This ferry is unlike anything you've ever seen before!

We got up and drove as soon as it was light, at about 8am. Where we are right now, sunset is at 5:30pm and sunrise is at 8:10am. 

We weren't going very far... only about 30 kms (18 miles) further inland to a little village near a castle. My thinking was that we would have some breakfast, do some computer work, visit the castle, and then do some more driving after lunch. That's not quite what happened.

We got to the town of Ginestar and found the free motorhome aire. There are only four sites, built specially for motorhomes or campervans. The place gets really good reviews, so I was actually surprised that there were two empty spots. 

Driving into the town of Ginestar.

You have to drive right into Ginestar. It's always a little nerve wracking going into one of these villages because sometimes the roads can be so tight. This one turned out to be fine, but the motorhome area itself had a bit of a tight turn. Glad Max is so short!

I never did get a photo of Max parked up, but it was a nice spot. The four sites are well separated from each other, and they have a really good waste and fill station.

The two others departed as the morning went on. By the time it was getting close to lunch, we decided we were better off staying put and going to the castle after lunch. 

Another motorhome (with Belgium plates) pulled in to the site beside us, and we saw them take off on their bikes.

It was actually quite a bit after lunch by the time we got going! Sometimes we get caught up in doing research on the laptops and time gets away from us. I found a walking route that would get us to a ferry to cross the Ebro River and make our way up to Miravet Castle.

Pretty laneway in the town of Ginestar.

Church in Ginestar.

Ginestar itself is actually a nice town. There's nothing special about it, but it's the kind of place we would choose if we were to settle down in Spain for a year. Looks like it would be easy to make yourself part of the community, without there being any other expats around. That's the only way to learn a language. You have to immerse yourself.

We walked on a road that had a lot of agriculture on both sides.

Grapes, olives, fruit trees.

Zoomed in on Miravet Castle.

That's where we're headed!

The Ebro River.

We were about to learn a lot about this river. It looks pretty peaceful in the photo above, but the Ebro River has a long history of flooding. 

We walked along the riverside another km or so to the ferry dock.

Now, this ferry is unlike anything you've ever seen before!

Ebro River ferry at Miravet.

The ferry is simply two boats, held together with a wooden platform. The ferry is attached by cable to another cable that is running across the river. There is sufficient current in the river that just by steering the rudder, the ferry makes its way across. There is no engine or propulsion of any kind. Apparently it has been operating here this way for hundreds of years. The ferry can hold up to six tons, with enough space for three small cars.

As far as boat rentals ibiza Mallorca or Menorca would be my choice.

Here they come!

While we were waiting, the couple from the Belgium motorhome rode up on their bikes. They were going to cross the river as well. So we spoke to them for a few minutes while we waited.

Then it was our turn to board the ferry. There were no cars... just us, the other couple, and their bicycles. We had to pay €1 each for the crossing, and they had to pay €0.50 extra for each bicycle.

The ferry operator was fairly talkative, and only in Spanish. We had a good conversation with him, although we missed bits and pieces. Considering we haven't used our Spanish in almost two years, it's coming back pretty quickly.

He was saying how the river is fairly low right now, and it's almost not enough to be able to easily cross the river. But he says that the river is always high in the spring and it can be dangerous. But he has been doing this for 35 years, so he has lots of experience!

When we got off, there was a building at the top of the ramp with markings on it showing high flood times in 2008, 2018, and 2021. The perspective didn't show well in photos, so I took a short video for you. Turn up your volume...

High water marks on the Ebro River.

But it turns out that this is nothing. The Ebro River rose to catastrophic levels in both 1787 and 1907.

Miravet and the castle.

Miravet Castle dates back to the middle of the 12th century. Many of the buildings in the village have been there since the 14th to 16th century. 

It's a really scenic spot.

Notice the flood wall on the right. It was breached in 2008.

Notice the building that has the arch. Above the arch, near the roof is a brick that is a slightly different color. (Click the photo to make it full screen. Click again to zoom in). That different colored brick is the high water mark for the great flood of 1787!

I found this interesting website that shows a graphic of how bad that flood wood have been. It's all in Catalan, but you can look at the pictures... https://pladelafont.blogspot.com/2019/09/iinundacions-del-riu-ebre-de-1787-i-el.html

Unfortunately the church was locked.

Miravet church.

View from the castle.

Another view.

Looking west.

We paid the €5 ($7.20 CAD, $5.25 USD) each to enter the castle.

A few people around, plus a couple of school groups.

The main part of the castle was built by the Templars around 1150. However archaeological excavations have revealed an Iberian settlement that dates to between the 1st and 5th century BC, as well as a Moorish citadel that dates between the 9th and the 12th century.

Of course there have been many renovations and additions done over the years. 

This plaque is dated 1839.

The courtyard.

The cistern.

The refectory.

These towers used to go ceiling high.

Renovations were done as recently as 1994.

The church.

Another view.

We made it back to Max around 5:00pm. Another 7 kms or so of walking, plus the hike up the hill to the castle. We were actually lucky we didn't get rained on. You may have noticed there wasn't much blue sky yesterday. And today appears to be a rain day, so we are putting on some miles towards our house sit near Valencia that starts tomorrow afternoon.

At least it's warm enough... high of 16C (62F), low of 10C (50F). Supposed to be up to 20C (68F) on Saturday!

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