June 6, 2024
Denia - Take Two
We are warming up to Denia like ducks take to water. It’s a great spot with the old town right next to the harbour and tons of great cafès and restaurants mingled in with the low-rise buildings and pedestrian streets. And, overlooking the town is the castle atop a hill, just four blocks from the shore. In short, it is full of character. And good food.
Denia was on a the radar as a place to spend two nights so we could do an un-loaded exploration of the hilly inland terrain. As it turns out, we could not book two nights at the hotel Maison Marinetta, so we had to move on to a new place today. Raoul was more thanhappy to let us leave our panniers on the terrace until 3 pm so that’s what we did. After our ride, we picked up the bags and checked into our new accommodation.
But first, we had breakfast on the terrace. These hoteliers at the Maison Marinetta really understand their clients and offered us the perfect breakfast buffet of fresh mango, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, melons and pineapple, yogurt, muesli, thin sliced cheese and ham, rolls and sliced fresh baked bread, pastries, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee. We indulged while seated on the outside deck overlooking the harbour.
Then, it was time to head out on the road. I had plotted a route with Ride with GPS that took us inland to Pego, over the pass to Sagra and then back to Denia. The start was rather speedy as it was flat coastal terrain. Then, we rode through orange groves for many kilometers. I am struck how bushy and short many of the citrus trees are. We did see people out pruning the trees but they were removing lower branches only.
Some orchards were well tended while others seemed to have been neglected. What’s the difference? Well, the neglected orchards were overgrown, the trees were dripping in oranges and the ground was littered with oranges. Some were smashed on the road and in the ditch. In the tended orchards, the fruit had been picked, the weeds knocked back and the trees had been or were being actively pruned. We spotted many young green oranges on the trees in these orchards.
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While the grove in the photo above is fenced, most are not and it would be simple to stow a few oranges for the road, but I have resisted. They sell these for a whopping .30 € in the stores. Besides, I did more than my share of night-time poaching from the neighbour’s fruit trees as a kid 😇.
Today, some kind person out them out in a roadside bin for anyone in need of an orange fix, so I did help myself. David is taking a photo of an urbanization on the hill ahead. These were some very fancy homes! The entry ‘gate’ can be seen up the steep driveway in the distance.
The bike paths encountered today were quite good, on the whole. That is, they were in good condition and they went somewhere. This included a brand new cycle way beside the brand new highway leading to Pego. Oddly, it included short driveway access points to the orange groves and several homes. If used, they would dump the driver squarely in the fast-moving highway traffic. The two-lane highway was divided so to access your property, you’d have to be travelling from Pego and would have to come to a stop on the 80 km straightaway in order to make the turn. If you want to get groceries in Pego, sorry, it’s a long drive! If your property is on the other side of the highway, you would only access it when travelling towards Pego. Just for fun, the bollards at these access points were staggered which necessitated gingerly weaving our way through them. Other than that, they were great paths. Sheesh, who thinks up this stuff?
It was market day in Pego but we were more interested in finding a cool spot to sit down for a drink. We located this beautiful square, lined with gorgeous plane trees. The leafy canopy provided the perfect respite from the sun.
After the break, we made our way out of town and headed for the road that snaked along the slopes of Monte Pego and down the other side to Sagra. It was all forested and made for a very enjoyable ride. There was no traffic to speak of and one other cyclist.
Sagra is one of the many small towns dotting the landscape. Most of these towns are super chill and have few businesses open during the day. We often cruise right on through without hardly seeing a soul.
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We meandered our way though the valley and into the flat lands as we made our way back to Denia. The video gives you an idea of what it was like.
We rode straight to the Marinetta once we reached Denia and retrieved our bags, then cycled over the two blocks to Sergio’s waterfront fisherman’s cottage B&B. It is a historic home that he fully renovated in the last year. It was a labour of love. He explained how the beach used to be right here where the walkway is. The fishermen brought their boats up onto the sand infront of the house. In the bedroom was a large poster of a photo taken around 1900, showing the scene with the residents and their fishing boats pulled up in the sandy beach. Sergio had collected antique lamps, cupboards and stained glass doors and retro-fitted the place to include them. The kitchen was state of the art, as were the windows, air conditioning and all the modern luxuries. What a charming spot.
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Selecting a place for dinner is a nightly ritual here. The dinner did not disappoint!
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 1,076 km (668 miles)
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