We’ve decided to stay at la Herradura for another week so Steve can continue to French polish the guitar before taking it home, another reason for not wishing to move on in search of better weather. Easter weekend, as promised, proved to be wet, windy and cold. On Sunday, we went in search of a meal at the curry house with camper van neighbour Bernd, only to find it’s closed, but ended up at an excellent Spanish bar/restaurant instead.
Monday 1 April dawned with the clouds gone, sunshine and a bit more warmth so we took a trip in the van to recce Frigliana, a popular tourist town with the promise of some hiking routes in the mountains. Steve spent the morning French polishing which is proving to be quite a challenge, particularly on the front on the guitar. We set out early afternoon but had a rather disappointing day – no stunning views, no hiking and all the terraced slopes dotted with houses. It turned cold and dull later as we returned to the campsite somewhat disheartened in time for Bev’s flamenco class. Now we’ve started on a new dance, it was a great session! Finishing late, neither of us felt like cooking but the Casa India was open! It certainly deserves the good reviews. The peshwari naan breads were probably the best we’ve ever had and the rest of the meal was excellent. A young Indian couple run the place doing all the waiting on and cooking each dish to order.
Having failed in our search for hiking routes around Frigliana and deciding the town is probably quite a tourist trap we headed for Otívar on Tuesday. After another morning French polishing, we set out but there was nowhere to park in Otívar so we headed on up the A-4050 for the Montes de Cabra and Sierras de Tejeda, a Natural Park area we visited last year. Driving it again, we remembered just how spectacular this road is in terms of the views and exciting driving as it clings to the edge of the massive cliffs dropping down to the empty river beds below. We were in search of a walk to a waterfall, which after all this rain may well have had some water but, having found the start high up in the mountains it was too late to set off down (and drive back to the campsite before dark). As we drove back towards Otívar, we saw cyclists slowly pedalling up – but up and back is probably beyond our capability and it seems we can’t take the bikes up on the bus!
