In January, Caity came to visit us for a week. We rented an apartment in the town to use as a base and for her to spread her junk about!  Not enough space for her in the trailer at this time of year, plus we didn’t want to pass on our germs.

We introduced her to our lifestyle, fairly slow and full of late mornings and late nights!  On Fridays we participate in a “jam session” with musicians on site, this often leads to dinner in the restaurant.  On Saturday there was a visiting band who performed a tribute to the Beatles, we got her up dancing and she was singing along!  She also experienced Spanish vodkas, 3 times the size of British ones!! Wednesday we take part in a quiz night where she was able to help out with a few answers.

A tower on the way to Oropesa.
The view of Benicassim town from the Oropesa road.
Exercising on the way to Grau.

She witnessed “Three Kings Day” here in Benicassim, it’s a day where the three kings are paraded around the town and give out sweets to the children by throwing them from the floats. That evening children receive their Christmas gifts, which is January 6th not 25th December as it is in the Christian calendar.

One King.
King No 2.
And King No 3.
Other floats in the parade.
View of the monastery remains in the hills behind the campsite.

We showed her Castellon and it’s markets, town square and El Corte Ingles Super department store; we visited Oropesa (next town along) and went onto Marina D’Or, a huge self contained holiday complex that has a Gaudi style park full of fish, birds and peacocks. 

A white peacock at Marina D’Or park.

We then went over the mountains and hiked to the top of Vilafames, another hilltop town just behind us.  We walked past a huge natural sliding/stable rock before stopping in the village square for refreshments.

Steep route to the top of Vilafames.
Caity peering down from Vilafames castle.
View of Vilafames town from the castle.
Looking up at Vilafames castle.

We also explored Sagunto, a Roman hilltop town, now in ruins, but still very interesting.  The old Forum square is still visible, as are some marking etched into rocks, as well as remains of the town itself.  We completed our visit with a walk through the local market, Caity found herself a few items of clothing to take back to the UK, so was pleased with herself.

Sagunto ruins.

Another day we hired electric bikes and cycled about 45kms from Benicassim to Grau, the port of Castellon, back along the cycle path to Benicassim then further along in the other direction to Oropesa, along the old railway track that has been converted to a cycle path.  Finally, as my battery (both in my body and on my bike!!) was running down very low, we returned to Benicassim, exhausted and ready for dinner.