Casa Rural Los Danzantes ❤️

Wow, what a treat was in store for us at Anne & Glyn’s charming Casa Rural, set within the stunning Las Sierras Subbetica National Park 😊 

Feeling the need for a little treat outside of van life, we booked a couple of nights at Casa Rural Los Danzantes - situated in a lovely town Fuente-Tojar within the Subbetica  National Park. The area was completely unknown to us - but on our journey route north. What attracted us (apart from the stunning photographs and fabulous write up from Sawdays) was how dog friendly they were, and also that Glyn was a professional chef! How brilliant was that for us 🤣 

Check out the website here https://www.casadanzantes.es/ with all the beautiful photographs 😃

Both Anne and Glyn looked after us so well,  and spoiled us rotten - Ruby too 😃 Dinner each night was a delight - Glyn cooked us some of the best food I think we have ever eaten! Every course was absolutely delicious 🤤 

This has got to be the most divine thing I have ever eaten - homemade linguine with a crayfish sauce, topped with lightly fried Red Mullet - and this was just the starter!



Both of us were really quite fed up of much of the Spanish food we had been eating lately - but this food was on another level altogether- so much more than we had wished for -  just look how happy we both are here! 🤣

A Delicious preserved lemon salsa verde to accompany the sea bass and tasty vegetables - Dave says this is the best sea bass he has ever eaten!


Homemade hummus and chorizo sausage

Other courses were also divine, delicious desserts and amazing wines too - what an absolute treat for us! And all this was in addition to the gorgeous breakfasts prepared for us each morning - and even a jar of Glyn’s wonderful homemade marmalade (Dave’s favourite) to take home with us - a lovely gift 😃

 Ruby was made to feel extremely welcome, and was so well looked after too. Monty and Millie, the resident black labradors were lovely dogs - think a holiday romance started between Ruby and Monty 🤣


Ruby showing off the beautiful staircase - as if she owns it!


Ruby happy with her new quarters 🤣


The beautiful patio and water fountain, filled with interesting plants and flowers



Las Danzantes is named after the village 500 year old cultural tradition of dancing, where 8 villagers dress up in multicoloured costumes and head dresses for the annual Feria, and dance to  the sound of their own instruments - amazing.

Photographs of the dancers


Fuente-Tojar is a lovely interesting, and welcoming town, with huge murals on the sides of houses, (commissioned by the Mayor) portraying and valuing the traditions and lives of former residents. 


Former house of local man


"Let no one cut your wings"


Mural of prominent former resident

Tribute to the major dancer who has since died, on the door of his former house



Subbetica is olive country, and olive trees dominate the landscape for as far as you can see - and beyond. It is a major olive oil producing region - Spain being the largest olive oil producer in the world (though much is exported to Italy and marketed from there - something we were previously unaware of)  -  beautiful walks  and rides through the olive groves.

Subbetica landscape

Taking a moment 😊

There is a wonderful Via Verde that runs through the region, so perfect for getting that much needed exercise, and of course for building up an appetite for Glyn’s wonderful cooking (not too much of a problem for us!) 🤣

Olive trees for miles!


Tame cycling for Dave 😂


My sort of cycling 😂


Coffee at the Via Verde Station Cafe after the ride


We couldn’t leave this region without buying olive oil - an interesting experience, olive oil tasting! Anne directed us to a wonderful place in Priego de Cordoba where we sampled different olive oils, and of course bought some to bring home - weird drinking Olive Oil from small taster cups 🤣


Olive Oil tasting - an interesting experience!


Had an absolutely wonderful couple of days at Los Danzantes- far too short! The Casa is beautiful, and both Anne & Glyn go out of their way to welcome you and make you feel at home (homemade Christmas cake with tea when we first arrived 🤣)As everyone knows, Dave and I do love nice food, so staying here was heaven for us 😃 Ruby loved it too, and seemed to find a new lease of life jumping around with Monty. There is so much more to explore and do in this stunning region (Dave taking note of the numerous mountain bikers and trails we saw on our travels). The Subbetica was completely unknown to us previously - we feel like we have found a truly hidden gem at Los Danzantes- we will be back!

Hasta luego ❤️











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hey, here we go…..🤣

Image
 We eventually set off on our winter adventure travelling through France, Spain and Portugal - me, Dave and Ruby 😃  It’s probably fair to say that we were feeling a mixture of emotions - certainly excitement about what was to come, but also some (mild) apprehension around the challenges of travel. The last couple of years since leaving the EU, and our restricted ability to move freely across Europe, has certainly brought with it some uncertainty, not knowing whether the stories we have read in the press, e.g. having to provide proof of accommodation and proof of financial security at some borders is actually real etc. Also mindful that we need to stick to a very precise timetable of 90 days in the EU, as heard recently of people who overstayed in France by a couple of days and ended up with a £1000 fine as well as a ban on future travel for the next 2 years! We definitely want to avoid that happening to us 😃  Anyway, very pleased to say that all went smoothly at Folkest...
Read more

The Galician Coast

Image
With the weather brightening up we spent the next couple of days exploring the coastal area around Cambados.  The Ria de Arousa (estuary) on which the town sits is famous for its seafood, and reportedly the best place to eat seafood in Spain - a perfect combination with the Albariño wine 😃 The estuary is dotted with dozens of small fishing boats, and interestingly dozens of women in waders with huge buckets and long poles scraping away at the rocks and seabed collecting clams. This was despite huge notices everywhere saying that collection of seafood is prohibited and anyone spotting such activity should contact the Police - seems nobody bothers about that round here 🤣 Prohibido Mariscar even painted on the rock! Clam collectors ignoring all notices 🤣 The Illa de Arousa is a lovely small island connected to the mainland via a huge low bridge. Our plans to explore the coast and the nature reserve which covers the bottom half of the island soon became thwarted when we were faced w...
Read more

La Sierra de Grazalema

Image
Leaving Jerez we headed east to La Sierra de Grazalema, the first designated  Parque Natuaral within Andalucia where we based ourselves for the next week - not sure if we were brave or foolish knowing that the area is famous for being the rainiest place within Spain! A huge biosphere dominated by limestone mountains, verdant green valleys, and beautiful white villages - a great area for walking and mountain biking - both of us determined to take this opportunity to up our fitness levels and work off those excess calories from the festive season 🤣 We set out to explore! Arrived on New Years Eve, and as is typical within Spain, all bars and restaurants were buzzing late afternoon, but soon closed for the evening as people headed home to celebrate. We managed a couple of drinks out on the plaza, but also headed home early (not much different to being at home for us 🤣)  Grazalema is beautiful, and can see why it’s very popular. New Year's Eve - outside in the cold! Unfortunately...
Read more