Recently, seven of us decided it would be fun to go into the interior of Spain, and have a look at one of the historic towns. Since our arrival here 4 years ago we have some favorite walks in the Mediterranean coastal areas and have visited Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante so rural Spain was new to us.

Also we thought it would be more fun if we all went in one car, luckily our 4 wheel drive has 7 seats.

 

Strangely, we also thought it would be more fun to go dressed as hippies. Some people are just sad I suppose. Others are just nostalgic for youth. Take your pick!

 

After saying goodbye to my beloved little shih tzu, dollywolly, we began our journey.

 

We had chosen a small remote village about 5 hrs drive away from our home on the Costa Blanca.

 

The village is approximately 150 kilometres from Madrid and is called Valeria. Its close to Cuenca, a wine growing region of Spain. Cuenca is the principal city of the Castilla La Mancha.

 

Although there are about 100 houses in Valeria, only 50 people inhabit the village permanently and only 4 children live there.

 

We arrived at about 6pm at our destination and found the hotel immediately although at first we couldn’t quite believe it was a hotel as it looked just like a deserted desolate rundown aged pig house.

 

No one answered the bell.

 

So what do you do when confronted with a problem like this?

 

You go to the bar (one of 2 bars in the village) and that’s what we did.

 

We had been there no longer that 10 minutes when the owner of the hotel, Javier, came looking for us.

 

Well! What a place! Once inside, the atmosphere of the 450 year old building hit us.

 

Icy cold, the thick walls held no heat and there was no fire lit.

 

However, undaunted, we inspected our rooms.  Most of the rooms were dark , with tiny windows, and it was difficult to see.

 

Two couples had suites, which sounds grander than they were, but they were centrally heated. The others were up some more dark stairs and also heated.

 

Most of the rooms were dark and it was difficult to see, but the ambiance was so perfect that all the shortcomings were overlooked. The showers, however, were great, power showers with oodles of instant hot water.

 

We unpacked and then feasted on the local cooking – superb.

 

The next day we visited Cuenca which is delightful with its famous overhanging houses in the old town perched on top of a steep hill and overlooking a panorama of gorges and extraordinary rock foundations – one area of which is known as the —–city as it looks from a distance just like a collection of terraced houses.

 

The evening was spent in one of the many delightful restaurants preceded by a drink at the Parador, Spanish nationally owned hotels often converted from monasteries, convents or castles and not cheap but fabulous.

 

Sunday we eventually tore ourselves away from civilization and took to the hills for our walking.

 

Naturally we got lost at the first hurdle even though Javier had given us instructions.

 

We crossed over fields strewn with rocks, clambered down gorges, long jumped over a river, or ryver as our host had charmingly called it. One of our party naturally couldn’t do the jump and fell flat on her face, splattering the others with mud from head to toe.

 

No names no pack drill.

 

Eventually after about 3 hours we came to the Roman ruins of a large town, which were in fact just a few hundred yards from our village as we had walked in a large loop.

 

Immaculately cared for by the Spanish authorities the remains show that one town had been built on top of the other.

 

We had to climb umpteen steps to reach the top where we could see the whole town laid out before us. So interesting if we hadn't had very very tired and sore legs.

 

Down in the gorge there were crazy people abseiling the cliffs, but we, totally but happily exhausted, wended our way back through the tiny village to our hotel to get quickly showered and changed before setting of for an exquisite, fabulous village called Alarcon which boasts a beautiful castle and is set in glorious wooded countryside. Funnily enough, reminisant of the view from our wonderful, previous home in Monmouth, South Wales.

 

A great meal, a walk around the village and back to the hotel for a tour of the huge church in Valeria. This was conducted by Javier and very interesting it was.

 

Very late that evening our hosts entertained us in the small dining area of the hotel. Again, icy cold even with a fire but we were certainly warmed up by the non stop flow of wine and tapas and our beautiful hostess Malu, who incidentally is a psychic.

 

The next day back home to horrid weather, even though it was much warmer, being further south.

 

We are so enthralled with the wonderful walking in Spain and the fantastic, beautiful countryside that we are now planning a further trip in a few months time to Granada or even back to Valeria.

 

If anyone ever decides to visit Valeria,

• Do not expect any nightlife except in the local bar.
• Do not expect to speak English.
• Remember the weather in winter is bitterly cold and windy but in summertime it is extremely hot.
• Take walking boots, cameras and/or video camera.
• Stay at La Qinta de Malu. This is real Spain.

 

But above all expect to really enjoy yourself.