Monday 3rd October - Sunday 9th October 2016.
The first two days this week were spent in a blur of Man Cold misery with it (as usual) attacking my chest giving me such a cough that for one whole night I had to sleep sitting up.
Wednesday - Being a brave soldier I agreed to move site today. We have left the giant site at Le Escorial and moved not to Albarracín as originally proposed which was to the north and west but to CAMPING LOS BATANES which is south and west of where we were (Hopefully warmer and more conducive to getting better than the possibly colder north).
Thursday - The site is quite rural with the nearest large supermarket around 45 km (28 ml) away, unfortunately we failed to stock up before we left so Sue and I toddled of to Tomelloso to find Spain’s answer to Tesco - MERCADONA. Along with all our shopping we bought some fresh sardines for our tea. We know (as Frank pointed out) they are technically out of season and not at their best, but we fancied them. Later that evening as we put them on the COBB BBQ we were very politely but firmly told by the camp manager that charcoal BBQ’s were banned in all of Spain’s natural parks. He went on to say that as the BBQ was already lit we should carry on and enjoy our dinner then added “but don’t let the police catch you or it will be a very expensive dinner”. We moved the BBQ round the back of the caravan and cooked our sardines as quickly as we could.
Friday - We went on a “drive about” today visiting two towns, the first was VILLANUEVA DE LOS INFANTES, a town that lies in the heart of the province of Ciudad Real. Destroyed during the occupation of Spain by the Moors and rebuilt later by the Jews. In 1350 it gained autonomy from neighbouring Montiel when Enrique of Aragon and his brothers (the Infantes) granted it “Carta Puebla”, a letter of Population or Privilege (Latin populationis chartae). It is the name of the document by which the Christian kings and secular lords and ecclesiastics of the Iberian Peninsula granted a number of privileges to population groups in order to get the repopulation of certain areas of economic or strategic interest during the Reconquest. It was the first manifestation of local law that appeared during that process. - source Wikipedia.
The local tourist information has an interesting (free - so even better) leaflet which details a circular walk round the town with details of all there is to see. Of particular note is the Plaza Mayor where buildings of late renaissance and neo-classical design surround this unique main town square as well as statues to the regions favourite characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza from the book "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha” which book was set in this region. Continuing our drive to SAN CARLOS DE VALLE we parked on the main through road and walked to the only highlight in this 16th century town the Plaza Mayor with the church on one side timber galleries opposite and a good yet very reasonably priced restaurant/bar at the top end. A couple of days ago we had spied a couple of miles from the site an artisan cheese maker with a small shop attached to his creamery, we popped in on our way home tonight a bought a big wedge of unpasteurised “old” Monchego cheese, quite simply the best we have ever tasted. This evening we went to the site restaurant for a meal and from reports we had had from other campers were expecting great things. To say we were disappointed is a considerable understatement, we chose a steak sharing plate for four. There was enough at a stretch for two small eaters, but it must be said that the quality was first rate but we all went back to our caravans and spent the rest of the evening snacking - extremely poor value!!
Saturday - Shopping again. We must eats and drinks a lot ‘cos we buys a lot. Choosing to go to Tomelloso by another route than used Thursday we came upon a little gem by the name of Castell Penarroyo it is a 16th century castle on the side of a reservoir. Unfortunately we have been unable to find any details on t’interweb, a bit like the other places on this particular blog.
Sunday - We did today what every tourist to this area does - walked around the reservoir, of which there are many in the locality. According to my fitbit watch the walk was 10,655 steps long took 2 hrs, 1 min and 42 seconds and burned 1021 cals and thats the equivalent of more than a whole litre of red wine burned off - Oh yes and the walk was very good.