April 22 – 24

We loaded our stuff in the Kuga and hit the road for what would be a three-hour drive to Jessie and Dave’s condo in a small community, Vera Playa, about an hour past Almeria, which curiously is the town listed in their address and for many of the nearby restaurants.  During the drive it took some to get use to various driver assistance options available (Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centering, Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, Blind Spot Assist, and Reverse Brake Assist) not available to us in our 12 year old Toyota and even older BMW. 

I would eventually turn off the lane centering function as it was annoying, but one we couldn’t turn off was the Driver Fatigue Warning, that uses a forward-facing camera to monitor driving behavior for signs of drowsiness, such as inconsistent steering or drifting from your lane.  As I tend not to drive that way we found it would activate at random, sometimes after having driven for not long, and would repeatedly let me know I was tired, which I would then manually shut off the warning.  I concluded it might have had something to do with the fact I wore sunglasses most of the time and perhaps it couldn’t monitor my eyes?  We will never know. 

Throughout our time driving in Spain driving, most of it would be done on the highway system known as the Autovias (dual carriageway) which like our freeways here have limited access, which means you often must rely on a gas station with restaurant type plaza to get food and drink.  The highways are also known for their speed cameras, of which there are about 3,000 working across Spain.  There would usually be signage alerting us to their presence and we would also get a warning on Apple Maps which we used through the Car Play system to provide us with navigation. 

This worked out well for us and neither of us got a speeding ticket on the highways or in other parts of Spain, except for the one I got on the ten-mile section to their condo that Dave warned me about: “If your gps has you get off at exit 709, Los Gallardos, you need to be sure to follow the speed limits closely, until you get to Garrucha. There are speed cameras on that stretch”.  Try as diligently as I might, at some point I went over the speed limit of 88 Kilometers an hour (55 mph) and got a 100 Euro ($114) ticket, which I received notice about 2-3 weeks later from Hertz.  They provide a discount of 50% but tack on a 20% commission so my final cost was 62.10 Euros ($71), a small price to pay for a ticket. 

Along the way we stopped once to pick up a drink and then again for a quick snack at one of the many combination restaurant/gas station plazas (as the Autovias system has limited off and on ramps) and before long we pulled into the parking lot at the condo where Dave was waiting to take us up to their relatively small but highly functional two bedroom unit. 

After relaxing a bit we walked about a mile through their small beach town down to the sea and along the beach until we arrived at Akua Beach Restauracion for dinner.  Although reviews for the place aren’t outstanding, seated outside we found the service to be decent and the food quite good.  We split a bottle of Martin Codax Albarino (the first of many we would enjoy throughout the remainder of the trip) and a selection of appetizers, including Smoked Salmon Tartar with Avocado, a mix of ham, chicken, and cheese croquettes, Prawns battered with Tartar Sauce and a Bowl of Mussels.  Our tab of 84.50 Euros ($98) while not Morocco inexpensive, seemed like a bargain for four people. 

The next day we all drove back towards Almeria with a stop at Algarrobico Beach to walk out to an amazing site known as the Hippie Temple.  It was started by Miguel Ángel, a retired local police officer from Carboneras, as a way to relax and clear his mind.  As we began to walk around a bluff to get to the site, Dave pointed out a newish looking resort up the coast that he said had been constructed on what is park land without a permit and somehow it was allowed to continue until it was almost completed.  Then the authorities stepped in and required the builders to tear the whole thing dwne, leaving one to wonder how it could have gotten so far down the path to completion without someone stopping it sooner. 

We rounded the corner of the bluff and there was the temple, an amazing collection of piles of rocks and wood, some as structures, some like altars, some just piles containing all manner of items.  It was a sight to behold and combined with the isolation of the location, the pounding of the nearby waves, and the clear blue skies, it brought a sense of tranquility that had to have been the result of Miguel Angel’s original intent. 

We lingered for a bit and then drove on to Almeria, entering the town and finding a parking spot, we walked to the base of the Alcazaba, which we would visit shortly, to stop in at a local café, El Jurelico Restaurante-Bar for a quick bite to eat.  Here we were introduced to the Spanish Tostada, essentially toasted bread with some form of topping, almost always containing a smear of tomato.  Dave and Jessica ordered one half apiece of ham, cheese and tomato without a lid (a top half of the bread) while Joanna and I did the same, only with the lid on.  Add in four Cafe con Leche’s and a refreshing and filling lunch ran us 27.20 Euros ($31.41) for the four of us. 

We settled up and walked to the entrance to the Alcazaba, and we will continue our adventures there and beyond in the next post. 

Links

Akua Beach Restauracion: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187429-d13995639-Reviews-Akua_Palomares-Almeria_Province_of_Almeria_Andalucia.html