26/04/2017

By now I have traveled through the provinces of Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León and I am currently at the Ebro Reservoir on the border with Cantabria. A noticeable characteristic of both provinces is the sparse population and the vastness of the countryside. Sometimes you can drive for minutes without seeing another car or village. But I enjoy taking my time on the empty roads, usually not exceeding 50 km/h, so that I can truly admire and enjoy the scenery. That's why I never cover much distance in a day, but I like it that way. This stage included 5 overnight stops: Següenza, Soria, Hontoria del Pinar, Burgos, and Valdelateja. Unfortunately, the weather has drastically worsened since yesterday. It is clear that I am now in the north of Spain and away from the warm Mediterranean climate, which is also evident in the vegetation (no more palm trees).
Següenza: The city has been classified as a cultural heritage site (Bien de Interés Cultural) in the category of Conjunto histórico-artístico since 1965. Next was Soria: Soria is the capital of the province of Soria in the eastern part of the autonomous region of Castilla y León. For me, the city was not particularly interesting and the parking space was not very nice either. I only rode my e-bike through the city once and then continued to Hontoria del Pinar the next day. The parking space here was so lovely that I stayed for two days because I wanted to visit the Cañon del Rio Lobos Nature Park, which turned out to be worthwhile. It is an impressively beautiful valley with steep cliffs, narrow canyons, and diverse wildlife. Unfortunately, I could only explore a part of it as the valley is a total of 28 km long and that would have been too much for me. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable day.
Next, I went to Burgos, which also impressed me with its cathedral from the 13th to the 16th century. But the parking space here was not nice either, so I continued to Valdelateja the next day, which is idyllically located and invited me to go hiking again. This morning, on my way here to the reservoir, I passed through Orbaneja del Castillo because I wanted to see the beautiful cascades and unique rock formations there.