Where’s Bertie? To his surprise, he’s back at the Aire at Les Coves de Vinromà, where he spent the last couple of nights
Weather: Wall-to-wall sunshine and warm in Les Coves, misty and cold in Alcalà de Xivert
A brief summary of our day is that we drove 21km on a very windy road over two passes to have a cup of coffee and then drove back again, but there’s a little more to the story than that.
After a 5km run this morning that saw me gain 130m of altitude in the first half, then lose it again in the second, we headed off over the hills to the town of Alcalà de Xivert. On the map the road that joins the two places is a tiny one, and in the UK it would have been a single lane with hedges brushing both sides of passing vehicles. Here it was a 2-lane road of perfectly smooth tarmac, that wiggled its way up and over the hills. We passed four other vehicles the whole way and contemplated that one of the reasons that roads tend to be in such good condition over here is because they see so little traffic.
Having decided against going higher into the hills on the basis of wanting to be warm, we’d opted to spend a couple of nights on a campsite in Alcalà. We knew from other reviews that they only accept ACSI cards (a scheme that gives members access to cheap off-peak rates at listed campsites, ranging from €13 to €27; this campsite was at the €17 level) on their smallest pitches, and there was a risk that there wouldn’t be one available, but I’d checked their online booking system and it was (I thought!) showing availability.
We arrived to be told that they didn’t have a cheap pitch available, but we could have a superior one for €24. I retreated to Bertie to consult Mick, and whilst there I looked again at their online booking system, which was still offering me a pitch with electric for €18. So, I filled in the details and clicked ‘Book now’. It turns out that when they show availability they mean ‘it’s possible we may have availability’ and when they say ‘Book now’ they mean ‘make and enquiry and we’ll get back to you’ (and clearly, given the conversation I’d just had, the answer was going to be ‘no’). The compromise was that we would stay for one night, so I went back into the office to be told that the price had gone up to €26. We left, drove around the corner and parked in the free car park, where we could have spent the night, had we so chosen (but bear in mind that it was only just after 10.30am at this point).
The next issue was that we’d seen on our way down the hill towards the town that there was a sea fog cloaking the coast (which explains why for the last few days the temperatures where we have been, at some altitude, have been higher than those on the coast), and extending inland as far as Alcalà, and as we walked across town to find somewhere for coffee we came to realise quite how cold it was. 12 degrees said the display outside of the chemist, but with the breeze blowing it felt much cooler.
With coffee and croissant despatched, we braved the cold again to take a walk around the town. I’d seen mixed reviews of the place but we came down on the side of ‘not much to recommend it’. Perhaps it would have felt different on a warm and sunny day, but although the exterior of the church was impressive, we didn’t see anything else in the town that grabbed our attention. It was all a bit shabby and below average.
We repaired to Bertie to formulate a new plan, and finally settled on retreating whence we had come, making a lunch out the focus of the day.
Our pitch within the designated spots in the Aire had been taken in our absence, but that pitch hadn’t been ideal anyway, with overhanging trees obscuring the solar panel from the later afternoon sun. The two empty pitches were also of no use, as they sit under a sun canopy (undoubtedly most welcome in summer). However, all of the vans on the adjacent rough ground had now gone, so we took a spot there instead.
At 1pm we wandered up to the eatery next to the petrol station on the edge of town, just at the end of the road we’re parked in, and as we approached we agreed that we were likely to be the only people in there. We were wrong! There were already three tables of workmen, most in high-viz clothing, when we arrived, and as we sat there the place filled up with a pleasing mix of workmen, ladies-wot-lunch and couples. It’s obviously the place to go.
At €18 the menu del día may be the most expensive we’ve ever had, but we also have to acknowledge that costs and thus prices have increased and €18 is now a reasonable price. Very reasonable on this occasion; an excellent meal was had.
At the end of the day, we aren’t sorry that our visit to Alcalà didn’t work out. I’m sure we would have found some positives in the town, and some way to entertain ourselves there for a couple of days, but we’re happy to be back in the sunshine in a place we like, and we are only slightly kicking ourselves that we didn’t try the local eatery on Monday, so we could have had a return visit today (as I typed that I thought ‘Were they even open on Monday?’, and Google confirms that, in common with most of the eateries in this place, they were closed on Monday). Tomorrow, we will make another attempt to move on.
Views from my run
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