This is the story of Gema and Raquel, two brave women from Bilbao who decided to travel to the Region of Murcia using the Blablacar app. After learning that the Cieza Flowering Season was beginning these days, they decided to take a tourist route through the Ricote Valley to Cieza.
Their trip began last Friday when they left Bilbao for Madrid, and then from Madrid to Murcia. Upon arrival in Murcia, they booked a tour of the Ricote and Cieza Valleys with the company Experiencias Turísticas, which has been providing services in the area.
The route started at the Jardines de Villanueva Restaurant in the town of Villanueva del Río Segura. After a lunch featuring typical dishes from our garden, including jams made with fruit grown on the land they were about to explore, the route began with a group of Belgians living in our community and Alicante.
After enjoying the landscapes of the heart of the Ricote Valley, Ulea, and Villanueva, the route passed through Ojós and Blanca, reaching the Alto de Bayna viewpoint, from where you can enjoy stunning views of the Blanca Reservoir and the Ojós Dam.
Abarán, El Jarral and the Big Waterwheel
After exploring Blanca, the next stop was Abarán, specifically the El Jarral area, where they saw the beautiful waterfall and learned about the diversions of water into irrigation ditches used in this type of hydraulic infrastructure.
The next obligatory stop was the famous Noria Grande de Abarán and its park. There, everyone took a great photo report and learned how water was raised, and is raised today, without the need for any type of energy, only with the current of the irrigation ditch itself.
Cieza, and its Flowering
At noon the group arrived in Cieza, at its place known as La Macetúa, and there they were fascinated, the impression on their faces showed that what they were seeing was what they had been waiting for all morning, they finally arrived at the Floración de Cieza.
Once in the field, we were able to explain and introduce them to our agriculture, the importance of having obtained the PGI, and the way our farmers love their land and battle the elements to obtain the delicious fruit, whether in any of its kinds and varieties, such as peaches, plums, and apricots.
Two more stops were made so they could see other plots, and finally the group made their last stop, which could not be anywhere else but El Horno, undoubtedly the nerve center of our Flowering.
Despite the hour, after two in the afternoon, our resident neighbors opened the doors of their tavern to quench our tourists' thirst after a long morning.
And that was the end of our Belgian friends' route, but not for the two women who had decided to go from car to car using a mobile app.
After no vehicle had passed through the area, a resident of Cieza decided to take charge of their visit, offering to accompany them until they could return to their hotel in Murcia.
Then they set off on their way to that high point above our orchard that steals our hearts, the Hermitage of Santo Cristo, from where they enjoyed the views and learned that there are also small orchards where our delicious vegetables are grown, bathed by the waters of the Segura.
A visit to Cieza is a must, and you can admire it from its highest point. That's when they decided to climb the shrine of our patron saint, the Virgin of Buen Suceso, to appreciate the vastness of our city. Because of its proximity, they took a short tour of the Siyâsa archaeological site.
Finally, it was time to get to know the city center and recharge our batteries after this busy day. They walked through the Plaza de España in the middle of the carnival celebrations, the views from the Balcón de los Ejidos, and then the paintings on our Walk by our painter José Lucas.
They were delighted with our food and said they would tell their traveling friends about this excursion while they waited for the 8:05 p.m. bus on Sunday to take them back to the hotel.
In the next few days, they were going to visit the city of Murcia, then Lorca and Águilas, ending in Cartagena, and then returning to Bilbao via Valencia again using the Blablacar travel app.
From here we wish you a happy return, and thank you very much for your visit…
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