Montanejos and Valencia (10.04. - 17.04.19)

Even on the southern coast of Spain, it's not always so hot in April that you absolutely need a cooling off. Hot springs in the middle of the mountains are very convenient for taking a dip. Near the town of Montanejos, we found such springs based on a nice tip. We swam between huge cliffs and only felt cold when we got out of the water. I will remember this natural wonder for a long time.

Since we couldn't find a suitable place to stay in Montanejos, we drove directly to Valencia. We spent the night at a campsite 12km away from the city. When we wanted to drive to a free spot, the oil lamp in the car suddenly turned on. After checking the oil level and the lamp not going out, we only drove to our destination, a gravel spot right on the beach, and didn't think much of it. There we met our English friends again and spent some very funny evenings together.

In the following days, we often cycled to Valencia. The city, also known as the little sister of Barcelona, truly resembles the beauty and character of the capital of Catalonia. Both cities offer many inviting cafes and streets surrounded by palm trees. What I particularly liked about Valencia was the dried-up river that has been transformed into a park. It stretches over 8km and crosses the entire city. Palm trees, orange trees, fitness parks, joggers, and cyclists characterize this beautiful place. When we had a picnic there and suddenly a man stood behind us by our backpacks, it reminded us once again how much we need to watch our belongings. Luckily, we noticed him early enough and he ran away without stealing anything. In Valencia, besides the park, we also visited the market where we could get fruits and vegetables at a very cheap price. We also visited the train station, which still had old wooden counters with decorations. Right next to it is the bullfighting arena, where unfortunately, albeit very rarely, bullfights are still held.

Even outside Valencia, it was very pleasant. Rob went into the water almost every day, even when it was sometimes too cold in my opinion. Both of us tried the surfboard from our English friends, which turned out to be more difficult than we thought. Nevertheless, we had a great time with it.

Overall, we had to spend a little longer in this place than we wanted because, after talking to ADAC, it turned out that we had to be towed due to the oil lamp. After some complications and communication problems with the Spanish-speaking employees at the Peugeot workshop, we were able to pick up Pumpkin after four hours. It turned out after a diagnosis that only the lamp had mistakenly lit up and there was no problem with the car. Relieved, we continued to our next destination, Calpe.