Caravaca de la Cruz & Mula

Not for the first time on this trip have I taken the van where, with hindsight, it would probably have been better not to!

Entering Caravaca de la Cruz there were no obvious parking place signs, so I just continued to follow those for the castle, the streets got narrower until we got down to those which were cobbled and just one vehicle width. As we approached an archway it immediately drew the comment from Rachel “Will we fit”? I was confident we would, and as we emerged unscathed into the polished surface of the pedestrianised courtyard with restaurants, gift shops etc, we were greeted by a local gentleman. Now his gesture I interpreted as ‘Oooh, that must’ve been difficult, well done, but you really shouldn’t be here’, Rachel interpreted it in a different way, not wanting anyone to be nasty to her husband, she quickly (as is her want) reciprocated with the hand gesture she thought he was using! There was no mistaking Rachel’s, which led to a quick discussion on the merits of doing such a thing in the confined space of a courtyard. It was immediately obvious there was no forward exit for a vehicle of Harry’s size, so I quickly assessed the turning possibilities, without cleaning up the restaurants tables and chairs, that’s when I caught sight of a policeman striding towards us in a rather purposeful manner. This is now starting to develop into the stickiest situation since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun! Who said men can’t multi-task? The shiny pavement meant the steering wheel whizzed around effortlessly, so collecting tables and chairs as souvenirs didn’t seem to be the biggest problem. I gave the policeman a smile and wave in the manner of ‘Sorree…I’m an idiot, I know’, kind of way, and executed the quickest ‘3 point turn’ you’ve seen, leaving him in our wake. Now we just had Señor Psycho to deal with, this is how I imagined him to be after Rachel’s greeting. Another of my smiles and waves, this one out of the box labelled ‘Yes my wife is a little bit crazy’, to which he smiled and waved in acknowledgement and allowed us to escape to freedom.

After breaking loose from the confines of Plaza del Arco we found a more suitable place to park by the football stadium and walked back up to take in the tourist sights in a more relaxing fashion.

Our final 30 miles of the day were east to the small town of Mula where we are staying at the aire for the night. No more dramas for the day and we will probably remain in the province of Murcia for our final 2 weeks in Spain.

Of course we'll fit!

Welcome to Plaza del Arco, now which way is out?

Mula, more photos to follow when we get wifi