The Ham Nomads

1 Feb 2015. <ES> Arjona, Jaén, & Cabra, Córdoba, & Córdoba, & Marchena, Sevilla, Andalucia —

Sunday in Spain. Did anyone ever tell you that Spain shuts up shop on Sundays! No shopping, no nothing — even the movie theatres were closed where we were! Restaurants and cafes are open, but that's about all — and if you can find a panetería before about midday (we didn't!), you might be able to get some bread. This may be one reason why the Macca's we tried to get into were full to bursting. Quite a frustrating day — but cheap!

We passed through the township of Arjona. This is on the top of a hill, and has a fascinating steel sculpture at its entrance, at a picnic point which overlooks hill after hill covered with mature olive groves. Also in or near Arjona there must have been some sort of motorcyclists' meeting going on, as we kept on meeting convoys of bikers, all in a happy mood, as they kept on waving to a couple of just-as-happy tourists in a campervan.

We stopped off an aire in the town of Cabra, about 90 km southeast of Córdoba. It wasn't a good place to stay, but we were able to empty our waste before we left, and fill up our fresh water supply, as well as marvel at the orchard of mandarin trees beside the aire.

Australian eucalypts
are a feature here!

Driving amongst the olives!

We got into Córdoba, only to find nothing doing, nowhere to park — no aires, no camping ground. As we were only going to check out the cathedral there, it wasn't worth staying another day just for that, so we pressed on towards Sevilla. We took back roads, which weren't bad, and the scenery was absolutely splendid. This is one time when the journey was the highlight of the day! We drove through endless vistas of olive groves, with the odd vineyard hidden amongst them. This must be the olive oil Mecca of the world!

We stopped off at an aire in Marchena for the night. It was a bit of an adventure getting in there, as the Garmin took us by the most direct route — through narrow one-way streets in the middle of the old town, squeezing past parked cars all the way. It would have been okay, except that at one point the street was closed for repairs, leaving us to negotiate a sharp left turn into another street. Fortunately, a gentleman came out of a bar opposite the corner to help us negotiate our passage. Full marks to Suzie for keeping her cool in a difficult piece of driving! We found a possible parking area on the edge of town, then convinced the Garmin to find a more reasonable route to the aire.

We were not alone there — there was a British couple in a fairly luxurious van parked there already. We were also visited a little later on by a couple of local hoons who came to do wheelies on the extensive gravel parking area! Our park for the night was near a secondary school, so there were playing fields, basketball courts, and parklands nearby, and of course, in the morning, a drove of students walking past us to school!

Tomorrow, Sevilla!

Distance driven — today, 178 miles ( 286 km ); to date, 12,328 miles ( 19,840 km )