The fourth day was the real thing: no more sleeping in our friends apartment in Granada, no more getting back home after a daytrip. It was the start of the real adventure of unbooked hotels and unknown roads. GPS, check. Sunscreen, check. Spain travel guide, check. Illegal ripped CDs bought from some guy in an alley in Granada, check.
We left Granada early in the morning after picking up some groceries for the road. Of course we wanted them to last for a couple of days, but who am I kidding. No person in her right mind will leave chocolate chips cookies by themselves when feeling kind of bored in the back of a car. Tasty, tasty cookies.
Luckily, the weather was on our side. We were headed to Consuegra first, where we could stop and have cookies-free lunch. We drove around the tiny town for a minute (yes it’s that big) and saw no one. We did, however, notice that, people (if any) hanged curtains in their doorway instead of having actual doors.
We finally made our way to the top of the small moutain and parked our car near the famous windmills, breathing the fresh air.
Consuegra is the beautiful place described in Don Quixote where the windmills are, next to the town’s uninhabited castle. When coming up the moutain, make sure to stop a moment and snap the aligned windmills in front of you. The scenery from the top of the hill is quite amazing – you can see as far as your eyes can take you, over the Manchegan orange and green plains. There was no one but us. No sound but the wind. None of us felt the need to talk, we just took in the beautiful scenery and ate in relative silence. You know those moments where the wind brushes softly against your skin, the afternoon sunshine warms your cheeks, the food tastes just right… that was one of these moments.
Too bad there weren’t chocolate chips cookies to make this moment even more perfect.
When exiting the town of Consuegra, make sure you stop by the sign with Don Quixote on it that says “Un lungar de la Mancha” (clickie on it for exact location). Cliché tourist picture? Check.
We hopped in the car again and drove a little further north to El Toboso, which is a tiny, tiny village, with no obvious sign of life other than the lady at the tourist booth. Maybe it was siesta time, but really, we ran into no one. Not a single person. Does anyone actually live in Castila-La Mancha?
The reason we went there is to visit Dulcinea’s house, which is perfectly preserved. It was an interesting visit, and provided great information on how people lived in the time. For Don Quixote’s lovers, there is a lovely souvenir shop right in front of Dulcinea’s house that offers hand-crafted Spain-related items.
Photo opportunity: the centre of the village features a statue of Don Quixote on one knee in front of Dulcinea. Cliché tourist picture? Double check.
The only bummer, though, is that a few hours into the roadtrip, we realised that two “Now Dance” CDs can only do so much to entertain four people on the road. We already had our classic moves and choral moments. Every time I hear one of these songs today, I feel nostalgic of the fun we had in the car back then – that’s right before my ears start to bleed.
To read more about the end of the day, read my Cuenca Travel Report , published a few weeks ago.
Up next: San Sebastian (or at least a review of the 10 hours we spent there, anyway).
