Heat, Road Movies and Extreme Kindness

Grenada was JUST TOO DAMN HOT. So we drove out of town, took a left and swung through what turns out to be the driest, hottest part of Europe, and where they filmed the Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It was thus hot, dry and had lots of straight roads through scrubland. I imagined we were in our own version of Vanishing Point, the ace 70's amphetamines and desert-speeding movie, and I felt ALL MANLY doing it.

Unfortunately, without the necessary Amphetamine-hard-liquor-and-fiery-death that would have completed my Vanishing Point dream, we pointed the Micra north, towards Yecla, a small town in the south east of Spain, where our amigo Alex Gil lives.

We stayed with his family in a spare apartment above the bar that Alex's dad owns. For the record, let me state that Alex's family are the most lovely people in Yecla, if not all of Spain, and they welcomed us into their home like long-lost relatives. It was wonderful.

Yecla is a hot town in the hills (I think), north of Murcia. When we arrived, frazzled and crispy round the edges, Alex whisked us off to a local spa, where for a few Euros, we lounged like sea lions in warm spring water all day. Alex and I fell asleep in the bubble pool, and Gem cruelly took photos.

Later, Alex took us around Yecla. He knows everyone. Sorry - I meant, Alex knows EVERYONE. A normally quick stroll across a quiet plaza involves people dropping shopping, babies, or anything else they might be holding and rushing over to chat with Mr. Yecla, who greets all and sundry with a cheery "Hey! Que Pasa?" It must be murder for him to get out of his seat in a busy bar to go to the toilet.

Alex's parents fussed around us, making sure we had enough to eat and drink, of which we had plenty, what with living just above their bar. Alex's brother, Victor, was there too; he is a supremely nice guy, and happens to be dating the most beautiful girl in town. And Alex's sister, Maria, is the cutest child of all time, without question. It was all just lovely.

In the end, we tore ourselves away, a day after eating a Paella served in a pan the size of a garden pond. It was excellent, and had a whole, chopped-up rabbit (head and tail included) in it, as well as snails. I hate snails, but Alex and his friend Reuben forced us to try them. So here's the verdict: the sauce the caracoles come in is delicious, but the mucus-like beings themselves are, well, mucus-like.

So we headed north, aiming to stop halfway up the coast, at the town of Peniscola, for obvious reasons. Oh, how wrong we were...