My time in Madrid came to a close, so I went off to the airport to pick up a rental car for a leisurely look around rural Spain. I'd booked the car weeks ago, a cheap deal on a little hatchback, just 35 euros in total for four days. The guy at the counter pushed a 'special offer' at me: a slightly larger hatchback, for an extra 60 euros. Does anybody ever take them up on that? Or do they just target the customers who look particularly stupid?
I'm pleased to report that I didn't crash the car or hit any pedestrians, despite it being my first time in a left-hand-drive car with a manual gearbox. But the weather has been a bit hit-and-miss, which isn't ideal for photography; there's also the fact that rural Spanish roads don't offer too many places where you can safely stop and get out and take photos. Nonetheless, I did get some decent snaps, so see below for a brief selection from my tour (4 days, 1000 miles) around some of central and southern Spain's
Parques Nacionales, Parques Regionales and
Parques Naturales.
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Trevélez
A small town in the Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada, Andalusia.
The Parque is named after a famous American craft beer. I think. |
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| My cruddy little rented Fiat Panda, in the Parque Natural de Despeñaperros. |
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| The E5 highway, going through a mountain in the Despeñaperros. |
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| Cuevas del Valle, in Castile & León |
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Parque Regional de la Sierra de Gredos, Castile & León.
This is where the road ends and the footpath starts. |
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| As above |
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| Admittedly I've forgotten where this was exactly. |
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| Manzanares el Real, Community of Madrid |
