A longer journey is required today and we planned it to
include some green routes as marked on the Michelin map, hoping that we will
have some good scenery. We thought that the aire would be much quieter come
Monday morning as the vast majority of the vans were Spanish and, if they were
working, they would travel home on Sunday. However when we left there were
still over 30 vans parked up.
We travelled south west on the N110 round Avila and then the
N502 heading down south over the pass of Puerto del Pico (1353m) in the Sierra
de Gredos mountain range. As we approached the pass we saw large numbers of
cars parked up and at first we thought that they were walkers but there were
too many. I suggested that they might be collecting fungi and soon we saw
people returning with baskets overflowing with mushrooms. Judging by the number
of cars, it must be a very productive area for fungi hunting. When we got to
the pass, fungi hunters were all we did see as low cloud covered the area and
the beautiful view was totally obscured. Murphy’s Law applied and the view
cleared within a few hundred metres of our descent but, as often in Spain, there
were no pull-ins large enough for the motorhome and it was very difficult to
appreciate the views whilst driving down the mountain road.
We turned off west to Arenas through great scenery and then
turned south at Candeleda. It was then due south until we reached the small
village of La Estrella. We had now come off the Sierra de Gredos mountains and
were much lower, less than 400m, where it was warmer and much drier judging by
the lack of green vegetation. The Vicarious Books book showed an aire here, remote
and rural, along 1km of unmade track. It was well worth it – next to a sports
and play area, it had fantastic views over the surrounding countryside. The sun
was shining beautifully and we were the only people there so, against normal
aire rules, we took out our chairs and sat in the sun looking across the plain
at the distant mountains. After we came in for dinner, two very heavy showers
came through – good timing!
Photos: We have passed a good many castles on this sojourn,
many in ruins, but this was looked complete and in a commanding position;
Relaxing and looking at the lovely view at the La Estrella aire.
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