Saturday 24^th May – Almerimar (Sierra Nevada)

36:41.851N 2:47.444W

This morning we picked up a hire car and drove out into the Sierra Nevada.  On the way out we checked out the large commercial centre just before El Ejido.

At lunchtime, high up in the mountains, we called at a small bar for coffee in a charming little place called Pecina.  The only people in the bar were an English couple (and their two dogs) who have retired out to Pecina and were very friendly, giving us lots of information and advising us of places to go.

We took their advice and drove on through the mountains to La Calahorra where there was a large castle set on the top of a hill at the side of the town.  We parked and walked up and around the castle - we couldn’t go in as we had been told that it is only open on Wednesdays, nevertheless it was very impressive and well worth the visit.

We then took the motorway to Almeria and headed down to the marina. We had a coffee and tapas at a café which sadly didn’t impress us at all with its surly service, nor did some of the people hanging around in the car park. 

We then went to the Alcazabar in the old town which improved our feelings towards Almeria.  This is a ‘must see’ – a lot of effort has gone into the archaeological work and the restoration, and it has fantastic views from the top of the walls (though it was quite windy up there today!).  Leave plenty of time as there is so much of it – it’s great the way they have left the archaeological digs open for you to see where they are still working on them.

The one way system was a bit of a challenge on the way out but once out we took the motorway back to El Ejido.  The run was fairly industrial – by this we mean there are very large green houses all along the coast.  We stopped once again at the large commercial centre and picked up a few provisions and then headed home to Almerimar.

We arrived back pretty tired and so we are having a quiet night in.