Fuente Found

The best decision we made today was to ignore the arrow suggesting we turn right for the Fuente de las Pilas and keep going straight ahead.

Ignore this arrow

Mr Fluffy pretty much skipped up the steep climb in a carefree manner as I struggled to keep up, panting and limping due to my dodgy knee. Eventually, at the top of the hill, our fuente was found, complete with a wasps nest and a fox poo for Hugo to roll in.

Tempted to throw him in to clean off the fox poo but I didn’t

Wasp nest cleverly hidden

Continues his carefree skipping

Needless to say Hugo had a shower on our return which is no easy task in the van but he now smells divine until the next time.

A couple of hours drive through, yes, even more olive groves, and we’ve arrived at Palma del Rio. The Aire is right next to a children’s playground that has a cafe with WiFi. Hoorah! We might be able to catch up on the Christmas Strictly Special tonight - Mr Fluffy will be so pleased.

Tomorrow we head closer to the Portuguese border.

Oh No, It’s Not A Rhino!

I realised my mistake as soon as I ejaculated the words, ‘look, there’s a rhinoceros!’ Mr Fluffy looked out the window to see a HIPPOPOTAMUS leisurely munching on some straw. He, or she, was surrounded by some bumpy horses otherwise known as camels. The Circus had come to Ubeda and it looked like they had a rather diverse range of animals at their disposal. Sadly we were driving out of town so we won’t be able to enjoy whatever tricks the comfy hippo had up its wrinkly sleeve.

A touch of oil anyone?

We’ve driven through vast groves of olives to our current destination, Doña Mencia, where we partook of our festive Christmas lunch: a pork and salad sandwich for me and blood sausages on a stick for the fluffy one.

Sausages on a stick

Thrilling pork sanger 

After this vast feast we took a stroll through an adjacent grove in search of the Fuentes de las Pilas but it did not want to be found so we took a few shots of the trees instead. These trees here feel ancient and I’m sure house the odd elf or two in their gnarled trunks. Graham swears he met one called Oliver but I think that festive Coca Cola he had with lunch may have gone to his head.

Strolling through the grove

Oliver’s house

Feliz Navidad readers :)

Olives and Nutcrackers

View from the city walls

The city of Úbeda in the mountains east of Cordóba is one of our favourites so far. Olive groves surround the city and, like Cazorla, it is famous for its fine quality olive oil. It obviously once was, and still is, a wealthy city. There are more churches than it needs, all with elaborately carved facades, winding streets and renaissance architecture is dotted around the old UNESCO World Heritage city. There are even a couple of donkeys hanging around outside the Parador.

A hint of decoration

Flat hair

I must commend the pharmacist here as she recommended even stronger medications in the vain hope that the fluffy one will, one day, recover from his man flu. He’ll seem to be getting better one minute then he slips back to hideousness the next. Poor sausage.
Something to cheer him up is the tinny sound of The Nutcracker Suite coming from the iPhone of our Spanish neighbours who, despite the parking area being huge and empty, have parked within a foot or two from Dickie with their side door flung wide open. Mr Fluffy is enjoying it immensely; I can tell by the strained smile on his face when he looks over at them to say ‘Hola’.
Twenty five degrees today. A sunny Christmas Day beckons. Feliz Navidad to you all.