Trying to work out a route north through Spain from Gibraltar is tough. This is a big country, where do you start? We probably aren’t going to see a beach again now for quite a while, so our first stop is El Puerto De Santa Maria near Cadiz purely for this reason. Cadiz itself is supposed to be a beautiful place to visit, but not very Motorhome friendly, so we decide on a night on the other side of the bay instead. The beach here is a picture perfect golden sand affair with palm trees, warm water and barely anyone on it. Perfect for a final beach day before we head inland. There was also a huge junk market along the promenade the following morning. Even though the majority of it was rubbish, it’s always fun to have a rummage. I even managed to bag myself yet another pair of absolutely pristine vintage 1970s B+L RayBans for the bargain price of just 25 euros – winning!
That’s it then, all inland from here until we reach San Sebastián at the top. But which direction to head in? My friend Alberto brought to my attention an ancient trade route which ran along the entire length of the Iberian peninsula from Cadiz in the South to Gijon in the north. The Romans constructed a road along this route in the time of Emperor Augustus called La Via de la Plata, and it was used to move goods and troops for centuries. It is along this route we are going to head first, and our next destination is the beautiful city of Seville, capital city of Andalusia.
The first thing to say is that the centre of this city is stunning. There is beautiful architecture and lush green spaces everywhere you look, and it is a joy to simply wander its colourful streets. We head first to La Maestranza bullring on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. This eye-catching building is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain with a capacity of 12000. The season is over already and we are not here to see a bullfight, simply to visit this iconic piece of Spanish history. I’m not convinced I would want to see a bullfight even if it was the season to be honest. It seems an unnecessarily brutal blood sport, although the Spanish still regard it as a cultural event and even an art form in its own right. I content myself with simply wandering its halls and standing in its arena imagining the carnage that fight day brings. There is also a pretty good museum attached with many artifacts from through the years, and several of the more famous bovine gladiators still standing proudly on display having been preserved for posterity. The matadors are the obvious stars of the show, but there have been bulls who were stars in their own right. Although they mostly all inevitably end up with the same fate, served up in the town restaurants following their bloody demise.
There is a fantastic food hall no more than 3 minutes walk away from the bullring (I wonder if it serves El Toro during the season?) where we head for lunch. El Mercado Lonja Del Barranco houses around 20 vendors showcasing the best of Sevillian cuisine in a former fish market designed by Gustavo Eiffel of Parisian tower fame. With so many tasty treats on offer the best advice is to graze until you can eat no more!
From here we waddle full-bellied through the town to have a look at one of the more bizarre architectural attractions of this city – Las Setas de Sevilla. These enormous wooden “mushrooms” occupy an area 150 metres long and 70 metres wide in the old town, and are supposedly the largest wooden structure in the world. The basement houses an antiquarium displaying the many Roman and Moorish remains found on the site during an earlier abandoned development, and the upper levels provide galleries viewing spaces offering views of the city below.
The main shopping straight of Calle Sierpes winds its way from here down towards the enormous Cathedral of Seville, but unfortunately we haven’t bought tickets in advance so we have to view it from the outside only. Shame really, the remains of Christopher Columbus are resting inside, and I would have liked to see that first hand.
As we are stood staring at the cathedral, Bam noticed the rank of horses stood ready to ferry willing tourists around the city in the iconic Gitano carriages. I have mooted the ethical side of these horse and carriage rides in a previous blog post about Prague as many European cities have decided to ban this practice. I do understand concerns for these animals welfare in particularly busy town centres, and when the heat is overwhelming for the horses. But again, the traffic is not very heavy in the old town centre of Seville, and the horses seem healthy and content, so we decide to give it a whirl. Bam picks a horse she likes the look of, but we are predictably instead shown to the carriage of a completely different one by the rather swarthy looking horse gang-leader! Nevermind, our driver (who we nickname Juan-Bob due to his rustic – ahem – good looks) expertly guides us around what we assume to be the main highlights, although it’s hard to tell as he doesn’t speak any English and just seems to be periodically shouting out random building names in Spanish. When confronted with my slightly confused face he utilises the same trick most English people use when confronted with the problem of making themselves understood by bemused foreigners. He repeats himself, still in the same language, but LOUDER and s-l-o-w-e-r. To be fair this is quite an effective technique (I guess that’s why we all do it) as it gives me more of a chance to decipher some of the words with my rather rubbish GCSE level Spanish, and combined with some quick Google maps referencing we are able to determine what most of the buildings are.
Having finished our horse drawn perambulation, we pay Juan-Bob and decide to finish our day out in Seville by making our way back to one of the most attractive places that he showed us, the Plaza de Espana, in the verdant Parque de Maria Luisa. This incredibly beautiful public space comprises a semi-circular set of buildings set around a canal, accessed from the half moon square by 4 arched bridges. The buildings have 52 alcoves at their foot, representing the 52 provinces of Spain. The real stand out feature here is the traditional Spanish blue and white tiles everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. There are tiled balustrades, tiled benches, tiled pavements, tiled bridges and even tiled streetlights. For six euros you can even rent a small rowing boat for half an hour on the goldfish filled moat, which of course we did, giving us a chance to check out the Spanish guitarists performing in one of the archways. There was also an incredible 5 piece Flamenco band complete with dancer drawing quite a crowd in the centre of the buildings, giving us a taste of this traditional art form.
The next day we carry on up La Via de la Plata to our next destination, the ancient city of Caceres. The landscape on our drive has changed dramatically now, it is no longer the dusty, desert-like expanse we found on the Almeria coast and in the south. Suddenly we are driving through rolling green hills populated with herds of grazing livestock. There is an abundance of enormous birds of prey floating majestically above us, turning in gentle circles as they rise higher on the thermals. I wondered what they are, and on further research I discover that Extremadura is home to many different species of Eagle and Vulture, including the Golden Eagle and the Spanish Imperial Eagle. I also notice what looked like nests in the many electricity pylons which dissect the steppe. Surely they can’t be nests, these pylons are huge so the nests mush be several metres across I thought! But sure enough I was eventually lucky enough to see one of these majestic Eagles take flight from one in search of rabbits in the fields below.
The old town of Caceres occupies an elevated site that has been inhabited since Prehistoric times, and the city was then established here by the Romans in 25 BC. It is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its impressive mixture of architectural styles including Roman, Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance. As you approach the old town from the more modern restaurant-lined Plaza Mayor, you see the most famous of its 30 remaining moorish towers, the Torre de Bujaco, standing guard over the ancient walls. For the princely sum of just two and a half euros you can enter this 800 year old tower and climb to its ramparts for a view across the clay tiled roofs. As you leave the tower and walk through the Arco de Estrella, it is literally like you are stepping back in time. The amazing thing about this town is that there are literally no modern buildings within the old town walls to ruin the illusion. If it is a quiet day, as it was on our visit, you can find yourself completely alone amid these ancient streets, walking in the footsteps of the countless generations of Romans, Christians and Moors who walked these same cobbled streets thousands of years ago. You can simply wander and get lost, discovering the churches and squares. We visited the Co-cathedral of Santa Maria (Co-cathedral as it shares episcopal headquarters with another cathedral in Coria), where after marvelling at its encredibly richly-appointed interior you are permitted to climb its spiral staircase to the bell tower. I hadn’t noticed the time as were ascending, but had I realised it was very nearly 3 o’clock I might have thought it unwise to be stood with my head literally inside one of the enormous bells as it struck the hour. Having never actually been shot before I couldn’t tell you what it feels like, but I imagine it to be something like this! Disoriented and temporarily deafened I stumbled back down the perilous stone staircase and continued around the town.
It’s worth also noting that Caceres is a haven for food lovers too. It has previously been voted the Gastronomic Capital of Spain and for good reason. This town is teeming with restaurants and there is something to suit all tastes and budgets. Atrio is a two star fine dining restaurant in the old town showcasing the best of Extremaduran produce, but I’m not sure my kids would appreciate it even if we could get a table. Caceres is best known for producing some of the finest tapas in Spain, so we found a decent looking tapas restaurant in Plaza San Juan after being advised to avoid the main square. We had a selection of tasty bites for a very reasonable price, the highlight for me being the perfectly piquant Lomo Abodabo pork loin with a piece of crusty bread.
That’s it for the Ruta de la Plata, tomorrow we veer away from its course and head for the capital city in the very heart of Spain.