Rural Spain Recce
Spain was never really a mystery to me, having holidayed in Ibiza and many of the coastal locations well trodden by tourists. However, this part of Spain, rural Spain, was a whole new ball game.
I knew I had 3 or 4 days before the removal van with our “stuff” plus Kenny, the Jack Russell and Carl, the cat, so I was definitely free to buzz around finding my feet as it were.
So, neither the internet nor mobile reception was a viable source of information, a 10-minute stroll to the village (world’s tiniest lol) square, where I knew they had a public WiFi available.
Not the best of internet bandwidth, but just enough to check in with the guys to see how the sale of their house was progressing and pull up some Google Maps to find resources in the area.
I saw that there was another village, Castilléjar, which appeared to have some shops and a bank, just 3km from Los Olivos. It was around 10 am and the heat had not yet started burning, so I decided not to take the car…and take a gentle walk…
Well, it was a good idea at the start, and whilst the distance was only 3km, the ground was somewhat undulating in its form. Naturally, this made the walk a little more challenging, and as I neared the outskirts of Castilléjar, that heat I spoke of…had started to build.
Although the rental had pots, pans, etc., it didn't have a kettle, so that was part of my goal. There must be somewhere in this larger village that stocks things like that…
I also had in mind finding a cafe for a sit and a cuppa, maybe even some form of breakfast.
Again, one thing I had not taken into account was the fact that hamlets, villages, towns and cities in this part of Spain tended to have been shoe-horned into hills or mountains…my feet, my calves and my perspiration levels soon found that out.
Wandering around Castilléjar, all I seemed to find were dwellings…spending about an hour going up hill and down dale turned out fruitless, and I couldn’t even use my mobile for finding anything (yup, reception seemed to be nil there also).
It was getting near midday on this recce, and I knew I had little or no option but to set off back. Thankfully, I had had the sense to take bottled water with me, so, following the route I took in, I slowly wandered back to Los Olivos.
In my mind’s eye, I thought, or hoped, the tavern in the square might be open on my return…that gave me added focus.
Arriving back in the Los Olivos square, I glanced towards the tavern…shut! Urgh! Hey ho, off back to the cave, only 10 more minutes walk.
Opening the door to the rental, I immediately felt the waft of cool air within…what a relief, by this time I had been walking for around 3 hours and the building heat had drained me.
I boiled a pan of water so I could have coffee and sat for several hours just enjoying the coolness, but also wondering what strategy I should take the next day…I certainly wasn’t up for more investigations at that point, and noting the time (around 1430hrs), I knew Spain would be taking their siesta, and anything I might find would also be shut lol.
Still having some bits I had picked up from the airport to enable me to make a meal that evening, I also knew I would have to find a supermarket of some sort the next day.
The next morning, I would again need to walk to the square and cobble together directions and see where that would take me.
Next Time: “Perhaps Kettles aren’t a Thing Here”
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