Chinchon

The storm front was already announced the evening before, over 30 degrees and endlessly humid, so any cooling down is welcome. In the morning it was just over 20 degrees, a relief.

Our journey continued northeast, we avoided the motorway once again and opted for the main road. After 30 km we see a sign for a Repsol gas station, so we stop by and maybe we can get a bottle at a smaller gas station in the hinterland. The gas station was then very small, i.e. a gas pump in front of a residential building on Dorfstrasse. The nice gentleman said no to my question about gas, but we should just turn left on the next street because there was a ferrateria. With a few words of Spanish and a lot of friendliness, after some hesitation, they actually sold us a gas bottle, even propane, yay!

With the bottle loaded and lashed down, we thought, let's take advantage of the opportunity and go to the shop again with the gas hose from our outdoor grill (as a demonstration model) to make sure that we now have all the parts. The boss looked at it and then sent one of his employees to connect the bottle straight away. I was able to follow some of his words, but there were obvious gaps. He then brought in his wife, who spoke a few words of English and was very helpful. He wasn't sure whether it would work that way, but he decided to try it out. Fifteen minutes later we had to bury our hopes again, although we now have a bottle, but unfortunately we only have a filling adapter (which is completely useless, as we now know, since hardly anyone fills bottles anymore) instead of a removal adapter.

After another 1.5 hours in the village café, we ordered a German adapter via A... Spain, which will be delivered to a post office in northern Spain on Tuesday. Fingers crossed that this works now!

We continued our journey through Castile - La Mancha. Shortly after we had left the Siedra Madrona behind us and were on the way to Ciudad Real, such black storm clouds appeared from the right, which prompted us (or me in particular) to stop for shopping in Puertollano because, according to the weather app, we couldn't get there violent thunderstorms should come over Ciudad. The plan worked, we had shopped, eaten and the storms were over. So the journey continued through the hilly country with thousands upon thousands of olive trees and vines, it's simply unimaginable who harvests it all!

In the evening we reached the parking space in the village of Chinchòn, one of four parking spaces in the backyard of a residential building. It wasn't so inviting, but we stayed anyway and headed into the village. At the entrance to the village there seemed to be thousands of birds chirping without you being able to see any of them, strange but absolutely beautiful. As we continued along, we became aware of the barriers and no-parking zones. What kind of event is there?

The small town of Chinchon - approx. 45 km southwest of Madrid - is known for its Plaza Mayor, one of the most beautiful and largest in Spain, surrounded by the balcony ledges, galleries and facades typical of Castile. When we arrived at the square, a bullring was set up. Nowhere is there a notice, poster or similar about an upcoming event.

For dinner (we clearly feel like we're back in Spain, the restaurants open at eight/thirty o'clock) we sat down in a simple restaurant near our parking lot. The owner was super hospitable, he explained his entire menu to us with lots and lots of Spanish words, I was able to follow every now and then, which at least saved us from ordering tripe and pork ears. He served the beer in ice-cold glasses, and I had to wait a really long time for that! The food was delicious, honest traditional Spanish cuisine.

After my question about the bull and when the event took place, a lot of Spanish words followed; I thought I understood the important point: first the bulls should be driven through the streets, then it continues in the arena, starting at 9:00 a.m.

After a final carajillo we went to bed.