Valentine's day in Spain

Thursday 14th February. A travelling day.

Time to move on again. Yesterday Mike noticed a large nail in the tyre so with the help and directions from the harbour master we set of to a tyre place to have the nail removed and the tyre plugged. Mike was also keen to travel through the area where the Clint Eastwood and all the Spaghetti Westerns were filmed. So we headed northwards to Tabernas and Sorbas. The landscape was very barren and tough looking. At Tabernas they still have one of the film sets complete that you can visit.

From there we dropped back down to the coast to Carboneras where we stopped and had our Valentines Lunch at a beachside restaurant. It was sunny and just warm enough to sit outside. Offshore we could see the gannets diving for fish. We both ordered the menu of the day which was a 3 course meal. Mike had a chicken dish with pino (tiny pasta pieces) and I had tuna salad. This was followed by a fried fish dish each then fresh pineapple. Mike opted for a coffee instead. A glass of wine was also included in the 10 euro price.

We dragged ourselves away and we still had a lot of driving to do. We continued up the coast towards Mojacar again with steep climbs and stunning views. 

Then we headed inland to Lorca and then onto Murcia. It took us a while to find our final stop which was in the middle of a lemon tree plantation. But with our sat nav taking us down impassable roads and roads closed due to construction work we arrived in the dark only to find the site closed. Not to be put off we opened the gates, found a spot and parked, as planned for the night. First thing in the morning Mike went to find the owners and paid the overnight fee.

Friday 15th February

 

I got up early and went for a walk into the village. There was supposed to be a market that morning but I was unable to find it. However it was a very pleasant walk through the lemon groves. Back to the van and I did some work on the Internet. Mike was experiencing problems with the electrical supply to the van and with the help of the owner managed to sort out the problem ( my computer). Mike later came back with a large net of lemons given to him by the owner. We left the site shortly after midday and arrived at Beryl and Jeff's villa near Alicante about two hours later. Having located the villa we went down to the beach to stretch our legs, check out the restaurant and visit the local supermarket for our weeks shopping ready for when the kids arrived. We slept in the van outside the villa that night and moved in the following morning.