Hornos
05 May
Once in a while, you chance on a place that is so utterly perfect you have to blink to check you are indeed awake, Such a place is Hornos, perched on the side of a mountain in the Cazoria national park and overlooking Embalse del Franco (a lake) with Sierra de Segura as background. It’s all a bit Tolkeinesque but without the narcolepsy-inducing, fantasy storylines.
The journey from Granada looked unpromising but once clear of the city, the A92 swoops upwards and north with epic vistas on either side including the still-snow-capped Sierra Nevada.
Leaving the motorway to pick up the A330 and make my way cross-country is the only truly awful road encountered on the trip. The geniuses at Garmin seem to think the rock-strewn A4301 is quicker than the major route. But not knowing any better, I slavishly follow it. My major worry is losing it at low speed on the loose surface and being unable to pick the bike up unaided, as there are no signs of human existence during the 40 kilometres detour. Emerging over an hour later back onto the A330, all major organs are shaken but still roughly in the right place.
It’s 17:00 by the time I get to the guest house and it looks like there’s a party in full swing. The waiter behind the bar waves away my passport (hotels in Spain are obliged to take a copy), hands me the room key asking me if I want a cervaza as I look hot. Rarely has a cold-beer tasted better. With the mellifluous babble of Spanish families in the background and the late afternoon sun on my face, sometimes the simplest things really are the best.
After a shower, I stroll up to the village and find the Adare Pub with rickety-looking verandah and stunning views of the lake and mountains to the south. I get chatting to Chris who is touring on his KTM and only detoured here as someone he met on the outward ferry had urged him to. Hornos might be well off the beaten track but is simple, magical and well worth a visit. Just keep it to yourself…
Chris and I share similar backgrounds and interests. He’s terrific company for the evening as we enjoy some really good if incongruous pizzas, sipping wine and gin & tonics as the sky turns to black.