Our grand tour of southern Spain February 3rd Day 21 What is there to do in Guadix in Spain?

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What is there to do in Guadix, Spain?

Two things for me to ponder on this morning!

1.       Our heating vent has partially frozen and there is a large Icicle hanging off Bryony’s side skirt just below it. The harmony panel says -2C outside and the windscreen has two very interesting, radiating ice formations ...... on the inside 😱. The heating kicked in last night at 14C last night and practically stayed on all night. The water tanks seem ok though. 

2.       What is the difference between these two pictures? See if you can spot it?

We opt for an early morning stroll up to the Barrio de Cuevas to see the little troglodyte homes built into the clay bad lands hillsides, timing it just right for golden hour sunshine, as we arrive at the top mirador. 

To get there we walked up past the Cathedral which we had photographed the night before. Spotted the difference in the photos? Want a clue? Look at St Peter at the top of the tower! How? I mean HOW? He's actually turned during our time walking around the place  - fantastic! 

From the Mirador, a glorious view across the hill down past the Alcaraz fort to the cathedral and out across the plains. The small chimney stacks emerging from little rounded hills seem so incongruous. Amidst them all, a stable where horses are waking up. Beyond higher up again, the sandy coloured hillsides of clay are runnelled and rilled, some with obvious cave entrances. 

We wander back down the streets to stop at our favourite plaza cafe for coffees. We catch the owner sweeping the cobbles beneath her outside tables and finishing off writing her menu board, the sound of tapping and squeaking chalk sits alongside birdsong from a number of canaries on the surrounding balconies. The sun is peaking over the rooftops and spreading it's warmth and golden glow across the plaza where a group of elderly environmentalists are laying out a long green ribbon like cloth on the marble floor, in the familiar shape seen on so many lapel badges for cancer charities. Big green cards with individual white letters are laid out at the top of the symbol, although from my seated perspective I can't see what they spell out. It's all low key and a group slowly grows over the next half our ...entirely middle aged...no obvious radicals here .. very civilised. 

A nun scurries across the plaza heading for the convent up the road. We'd stopped to admire its extraordinary facade over thirty minutes ago.

If you want to read more about Guadix, there is a little more in our previous blog post.

Our opinion – it is worth an overnight stop – the cathedral and the troglodyte houses are well worth a visit. We didn’t visit the roman ruins in the outlying village but reviews suggest they are worth a drive over.

Now we are on the road heading for Granada. The A92 is a lovely run. It climbs higher out of the bad lands and into pine clad mountains with the ever-looming snow-covered Sierra Nevada on the southern side; the sun shines brightly off it, a dazzling high-altitude ‘bright’ light beacon. 

 Crossing the top col and descending the overside we catch a first glimpse of Granada and we are shocked to see the huge pollution cloud above it. The city lies in a high-altitude basin and across this there is a grimy brown tinged smog. Only it isn't pollution, its dust, blown off the surrounding hillsides and trapped by the high pressure cold descending air above. Wow.  Bit of a shocker really. 

Camping Reina Isabel is a glorious little site at La Zubia, just outside Granada. It's a small site and pitches are well screened from each other by tall bushes. Plenty of tree cover as well. The road around the site is narrow. They laughingly have two-way arrows painted on the roads but it is one motorhome width. And this makes it very tricky getting into your pitch. It would be a struggle for anything over 7.5m. We just did it onto ours, just. However, it is worth the pain. It is a beautiful site - clean, well equipped and with a small supermarket and restaurant too. We instantly fall in love with the place. Best site we have stayed on since entering Spain. 

It's a lazy afternoon then! We read, catch up on blogging, grab showers (so spacious, so hot, so lovely!), clean Bryony and I do some astrophotography processing. We plan the next few days as well. 

Sometimes it's good to stop. Tomorrow, we catch the bus to the Alhambra Palace. 

(Bryony hit 12,000 miles today just before we arrived on site. She is two and a half years old now. So, we have averaged around 6000 miles a year if you discount all the time lost to pandemic lockdowns.  Cornwall, Purbeck, East Anglia, mid and North Wales, Sussex coast, Gloucestershire, North Devon, France and now southern Spain. Not bad for newbies, I guess). 

Useful information:

Route: A92

Distance: 45 miles

Costs: campsite costs 72 euros

Campsite: https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/marker.php?id=18240