paella in peniscola

A photo from Toby of Peniscola

After learning my lesson with buffet breakfasts in Andorra (eating so much I had to put my pj bottoms back on), I'm secretly thrilled to learn there isn't much on offer at our hotel in Peniscola. I have very little will power. We eat, dress and then chill out for a bit. I do some trip planning for my solo adventure (no luck finding a couchsurfing host in Barcelona, so I'm staying in hostels for a few nights that I needed to book). Mum's feeling a bit off so the rest of us decided to explore the old town. Again, there is some bit building on the top of a hill with a windy little village nestled under it. And again, we want to explore it.

We walk along the wharf and then up into the village. Most of it is lined with shops but they have some great stuff. All of us (except Dad who waits patiently outside) pick up some things. We find a great ceramics store that we take Mum back to later. Dad and I lose Kim and Toby but find them again a little later. We keep walking around then venture back down into the 'main' part of town in search of a grocer to get some lunch things. We pass a woman on the beach making the most incredible sand sculptures of Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and the dragon. We toss some money into the blanket on the sand and take a few pictures. Her work really is quite amazing.

We make it back to mum in time for lunch and to stream the tour on our laptops. The broadcast here doesn't start until about 4pm, hours after the actual start so we watch on our computers for a while, then turn it on the tv but continue listening to the commentary in English on our computers. I have a little nap and wake up as Cadel is racing. Mum can't watch and is pacing in the other room. I also find it's a bit too much and distract myself on the computer. But it doesn't take long before we're celebrating his yellow jersey. And it's about time too. Mum rings Judy in Tassie to share the win.

After we come down off our le tour high, we start our big pack. Mum is giving me one of her little day packs and her other one is going to Kim so we all have a major repack and do some washing before dinner. We leave a little bit early to make the ceramic shop, where we all buy some more stuff. Mine will be going back to Tassie with Mum and Dad. I'll get to be all excited again in a couple of years when I reopen it.

Mum has been hankering for a paella since we got to Spain so tonight we must eat one, it's our last night. Luckily, she's feeling better so we find a place overlooking the water and order two. Each paella requires two people to eat it, although Toby looks like he could squash that rule pretty easily. The dish is everything we'd hoped for and as flup as we are, we still enjoy an ice cream afterwards.

We walk back along the beach and find the sand sculpture are still going. It's finished now, there's a Puss in Boots too. The beach was still packed when we walked to dinner, but the crowds are moving off the sand and onto the streets now. Along the beach further there is a bit of a public space where there are some buskers...a puppet show for kids and some young guys break dancing. Then it's back to the hotel for our last night in Spain, and my last night with the family.

a sea change in peniscola

Our aim today was an early getaway. This time we're heading for the beach.
Farewell orange houses with terracotta roofs. Hello white houses...with terracotta roofs.

Our early getaway isn't as early as we would have liked. We packed up Louis and head in the opposite direction for Cascada de Calamadre, a waterfall about 15km from Albarracin. The waterfall, at which you can get close enough to feel the water droplets, was a welcome change after such dry landscape. We walked around for a bit, tried to photograph the rainbows behind the water with average success, and it was back to Louis. Rather than drive back through Albarracin and along the same road we drove in on and drove to Teruel on, we decide to keep going and hook abck around later. Unfortunately this detour took a little longer than expected. Mum and Kim had hoped to be in Peniscola to watch the tour in the afternoon, but it was not to be.

Instead we drove though some different landscape yet again. And several signs warning of deer, although I never did see one. And I was looking! We stop at a supermarcado for bread and ham (Mariah Carey's Hero is playing in the store), but fill up on biscuits and chips and ice cream so no one wants a sandwich. We drive along windy roads and then out of no where come across someone's vegie patch. A few more kilometres down the road there is a small village. And more vegie patches on the way out.

There's a sprinkle of rain as we near the coast, which is expected given the dark clouds ahead of us. Soon the landscape changes again. This time to orange trees. I only see one or two pieces of fruit on the trees. It's a good thing we are driving otherwise they too would have ended up in Dad's pocket. We spy the sea in the distance but still have a while to drive up the Coast. We eventually turn off. We are quite close before Kim sees the humour in the town we are staying at. Peniscola. Don't get it? Break the name in two.

We check in at our hotel just in time to watch the last 11km of le tour in the hotel bar. We unpack, settle in and then walk to the beach, which is about 1km down the road. Despite the late hour and fading sun, there are still plenty of people enjoying both the sand and water. It isn't very deep...people out quite a way are still only up to their waists in the Mediterranean sea. Kim picks a place for dinner. Despite it being quite late for us (after 8pm) we are still the first customers. We have this problem every where we go. Most places don't even open for dinner until 8pm. No matter how late we leave it, we are always eating early compared to the Spanish. Tonight after dinner and dessert, a walk across to a small fair by the water and back into town, we still pass people just about to dig into their main courses. And we're heading home to bed.

first impressions deceive

As we drove into Albarracin two days ago, mum said "What a dump".
At the time I had to agree. Nothing but old industrial buildings, service stations and the like on the way into town. Our hotel is also at the bottom of the hill, and until today we hadn't explored into the town.
We followed a rather lazy evening last night with a lazy start. But around lunchtime we though we better make a move, so with hat and camera in hand we set off to explore Albarracin.
The best way to describe this town is that it is one to get lost in. Not in the romantic sense (oh I could get lost in Paris, I just love it), but literally. There are very few streets wide enough for a car, although the odd smart car and tiny Peugot seems to fit. They wind up and down, a staircase here and there. Before you know it you can't work out where you are and whether you've seen that tapas bar before. There were a few more touristy stores here selling some quality and not-so quality items. Kim, Toby and I lost mum and dad early and started out way through the town. There is a quick walk up to the top of the hill where there are some remains of the wall that once enclosed the whole village. But in the midday sun I thought it best to stay in the shade. Kim and Toby were also rather protective of their ice creams. So we weaved our way back through, sometimes coming out on a street only metres from where we got off it in the first place. It didn't take long to realise our first impressions of Albarracin were misguided. It is a beautiful town.

We had the hotel key so decided to head back there and have lunch while we waited for the folks. The afternoon continued with streaming le tour on our laptops. We couldn't be bothered messing around with the kitchen again so we opted for tapas. Since we introduced Kim to them in La Fresneda she has become somewhat of a convert. We again made a fair selection and again had to order seconds...twice. The plaza, which had been quite empty earlier in the day, filled up over the evening. As we came past later there were even more people out. Many of them not dining at any of the bars or restaurants, but having come out of their houses to suss out the news of the day and no doubt talk about us visitors.

After we were all quite flup (full up) we ventured up the hill. This meant a second hike for mum and dad, who braved the heat earlier in the day. Kim, Dad and Toby walked up the front, behind the village, while Mum and I stuck to the road around the back of the wall. We made it up with just enough light to take some quick photos and make it back down again.

a surprise at teruel

Our apartment in Albarracin has a kitchen, which we would like to make the most of. Unfortunately, we don't think the town has a very good supermarket. Since we chose this place to be a base to explore other places near it, we decide to drive to Teruel, in the hope of also finding a supermarket.
We have no idea what to expect at Teruel. The signs indicate it's a pretty big town. And it is, compared to the tiny villages we've been staying in. We park the car and set out in search of a supermarket. It isn't long before we find ourselves in a plaza filled with photographs. As any explanation would be in Spanish we don't know what it is all about. They are just blown up photographs, apparently from around the world. And quite significant photos too. There's even one of the Beatles, which is fitting since there is a busker there playing Let it be.

We walked around the town a bit. As usual we managed to hit it right on siesta time. We decided to have lunch at a cafe (very disappointing service unfortunately) and then hit the road. Our search for a supermarket didn't really happen and we ended up finding one at Albarracin which was opening at 5pm, so we stocked up there.

Teruel was a bit of a surprise really. I later read it is one of Spain's best kept secrets. It was quite a pretty town. The same narrow streets winding about, but some beautiful architecture too. Some of the buildings had a very mediterranean look to them.

After dinner in our apartment, I had grand intentions of going for a walk around the village after dinner but this was one night it got dark sooner than I expected.