Day 24 - Towns, Cities, & Campsites
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Almunia De San Juan - 1st time camping
Day 24 brings us to our first time in a campsite since we left Valencia. We decided to stop until after the bank holiday (1st of May). The camping Almunia was only a small campsite, but we had good chats with the lady that runs the place. She's from Germany but chose to live in Spain 13 years ago. Like all of us, she's still getting used to it and is surprised by so many holidays and siestas in Spain. The "tranquilo" life is really fascinating. The campsite was really comfy, quiet, beautiful, and very clean. The town doesn't have a lot to do, but 10 minutes away is the town of Monzón. We decided to go and visit the town to get some supplies and to see its impressive, spooky, and huge castle. Why spooky? Well, let's say that we found a cave with some kind of white material rolled in a very specific way and some herbs and other stuff altogether, like someone arranged it with a purpose. Livy didn't want to get near or take any pictures. Energetically speaking, she didn't feel a good vibe. So we left. But we have pictures of the entrance of the cave. That's enough!
Monzón Castle is a fortress that was built in the 10th century by the Banu Hud dynasty of the Taifa of Zaragoza, a Muslim state that ruled over part of northeastern Spain. The castle was located on a strategic hill overlooking the Cinca river valley, and it was part of the defensive system of the region.
In 1089, the castle was conquered by Sancho Ramírez, the king of Aragon, who incorporated it into his Christian kingdom. In 1143, the castle was given to the Knights Templar, a military and religious order that fought in the Crusades. The Templars transformed the castle into a convent and added new buildings, such as walls, towers, stables, a dining hall and dormitories. They also made it their headquarters in Aragon and one of their most powerful lands.
One of the most famous residents of Monzón Castle was James I of Aragon, also known as "the Conqueror". He was born in 1208 and became the king of Aragon when he was only five years old. His childhood was marked by political turmoil and violence, and he was sent to Monzón Castle for his safety and education. He lived there under the protection and tutelage of the Templars until he was nine years old. He learned Latin, French, Catalan and Aragonese languages, as well as history, geography, religion and military skills1. He also developed a strong bond with the Templars and admired their courage and discipline.
Monzón Castle witnessed many historical events and conflicts over the centuries. In 1309, it was besieged and captured by James II of Aragon, who suppressed the Templars after they were accused of heresy by the Pope. The castle continued to have military importance until the 18th century, when it was used as a garrison and a prison during the War of Spanish Succession.
Monzon
During our day trip to Monzon, we discovered that they had a motorhome service area that was large enough for us to fit in with the caravan, so that became our next stop. The must-see in the town is the castle. Actually, you can see the castle from almost any part of the town. It's kind of a reference point, so as not to get lost. Another attraction is the monument to an import politician, educator, and personality who was born in the town, Joquim Costa. Also, for a nice night walk at Parque de La Azucarera, with a huge 80m tall chimenea from a sugar cane mill. It was built between 1923 and 1925. If you want to have a look at the view from the top, you can access the webcam installed on the chimenea at the website mimonzon2030.com
Next Stop - Barbastro
The next stop along the road that had conquered us in our previous post was the delightful town of Barbastro. We stayed in a free area with all the services, plus a water fountain. Getting there was a little bit of a squeeze. The area was positioned close to the centre of the town in a public car park, and as we arrived, the car park was already filling up. We originally parked the caravan and then parked the car in a normal parking area, but after a quick phone call to the tourist information, we were told that the car and caravan had to fit in the same space, but after some jostling of the car and caravan we just about managed to squeeze in. A huge plus of the parking area was the stunning view and its proximity to the town center. We really enjoyed our 72 hour stay in Barbastro. We visited the historic center and tried a traditional cake made with almonds. One of the things that we are enjoying most on our travels is trying the local food. Delightful.
Repsol Area 62 El Pueyo and The Lost Ring
We spent the night at Repsol El Pueyo. No services in terms of grey and black water disposal, but an area that’s reserved for caravans, which is very welcome. Showers are available for 3€ and the toilets are very clean. More than that, the staff were really nice, which we found out by, well, I’ll let Livy tell the story…. In Livy's words: So, from the series 'Things that happen to me'... All I wanted was a nice and relaxing shower. But I ended up losing my wedding ring in the shower, so the lady responsible immediately sent a message to the WhatsApp group, letting everyone know about it. It was late, so she told me that the next day, the other lady would take care of it. And she wrote my number on a piece of paper: "La chica de la ducha", translating as "the shower lady". So, the next day, I went there to say hello, buy some bread and introduce myself, all I had to say was that I was "la chica de la ducha", she called the person responsible for the maintenance, before even getting back to the caravan I had already had two missed phone calls from the maintenance guy, letting me know that he had already been able to retrieve my ring…phew!
Day 36 - Siétamo
As there wasn’t any motorhome or caravan service area between the Repsol Area and Husesca we decided to stay in a "Area de Descanso" / Resting Area off the main road. It didn’t have any services or water. But, in compensation, there was a really nice picnic area. Our night was a little bit noisy, as we had a truck neighbour with the engine running almost all night. But it didn’t particularly stop us from sleeping most of the night anyway. The next morning we got our work done, had a walk with Chewie, and then moved on to Huesca.
Day 37 - Huesca
We stayed in another free area in Huesca, within walking distance from the city centre. It's really a charming city. It’s a city that has a rich cultural heritage, and the Gothic cathedral is a must-see. The cathedral was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and combines Gothic and Renaissance elements. Unfortunately, pets aren’t allowed to enter the cathedral, not even when they are in a pet carrier. Apart from the Cathedral, there are lots of little streets to explore and get lost in. The motorhome area was really busy, but we managed to get the only spot available for our caravan. We called the local police to make sure that we could actually park there, but for some curious reason they couldn’t tell us if we were allowed to unhitch; they just told us to read the rules that were displayed, which didn’t say anything about unhitching. To keep on the safe side, we stayed connected anyway, as everything was pretty much within walking distance from the service area. The only trouble we had was that our space was in the shade, so after 3 days with no charging, the battery of the Ecoflow went to less than 20%. But, on Friday morning, we went to a local shop, Fabra Electrodomesticos Fasat, and the owner was really nice and let us charge our EcoFlow at his shop for free!
Day 40 - Plan: North To Sabiñánigo - Reality: South to El Timple - Campsite No. 2
From Huesca we had planned on heading a little way north to the town of Sabiñánigo and from there to Aínsa, which is said to be ‘one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. This plan, however, didn’t go according to plan. The roads just started edging a little too close to the Alpes, which meant inclines, which the car just doesn’t like. It wasn’t long before things started to get a little overheated. So instead of going upward, we pointed the car downward. As we were heading down, Livy found a small campsite we could stay at to replan. The campsite was a municipal campsite called El Timple. It was really quiet and full of small vacation bungalows. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was nice.
Being that we were in a camping ground meant we could unhitch the car, so we decided to have a road trip up to Aínsa to see what one of the most beautiful towns in Spain had to offer….which we’ll tell you about next time.
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I hope you can get your work done with all this travelling and sight-seeing! Seems like you're having lots of fun, although Livy losing her wedding ring must have been a bit worrying and I'm glad it was found.