Getting around .....
Getting around ......
So you’ve decided on your new home in Spain and made your way through the variety of thoroughly enjoyable idiosyncrasies of the buying process (because you used seasoned professionals such as ‘’For Sale By Sally in Spain’’ to guide you along the way) (not much of a plug then! – Ed). You’ve furnished and remodelled, scraped, painted and titivated until you can titivate no more (???? - Ed) and now you sit, thumb twiddling, thinking of what to do next with all the empty time space that has just appeared around you.
Suggestion! Get out and about and peruse this new and strange land that you’ve landed in. I don’t know about you, but the vast majority of folks rarely travel far from where they’ve landed. In fact, many folks don’t even get about their own neighbourhood. Think about it. What did you really know about your neighbourhood back in the old country? In all fairness, most of us were so busy working and making a living, that we rarely had the time or the energy to bother learning much about our local area.
Well, that can now all change dear reader! (Wot! You mean someone actually reads this gibberish? Sheesh! - Ed). The road links, if you haven’t already noticed, are very good here. Pot holes are something that is only apparent on the smallest of miniscule by- roads leading sometimes to the most interesting of places, at others, leading ..... um .... well nowhere really. They just stop. Motorways are wide, fast and generally of excellent surface quality, so you can travel quite long distances relatively quickly and still legally.
For example, we have recently returned from a week away in Monty, our trusty motorhome, where we decided to investigate the huge area of National Park known as the Cabo de Gatas Park. This is so called because the little town in the middle of it is called .... yeah, you’re ahead of me! (who isn’t - Ed). An area of Andalucia sprinkled with white adobe pueblos, a wild and largely empty, except in mid-summer, expanse of gritty landscapes, craggy beaches and waterfronts and many campsites. Oh, and one other thing! Miles and miles of plastic netted and tightly enclosed growing tents for the proliferation of tomatoes, cucumbers and other salad products. OK, two other things. The other being rubbish. Strewn along the roads, in ditches and surrounding aforesaid netted areas. To be fair, there are interesting and cute places to visit scattered amongst the grit and plastic bottles and bags (bolsa’s as they are called over here – Ed). You just come away with the feeling that they need an army of gente (people – Ed) armed with dust pans and brushes and another one with tool bags and paint brushes ..... and all would be lovely.
But then you have other places such as Granada in the same area, Rhonda, Cordoba, all highly visitable and an absolute heaven for the history buff.........but hang on a minute, just hang a goldarned ....... you don’t have to travel that far! No siree bob! Because if you have chosen this wonderful area in which to settle, let’s see now, well, we are almost on the doorstep of gorgeous Valencia of course. We have visited so often and still not covered a fraction of its attractions and history (yes that word again). Based in the Gandia area it costs the princely sum of one euro twenty cents for the one-hour train ride to the centre of Valencia old town. It just really isn’t worth driving! Well, that is unless you are visiting the huge and amazing Science Park, the Aquarium or the Zoo. Of course, no normal zoo in Valencia, but a rare breed conservation centre and at the forefront of animal care and repopulating the wild. All of these attractions have huge car parking facilities as well as easy access by metro or bus, despite the miles between them.
In addition, there are so many other places within the hour duration drive of Gandia. You want more ‘istory? Loads of it! The town of a thousand fountains and one of the biggest castle complexes named Xativa (pronounced Chatiba – Ed) is just fourty minutes away. A further twenty minutes is the ancient Arab town of Cocentaina (pronounced Kochentayna – Ed) with its myriads of alleys and hidden courtyards – oh and one of the biggest medieval markets in Spain, every year.
Of course, being mountainous as well as right on the Northern Costa coastline, there are a plethora of seafront towns and villages. Running south from us here, you have the port of Denia with its castle guarding the town and sea front, great waterfront restaurants and all manner of investigable alleys and nooks – and you must NOT miss Los Magazinos and I’m saying no more. You’ll just have to come and find it yourself! Next stop is Xabia (Chavia), a very much holidayish area with a busy beach area and unusual semi-inland marina. Following here is Moraira, one of our regular visit places with more of a comfortable, well behaved feel to its small beach, rocky cove frontage and mixture of old and new restaurants, including a very popular ‘Saxo’ where you will hear live music of all kinds almost every day/evening of the week, right next door to the famous and very friendly ‘Fishy Fishy’ traditional English fish ‘n’ chips restaurant. Behind these emporiums on a Friday is one of the biggest markets in the entire area, attracting literally hundreds and hundreds of people every week, with its massive free car park. Some folks even travel down the previous evening with their campers, so that they are on site ready for the market in the morning. We did! Next, we have Calpe with the famous Ifach. A massive rock jutting out into the water, visible from miles away.
If you want to add another twenty minutes, you can include places such as Altea, famous for its artists centre on top of the hill, Guadalest, the ancient town built high on the rocks overlooking the valley and reservoir (currently badly depleted of its turquoise waters) and amongst so many other delights, one cannot forget the illustrious BENIDORM! Yes, you may cower! But we love it! I’m not saying that we would relish living there full time, but we travel the hour and a bit from here several times each year to sample their excellent vegetarian breakfasts and wander along the beautifully combed and clean beaches, watching and being entertained by the very reasons why we wouldn’t really want to LIVE there.
So what are we saying here? Well, I guess that the main thrust of this edition is to inform you that although most people are aware of Marbs (Marbella), Malaga, Estepona and the likes, if you head further north up the coastline, not only do you get more property for your hard-earned bucks, you also get much more around you than you may be aware of. Beautiful sandy beaches? Yep, got loads of ‘em. Historical towns? Yep. Heaps. Good transport links? Sure, we’re right on the routes of the A7 and AP 7, north and south. No trains running south, thanks to Franco. That is still to come, but northwards and into the hinterland? Plenty. Including the super-efficient bullet train from Valencia to Barcelona, Madrid and Granada amongst other major centres. Gandia itself, of course, was a power centre for the infamous Borja family, of which much evidence still remains and is the excuse for one of the many Fiestas held throughout the year.
So is Gandia a ‘getabout’ place where you won’t get bored in a hurry? Well as I said earlier, yesiree bob!
Get yerself over here and fill yer boots!
Nos vemos compadres .......
