We’d decided to do a walk this morning, so fuelled up with a bowl of granola and banana. The campsite office had various walks printed off and this one was called ‘Ruta Rio Cerezuelo – La Malena’ – it was 7km long, estimated to take 2.5 hours and graded as easy! That sounded just the job!
We should also warn you that there are quite a lot of videos for this day.
Before we left I booked a third night at the campsite as we’d discovered that the town’s annual fiesta ‘Fiesta de San Isicio’ was today and tomorrow, so there would be lots going on – religious processions, live music etc. it sounded too good an opportunity to miss.
We had noticed that one element of the forthcoming festival was the ‘caracolada’ but weren’t sure exactly what it was. As we wandered down into the town, however, we spotted some tiles which explained the tradition. There were very various snail-shaped metal structures scattered around the town which are used during the festival. They are filled with snail shells stuffed with cotton wicks soaked in oil which, when lit, illuminate the streets around the centre.
The walk started in the square to the right of the Iglesia Santa Maria ruins. Almost immediately there were stunning river views. As we headed further up the slope, there were some beautiful river rapids, fantastic foliage, fig trees, loads of birds and the gurgling sound of the river all set against the backdrop of majestic mountain scenery. It really was stunning. There was quite a gradient and a fair bit of scrambling over rocks, so we were surprised that the walk was classified as easy! At the top there was a waterfall, but it had rather less flow than the river. 😃 Nevertheless, the scenery was amazing. The view back down to the town itself got better and better the further we got away from it. On the way back down the circular walk it was a lot easier until the last stretch. That was a very steep and slippery downhill stretch to the castle during which Dave had a bit of a tumble into some soft grass but emerged relatively unscathed.
When we got back down into the square it was a hive of activity because they were preparing for tonight‘s festival. There was a big van from the town hall unloading sound equipment onto the stage and there was also a temporary events bar that had appeared since we started the walk. We decided to have lunch in the square and chose La Bodeguita del Rondador. They had specialities made on an olive branch woodfire oven. I had trout stuffed with ham and Dave had a mixed grill of chorizo, morcilla and pancetta. As always, the portions were generous! They also brought out their own version of patatas bravas, with a very spicy sauce. We washed it down with some red wine and it was all delicious.
We walked back to the campsite and had a siesta as by this time we were flagging! We managed to miss a storm whilst resting in the van, then had a shower and headed back to town all ready for an evening of revelry!!! We hoped! 😃🤞
Well, we were not disappointed! The first treat of the night was some folk dancing in traditional costume, all to the sound of the impressive town band. This took place in the ruins of Iglesia Santa Maria, so was incredibly scenic. Even some of the babies were in full traditional dress, which was very cute.
Dave had a quick drink in the square and I had my first ice cream of the trip! Everyone then headed up the hill in procession to the Ermita de Santo Isicio. We followed them up and the atmosphere was buzzing. There was a big café on the hill where members of the band could relax and recharge. Meanwhile the children formed an orderly queue as this was their chance to ring the bells, which in fact rang non stop for about an hour and a half between processions. All the children were carrying little baskets with their treats in them – these were green beans, cherries, bread and some sweets. In all made for a very picturesque and atmospheric scene – a photographer’s dream. The icing on the cake was a beautiful sunset across the olive groves.
At the appointed hour, the snail shells were lit and the ‘costaleros’ (those carrying the statue of San Isicio) emerged from the hermitage to start the procession back to the parish church. The Saint was carried from the church to the sound of the town band. They then stopped and the fireworks kicked off! An amazing spectacle given that we were above them and they exploded below us with the town behind them, and the churches all lit up.
We got back to the square, sat in a bar and shortly afterwards the live music started with a performance from the singer Juan Manuel Melero, a native of Cazorla. In no time several couples were up and dancing and Dave and I even joined them for a while before heading back to the campsite. This was another night that ended after midnight and the most we had walked for the whole trip, so we were ready for our bed. 😃
