The rain in Spain falls mainly – everywhere at the moment

Yep, the weather has been a bit of a disappointment in Spain. Apparently, there’s a huge cell off the UK, which is driving wet weather in from the Atlantic and just about everywhere is not only wet, but cold as well. We have now met several couples whose travel plans are in limbo because of this. Strangely, they were all Australians!

We have nevertheless been enjoying our slower travelling pace through the central regions of Spain, as we make our way north towards Torla. With some time on our hands, we opted for a walk in the Sierra de Albarracin National Park to view some prehistoric rock art.

The walk was along a gorge of red sandstone, the same as used in Albarracin buildings, which had weathered into some interesting shapes and colours. Boulders and huge slabs from the rocks above had tumbled into the gorge.  The whole area was a maze of rock shelters, caves and outcroppings of huge cliffs, interspersed with pines.

In all, we found five separate prehistoric sites, set in a natural amphitheatre of cliffs, jumbled rocks and pine. Some of the paintings were quite clear, such as a frieze of cattle in white on the darker rock. Others were harder to make out as they had weathered quite badly, or were quite small. There was one in red with deer being hunted by tribesmen. The deer’s antlers were clearly depicted. Another consisted of carvings of three men, with belts, and holding sticks or arrows. The walk alone was lovely, but to see this art was very special. All the information was in Spanish, but we could work out that the art dated from about 5,000 to 2,500 B.C.

After our picnic lunch in the forest, we retraced our steps back to the car to head to Teruel, where we planned to spend the night. We disobeyed TomTom and took a route that allowed us to enjoy more of the National Park, noticing that there was a gradual improvement in the weather as we travelled through lovely pine forests, and then through beautiful rolling agricultural land. The season here is not nearly as advanced as in Sicily, and the wheat is still bright green, giving wonderful views across green fields, with red poppies and yellow and white daisies along the roadside. Just like a postcard, really.