Tag 18-22: Let's go to the beach! 🏖️

Day 18–22.

Olive trees on the left. Olive trees on the right. We meander through a sea of olive tree fields. As far as the eye can see, the gnarled old trees line the hilly landscape.

We arrive in the mountain town of Cazorla and at the most beautiful campsite so far. There are only about 10 pitches between fig trees, flowering plants and cacti. We immediately feel at home, even though the pool is still closed. 🤷 Today we want to treat ourselves to a nice dinner and decide to go out to eat in town. With hungry stomachs we walk 20 minutes in the afternoon sun to the market square, only to realize that, in our tourist-parent bubble, we have forgotten that the Spanish don't go out to eat until 8 p.m. Everything is closed and I mean really. Everything 🥴 So we trudge back to the campsite, our stomachs are now rumbling. Then we quickly fire up the grill and throw a few Spanish sausages and corn on the cob on it. It tasted good too 😉

The next day we explore the local mountain with a short hike, which is still quite challenging. We walk past a bubbling stream, flowering meadows and a babbling waterfall and marvel at the olive tree horizon again. The missed dinner turns into an afternoon snack and we discover that the Spanish love their deep fryers. After fried eggplant and pieces of chicken, we decide to give up fried food and meat for a few days. Eva's stomach has been rumbling for a few days too. And not from hunger. We end the day relaxing on the campsite and decide that we are ready for the beach again. So, vamos a la playa.

To the left, green olive trees again. To the right, bright red poppy fields and in front of us the white peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Behind them, the sea. Here we come!

As we drive into the town of Castello de Ferro, we see huge white plastic sheets everywhere instead of olive trees. Greenhouses are on every possible square centimeter. It's not an idyllic sight, but we keep reminding ourselves. Well, this is where the tomatoes from the supermarket come from. Here, we become even more aware of the miserable working conditions and ecological footprint of these white areas.

Our campsite is between the greenhouses and is a small green oasis. However, we get the spot under the shitting pigeon nest and next to the bizarre caravan neighbors. We somehow feel uncomfortable. We can swap spots again, but our roof tent doesn't fit under the straw roof. No matter, better than pigeon shit and smoking neighbors. So we test our first two nights as a threesome in the bus. That means a lot of cuddling. 😬

We take a short walk along the beach with a detour to an ice cream parlor and aren't quite sure what to think of the place. After 20 minutes we feel like we've seen everything and walk back.

The next day starts with early morning exercise for Chris and a bus clean-up session for Eva. Then it's off to the beach. Chris jumps into the waves, while Eva jumps around Lore so that she doesn't happily put the little pebbles in her mouth. The beach day is very relaxed, but we agree. There's not much to do here other than hang out on the beach.

In the evening we finally go out to eat and are still the first (and only) people in the restaurant. No matter. The sea bream and swordfish are delicious. When we start our way back, the Spaniards are just leaving. Well, that's how it is with babies. 🤪 Our baby is definitely in a good mood, which makes us extremely happy. We hope it stays that way 🙏

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