Dos Cabezas are better than one

The bluest blue
Today we reluctantly departed our favorite place thus far. Spending time along the coast, north of Tarifa, has been very peaceful and relaxing. The coast has offered us endless sweeping views and miles of empty beach to explore.

Very friendly travelers
As we loaded up our car to leave, a man asked for directions to the beach access. He was from Austria and was on vacation with his family. We talked to them for a while sharing travel tips. As we started to leave they gave us a brochure for their ski hotel in Austria and invited us to visit. We took a photo together and promised to try and make it to Austria. It is so amazing how many really interesting, nice people you meet while on the road.



Zahara de las Atuna
Our beach hotel (ha ha)
We drove north along the coast for about 45 minutes before we came across the town of Zahara de las Atunes. This small beach town was bordered by a huge stretch of white sand and clear green-blue water. Unable to resist, we pulled over and took a walk on the beach. The sun was shining and the fields bordering the beach were filled with wildflowers.

Luis met a man named  Manuel, who was working on getting water out of a lagoon and back into the ocean. Apparently, the government has cut this service since the financial crisis.They now only provide service during high tourist season. He had been working on this channel for about 10 hours, to prevent the lagoon from flooding his home and killing his animals. We were impressed by his determination, as it seemed like a monumental task. Eventually, we dragged ourselves off the sand and back into Polo, our little car.
Man vs the sea. Looks like the sea is winning

About an hour later we approached the town of Vejer de la Frontera. This Pueblo Blanco is perched on top of a hill overlooking the rolling farmlands below. By now, we were hungry and decided to look for something to eat. As it was in between lunch and dinner, the only place open was a falafel shop. I grabbed some hummus and pita bread while Luis had a falafel (filled with an obnoxious amount of Garlic I might add). After eating, we walked through the Plaza and around the colorful fountain. It was getting late and we still had a drive ahead of us, so back on the road it was.

We continued on through Jerez de La Frontera, Spain’s Brandy capital and the home of a well-known equestrian school. We had intended to stay in Seville, however, as it is Semana Santa, finding a hotel room was impossible. We decided to stay outside the city and drive in the next day. The hotel we booked was located near the town of Dos Cabezas de San Juan. The town is a Pueblo Blanco, situated in the midst of a large farming community. We checked into an empty but really charming finca. Each room was named after a typical profession in the town. We ended up in ”El Huerto”.

Pretty little fountain in a
pretty little town
As there was not much to do in the hotel, we went into their bar and had some tapas. After eating, we decided to explore the area. We drove up the hill towards Dos Cabezas de San Juan. The town seemed full of life. Everywhere people were out on the streets dressed in their finest. Driving along the streets, we suddenly realized we were following the processional route for the evening’s Semana Santa festivities. We awkwardly made our way through the town with all the locals watching our progress.  Then after briefly getting lost, on tiny twisting one way streets, we popped out of the town onto the fields below. The farmlands were beautiful. Neatly laid out rows of lettuce, strawberries, and other crops were fed by concrete aqueducts. While probably not ancient, these water supplies looked like the old roman plumbing. We drove through the field until we found ourselves in another small town. This town looked like it consisted of many old stables re purposed for housing. Along the roadside, we saw a group standing around watching a man on horseback practicing dressage. As the sun began to set, we returned to our Finca and went to sleep early.


Roadside torro #124

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