128. - The road trip - Spain - France - Italy

We're not the type who like visiting big cities. Having Penny (our car), we've been able to stay at some wonderful pet sits that wouldn't have been accessible if relying on public transport. This blog entry details our road trip from landing back in Seville through to our scheduled pet sit in the French Alps.

Hornachuelos, Spain

Flying from Majorca to Seville was, luckily,  a quick trip as it had the least amount of legroom I've ever encountered on a flight. We picked up the car and drove to our accommodation which was just over an hour away in what we thought was a room in a hotel situated in a national park near the small village of Hornachuelos. 

This room was to have overlooked the terrain, had clothes washing facilities, the option of a meal in the restaurant at night and the option of breakfast in the morning. 

When we arrived at what we thought was an abandoned building, we confirmed the address, which checked out ok. The doors were locked with no one around to greet us, even though we arranged an arrival time. I messaged the owner as it was done through Booking.com with no response. Max found a phone number on one of the doors, and even though the person on the other end couldn't speak English, I got my message across to say we arrived, spoken in the worst Spanish ever bestowed on the ears of a Spaniard.

A young girl drove up, who, like the owner, had no English either. She gave us keys, pointed to the room and started to leave. We questioned the dinner, and she said the hotel isn't open during the week, so no dinner and no breakfast.Max asked if there were any restaurants open and again, the answer was no. 

She gave us directions to a local supermarket so we could at least get supplies for dinner and breakfast. Entering the accommodation, we realised there was no table, no kettle, no stove, no crockery and no cutlery. As it was getting late, we improvised our eating methods and got an early night as we had a 300km drive the next day.

We were woken by two busloads of children who arrived to visit the 'National Park'. The bus conveniently pulled up and idled just outside our window, which ended up a great motivator to get to our next destination. After a second improvised meal without accoutrements, we hit the road.  Surprisingly, I forgot to take pictures...

Almagro, Spain

Driving into Almagro, we were understandably hesitant as to what to expect after the previous day's experience. To our relief, it was a beautiful hotel with professional, friendly staff.

A walk around the corner took us to the town square where we had our first Spanish Sangria.

A quick walk across the square for a bite to eat.  Food was meh, but the atmosphere made up for it.

Back on the road again for another 300-odd km drive, working our way across to the north east of Spain. Passing many an olive grove and silhouette images of bulls, I thought European countries had high population densities scattered throughout the countryside, but no. We could drive for over 100km only seeing the odd dwelling nestled in the hills.

Talayuelas, Spain

Next stop was this quirky 17th-century guest house in Talayuelas.  

We had to ring the host to open up as there was no one on site. In fact, there was no one in the village and we felt we stumbled on an empty movie set! 

It was late afternoon, and there was nowhere to get a bite to eat except from a local store, which hadn't opened yet due to it being siesta time. There was a local bar, however food wasn't served until the weekend. There were a couple of guys out the front smoking cigarettes with the eyes glued on us as we walked by. It felt like we were strangers coming into town in an old western movie. The only thing missing was the tumbleweeds.

We went to the local service station that allegedly had a cafe. I walked past a group of guys sitting outside and into the cafe where there was no one around. I walked back outside to attract their attention, one looked at the UK registration of the car and continued, as the others, to ignore me. I wouldn't have wanted to eat there anyway...

Once the local store opened, we got some supplies and headed back to the accommodation, which I must say was very comfortable. We had a separate lounge room with an open fire, which I had no hesitation in getting the atmosphere just right for a glass of the local brew.

High security in 17th-century guest houses - This is the locking system for the front door. 

Funny how we haven't encountered bugs in the UK or France. They must have emigrated to Spain!

St Pol de Mar, Spain

Next stop was St Pol de Mar, a coastal village on the Spanish side of the border on the coast. We stayed in a large hotel complex with great views from our room and being as comfy as it was, we decided to book an extra night to break the road trip up a bit more. 

There wasn't much to the town itself, so we ate in the hotel with the odd refreshment (Sangria), a walk into the local village, more Sangria...

A view from the room pre-dawn

The local beach

Saint Privat, France

Next stop is Saint Privat, France - a 4.5 hour drive in a NE direction. 

We decided to spend two nights here just to get a break from the constant driving. (That's the royal "we". I haven't driven at all - Max). The roads have been great, but I still get weary as I'm constantly aware of which side of the road I'm on and dealing with the subtleties of local traffic and their road rules. 

The road coming into the village was easy on the eye, but precarious on some of the hairpin bends we encountered. Once we arrived, we had to contact the host to get the key. We met him out the front of the property and found the place to be comfy enough except, being a sunday, there was nowhere to get a meal or even purchase some food. 

The local food store was under renovation but even though it wasn't open for business, the host had a chat to the owner who let us buy a few bits to sort us out for the night. 

Next day, I drove through the winding roads to the supermarket 15 km away. Got to the checkout and realised my 'tap on' payment function on my phone didn't work and guess who forgot his wallet to use the card? After explaining that I had to drive back to the accommodation to get my wallet, I drove back, and then drove back to the supermarket with Max for moral support, wallet and CASH.

 I knew those roads quite well by the time we got back. It has been amazing how many of these little villages/hamlets are so quiet as if, again, we're on a disused movie set. I went for a walk around the place and encountered maybe three people who looked at me in bemusement.

Our accommodation

Pics from the village

Another major driving day to our next accommodation in Bordighera, Italy.

We had to head south to the coast and then drive east, even though we were on major highways, we still had to drive through Monaco and the Côte d'Azur. Awww. Shame.  🤣.  The views were spectacular as the bridges and the tunnels made the drive so smooth and we didn't have huge hills or valleys to deal with - literally driving across a level highway.

Bordighera

Bordighera is on the Northern Italian coast and at the foothills of the Alps and is not really a tourist town. It does cater for them but seems to have its own life in spite of summers being much busier. 

Driving down the hill to the entrance to town

Our room was conveniently on the main street. We were on the third floor.

 

The main bedroom

The Mediterranean was just a short walk away.

The local church

As in Sicily, the Italians really know how to make the best hot chocolates. We had a daily fix at the cafe across the road from the hotel. 

Our Limoncello supplier. 

For those who are new to this Italian speciality, it is a lemon-based liqueur with a kick.

Barrels of the local brew

Roddi

Three days later, we made our way north to Roddina for 3 nights at a rural homestead. The views along the way were amazing. Given we were in the foothills of the Alps, the roads were excellent with bridges and tunnels making travel quick and safe.

How's the serenity?

On arrival, we were greeted by the host's mother, who was kind enough to bake us a cake and fill the fridge with ham, cheese, milk and other yummies. 

How can you tell when you're in an Italian house?

The rustic but comfortable residence. We have the ground floor.

Some arty shots

So, from here, we go to a last-minute pet sit booking in the Alps near the French and Swiss border.

The map shows where we've driven to date on the European adventure (blue lines), plus the dotted lines show the two flights to Malta and Majorca, respectively.

Until next time, arrivederci!