Rain even harder today if that is possible so warm clothes on again. Set the Sat nav for Xativa which is about 70km away a bit inland to the south. An easy road again through the paddy fields as they surround the campsite for some miles then through orange grove after orange grove. We have no idea how the harvesting of so many fruit could possibly be done. There are lots of oranges and satsumas on the ground beneath the trees as well as on the branches which were very well laden with fruit. The ground under the trees is also exceedingly wet and the paddy fields now appear like lakes rather than just wetlands. We drove through a few towns until we came to Xavita for which Bob had set satnav to the centre.
Like most of the towns we have driven through most of the housing is in high rise blocks of flats. Which is quite odd really if you think how much land there is in Spain. Xativa has lots of these and then in the old historical quarter narrow streets filled lined with houses which makes them look very attractive.
was raining from the photos but honestly trying to take photos while driving along in a low small car in driving rain and trying to avoid the windscreen wipers never mind the moments when the windscreen was awaiting a wipe and therefore full of raindrops, was tricky and it shows !
The main attraction of Xavita is the castle which is perched on top of a high rock above the town. Today the rock also had a cloud on top of it so the castle was rather hidden from view but we decided to try the road up to it anyway. The map shows a quadruple corkscrew but the car is small so should be doable so we found a sign to the castle and set off. The streets were narrow with parked cars down either sides as the streets are residential and belonging to the old part of the town. As well as the narrowness there were also some pretty acute bends but BoB managed as always and we got to an area below the castle rock with a sign saying no entry Sunday or festival days.. I think thats what it said anyway. Drove a bit further
on and found ourselves at a set of gates which were firmly closed. Of course it is Monday and everywhere like this is closed on a Monday in Spain. At least it meant we didnt need to attempt the corkscrew road to the top. We stopped a few minutes, admired the bird song. took a few photos and drove back down again by a slightly less windy route.
There were some cafes at the bottom so we parked the car, worked out how to use the parking meter whilst having to use card as we have very little change. All good. Then found a Tapas bar, which I have since discovered only opened this week and managed with difficulty to order a lunch. With difficulty as the owner spoke very little English, possibly less than my Spanish !
I stopped at the patisserie across the road and bought a few of the delicious little doughnuts we keep seeing and discovered that English is not widely known in this part of town as I stuggled to say I wanted them in a bag to take away not eat in. Not helped by my asking for a ticket instead of
a bag in my silly Spanish. We were both quite relieved when I used the word Takeaway as she understood that so we parted on very good terms.
Back to the car and the campsite through the rain which got heavier the nearer we got to the coast. The clouds do seem to be lifting and forecast promises they will be gone in the morning. Hopeful but not relying on it.
Weather is supposed to be ok now until next weekend when it is due to be possibly even wetter in Roses at the top of the Costa Brava where we will be going from Wednesday.
Tomorrow we will drive the hired car back to Valencia city, drop it off and spend more time in the city. Hopefully I will be back in a tshirt instead of woolly jumper.
