Finally! We both felt well enough to explore beyond the coast. Since we hadn't planned any particular destination, we chose to visit a nearby white village: Casares. Besides being close, it appeared easy to find.
We set off in late morning with a picnic lunch. We followed the A-7 motorway on past Estepona. However, the road was a motorway only in appearance since it went through 8-10 roundabouts before we reached our turnoff. Speed up, then slow down for the next roundabout. Wash, rinse, repeat. "Autovia" has a loose interpretation in Spain.
We get off the hamster wheel and onto A-377. As in Italy, the larger the number, the smaller the road. However, the comparison with Italy ends there; the road was still fairly large and in good repair. We saw a white village in the hills and assumed it was Casares. It turned out we were right! On the short spur road to the town, we found a Tourist Information Center. We stopped and took in the stupendous views to the west. We saw some birds gliding on the thermal currents and thought they might be Griffon vultures (according to the information board adjacent to the TIC). A very nice lady gave us a map and helped us navigate through the town of Casares. We also picked up city maps for other towns throughout Andalucia (e.g., Seville, Ronda). She also sold us a bottle of wine from a nearby vineyard (in the town of Manilva, near the coast). After munching our sandwiches, we drove to the community parking lot.
The road to the parking garage turned out to be narrow and winding after we left the main road. And, the slots in the garage were pretty darn narrow, as well. We went to a different level with a lot more empty slots. Anna is the main driver, but has serious parking issues! (In other words, she sucks at parking!) We now search for the empty part of all parking garages so there's plenty of room to negotiate the tight parking spots. (The tight spots in themselves wouldn't be so bad, but there are usually also concrete pillars, too. After all, we have a new Peugeot SUV and we don't want to get it scratched if we can avoid it. That would be bad.) We have noticed that there are quite a few Spanish cars with broken or missing side mirrors.
The lift from the parking garage took us up to a plaza that afforded great views of the town, as well as off to the southwest (towards Gibraltar). The narrow, winding streets reminded us, once again, of Italian hill towns. We found the main plaza without any problem, then started on to the Moorish Castle. The streets immediately got steeper ... and steeper! We took plenty of breaks, especially when we found one of the two arches remaining from the original fortress. At long last, we reached the summit – YAY! The church had been recently renovated and workmen were still taking care of a final few details. We turned to few walls that remained from the Moorish Castle that had been built in the 1200s. Built on the top of a rock massif, the Castle has an unbeatable overview of all the area's approaches: Campo of Gilbraltar, Ronda, and Algeciras. In fact, Casares and Cadiz were the only two places in Spain that Napoleon's army could not conquer. The fortress walls had a clear defensive purpose and followed a jagged, angular path that was adapted to the complex local terrain. Over time, the population spread around the fortress walls, giving the town a distinctive Arab feel.
We took our time enjoying the Castle ruins and catching our breath after the steep climb (and from the gorgeous views from on top!). We wound our way down a different route, stopping to take it more views and local flower displays. We found the second Moorish arch, then reached the main plaza. We ducked into a small panaderia (bread store) and bought some delicious pastries for dessert – YUM! Getting to the parking lot and exiting proved to be straightforward and we started our return trip, this time taking the more scenic MA-8300. Despite the higher number, the road itself was still easy to drive ... there were even guardrails on some of the ridges! This route was a bit faster than taking the A-377. All in all, this was a great introduction to Andalucia and we're looking forward to further exploration throughout the region.
For the history buffs, here's the write-up from the Casares Tourist Information Center:
Casares, from the Arabic word for fortress (Caxaras), has its origin in Roman times. The castle and fortified walls are of Moorish origin. Placed on top of a rock, it presents a good example of Andalucian architecutre inherited from Moors with its graceful white houses.
It was here where Blas Infante (the founder of Andalucism) was born and Napoleon's troops were expelled from its streets. Casares and Cadiz were the only two places in Spain that Napoleon's army could not conquer. And, according to legend, Julius Ceaser also came here to enjoy the nearby hot springs.
Protected by its mountains, nature and history are united in Casares. The peaks and cliffs of the Sierra Crestillina Nature Park shelter a colony of Griffon vultures. You can easily observe them high in the sky above Casares. These birds, which have one of the largest wingspans of any Euorpean bird, inhabit these mountains througout the year. The Monte del Duque harbors leafy forests of cork oaks and quejigos (the Andalucian oak trees). The forest also hides one of the most elegant creatures along the Mediterranean coast, the roe deer.
The Arab Wall, dating from the Moorish period, is the origin of the town of Casares. Built on the top of a rock massif, the Castle has an unbeatable overview of all the area's approaches: Campo of Gilbraltar, Ronda, and Algerciras. The wall had a clear defensive purpose and follows a jagged, angular path that is adapted to the complex local terrain. Over time, the population spread around the fortress walls, giving the town a distintive Arab feel.
