Vroom Droom Adventures

This picture is of a curious rock formation along the beach walk near to  Mojácar. The  path runs parallel to the coastline and ascends the sea cliff, the views in the area are stupendous. This curious rock formation is known locally as Piedra del Nazareno or Rock of the Nazarene. The legend tells that a group of miners were camped on the beach having lunch when the rock fell from the cliffs above. Miraculously, the boulder came to a precipitous stop just before it would have fallen and crushed the miners! The name, Nazareno , comes from the resemblance of the rock to the robe, cape and cone-shaped hats costume worn by penitents (Nazarenos) in religious processions. The Nazarenes are members of the cofradias  or "brotherhood" and participate in processions of penitents dressed so that no one can recognize them. The cone symbolizes rising towards the heavens bringing their penitence nearer to the heavens, similar to a church spire. This is reminiscent also of the cypress tree

  Fuente, Oria We had previously tried to bicycle to the village of Oria nestled in the mountains of the next valley, however, due to outdated and missing signage for the route, we never actually made it on our bikes. In one of my stilted Spanish conversations with the goat herder, Juan, he had told me that he and his 8 brothers had been born in Oria and that he still visits there often to go to the bakery and get water from the fuente (source). The water in the house we are staying at is delivered to a large tank by the city of Chirivel about every 5 weeks. It may be drinkable, but it is extremely hard, mineral rich water. Most visitors to the area buy bottled water because of the impurities. Herman and I decided to try finding the fuente in Oria in order to refill our water bottles. We drove SAM there and were able to fill around 100 liters of drinking water. The water is filtered naturally through the limestone and sandstone of the mountains around Oria.  We love Oria! It certainly

 This week we embarked on a couple of explorations within biking distance from the house, Dormilon, in Chirivel. We rode 40 kilometers out and back to visit the Sanctuario del Saliente (1681-1686) which the previous house sitters had told us was worth checking out. We even set the alarm to have an early start in hope that we would be there around the 10:00 am opening time. (sunrise photo below) A small pueblo on the way to the sanctuary. As luck would have it, the schedule we checked for opening times was incorrect due to COVID-19 changes; the sanctuary doors were locked tight. We will definitely have to return when it is open. The temple was built on the site of the prehistoric settlement of Monterroel, a historical route through a pass between two valleys which used to be a trade route. We actually could see all the way to the pueblo of   Mojácar  and the Mediterranean  Below is a picture of the Sanctuario del Saliente from Sept. 8, 2002 during the annual pilgrimage during which peop