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| Houses built into the mountainside, and the castle |
On Sunday 30th September last, John and I with a few friends went on a coach outing to see the Alcalá del Júcar Cave.
On our way we stopped for coffee and a walk around the charming historical town of Almansa.
We then drove on to the fascinating cave village of Alcalá del Júcar. This is a beautiful little village, standing on the banks of the river Jucar and featuring cave houses, a castle, and a quaint market.
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| Photo courtesy of Juan Manuel Monleón Antón (WikiPedia) |
The trip included a meal at a very Spanish restaurant on the top of the mountain. The restaurant was owned by the Mayor who also seemed to own most of the rest of the village! The food was excellent and included wine and water. The scenery was stunning as you looked down into the village below with the homes going into the mountain.
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| Looking down into village from mountain-top restaurant |
The river Júcar runs through this village and has a small beach, which is man-made. The market has a few stalls for you to browse around. There are various places for you to have a meal or a drink. We walked up a number of steps to a bar which was built into the mountain.
The coach left us about half way down the mountain, from where we then had to walk about a quarter of a mile continuing down into the village, until we eventually arrived at what looked like the front of a house. We had to pay 3 euro entrance fee and went down over one hundred steps into a very narrow passage. There were gaps every so often in the walls which had pieces of old farming equipment and old items of furniture on display. At the end of this walk we arrived at an area where there was a bar for you to obtain a drink, using the ticket given to you when you paid your 3 euro entry. This area had tables and chairs for you to sit and enjoy the views from the various windows and a large area which we believe was used for discos.
We then walked back to where the coach had originally left us in the village and continued our journey home.
The trip took us about two and half hours to get there, so it is quite a way to visit. But if you have the time and enjoy seeing different and unusual places then it is well worth a visit.
This is a superb day out with lots of places to wander around and see all the different types of buildings. The cost is about 28 euro each with the company David’s Coachtrips.
We certainly enjoyed the day and hope you will too.
Wendy & John Laker
Here are some more photos from John and Wendy:
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| Spot the ostrich |
For more information about Alcalá del Júcar, visit this WikiPedia page.
