From Calatrava Vieja we took a gravel road along the river, which didn’t carry any water at that time of the year. But the riverbank seemed very fertile. We saw olives, almonds, corn, wine and even pistachio trees growing there. The ripe grapes were very impressive. The dry river made us expect the worst for […]
On our way through Castile, we came across the name Calatrava. Beside of many villages with that name in it, there are two castles of the Calatrava Order: Calatrava la Nueva and Calatrava Vieja further north. The Order of Calatrava was one of the four Spanish military orders. It was founded in Castile in the 12th century, as a
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After a month of house sitting in our beloved Jávea, where we spent the days at the pool and tried as many restaurants as possible at night, we had moved further south to El Portús camping, one of our favourite places in Spain. With a nice tan from all that sun, we were ready for
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At the empty plains in the middle of Spain, there are many hidden gems to be found. On our way south, we went bird watching at Gallocanta and discovered an extraordinary castle in the middle of nowhere. The castle of Zafra was built in the late 12th or early 13th century on a sandstone outcrop
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On Google Earth we had found an abandoned power plant, called La Fabrica de la Luz, at the Tajo. The road there clearly was without tarmac, but it didn’t look so bad on Google Earth. You could see a car parked, so we decided to give it a try. After going through Valdeverdejo – nothing
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Even with the heat, we wanted to cycle along another railway line, the Via Verde de la Jara which is in total 52 km long. It starts at Calera y Chozas, leading south over the Tajo via an enormous viaduct and up into the mountains on the other side, which are dominated by a savannah
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Talavera de la Reina at the Tajo is world-famous for its pottery of high quality and artistic value. We decided to stop here and take a walk, to admire the azulejos which decorate many parts of town. The area around Talavera has been settled by Celtic tribes since ancient times. In 181 BC, the place
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From Toledo we followed the Tajo river and discovered some fascinating landscape but also a little Visigoth church and the bridge of the archbishop. Our first stop were the Barrancas de Burujón. The Barrancas de Burujón are more than 100 metre high cliffs formed by water and wind erosion, which created the red clay gullies.
Amazing landscape @ the Tajo Read More »
On our way to Extremadura, we passed Toledo, which we wanted to visit, although it was incredibly hot. We first took the scenic route, which leads around town on the other side of the river Tajo and gives you incredible views of the city and its special location. It is a good road which you
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On the way to Toledo, this impressive castle dominates the landscape. We couldn’t resist and took the road up – which might require a 4×4 for campers. If you manage the first part of the gravel road, where a lot of wheel spinning had created deep holes, then you are good! The first documented reference
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