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Caves & Castles

October – December 2024
  • Misadventures Of Wanda
This is our journey back to France, Spain & Portugal to visit some of the things we’ve overlooked in the past. Read more
  • Misadventures Of Wanda

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  • Portugal Portugal
  • Spain Spain
  • England England
  • France France
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Bicycle, Camper, Family, Hiking, Nature, Photography, Sightseeing, Wilderness
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  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Back to Castril

    October 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    It was really cold last night, down to 8°c which is unheard of for this time of year and it rained again. I’ll be honest the weather is nearly as depressing as at home but it hasn’t actually stopped us going anything.
    Our first stop of the day was a 70 mile drive back to Castril. We have only come back here because we were passing and it’s a beautiful walk along the catwalks running through the gorge and it is a lovely town and it’s all free this time of the year. Unfortunately it wasn’t sunny like last time but we are glad we have experienced it in the sun because it did look stunning last time.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Marchal

    October 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our next stop of the day was supposed to be a free Motorhome area in Poco Alzon but although there was a tap and a dump station the whole area looked run down and there were 2 dogs left outside at one of the houses next to the Motorhome area and although they were quiet when we pulled up you can bet your life they will bark at night.
    We pressed on and drove to our next park up which was deep in the Sierra Nevada badlands in the edge of the town of Marchel. This village is a true troglodyte village and there are still cave houses being lived in. There is a new set of stairs leading up to some of the older cave houses and I managed to get into one and there were newspapers from 1983. That was the last time someone lived there, but the cave itself is hundreds of years old.
    Our Motorhome area is beautiful and free and we are overlooking the badlands. It’s a shame the weather is so bad. We have weather warnings tonight for severe rain.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Antequera

    October 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We hardly got any sleep last night. We were in the middle of the storm from hell. Thunder and lightning started at around 7pm last night and went through the whole night. There must have been hours where there were no gaps atall in the noise from the thunder and there was just a constant rumble. It was great but we couldn’t sleep and we had it all day today aswell.
    We left our park up in Marchel at 10am and drove to Granada to visit decathlon but I was so tired and it was so stressful finding a parking spot I just wanted to leave as soon as I got in which was a wasted experience in such a big store and I’m now regretting it.
    Then we drove to Antequera but the rain on the way was really unbelievable. The motorway turned into a river and traffic was down to 30mph a lot of the way because no one could see. We had mega lightning and huge hail stones. Then getting into Antequera TomTom took me right through the city centre. Even though I had made a big note on my notes not to drive through the city I hadn’t read it because we were so tired.
    The last 2 photos are some of the streets we got Wanda down.
    They were cobbled and really steep and the second hill we wheelspun the whole way up. As soon as I saw a side street that went down I went down it and then we popped out onto a main road and there was our parking spot for the night.
    Once the rain stopped at 4:30pm we headed out into the city to visit the historic sights.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    It’s still *******g raining!!

    October 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    It rained pretty much all night and we woke up to news that Malaga and Valencia are heavily flooded and 34 people have been killed. There’s also been a tornado.
    We’ve been lucky driving through the storm yesterday and surviving without any damage and getting to a park up nice and early. Others turned up much later and we could see they had been through worse when they were emptying water from the bike bags in the rear of their vehicles.
    The wind really picked up and at one point I thought it was going to rip the bike rack off the back of Wanda so I moved us so we were facing into the wind. Wanda was getting a real battering.
    At 11:30am the rain had stopped so we decided to brave the wind and took a 2 mile walk through the city and out the other side to the Dolmens.
    These are ancient Bronze Age burial sites and they were completely free to access. They are a unesco world heritage site and are funded by the government and the museum before we saw the dolmens is amazing. All of the artefacts found in the Dolmens and the skeletal remains are on display here.
    The Dolmens were a little bit of a let down in all honesty but still fascinating to see. Then it was a walk back to Wanda and the rain started again.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Osuna

    October 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    At 2:30pm I decided the weather was good enough to move and even though it was still raining we took a 1 hour drive to our next destination. Osuna.
    This town has awards for the prettiest street in Spain and it is full of Roman ruins but we didn’t look around today.
    Our free aire has free water and grey and black waste and we used all of them as we pulled up. The aire looks like it’s in a car park of a supermarket but it’s actually just off to the side and it’s not a well known supermarket as it’s a Chinese place and also has a Chinese junk store next to it. We spent about an hour in the junk store looking around as it’s full of stuff you never knew you needed. When we came out the rain picked up again and so did the wind.
    It rained and rained until 7pm and then finally it stopped and as it’s still windy hopefully it will start to dry out quickly. By Friday the weather is supposed to start picking up again.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    El Coto Las Canteras

    October 31, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We had a great nights sleep considering we are quite near a road and basically sleeping in a car park. The night was silent except for the rain.
    Our first stop this morning was El Coto Las Canteras and because of the rain we couldn’t get Wanda up the hill to the car park so we had to park at the bottom of the hill just on the edge of Osuna town and hike up.
    El Coto Las Canteras is the old Roman quarry and has been restored inside to resemble an ancient Roman building. It was full of artifacts inside that they have found over the years in the quarry and surrounding areas. This quarry lies at the end of the royal cattle track to Granada. It is now used as a major events and concert hall.
    It was a fascinating place and for €4 each it was worth the money.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    The Roman Necropolis

    October 31, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    From El Coto Las Canteras we walked back down the hill and picked up the gravel track that was the royal cattle track to Granada. This track has been used for thousands of years to transport cattle from various towns on route to the main city of Granada to market. In the Roman times the track and baths, An arena and even a Necropolis off to the side it and of course the quarry where stone would be cut and then transported down the track aswell.
    The track still exists and is pretty much in its original form and most of the Roman remains are still there to see. These include the baths and the Necropolis.
    The Necropolis has been looted time and time again over the years and has now been left open to the public so we actually got inside some of the tombs and we could see where bodies would have been. It was creepy but cool at the same time.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Área Autocaravanas de Fuentes de Andaluc

    October 31, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    From Osuna we drove 20 miles to Fuentes de Andalusia to a free Motorhome area. We were here for me to ride the via verde but it rained all the way here and when we pulled up it was still raining.
    After lunch the rain gradually eased off and I decided to put my wet gear on and head out.
    I managed to get 55kms under my belt but as I got to the next town the rain had washed mud off the fields and it just clogged my bike up so much that it completely stopped the wheels. I got a stick and cleaned off what I could and came back part of the way on the road with mud flicking everywhere. When I got back to Wanda I had to ride to the local garage and pressure wash the bike and me off.
    We’ve been lucky with the rain. We have constantly been right on the edge of the worst of it and Valencia, Malaga, and Andalusia have been hit hard but it’s mainly in built up coastal areas.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Carmona

    November 1, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We were up at 7:30am today and as we had water in tap we both took showers.
    Then we went for a 2 mile walk to look for the kittens I had seen yesterday in my bike ride to feed them but we couldn’t find them.
    We left our park up around 10am and headed 20 miles down the road to the small city of Carmona. This city was known as the gateway to Seville as the one Roman road that ran through it ran straight to Seville and Carmona was fortified.
    Its Roman origins date back to the 1st & 2nd century and our first stop once we had found the Motorhome area was to walk to the old Roman Necropolis which was about a mile away.
    The entrance to the Necropolis is gained through the museum which was amazing as everything was written in Spanish and English. All of the artifacts from the necropolis were on display. They included the containers with ashes of the dead. Urns and offerings to the gods. Then there was a 30 minute video explaining the death rituals of the Romans which was really eye opening.
    Coming out of the museum we were then guided around the grounds of the necropolis by arrows ending up at the largest one which contained the burial chambers and 2 gardens with large ponds and this is where the family’s would have there funerals whilst burning the body on a pyre to one side.
    After the necropolis we walked around the city passing through the old portal and into the historic centre.
    Today is All Saints’ Day here and most of the shops were closed but Carmona seems like quite a nice city.
    Once we had gotten back to Wanda we had walked 5.5 Miles on top of the 2 we had done earlier and we were glad to finally sit down.
    We will be spending the night here and it seems pretty good except there is a main road right next to us, but we’re hoping that will calm down by tonight.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Santiponce

    November 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    This morning we left Carmona at 9am and We’d had a good nights sleep which was good because our first stop was a massive decathlon store on the edge of Seville. I managed to spend my birthday vouchers on tops and t-shirts and some spares for cycling.
    Our next stop was just a mile away at a garage to do our laundry and this took hours because we had to wait for a 14kg machine to become available then we had to wait for it to wash, then we had to wait for it to dry so we eventually left there at 2pm.
    We were just going to drive to our overnight stop but I really wanted to visit Santiponce as I knew it was open today and although google says it’s open on Sundays we’ve lucked out there before.
    Santiponce is actually built on the Roman city of Italica but a small portion of the former city remains protected and open to the public. This includes an almost intact amphitheatre.
    We arrived at 2:30pm and paid £1:50 each to enter the site that sits on a 2 mile square section of protected land and it’s really impressive. For anyone that has seen any Roman films or series or has any interest in that aspect of history it is a must see.
    This was our first intact amphitheatre and it was unreal. We could even walk where the gladiators waited to go into battle. To make it even better there was a big football match going on nearby and we could hear all the cheering. The amphitheatre must have been a terrifying place if you were going there to fight.
    From the amphitheatre we walked on the original Roman streets that are 1st and 2nd century. These are 1800 years old, the time of Marcus Aurelius the emperor in gladiator and Hadrian.
    Here we walked through the streets and town that was laid out in a grid formation and although the roofs and most walls have long since disappeared. The floors and mosaic tiles are still there and intact. It was an amazing place to walk around and I’m really pleased the helicopter on La Vuelta flew over it so we knew about it. It is far easier to get into than Seville.
    Our park up for the night is literally 100 meters away from Italica in a car park with several other motorhomes.    Read more

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