We had only 32km to ride today, an opportunity to reach our destination in the relative cool of the morning but we had to book accommodation for tonight and tomorrow, which delayed us. Breakfast was provided at the hostal and we set off on the very straightforward route to El Bosque, with mountain views on the latter part. We paused for freshly squeezed orange juice at a bar when we were 6 km short of the town, much appreciated refreshment as the air warmed up. We’d been able to find an apartment for the night and had a late lunch there.
We went for a short walk, exhausting in the heat, and back past the shops for tonight’s ingredients, couldn’t resist a bottle of Don Simon tempranillo at an absurdly cheap €1.20, oranges were half a euro for a kilo, about the same as for a single fruit at home. We cooked up a large pasta dish with vegetables and chick peas which we ate on the terrace, the wine was remarkably good for the price. The apartment was very well equipped but our night was disturbed by barking dogs.