Chinchilla for lunch....

The question is, did we decide stop here at lunchtime just so I could post the silly title on Facebook? Now I am involved in a particularly puerile exchange discussing if hamster is more delicious than squirrel and what wine goes best with rodent anyway.

All this is a little unfair to the noble little town of Chinchilla de Monte Aragon situated on a spur about 10 Kms south of Albacete. The place has an impressive baroque central square, precipitous alleyways and an imposing castle on the hill above it with stunning views over the straw coloured endless plains which stretch away to the north. It's very photogenic, so no guesses as to whay we did....

Plaza Mojnas

Steep old streets

Terrifying....the town has a large procession at Easter

Imposing 14th century Castle 

The Plains of La Mancha

At first glance the plains look arid and empty

In fact they seem very productive - not just in terms of crops, but quite industrialised - a very human landscape.

The town's motorhome Aire is free, level, with a good service point. It is not far at all from the centre, but up steps and a very steep hill. The place is so good, in fact, that although we only stopped for lunch, after we wandered about for a while we thought, what's the hurry, it's nice here, let's stay overnight.

The drive here was good too. The sat-nav suggested a short cut across the plain of la Mancha on a 'white road' through small agricultural towns like Iniesta and Ledeña. Though the land looks arid it is very productive, olives, vines, fruit and nut plantations. As we neared Albacete the prairie like fields were fallow. Maybe winter wheat is what is grown here. How the Spanish have maximised the potential of their land is really impressive. 

From Kiko park we headed west on the A3 autovia through the mountains,

then south on some minor roads through low hills, 

and onto unclassiified roads across the empty plain - Spanish unclassified roads are often better than British A roads!

It's been a good day. Always happier on the move I think. Tomorrow we are heading southwest on a road through the mountains to visit Ubeda and Baeza. The forecast remains good, a little cooler and a few showers forecast for mid-week. A hurricane is heading towards the western parts of the UK apparently. News from home feels a bit remote. After a month the travel bubble has well and truly enveloped us. My top priorities have become - is there enough water on board to see us through the next few days and the importance of reminding Gill that we need to buy an avocado tomorrow.