Arroyo del Frio

I am in a small village called Arroyo Frio in El Parque de la Sierra de Cazorla. It is an area that forms part of the larger Sierra de Segura where peaks go up to 1800 metres or so. 

I left Valencia this Saturday morning in bright sunshine and at 08:30 or thereabouts, the temperature was a balmy 20 degrees.  At this relative early hour, the city was quiet and the streets almost deserted, it made for a very pleasurable and leisurely exit of the lovely city. A few miles later on the autovia and I had ascended a plateau at around 700 meters in altitude and the sky was covered in cloud. The temperature had dropped to 12 degrees and I stooped to add another layer of clothing. The temperature and altitude haven't changed much during the day and although there were brief sunny spells, it felt like a mistake leaving the coast. 

After a bout 40 minutes I left the autovia and changed to a lightly populated  N322 .  For many mies the road was arrow straight and  passed through obvious wine country with vines growing on the plain as nearly as far as the eye could see. Later, the vines gave way to olive trees and slowly, the topography became more interesting and there were a a few great sets of tightish but fast sweepers to enjoy.

I followed the N322 through Albacete and on to Puerto de Segura where I turned off into the park and then ambled south to Arroyo del Frio (well named for today!). The road, initially a bit rough with sign after sign apologising for its condition (they should see our roads in Kent!), became smooth as silk and the whole environment felt a little too manicured. There are lots of little camping resorts and umpteen casas rural catering for this tourist area - alongside places offering 4x4 excursions and canoe trips, guided walks, fishing etc.

I am staying at a hotel that claims to have four stars although I suspect it is like calling oneself "Prince", either that or the awarding body were well-oiled when they presented the stars. Still, it is clean, and the staff are friendly and as helpful as the facilities allow them to be.

Unfortunately the claimed wifi internet is neither wi nor fi and if this gets posted in the next 36 hours, it will be courtesy of my iPhone and the telephone network.

I have walked the town and stopped for a couple of beers in a bar where I practiced my Spanish with the very plasant owner who, each time I ordered a beer, made me a little dish of food. I have had caracoles (small, very tasty snails) and salmorejo - a delicious tomato puree with bread, oil, garlic and vinegar.We chatted about the economy and the fact that there seemed to be very few people in town, despite this being a popular tourist area. Depressingly the word "crisis" gets used a lot.