Peñíscola – Staying Still

Sometimes travelling is about staying still for a while, take a break from exploring to just be in one place, relax a little. We felt ready for a break, and Peñíscola fitted the bill as a pretty coastal town to hang out for few days .

There was also a problem with our fridge, it kept switching itself off when working on gas. It would be working well for when we got an electric hook up, but not all the places we are staying have electricity. So we needed to get it fixed sooner rather than later.

A little internet research and we discovered that there was a fridge specialist man in Peñíscola. So Brian fired him an email and the next day he arrived with his fridge tools at our campsite. Within minutes he sussed out the problem, got our fridge fixed and running on gas again. His visit and problem fixing cost us 25 Euros…absolute bargain.

But rewinding few days back to when we left Pamplona behind, continuing our journey South towards the Mediterranean Coast, our path took us to some charming Spanish towns that we really enjoyed discovering.

If you are on a Spanish road trip South I would recommend a stop at both Olite and Zaragoza.

Olite

View of Olite from the Castle’s tower

Just 42 km South of Pamplona it did not take us long to drive our motorhome to the small town of Olite and park at the free Aire (GPS N42.48012 W1.64718) just a few steps away from the historic town centre. There was fresh water and waste disposal facilities but no electric hook up, and we decided to stay here for just one night.
You could never guess that this unprepossessing small town was once upon a time the seat of the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Navarre in the Middle Ages. The Palace, which looks like a fairy-tale castle was used as home of Charles III, the King of Navarre in the 14th century. It was declared a national monument in 1925.

Can you spot our motorhome parked at the Olite Aire?

But what most caught our interest when researching this town was the Museo del Vino, located in a former palace and spread over three floors showcasing the history of wine; it’s making process, the tools used in the process, and off course the grand finale of actually tasting the wine. Unfortunately however, it was not to be…the museum was closed, since it opens at reduced hours during the low season.
Our trip was not a total loss though, since we did manage to explore the Royal Palace with its many rooms, courtyards, towers and turrets – loving that we had it virtually to ourselves on this low season sunny day.

Olite Castle

Afterwards we spent ages trying to find a supermarket, walked miles in the wrong direction. Eventually I asked a local using my best Spanish. Smiling he pointed us in the right direction…it turned out to be just few meters from our motorhome Aire…Oops.
We left Olite the next day, after a restful night in spite of the busy road next to the motorhome Aire but overnight there were no road noises.

Zaragoza

Zaragoza with it’s main Cathedral

Just short of two hours from Olite we arrived at the free Aire in the outskirts of Zaragoza and our stop for one night. The Aire (GPS N41.68282 W0.89016) was located just opposite a tram stop into the old town centre. There was also a very large Carrefour supermarket within walking distance from our motorhome.
There was fresh water and waste disposal facilities but no electric hook up. Not having electricity meant our fridge was working on gas, usually not a problem. But we noticed that it was not working well as it should, it kept shutting down and switching itself off regularly.

Researching the internet did not shed much light on the problem, but it did point us towards a motorhome company in the coastal town of Peñíscola where someone could have a look at it for us. We needed to get our fridge working on gas for future off-grid stays.

Therefore, a decision was made to spend just one night in Zaragoza, abandon our plans to visit the Montserrat Monastery on a Mountain range near Barcelona and head for Peñíscola the very next day.

With little time to explore Zaragoza, we caught the tram from the opposite side of the road to us and headed into the old town. At a cost of 2.70 Euro for both of us it was an easy and cheap way to travel into the  city centre.
Capital of the Aragon region, it is the fifth largest city in Spain with lots to see, but we barely managed to have a stroll around the old town and visit the magnificent Basilica the Nostra Senora Del Pilar. We particularly liked the Cathedral’s exterior with its colourful tiled domes. It is free to enter, though photography inside is not allowed.
Most of our time in Zaragoza was spent just wandering around the old town centre and enjoying the lovely outdoors of the Plaza of Our Lady of the Pillar. There are two Cathedrals to admire at this Plaza, the Pilar and the Cathedral of El Salvador. There is also the City Hall building and most interestingly the Fountain of Hispanicity.
The fountain was built in 1991 to celebrate the cultural links between Spain and Latin America. The raised stone slabs are shaped to represent the coast line of Cuba, Central America and the Northern parts of South America. The waterfall in the middle spills into an adjacent pool shaped like the Southern part of South America all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. I must admit that it was only later, after visiting the fountain and researching its history that I discovered what it was all about. My picture below does not do it justice.

Fountain of Hispanicity.

The fountain -shaped map is a bit controversial though, since the map does not include Spain itself and some nations that have not been included such as Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines and significant parts of the USA with Hispanic heritage. The map does include Brazil, which is not Hispanic but in fact Portuguese. Oh well it is a very unusual and creative fountain in any case.
Our mission of exploring Zaragoza was running out of steam and our tired and weary tourist bodies were getting pretty worn out, so we walked back following the path of the river. Stopped for a spot of food shopping on the way back and had an early night. Our next destination Peñíscola.

Peñíscola

The drive to Peñíscola was both scenic and a little scary in places, and we were glad it was during day time. Some hilly and twisty bits, some confusing bits where road works were ongoing, quite a few hairpin bends. Spectacular views of old ruins, historic buildings, small towns, new bridges, olive groves, and almond trees covered in pink flowers.
Almost five hours (including a lunch break) after leaving Zaragoza we rolled into Camping Ferrer (GPS N40.36273 E0.39481) in Peñíscola and another great drama unfolded.
The campsite is in a great central location, but to get into it is VERY TIGHT. We became the entertainment of the site since, everyone stopped to see me struggling to give accurate parking directions to Brian.

A lovely French man came to my rescue and guided Brian into place avoiding potential damage to our home on wheels. Super-tight turns, low overhanging trees, and low walls all threatened damage, and it took a couple of five point turns to navigate the obstacle course…

People have been very friendly here, and we entertained in our motorhome for the first time. A lovely British couple from the Lake District. Our hosting skills though were not up to scratch. They brought us a bottle of wine and all we had to offer was some Doritos…very bad hosts indeed. We need to get our act together for next time and have a selection of local specialities and better wine. In any case they were great company and we had a lovely evening.

Peñíscola is a pretty town on the Spanish coast of Azahar. The old town and the Castle are surrounded by medieval walls and perched high on the top of a rock cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Exploring the Castle and it’s history was fascinating. There were beautiful panoramic views from the tower. The old town also has its own lighthouse dating back from 1892.

Peñíscola views from the Castle’s tower

The Lighthouse dates back to 1892

Curiously the medieval castle was used as a film location for season six of “Game of Thrones” among other Spanish towns also used as location for the popular series. We have not been watching the famous HBO series, but our daughter is a fan, so it was interesting for us to learn a little about it.
We enjoyed the serenity of Peñíscola’s old town, the glowing light of the old castle in the evenings, the beautiful sunset, the slow pace of life. We even manage a couple of runs (slow ones) on the promenade.
It has been a great place to stop for few days and take stock of our new life on the road. We don’t want to take it for granted. Or find ourselves thinking…oh well here is another castle. We are loving our life of freedom and right now we don’t want it to stop.