Vroom Droom Adventures

  The road after the rain! It was a relatively quiet week for us. Plans to take an overnight trip in the camper were thwarted by the forecast for winter rain and wind. We hunkered down for a few relaxed days, cooking a mini-Thanksgiving meal for two with almost no leftovers! The bright orange squash was a gift from Michel's garden in The Netherlands and had traveled with us for a month saved for this feast. We roast and stuffed that tiny pumpkin with leftover rice and some veggies. It was absolutely amazing! We stuffed it with whatever we had available in the refrigerator this year, but here is a link if you are interested in the recipe we usually use for our stuffed pumpkin . Making the pie was fun using an empty wine bottle as a rolling pin!  We had a less adventurous week because of the weather and wanting to tackle a few of the odd jobs we wanted to get taken care of for the English couple that owns the house we are staying in. This house is for sale and that is one of the reas

 The morning started out cool enough for us to wear coats and gloves as we set out for what promised to be a long sunny day of bicycling. We planned to bike from the house to the nearby town of Chirivel and then take our mountain bikes up a hiking route about 9 km outside of Chirivel. The trail, La Sabine is normally a moderate climb and 10 km each way. We planned to bike/hike through the pass in a circular fashion as opposed to out and back.  Yesterday, I finally located la panaderia (bakery) and it looked as if it would be open (I could see cookies through the bars of the door). So after a cup of tea, we bicycled into Chirivel via the dry sandy riverbed (hoping to get some baked goods for breakfast). We had sandwiches packed for the long ride. 9:28 am outside the bakery and there were no signs of life. The bars were still across the doorway. We decided to head to a nearby cafe in the center of Chirivel that has quiet outdoor seating.  The two sandwiches we ordered were delicious, wit

 A two day adventure to visit a famous Castillo in Velez Blanco was full of surprises. The first was when we arrived at Castillo Velez Blanco and walked up to the castle expecting only to see the outside and take photos from the path looking out over the white village.  To our great surprise, there was a car parked up above and a lady stepped out and told us we could go inside with her! We were the only ones there and she opened the Castle up for us to wander around inside. We could not believe our good fortune. The key to the castle door was bigger than my hand! This castle was originally constructed between 1505 to 1513 on an existing Moorish foundation. It was both a fortress and a palace. In the 1700's parts of the castle were repurposed into other items, for instance, the bronze cannons were melted down to make bells for the church. If you want to read more about the history of this unique place, follow this link:  Castillo Velez Blanco The original patio has been in the Metro