We were not particularly sad to leave Camping Santa Marta. It was a nice enough campsite but you might have gathered, I was not enamoured of the countless tower blocks lining the beach.
Our first stop was our favourite supermarket, LIDL. Sarah nipped in to do the food shopping and then we swapped for my special area of expertise – alcohol! We then headed for Xativa, the firsts of the inland towns I planned to visit.
We deposited Basil upon a car park (38.994202, -0.529743) sandwiched between a sports centre and a small shopping area. My go to app for wildcamping, Park4Night, tells me that we should be OK here overnight.
As we headed into the centre by foot we passed a baker and I remembered that I had read in my guidebook about a speciality of the town called arnadi, which apparently has Moorish origins. It is a type of very moist cake made from pumpkin, pine nuts, cinnamon, eggs and almonds. I managed to ask the baker if she had any and after some translation difficulties about whether I wanted a pumpkin or sweet potato version, we ended up with a pumpkin one.
Sarah and I found a bench to consume our treat and it was delicious. Mabel and Melek, of course, enjoyed a little crumb or two.
We located the Tourist Information Office, where the woman serving spoke excellent English. She plotted a suggested walking route on a map and as I left made a joke about Brexit. That’s the second time this trip I’ve been teased about our country’s decision. Like me, most Europeans just don’t understand why we’ve done it. Those I’ve spoken to seem sure we will reach an agreement which will allow us to continue to travel unhindered around Europe. I’m not so confident.
Xativa is known as the city of 1000 fountains. It turns out if there ever were that number, there are not many left and those that are are more like elaborate stone drinking fountains than my anticipated soaring jets of water.
Perhaps a better claim to fame is that it was the family home of the famous (or infamous) Borgia family. First Alphonso de Borgia became Pope Calixtus III and then his nephew, Rodrigo, was elected as Pope Alexander VI. Pope Alexander was naturally meant to be celibate but he managed to father at least eight children including the much written about Cesare and Lucrezia.
The Borgia house was on our itinerary, but it is not much to look at these days. In all Xativa has a few nice medieval buildings, in particular the 15th Century hospital. But the main sights are very spread out and the rest of the old town, including the underwhelming fountains, is not particularly attractive or interesting. I hope this does not bode ill for my other selections!
A possible redeeming feature, which we did not have time to visit, is a castle high above the town. Our guidebooks say that Phillip V demolished it, but there still seems as if there are plenty of ruins to explore.
