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The Wild Asparagus Hunters are Out and About

It´s that time of year. Cars parked in odd places, the solitary person - usually a man, popping up above a bank or from behind an olive tree. The hunters of the wild aparagus are here. The plentiful rain scattered with a day or two of sunshine has brought them out in droves. Some have their route, others instinctively know where to go. They appear, walking back to their cars, with a huge bundle of foot long green spears of asparagus. And off they go, probably not to be seen for another year - or another week if the rain continues. No matter how hard the shoots try and hide the older men hunt them down with stick in hand, to fob off the spiky old growth, and uncover the tender new stems of wild asparagus. Everyone has their favourite way of cooking them but the most common seems to be in a Tortilla - the thick Spanish potato omelette to which you can add anything that comes to hand - or is hunted down. My one or two shorter stem finds don´t come close to the experienced hunters catch. I...

Cazorla, Segura & Las Villas Natural Park

Cazorla, Segura & Las Villas Natural Park covers 1/5 of Jaen province, my adopted home, and is Spain's largest protected area. It is stunning. Wherever you are in the natural park the views are dramatic and even leaving the park the mountains go on forever creating a dramatic backdrop to the seas of olive groves. This natural area sits between the mountain ranges of Sierra Morena and the Subbeticas in Cordoba province. It has many indigenous plants and because of its importantance ecologically it is a Unesco biosphere reserve.



For walking, hiking, photography and sightseeing it's a fabulous area and almost in the middle of this great green area is the huge lake El Tranco. Because of it's mountains there were many strongholds and castles built, many in disrepair but lots that are visitable with fantastic views if you make it to the top!


On our last overnight visit we stayed just outside the town of Cazorla in a lovely little guest house - Cortijo San Bautista and explored a small area of this vast park. If Parador hotels in the middle of nowhere are your thing then the Parador de Cazorla is a great remote spot.


Moorish towers and castles on rugged crags, rushing waterfalls and trickling streams, white mountain villages with steep,narrow streets all combine making Cazorla an incredibly popular and compelling area to visit.


Even though it's within Jaen province it takes us about 2.5 hours to get to Cazorla town, so it's not a worth a day trip but after three visits now, we've fallen in love with the area, next time we'll stay at least 3 nights to explore the northern part of this incredible landscape. It's somewhere to put on your list.


Coming soon La Iruela, the castle and ampitheatre - the second and fourth photos.

Read about our stay in Cortijo San Bautista and the English Bassett Hounds.





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