Well, we did it…. we finally managed to part company with Alicante and headed up into the mountains to get a change of scenery….. And that we certainly got 🙂

We had planned to stop for a night in a small village called Alcala del Jucar, but when we looked at the weather forecast and it was predicting snow at 500m in the area we decided to make a run through the hills and get the majority of the mountainous bits behind us, arriving at a UNESCO walled town called Ubeda late afternoon.

Leaving Alicante we worked our way up into the mountains,  winding between vinyards and olive groves, occasionally getting snippets of some of the beautiful Cherry and Almond blossom whilst the temperature slowly dropped. By lunch time shorts and a t-shirt had been switched for jeans and a jumper, it had got down to 6 degrees in just a couple of hours…. Oh and about 800m of altitude 🙂

The Aire in Ubeda (Free with all facilities exc. Elec) was clean and tidy, nestled by the side of a Guardia Civil training center just outside the historic town center. GPS n38.00611 w3.37972   We selected this Aire as it enabled us to cycle over to Baeza (another UNESCO Heritage site) as well as explore Ubeda which was on our doorstep. So, after a quick baking session – yes, still making rolls – we set off to stretch our legs and see what was in store for us tomorrow.

After a peaceful night we woke to a crisp morning with blue skies and despite the 4 degrees and the Guardia Civil looking on, jumped into action and got on with our morning Tabata exercise to warm us up.  A quick shower and a bowl of porridge later and we were ready to cycle over to Baeza ….. What a beautiful place, despite being a slightly misty day the views were stunning (The enormous house behind where I was standing to take this photo was for sale….. tempted hmmm….)

Baeza has been maintained to an immaculate state

and the shops are mostly boutique-style with many a patisserie (very un-Spanish-like) to bring in the slightly wealthier clientele, but it still felt very welcoming and normal…. or perhaps that is because Keith and I found a Madrid Football Club bar to stop and have a drink in so we saw the darker side 🙂

After eating our delicious homemade rolls in the sun opposite one of the fancier patisseries we jumped on the bikes and headed back to further explore Ubeda.

Ubeda is also very attractive, but seen on the same day as Baeza it would be better described as ‘shabby chic’.  It is much more of a working town with normal shops, although thankfully also had its fair share of patisseries and I am pleased to say that we are back in the land of beer/wine and free tapa which is always a good thing 🙂

After a couple of hours being entertained by the next generation of military drummers we settled into a quiet evening to prepare ourselves for a brisk run along (down and up) the cycle path in the morning.

Showered, breakfasted, emptied, filled and packed up we set off to Córdoba ….. Where we have been before, but neither of us remember much except that it was raining.

With mixed reviews,  we decided to park up at the Parque Centro Historico Aire (11 Euros for just under 24 hours with all facilities at an extra charge) GPS n37.87454 w4.78648. It was easy and we knew we would probably only be there for one night so wanted to be close.

Walking around Córdoba didn’t trigger many memories oddly, not sure what happened on our previous visit, but I can assure you that it is very pretty and worth a visit, although full of tourists.

After a long, hot afternoon of walking through the streets of Córdoba we settled in to a local (non-touristy) bar to watch the Madrid vs Barcelona game, eating tapas for dinner.

Four days back into travelling and we are definately getting back into the routine.  Obviously we have been living in the Motorhome all year, but moving, parking, emptying, showering, washing up, etc. all takes a little bit more thinking …… We are pretty much there now, although and I am sure that by the end of the week we will have forgotten what it was like to be on a proper site!

Tonight we are stopped in a little place called Zafra where the Aire (Free with all facilities exc. elec.) GPS n38.42544 w6.41186 is close to a pretty-ish little walled town.  For us, a bit of a convenience stop as we are heading over the border into Portugal tomorrow and we wanted a last night to sort out admin in Spain….. And to stock up on a few of the bits we can’t get in Portugal ….. It is really odd how Lidl stocks different items in different countries 🙂

Just a reminder, if you want to see a map of the route we are taking you can either click on ‘Our route so far‘ on our Home Page, or just click here