As the first part of our travelling adventures has come to an end, and we have stepped off the Santander-Portsmouth ferry back on familiar ground, it feels like the right time to think back on our last six months in Spain with all the highs and lows, and the great memories gained and shared. Although it is the end of our first chapter, and a part of us is sad it's over, we are also excited about all the plans we have coming ahead. Our time in Spain started in the South, in El Chorro, an hour's drive into the rocky mountains from Malaga. We spontaneously ended up as volunteers in the first campsite we arrived to, The Olive Branch, where the charm of the rustic-looking place, the owners, their cats and dogs, and other volunteers made us want to stay. And little did we know that we were going to stay there for two months!
The Olive Branch volunteers
Some of our last climbs in El Chorro
In El Chorro we made many new friends, seen the surrounding villages and places, climbed loads of amazing routes, swam in the Ardales turquoise lakes, ate tapas in local bars and restaurants. We visited Granada for a weekend of Nadia's birthday, we received our friends for a visit where we rented a country house with a pool near Ardales. We also spent a week with Nadia's parents, in a seaside town Estepona, where we stayed in the most lush apartment we've ever stayed in!
Apartment in Estepona during Nadia's parents' visit
But as the seasons changed, and the temperatures went well into the mid-30s, we felt it was time to move north, and chase the shade. Funny, people usually go chasing the sun, but when you find yourself in Spain in the summer, most places will hit temperatures of over 30 degrees (in the shade), which makes outdoor activities, such as climbing and hiking, rather exhausting and sometimes impossible. So we said our goodbyes in The Olive Branch in mid-June, packed our car and drove north.
The yurt we stayed in for a couple of nights after leaving El Chorro, where Natascha & Noan were volunteering at the time
Our next destination was Siurana - a picturesque medieval hamlet on top of rocky cliffs, about an hour's drive into the mountains from Tarragona. Siurana had pleasantly fresh temperatures in the higher 20s degrees, while the rest of the country was sweltering in unbearable heat. The campsite was basic, but with that had its own charm. The views all around were breathtaking, especially the panoramic naturally formed look-out platform at the back, where we often did yoga and stretching.
In Siurana we spent a good couple of months, going back and forth, and on our little ventures out, we stayed at other campsites, apartments and houses, but always came back to Siurana, our 'happy place'.
The bendy roads below you have to drive on to get to Siurana
Doing yoga on the 'look-out' platform at the back of the camp
Panoramic views of Siurana
Nadia climbing in Siurana
So to sum up, the highlights of our Spanish adventures were: - surfing in Asturias for a week we did at the beginning of August; - volunteering at The Olive Branch in the beginning of our travels; - a hike we did in the Pyrenean Sant Maurici National Park with a night in a mountain refuge and a summit of 2,724m (Nadia's highest peak so far); - Hibak's hen do in Ibiza at the end of June; - Hibak and Michael's wedding in Greece; - Bridie and Blerina's visit to Siurana and the picnic we had overlooking the mountains; - climbing in Displominandia and a picnic on the lakes after with tapas at El Kiosko bar; - meeting the Siurana Squad (Liz, Mike and Zhelyo); - staying for a couple of nights in the Yurt camp in Andalucía with Noan and Natascha; - the first night of the Benicassim Fib festival with Rina, and seeing one of our favourite bands Bonobo. And some of the less pleasant moments: - having to deal with the heat when it hit over 35 degrees; - Nadia's near-death experience from heat exhaustion at the Benicassim Fib festival and inability to sleep for 3 nights; - dead birds falling out of the sky in La Noguera campsite; And some stats: - total days travelling: 169; - nights spent in a tent: 53; - total distance driven since leaving home: 8,100 miles; - countries visited so far: 4 (Holland, France, Spain and Greece); - places we stayed in (at least a night and not including coming back to same places): 26; - Total money spent: £4,750 each. We have met many great people along the way, with whom we hope to stay in touch and cross paths again. We have seen a lot of beautiful places and climbed many great climbing routes. We have learned a lot about the Spanish culture and their way of living. And my conversational Spanish has definitely improved! My sister has recently asked me, if we were to do this part of the trip again, what would we have done differently. Nadia and I have thought about it a few times, but after all the considerations, we realised that there aren't many things we would have changed. If we went a couple of months sooner, we could have avoided some of the heat at the end of our travels (July & August), however having been tied in with the flat we were renting and our jobs, we didn't have much choice on the timing. I think we've had a great six months and I'm really thankful to the people we've met that made our travels even more exciting and memorable. Now we're back home, having a little break from our travels, but I am already excited about all the exciting adventures we have planned ahead, and we're definitely not done yet!
