Peniscola was on our list of most beautiful towns and villages to visit here in Castellon province as it renowned for its historic old town, nestled close by the Mediterranean sea.

Some friends had suggested we should take the bikes but we didn’t really go into to much detail regards the best cycle routes. As we planned out the day, we figured out they had probably cycled around the nearby National Park – Serra d’irta.

We loaded up the maps and plotted a circa 10 mile round trip through the National Park.

What we hadn’t appreciated is that this national park is in a very hilly / mountainous coastal region. This was a route designed for proper mountain bikes – not our hybrids – although in the end, the bikes performed just about ok at the extremity of their capabilities.

The route out of Finca del Moro was brutal. Now, our bikes have electric motors and without them we wouldn’t have gone beyond 500m, but in the end, the track up the mountain was just too steep. Too much power and the front wheel just skidded around. We had to walk our bikes up the track which is no mean feat because with all the add-ons, they are really heavy.

A Spanish couple were very helpful in pointing out the bike route, avoiding our chosen path which turned out was suitable for hiking only.

After the initial climb, things settled down somewhat and we enjoyed a fabulous 2.25 hour ride – covering all of 9 miles – but ascending over 1000 feet.

These were the final statistics of the ride.

Next we loaded the bikes on the car and headed to Peniscola old town.

Known as the City in the Sea, Peniscola is officially one of Spain’s most beautiful towns watched over by its Templar Castle and medieval walls which are enchantingly surrounded by the sea.

The province of Castellon has three such beautifuls towns. Other than Peniscola, there are Villafames and Morella. We have already visited Vilafames here https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=3194

The town is well known as a film location and in 2015, filming for Games of Thrones took place in Peniscola. Scenes from El Cid were also shot here.

This seashell clad house can be seen on the ascent to the castle.

The current form of the castle, sitting atop of the old town, is essentially that developed by the Knights Templar, who planned to develop a kingdom centred on Peniscola. James II of Aragon gave the castle to the Templars in 1294, together with the nearby castles of Pulpís and Xivert. The Templars began work that year, demolished the Muslim fortifications, and completely rebuilt the castle; the work being completed in 1307.

If that wasn’t a high octane day, then it was a pleasantly warm evening and time for a BBQ!

Sagunto is a town in Eastern Spain some 30 miles north of Valencia. It is best known for the remains of the ancient Iberian and Roman city of Saguntum, which played a significant part in the Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and the Romans.

The city is renowned for many of its main sights. Just remember though – check if the sights are open because in the winter months on a Monday they aren’t. And today is Monday.

The Castello of Sagunto sits on top of the hill and was constructed in two main parts. Much of the walled ramparts (which are of Roman and Moorish origin) are still preserved.

The Teatro Roman or the Roman Amphitheater at its peak could accommodate 8,000 people. Today that figure was much less since the monument was closed. We managed to sneak a couple of pictures though, through the various gates and / or vantage points.

The Gothic Esglèsia de Santa Maria (St Mary’s Church), is in the Plaça Major (Main Square) – surrounded by newer buildings it was very difficult to get a decent photo.

And finally a visit to the Sagunto History museum which was open on this fine Monday. The museum is located in the house of Mestre Pena, a building in the Jewish quarter dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The largest collection is from the Ibero-Roman period.

With a little time on ours hands (since most places were closed), we set off to the Port of Sagunto. We had read that this was another nice place to see but we need to re-read this information. All we found was a large industrial shipping port.

Time to head home to Bonterra Park…

The day started with domestic chores – namely the washing, and whilst we had hoped Sunday would be a quiet day in the washroom, it wasn’t.

By lunchtime it had all been sorted and we headed down to the promendade. Here too in Benicassim one can still see the damage caused by storm Gloria.

The rootballs of these palm tress are exposed after the sand was washed away.

Here one can see that the clear-up operation has begun. Tons of sand cleared from the Promenade and there’s a rebuilding effort required on much of the seawall and boardwalk.

Late afternoon and it did rain a little at the campsite but the rainbows produced were exquisite. I mention plural because there were several concentric circles of rainbow light.

In the evening we headed into Benicassim for the start of the “Running Wildfire” parade. This lasted a whole hour and a half as the procession meandered it’s way through the streets.

I can’t imagine that this would pass Health and Safety in blighty.

Finally, a 15 minute firework display at the end of the parade which was truly magnificent. London would be proud of this at New Year and yet Benicassim is a town of just 18,000 inhabitants.

I’ll let the pictures tell the remainder of the story.

And finally the firework display itself – this small video wasn’t even from the best bits!

This is the last Saturday of the Benicassim 2020 Sant Antoni and Santa Agueda festival and it was a full-on day.

We started out with our favourite bike ride to Oropesa del Mar. About 14 miles round trip and virtually all off-road on the via verde.

We rode as far as the park in Oropesa and enjoyed a picnic by the water. We discovered a selection of cacti in one section, although it appears perhaps the visiting hordes or the local youth have found their very own way to leave a mark.

Moe was anxious I took the picture quickly as the looping succulent was covered in honey bees!

We returned to the van in the middle of the afternoon in order to head into Benicassim for some evening entertainment.

First up was the “bullfighting”. First of all, no bulls got injured with daggers or spears and this is a relatively safe version – more akin to “bull teasing”. The bulls do climb and stumble on the pieces of apparatus in the ring so it didn’t appear inconceivable that they could damage a limb.

Meanwhile, the youth dodge out from behind the iron cages and tease the bull. No-one got injured by the bulls but there were some close calls. You’ll figure out how it all works from the pictures and videos below.

This bull was an absolute beast and could climb the steps really well. He was no where near as agile as the younger smaller ones though so his chances of inflicting pain were much reduced

At this time of year, as soon as sunset approaches, the temperatures drop dramatically and we head off to Gambrinus for a couple of beers and are joined later by Paul and Andrea from Penrith (ok, they haven’t just travelled from Penrith – they are staying at Bonterra Park for 1 more night (una noche mas)).

As it’s their last night in Benicassim, a table had been booked at La Guindilla restaurant in town. The restaurant is rated number 4 on Tripadvisor in Benicassim and it’s a wonderful place. The 25 Euro set tapas menu is just superb. The portions are ample and the quality of food is excellent. This set menu includes bottomless wine, beer and soft drinks and includes desert and coffee too.

All-in-all, a recipe for disaster. It didn’t help that just as we were about to leave, the heavens opened and the barman offered us a complimentary nightcap. Plus there remained half a bottle of red wine on the table. I don’t think the ladies were too impressed by the lack of restraint from Paul and I on this last night in Benicassim.

Today is the biggest day in the festival of Sant Antoni Abad and Santa Agueda at Benicassim – Paella day.

Fireworks woke us at 07:30 and lasted for a full hour. A wake-up call to head into Benicassim for a traditional Spanish breakfast with Paul. By the time we arrive at 09:00 the square is busy and the beer flowing.

We pay our 1 Euro each for the breakfast which consisted of a chunk of bread and some meats. Whilst I examined the meats with suspicion, Paul tucked into the black sausage. Just at that moment I exclaimed they needed cooking. Too late, Paul has uncovered a new delicacy, raw Spanish Black Pudding.

When we finally figured out what to do, my dodgy Spanish sausages had already entered the recycling system.

At noon, all the bonfires are lit and the start of Paella day begins in earnest.

This Paella was the largest one we saw.

All the streets in the centre of town were closed to traffic and the compulsory bonfires were busy cooking Paella. The crowds were large and we figure the whole population of Benicassim were enjoying the feast and associated bank holiday.

Storm Gloria has finally passed and is reputed to have been one of the strongest storms to hit the Eastern portion of Spain since 1982.

The current death count stands at 11. In many respects we have escaped the storm lightly. Just lots and lots of rain and wind. Further North, monumental amounts of snow have closed roads and caused havoc.

Today (Wednesday) and things are much quieter. A chance to patch up the electrics on the bike and then a ride to Oropesa del Mar. The holiday town which resembles a ghost town. It’s around a ten mile round trip along the Via Verde and the electrics aren’t really necessary.

In the afternoon we met up with Paul and Andrea in Benicassim and spent the late afternoon and evening in a series of bars, eating at Chiquitas in the evening.

Today Moe joined me on the bike ride to Oropesa del Mar again and whilst the winds have dropped, the sea is still angry.

In the afternoon, we cooked a BBQ. This bottle of Rioja was left in the freezer a little longer than was necessary to achieve chilled status.

A testament to our new hybrid Domestic cooler / freezer.

This is an easy entry in which to catch up a few blog days worth of blogging. Storm Gloria arrived at Benicassim during the early hours of Sunday morning and will be sticking around for another 24 – 36 hours. It will be Wednesday before we can start to think about drying things out.

Weather is atrocious, but in many respects we are lucky as elsewhere in Spain and away from the coastal regions, some monumental amounts of snow have lashed the Iberian peninsula.

A BBQ in Paul and Andrea’s awning last night and a visit to Leroy Merlin today. It really is a quality DIY store and puts our aging and tired B&Q chain to shame.

We came away with a stunning new awning light – antique dimmable LED! I’m afraid the picture doesn’t do justice…

Next on to Decathlon for a few more items of warm clothing. Now, the checkout was really wacky. We had armfuls of clothes and the guy at checkout gestured to us to place them in a container. Immediately he demanded payment – no barcode scannning, just an instantaneous price – how cool is that?

And in blighty, we think we are ahead of the game… Think again!

In 2015, Vilafames joined two other Castellon towns on the official list of “Spain’s Most Beautiful Towns” and deserves to be on that list and one can appreciate this as you start to approach the town.

The town seems to delicately climb its way up the hill on which it is perched.

Vilafames feels like a boutique town with a lovely character which blends the old with the new and has a population of around 2000 inhabitants. Despite this history, culture and stunning views across the countryside the town was very quiet for a Saturday afternoon and we appeared to be the only tourists around.

On the ascent through the town is a massive rock. It’s known locally as “the large rock” and it is estimated to weigh 2163 tons and has a volume of 832 cubic metres. Its sits precariuosly at an angle of 34 degress.

As legend has it, the inhabitants feared that they might be crushed by this massive rock, so they wanted to drag it to the plain. A long rope was tied around the rock, and then the residents began pulling hard. When you see the rock, you won’t be surprised to hear that the rope broke, and the impressive rock didn’t move. The locals all fell onto the ground and got their “culitos” (backsides in Spanish) dirty, and this earned them the nickname of – culrojos – red bottoms.

The remains of the Vilafames castle, perched on top of the hill at 390 metres above sea level, are most likely from the 14th century. At this time Vilafames was annexed to the order of Santa Maria de Montesa, but during the centuries that followed, circumstances and different uses of the castle dictated that it underwent many changes. One example was during the Carlist Wars, in the 19th century, when the castle was adapted to keep up with new war techniques. The circular central tower was built, which is one of a handful of examples to be found within the Valencia community of Carlist architecture.

Construction of the Vilafames Parish Church of the Assumption began in 1594 and it was initially dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin. The architect Martin Garcia de Mendoza, who was the master of the Cathedral in Tortosa, designed the floor. Juan Palacios was in charge of the work being carried out.

On our way back to Benicassim, we spotted that London was directly overhead, in a manner of speak.

Later in the evening we headed into Benicassim for dinner at La Guindilla. This restaurant was a fine choice by Paul and Andrea – the food was superb and I would highly recommend the 25 Euro Tapas set menu – inclusive of drinks, desert and coffee.

The Electricity is a little expensive here at Camping Bonterra Park in Benicassim so we decided to heat the caravan by gas. At the moment, particularly during the night, temperatures fall off quite dramatically.

Anyhow, our LPG cylinder is approaching empty so we set aside the morning to get it refilled. There are about 100 LPG stations throughout Spain and they are reasonably evenly spaced.

Our first choice was the Repsol garage at Castellon, about a 30 minute drive away. We always struggle to fit the propane dispenser properly; coupled with a potential requirement to Prepay and it wasn’t long before some jobsworth spotted us filling the Safefill cylinder and started gesturing at us. A few minutes later the manageress appeared and basically told us we weren’t filling it there!

Fortunately the Cooperativa was a totally different experience and we now have a full tank! Despite that, pretty much the entire morning had passed by.

Post lunch and we prepared the bikes for a trip along the via verde from Benicassim to Oropesa del Mar. This via verde, like many others across Europe, follows an old railway line which, in this case, used to traverse the coastline between these two towns.

The cycle ride (some 6km to the outskirts of Oropesa) itself is stunning but the town of Oropesa del Mar is just a ghost town. I suspect during the height of summer it will be rammed with tourists but right now it’s closed.

The weather so far has been nice during the day and very pleasant in direct sun. Daily highs have been typically around 19 degrees but under clear skies, temperatures drop off rapidy post sunset and overnight lows are only a few degrees.

Electricity is charged at Eur 0.40 per unit which is close to three times the price for typical domestic energy. We can fill our Safefill LPG bottle for around Eur 14 and the equivalent price per kw/h is about Eur 0.90.

Needless to say we are running the heating on gas!

Pleasant BBQ in the afternoon before heading into Benicassim – this is after all, Thursday 16th January and the day on which the festival of San Antonio Abad and Santa Agueda commences.

From what we can see, this represents a perfect excuse for the Spanish to party for a good 10 days. Not that the Spanish need a lot of encouragement to throw a decent fiesta.

The tradition of St. Anthony Abad and the blessing of the animals is celebrated in many towns, not just Benicassim. Here there are campfires in the streets, and some of the typical products are roasted, such as chops and artichokes.

There is also a procession of floats, animals and bareback riders on horseback.

The celebrations will be noisy and last most of the night. Probably every night over the next 10 days!