Cásar de Cáceres to Grimaldo - A Casa Rural

After the tiny village of Cásar de Cáceres, we were headed for an even smaller place, Grimaldo. According to Wikipedia, population 82! But it will break up a longer stage of our route and we booked into a Casa Rural, our second accommodation of this type on this trip. This one had great reviews so we were looking forward to another interesting experience, so different from a hotel - or apartamento where now you often don’t meet the host as you do online checkin of all your data and are given door codes that activate at a certain time. We bid fatewell to the Cásar storks who seemed to be enjoying their morning sunshine in ecclesiastical splendor.

It was a lovely ride on the very quiet N630, initially with flat grazing land on either side, some old buildings and then more rolling hills with another Osborne bull skulking behind some bushes.

We then came to a very large reservoir, part of the Tajo River system and stopped for a break at a viewpoint.

Then the land got a little hillier and even more beautiful with old groves of olives trees marching up the slopes.

We easily found our Casa Rural, La Posada de Grimaldo right on the N630. After the Reconquest by the Christian Castilians, Grimaldo was considered part of a strategic communication route and Grimaldo Castle was built in the 13th C. It later had some population growth due to its proximity to the N630 that we have been riding on and at one point had 200 inhabitants but apparently in the 60s, the rural exodus that affected much of Spain and lack of economic resources led to its decline. But it is a beautiful location for hikers, Camino walkers and cyclists.

We met the owner, a youngish guy named Casar, who told us that he grew up in the village and his parents still live there though he now lives in Cáceres. He bought the property after it was damaged in a wildfire and completely renovated it to provide bedrooms with private bathrooms and a shared common space with a kitchen complete with all appliances including a washer. He showed us various food supplies - tea, coffee, bread, cookies, cheese and fruit and told us to help ourselves - all part of our €58/night. We had a very nice spacious room and bathroom, and everything was spotless. Plus we had a lovely view from our room of the countryside.

We even had a bit of a chat with him about American politics. All the European people we have met so far are appalled by Trump and his band of demented thugs, though of course the EU is having its own struggle with the far right.

There was quite a good-sized restaurant across the street, full of people eating lunch. The hours said open til 18:00, unusual in Spain but we thought ok, we would come back about 4:30 when we knew we would be hungry having had our road picnic, so went for a walk in the neighbourhood and then had a drink at the little bar just a couple of doors down from the house.

However, when we returned to the restaurant at 4:30, nope, the kitchen was closed. They were still open for drinks but no food. But, but… your sign didn’t say that. Sigh. Managing dinner is the hardest thing is Spain, and even after 2 trips here, we still get it wrong! Fortunately, we have learned to carry a supply of basics and combined with the generous provisions provided by the Casa Rural, we had a decent dinner in the kitchen. The Spanish dinner hour with restaurants opening at 8:30 or 9 pm just does not work for us as we have usually had an early breakfast, a sandwich/fruit lunch on the cycle path, and we want dinner by 6 or 7 at the latest and after a day of cycling and other exploration, we want to be in bed by 9! No se posible - unless we make our own dinner, one of the reasons we like apartamentos rather than hotels. If we are staying somewhere for a few days, we can make a late lunch our dinner, but it really isn’t comfortable cycling - or trying to sleep after a big meal.

There was one other cyclist who we didn’t see and another Spanish couple staying at the Casa but that was it. We had a lovely quiet night!

Our day - 42 km. Elevation - 482 m.