Catamaran to Cadiz? - Portugal/Spain Road Trip Part 11

 

 Time to rest and time to enjoy

Playa la Puntilla, El Puerto Santa Maria 

On leaving Tavira we headed south in Spain, going to a part of the country we had never been to before and in search of a bit more sunshine, before heading back north. This part of the adventure was meant to be relaxing, no churches, roman ruins, stones or amazing buildings, just chilling…and that is what we were mostly able to do.

 Camping las Dunas was our home for our first stop in Spain. It was enormous but had THE CLEANEST toilet block of the trip. The ladies who cleaned were like a clinical team, even down to their uniforms; the shower block shone. This was good for us as we opted for 6 nights here, what we didn’t opt for were the biting things that attacked us repeatedly, which after day one was enough, by the time it got to day six we were ready to go, as we looked liked the surface of the moon with all of our bites and bumps. No amount of solutions, sprays and creams stopped them; the second you walked out in the morning you were fair game. We then turned this into our game at night, hunting down the mossies before turning lights out. It all got a bit tiresome and we didn’t really get to relax in the way we had hoped as the trees provided too much shade. 

Part of Cadiz Cathedral looking across to the Atlantic Ocean

We tried a beach day, however, my lack of tolerance of sand meant we lasted about 20 minutes before giving up and going back, even though it was relief from getting bitten. We also wandered around the coast to the town of El Puerto de Santa Maria and worked out the timings and logistics of getting the catamaran across to Cadiz, which could be seen from the beach we were next to. Some hammock time allowed us to chill and read. It also meant we could cook more as we had set up the full camp; we were able to sit out until 11pm at night and enjoy the stars and the sound of the sea.

Cadiz Cathedral

Waiting for a less windy day for our visit to Cadiz seemed like a good idea at the time. I am a little fearful when it comes to boats and the visit to suss them out was as much about me seeing the size and condition of the ferry as it was about finding out costings and timings. Satisfied, I was able to psyche myself up to going on the trip. We should not have waited, we woke to thick fog and Pi kept reassuring me every time we heard the fog horn, that they would know what they were doing and I shouldn’t worry.  Hoping the fog would lift as we walked the 30 minutes to the ferry, I was disappointed to see it had been replaced by a bus service. All that psyching up for nothing; it was especially disappointing as the sun was shining as soon as we crossed the bridge and arrived at the port (ironically) to be dropped off. We had everything crossed to get the ferry back as getting a ‘Catamaran to Cadiz’ had a certain catchiness to it.

Calling for a coffee in the plaza immediately in front of the cathedral was a way for us to get our bearings and plan where we wanted to go. It genuinely was the case that the place we visited had no coffee so we just had to settle on a wine and a beer, even though it was before 12 o’clock…so much for not drinking again today!

View from the cathedral bell tower

The views from the top of the cathedral were spectacular and the audio guide, that we downloaded for the inside of the cathedral, gave us a fabulous insight into the numerous chapels and history of the building. We searched at length for the El Greco paintings that we thought were here, but it turns out we were in the wrong building! Still, we managed to make this last longer than most other people, we like to get our money’s worth. After lunch we headed back to the port after wandering the narrow streets as we had a catamaran to catch…we hoped.

Alas it wasn’t to be, despite glorious weather we were faced with a bus journey back; super disappointed we headed to the campsite, knowing after all the wandering we had done, we still had another walk back. Only now it was much cooler; the sun was starting to set, making it feel quite romantic!

 

Being here over Halloween introduced us to a whole new thing…adults here get as dressed up as the children! We spotted a parade heading in our direction then suddenly Daisy was surrounded by a mass of children holding out buckets. We wish someone had warned us, as all we had was a measly packet of sweets and even that wasn’t full. Seeing disappointed faces made me feel guilty and vow  to never travel on Halloween unprepared again!

Keen to leave here to head to our next site, we packed away so we could get an early start. When we were last in Spain we noticed the big black bulls on the hillsides, they were a form of advertising which have since been left to become an obvious symbol of Spain, this time we also spotted the Tio Pepe man, who was evident around much of the sherry region and towards Cordoba which was our next stop.

Our site for the next three nights at least, was at Camping la Campiña which was about 40 kms south of Cordoba. Its setting was so beautiful as it is surrounded by olive trees as far as the eye could see, and when the sun set it was quite mesmerising. Here, we really did get a chance to relax, totally and utterly. Hammocks out, wine and beer in hand. Reading and listening to music was our only activity. It felt so good to be here in November, being able to switch off and not feel we had to do anything…this finally felt like the kind of trip I thought we were going to have, but because of my insane need to see and do everything, it wasn’t quite what our trip had turned into!

Sun setting in the olive groves

We loved our time here so much we added an extra night and really did not want it to stop. We befriended some cats or more like they befriended us, something I have never done before. I guess I was softening up too! At this time of the year we were one of only three other campers, the site even when full looks like it would be peaceful and the showers were lovely…an important fact for us now we had tried so many tepid ones. A bus can take you to Cordoba from outside the site, but as we have been before we voted with our bottoms and stayed put.

On route to Toledo - finding the windmills of La Mancha in Consuegra

12th century Castillo La Muela, Consuegra

I had read about the windmills here, the molinos de viento, and this was the best place to see so many in a line for that perfect picture; we definitely needed to visit. The town below the castle and the windmills is quite unassuming for the most part, but the steep road climbing up the hill gives way to fabulous views across the countryside as well as being able to see the mills close up. 

Molinos de viento

Some of the 12 mills are still working and one has been turned into a gift shop, where we went searching for an ice-cream only to be told that the season had finished but we could buy cheese, drinks or magnets! The cheese of course being manchego cheese. We declined the magnets and cheese and bought a drink before carrying on our journey. The castle was once the seat of the Knights of Malta but was closed for renovation at this time.

The mills in all their glory looked beautiful against the blue sky so we climbed up to the very top of the hill to see them all and spot some of the names they have been given; I believe one was named ‘Sancho’ after the character in Cervantes Don Quixote. This book was how the windmills became so famous in the 17th century when the novel was first published.

We didn’t stay too long here as time was pressing and we were heading to the place I had wanted to visit for many years…next stop Toledo.