Thursday 4th January 2024
Continuing on our return journey in a a generally northwards direction, we visited a couple of small towns, staying overnight on an aire near the second one.
Onda
Although not travelling a large distance, we decided to break our day’s journey at the small town of Onda, which is surrounded by many firms involved in the ceramics industry, for which Spain is well known.
At the time of our visit, access was quite difficult as there was a street market in progress. We managed to find a good parking spot for a while though, then walked towards the town centre and through a medieval square, the Plaça de l’Almudí:
There are some very ornate buildings:
I know this is a recurring theme, but Onda is another town built on a hill, with a castle on top. Known as the castle of 300 towers, it was built by the muslims in the 10th and 11th centuries.
In the castle grounds, a man had some very colourful pigeons that almost looked as though they were painted:
Of course we had to climb up to the top.
On our way down to where we were parked, we again passed through Plaça de l’Almudí and this time, noticed a sign pointing to the prison museum.
This was in one of the houses of the square and were encouraged to explore further by a young woman who spoke good English. She explained that the prison had been used up until the 1950s, latterly as a remand facility for those awaiting trial. She had even met someone who had been held there in the 1950s.
There were numerous examples of prisoner’s graffiti, preserved on the walls, many of them very old:
There was also a photograph of the square taken around 1910:
Morella
Travelling on towards Morella, it was obvious that there had been little, if any, rainfall for months. We pulled-up en-route for some lunch, next to a dried-up river-bed. Clearly a large watercourse.
From our viewpoint, we saw some deer on the riverbed:
Our first sight of Morella caused some astonishment. ….I know “another town, built on a hill, with a castle”. …But wow!
After driving up steep and narrow streets, passing through fortified gateways and along high terraces, we found a place to park Fufu with a fine view. A view that again illustrated a lack of rainfall in this area for some time.
Unfortunately the church was about to close when we arrived, but the exterior was impressive. There were also some stone grotesques and on the other side of the square, a local textile businessman, cast in bronze.
Of course we had to climb up the castle:
…and one heck of a climb it was:
Commanding views were once more to be seen:
Visiting with a Motorhome:
Onda:
A busy town with narrow streets in places. There is a new road around much of the town, which avoids most of the problem areas, where we were able to park. Best to identify this in advance, especially on market days (Thursday ..but this might not be the only day).
Morella:
Easier than you might think. There were several other motorhomes parked in the town (Pay and Display). Again, best to identify where you are heading for before arriving. Be prepared for narrow streets and tight turns, but do-able.
The aire was free (see “Search for Sites”). Services included, but we did not use them. It is a popular stop-over, so arrive early if you can as you will get the best views, but there is plenty of room further back. The access road is confusing though, we ended up heading back out of town and doing a u-turn.
"See-u-Later" 