Wednesday 4th
Where was Bertie? the Aire at Archena
Weather: Sunny and warm, but breezy again.
An 18-mile run started my day (just over 3 for Mick who set out with me). With the temperature (21 degrees) and the wind, the last few miles felt hard.
A couple of hours of rest and recovery (mainly eating and drinking!) and we walked across town to revisit the restaurant where we lunched last time we were here (it being the only place we'd found on that visit serving a Menu del Dia). What a blow: it doesn't open on a Wednesday!
To stay an extra day just to go out for lunch, or to go? Decisions, decisions...
Thursday 5th
Where was Bertie? the Aire by Ikea on the north side of Murcia.
Weather: Mainly sunny, albeit with some cloud building this afternoon. Breezy again this afternoon.
'Go' was the answer. By 10am Bertie was settled into the Aire at the retail park and not long afterwards we were parting with more cash at Decathlon. Mick's mock-Crocs, with holes worn in the soles, have now been replaced and a few other (completely essential, honest...) items may just have slipped into that basket too.
Via Bertie to offload our purchases, the next 3 hours were spent in Ikea's restaurant, where elevenses rolled nicely into lunch and lots of downloading was done. Should have taken my Kindle as I'm rattling through books at the moment. Hopefully the few titles I've got left unread will last until we next find wifi.
The (huge!) pork knuckle was to be recommended. My veggie not-meatballs were not.
We didn't leave without a store purchase too - another (belated) birthday present for Mick*.
Friday 6th
Where's Bertie? He's at a municipal Aire next to the dam in Bellús. It costs €2 per night to stay here (including electricity, if you're lucky enough and near enough to nab one of the hook-up points, which we're not). Exact location: 38.94085, -0.48048.
Weather: Some heavy dark cloud giving us just sunny intervals today and keeping the temperature down to 16 degrees. Windy.
On reflection, we should have left Murcia once we'd finished at Ikea yesterday, or having failed to realise that was the best move, we should have made better use of our afternoon by nipping over to the supermarket. As it was, we left this morning before the supermarkets were open and thus had to make a detour which involved battling town streets in Alcoi then having to abort, at the last moment, our attempt to enter the supermarket car park when we realised that the height barrier (unhelpfully not specifying its height) was probably a few centimetres lower than Bertie. That left us needing to do a multi-point manouevre along the (fortunately wide!) pavement to get back out onto the road, from where we spotted a Bertie-sized space in the next side road.
Our drive to that point had taken us up-up-up over 2000', where it had been suddenly-pushed-across-the-road windy, but we expected that once we'd left Alcoi the rest of the journey would be unremarkable. Alas no. After having to put right a couple of missed junctions, Google then tried to send us down a barriered track (or so we thought; we walked that way later and discovered that it is a road). We finally reached Bellús, where signposts at the entrance to the village indicated the 'Area de Autocaravana', but then didn't give any more guidance as to how to work our way through the maze of streets. We made it here on the third pass and (by coincidence, not design) parked right behind a British motorhome we were parked with in Ricote (about a 3-hour drive away) the week before last.
It was gone noon by then, so I set about making coffee for elevenses, whilst Mick went for a nosey around. He didn't see the kerb immediately outside of Bertie's door and is now sitting with a bag of frozen beans strapped onto his swollen, twisted ankle.
Will it be well enough to walk up river to see the caves and cave paintings tomorrow? We'll see.
The reservoir, which had white tops on the waves when we passed it in Bertie earlier. The top two of these snaps were taken from the viewpoint, which would be much more effective if it didn't have such big trees between it and the water! The bottom snap was taken from the dam.
Looking the other way off the dam. Can you see Bertie?
The Spanish know how to do picnic area barbecues!
This afternoon's wanderings (into the village, up to the top of the dam, along the river) have revealed evidence that the area in which the Aire is located is part of a recreational development, the like of which is seen all over Spain, but for some reason here it has been semi-abandoned. The wide well-constructed pathways have been left to be reclaimed by nature and viewpoint railings have rotted/fallen away. The football pitch just up the road is now an enclosed, weed-covered wasteland that has clearly not been suitable for the playing of any ball games for many years. The swimming pool in whose car park we are sitting looks abandoned, but maybe it opens in mid-summer. The town has, however, decided to do something with the space, having installed a service point and turned the disused car park over to motorhomes. All they ask is for €2 per night to be paid at the town hall (I say 'they ask', but I only knew about the need to pay because I'd seen it on the Park4Night App. We've seen no signage in or near the Aire to suggest that payment is required, however, there were plenty of entries ahead of ours in the register in the town hall).
Looking down the valley from a viewpoint near the Aire
(*Ongoing joke between us. Last year when we bought a cheap plastic serving spoon at an Ikea in Germany, Mick presented it to me as a birthday present and many a mention has been made since about what a good birthday present it was. Today I treated Mick to a pack of tea towels as he has been complaining lately that our collection are all wearing thin.)
Where was Bertie? the Aire at Archena
Weather: Sunny and warm, but breezy again.
An 18-mile run started my day (just over 3 for Mick who set out with me). With the temperature (21 degrees) and the wind, the last few miles felt hard.
A couple of hours of rest and recovery (mainly eating and drinking!) and we walked across town to revisit the restaurant where we lunched last time we were here (it being the only place we'd found on that visit serving a Menu del Dia). What a blow: it doesn't open on a Wednesday!
To stay an extra day just to go out for lunch, or to go? Decisions, decisions...
Thursday 5th
Where was Bertie? the Aire by Ikea on the north side of Murcia.
Weather: Mainly sunny, albeit with some cloud building this afternoon. Breezy again this afternoon.
'Go' was the answer. By 10am Bertie was settled into the Aire at the retail park and not long afterwards we were parting with more cash at Decathlon. Mick's mock-Crocs, with holes worn in the soles, have now been replaced and a few other (completely essential, honest...) items may just have slipped into that basket too.
Via Bertie to offload our purchases, the next 3 hours were spent in Ikea's restaurant, where elevenses rolled nicely into lunch and lots of downloading was done. Should have taken my Kindle as I'm rattling through books at the moment. Hopefully the few titles I've got left unread will last until we next find wifi.
We didn't leave without a store purchase too - another (belated) birthday present for Mick*.
Friday 6th
Where's Bertie? He's at a municipal Aire next to the dam in Bellús. It costs €2 per night to stay here (including electricity, if you're lucky enough and near enough to nab one of the hook-up points, which we're not). Exact location: 38.94085, -0.48048.
Weather: Some heavy dark cloud giving us just sunny intervals today and keeping the temperature down to 16 degrees. Windy.
On reflection, we should have left Murcia once we'd finished at Ikea yesterday, or having failed to realise that was the best move, we should have made better use of our afternoon by nipping over to the supermarket. As it was, we left this morning before the supermarkets were open and thus had to make a detour which involved battling town streets in Alcoi then having to abort, at the last moment, our attempt to enter the supermarket car park when we realised that the height barrier (unhelpfully not specifying its height) was probably a few centimetres lower than Bertie. That left us needing to do a multi-point manouevre along the (fortunately wide!) pavement to get back out onto the road, from where we spotted a Bertie-sized space in the next side road.
Our drive to that point had taken us up-up-up over 2000', where it had been suddenly-pushed-across-the-road windy, but we expected that once we'd left Alcoi the rest of the journey would be unremarkable. Alas no. After having to put right a couple of missed junctions, Google then tried to send us down a barriered track (or so we thought; we walked that way later and discovered that it is a road). We finally reached Bellús, where signposts at the entrance to the village indicated the 'Area de Autocaravana', but then didn't give any more guidance as to how to work our way through the maze of streets. We made it here on the third pass and (by coincidence, not design) parked right behind a British motorhome we were parked with in Ricote (about a 3-hour drive away) the week before last.
It was gone noon by then, so I set about making coffee for elevenses, whilst Mick went for a nosey around. He didn't see the kerb immediately outside of Bertie's door and is now sitting with a bag of frozen beans strapped onto his swollen, twisted ankle.
Will it be well enough to walk up river to see the caves and cave paintings tomorrow? We'll see.
This afternoon's wanderings (into the village, up to the top of the dam, along the river) have revealed evidence that the area in which the Aire is located is part of a recreational development, the like of which is seen all over Spain, but for some reason here it has been semi-abandoned. The wide well-constructed pathways have been left to be reclaimed by nature and viewpoint railings have rotted/fallen away. The football pitch just up the road is now an enclosed, weed-covered wasteland that has clearly not been suitable for the playing of any ball games for many years. The swimming pool in whose car park we are sitting looks abandoned, but maybe it opens in mid-summer. The town has, however, decided to do something with the space, having installed a service point and turned the disused car park over to motorhomes. All they ask is for €2 per night to be paid at the town hall (I say 'they ask', but I only knew about the need to pay because I'd seen it on the Park4Night App. We've seen no signage in or near the Aire to suggest that payment is required, however, there were plenty of entries ahead of ours in the register in the town hall).
(*Ongoing joke between us. Last year when we bought a cheap plastic serving spoon at an Ikea in Germany, Mick presented it to me as a birthday present and many a mention has been made since about what a good birthday present it was. Today I treated Mick to a pack of tea towels as he has been complaining lately that our collection are all wearing thin.)
They may know how to do barbecue areas but their tree management is woeful.
ReplyDeleteHere I am dithering about continuing my day walks filling in the coastline because they involve public transport and the dreaded C is now gaining ground. I am supposed to be in the most vulnerable category.
I'd like to think that you're fitter and healthier than the average person of your age, but even so, avoiding public transport for unnecessary journeys does seem to be a wise precaution. Time for some more out-and-back walks, some circuits, or employment of a bicycle?
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