Calasparra

Driving Round Calasparra - 1, originally uploaded by jasonphotos.

As Calasparra is inland and surrounded by mountains it does occasionally have overcast days, rain and the kind of weather you'd expect in The UK. This photo was taken whilst driving between Calasparra and Caravaca de la Cruz.

The clouds were very dramatic and appeared much lower than the mountains.

The temperature in Calasparra varies from an average of 8 C in January up to 27 C in July . Rainfall tends to at it's highest in April and May according to Kyero.com.

Las Lomas de La Virgen 1, originally uploaded by jasonphotos.

Las Lomas de La Virgen is a viewpoint on the way to La Santuario and gives superb views of the rice fields and valley below. It's a good 20/30 minute walk from Tierra de Sol, depending on the temperature, but do make sure you have water. The path is clearly defined but can be steep in places. There are places to sit and rest along too.

From Las Lomas de La Virgen you'll enjoy a view of the mountains, rice fields and river. We always take a walk up to the viewing point and it's rare to find many people there, so you can enjoy the views in peace.

La Polvora, originally uploaded by jasonphotos.

La Polvora is one of the best places to eat if you're in Calasparra. It's within walking distance of Tierra de Sol and is a mainly traditional spanish bar. The hosts are incredibly friendly and the food is excellent. It's lively and well worth visiting.

At lunch time there's usually a set menu for around 9 Euros and this includes salad, starter, main course, desert and a drink.

There's also a range of Tapas - the tortilla is really good!

Restaurant Overlooking Apartments, originally uploaded by jasonphotos.

Finally another post to the Calasparra blog and yet another change. Thanks to the wonders of technology - albeit some of it needed a bit of tweaking here and there - we can now blog directly from our photo account at Flickr and share with you some of our photos of the region.

As we can do this, the photo stream that was on the site has been removed as it wasn't working as it should have been. If all goes well we'll have a bundle of new photos and posts appearing.

The picture above is a view from the terrace of the Andalus Restaurant looking down over Tierra del Sol. The big shiny light in the middle isn't the moon, it's just the street lamp... fortunately the brightness masks the fact that at the time it was surrounded by 100s of midges, mozzies and the occasional bat!

There’s good news for visitors and residents to La Canada Tierra del Sol in Calasparra as the bars, restaurants and shop at the opening of the development are now up and running. This means that together with La Polvora and the restaurant down at the Sanctuario de la Esperanza there’s plenty of places to eat - all within (reasonable) walking distance of Tierra del Sol.

The question is - are they any good?

It’s great to report that all services and food have been good. The shop (as of July 08) was still finding it’s feet so no fruit at that time and getting bread on a daily basis was a bit hit and miss, but apart from that they had most of the essentials.

Opening hours seem to be mornings only, so if you’re arriving late into Calasparra (and especially Tierra del Sol) you may need to pick up a few supplies along the way or head on over to La Polvora or the new restaurant Andalus.