We had a really good night’s sleep despite the rain pounding down onto the van. Sue went to enquire about the other facilities as we hadn’t received any information on our arrival the previous day. We weren’t sure where to wash dishes, fill up with water or dispose of toilet waste. It turned out that everything was quite rudimentary. The guy she asked pointed to a yellow hose for the water, a drain for the toilet waste and a dishwashing area which looked like it hadn’t been used for about a year. She also enquired as to whether he knew a nearby garage and the response was that he had absolutely no idea, so much for local knowledge!!
Having said that, there was a very nice traditional Mesón restaurant on site and we thought we should go there for breakfast as we were impressed that it was open this early in the season. The one choice on the menu was toast but it turned out to be a real hoot because the gentleman who ran it was a larger-than-life character – he was singing and chatting about everything from machismo in Spain and Algeria to the football league.
We gave the van a good clean as it had got mud everywhere after the night before. Sue did the dishes in cold water in the dishwashing area. Dave found an original fix for the hole in the bottom of the tank when he realised that the cork from yesterday‘s wine was a perfect fit.This meant that although we still weren’t storing any water in our tank, we could prevent any bits and bobs of dirt flicking up into it as we drove along.
As we drove along towards our next destination there was a gorgeous castle to our right in a place called Carboneras and Dave pulled over to park as he could not miss such a photo opportunity.
We got to the Museo Minero in Minas de Riotinto, worked out what was where and booked tickets for tomorrow. So our plan for today was to do the Mars experience, the main museum and the Victorian style house 21 in the English district and then tomorrow to take the longer train ride and visit the two main mines.
The initial visit on a little red train was really interesting and we were able to see a lot of different layers in the landscape. The guide explained that not only in terms of its colour but also in terms of its mineral mix, this area was the most similar to Mars and therefore had become an area for research by a range of organisations.
So, although mining itself had stopped when there was a huge drop in the price of copper, the area is still very active both with tourism, scientific research, it’s used for film sets and it has even been used as a training ground for firemen from Huelva. The most recent release to have used it as a base for filming is Netflix Feria, from January 2022. The guide also touched on some of the history which we had discovered previously on a visit to Huelva and she recommended the film based on the novel by Juan Cobos Wilkins which we plan to watch when we get back home because the only version we can access here is entirely in Spanish.
We then turned to TripAdvisor and found a nearby restaurant, Casa Idolina, which was an excellent choice. There was a really good atmosphere, partly because there was a hen party there (or in Spanish a Despedida de soltera Which means a single woman’s goodbye) It was a lovely place built in a former train station and had excellent reviews. After the bad weather and a day of cold meals yesterday, we wimped out and had a really nice burger and a plate of hot chips.
We then did the other two parts of the visit. The museum was really excellent and it had a mock-up Roman mine, an example of a first-class carriage designed for Queen Victoria, although she never visited in the end, which had beautiful leather upholstered seats which converted into beds. There were loads of mining and mineralogical objects on display as well as models of the whole Rio Tinto mining area at different stages of its development – it was well worth a visit.
We had seen in the blog that we found that there were various places in the area where you could park your van for free overnight and we were keen not to drive the 40 minutes of twisty mountain roads back to our previous campsite. So, Sue enquired with the first guide and also the guy in the reception at the Museum who had been really helpful as to where we might be able to stay nearby. They gave us similar responses, one saying it was unofficial and the other saying that you could basically park wherever you like and no one was likely to move you on. So we found a spot opposite casa 21 but it felt a bit exposed so we went back to the tree-lined road near the museum, saw a couple of other vans already parked up for the night and followed suit. It felt a lot safer and more secluded and would mean we were ready to go for tomorrow morning’s visit.
You certainly are having a lot of unexpected things showered on you.
This happens whatever kind of holiday is taken, and is remembered in the future with great mirth. Jx🌻
What an interesting time you’ve had. I would love to do the train ride. Lovey photos. So many different landscapes and ‘Tunnels ‘ you been able to enjoy. I only do Tunnels above the ground Never below. You can’t afford to be claustrophobic on a holiday like this. 🙃 xx