread in the morning. This was no quick trip as we had decided to detour via the local nature reserve, Parc Natural El Fondo. This is very close to Sheppards rest and offers many km of off-road cycling.

The route back took us through San Felipe Neri which looks like a one horse town with restaurant Casa Harry in the centre. I think we might be back to Casa Harry for lunch one day.

Torreveija beckoned in the afternoon. A friend of mine has a place in Torreveija and we wanted to swing by and take a look. Again the satnav delivered us bang on without fuss.

Later in the day, we were assigned a mission by Moe’s sister to check out a restaurant in Torreveija where one of her daughters is working for the summer.

This time Moe hadn’t done her homework properly and whilst the instructions “head past the harbour and you’ll arrive at the bar” were technically accurate, the bar was 4km past the harbour AND we had parked up in the northern side of Torreveija. Eventually we abandoned, headed back to the car and drove there.

All was in order and a couple of cold beers just the job.

The same couple who had recommended the restaurant in Guardamar also had a wine recommendation at Villena.

Bodega Nuestra Senora de las Virtudes Coop. V.

We would visit the castle and town of Villena whilst there but the primary reason for the visit was some cheap wine. The proprietor was helpful with the wine selections and allowed me to taste several different wines.

Whilst we were there, a constant stream of locals with their 5 litre plastic containers appeared through the doors and the wine was dispensed via machine. A bit like a sophisticated petrol pump! The wine of choice seemed to the Arcabucero Joven at around 1Euro20 per bottle or 5 Euros for a full 5 litres.

We opted for a dozen bottles of the Arcabucero Joven Tinto and another dozen bottles of Vinalopo Reserva. This was a bit more expensive at 4 odd Euros a pop but the entire supply of 24 bottles had cost a mere 72 Euros.

The castle consisted of guided tours but the last one of the morning prior to siesta had already departed and whilst not wanting to stick around all afternoon, the chap at the ticket office arranged for us to enter the castle un-accompanied and to explore on our own terms. This was a really nice touch.

 

 

 

 

Finally, this was the last day of antibiotics for Moe and the abscess has gone. The question now is whether to have the tooth extracted in the UK. Moe says she doesn’t want a general anaesthetic because once asleep she fears the dentist will hand over to the Hygienist to give her a little extra practice!

One of the couples staying at Sheppards Rest had recommended the “Pensioners” bar at Guardamar so this was an opportunity for our second cycle ride to the town with a nice lunch. We were sceptical about the “Pensioners” bar as we are some way from being pensioners but I guess we are heading in that direction and we were assured that the place was worth visiting.

The cycle route took us along the service road that we had discovered earlier in the trip and all we had to do was find somewhere to cross the dried-up river and our lunchtime reward would be waiting for us.

As it turns out, about 20m from turning back the prior day, was a cycle path across the river. We found Guardamar and the restaurant which was actually called Café Jaen (the reference to pensioners was the hotel above which was called “Pension”. So not a pensioners bar after all. Lunch was great with the 3 course set menu costing a total of 20 Euros for the two of us and a few extra Euros for a couple of beers.

 

 

A day at Sheppards Rest, chilling, swimming and nice BBQ in the evening.