Casa Calda

It's a low-budget stay, so you get what you pay for. I was assigned a room at the back which was tiny. If you open your suitcase on the floor (as there is no chair), there's no room to move around. The room was dark and the small window was overlooking a bare slope. The pictures on the wall were tacky reproductions of alpine scenery and Degas ballerinas and looked completely out of place in this dry and rocky region. There was absolutely no soundproofing and I could actually hear all the conversations in detail held in the room next door. Despite my expressed disappointment about the room I was not moved to a larger one, even though there were other rooms available. I am not sure what all the raving reviews about the hospitality of the owners is. I specified my time of arrival knowing that I had to walk the few hundred metres from the parking space and expected there would be someone to help me with my luggage. Alas, there was only the elderly mother of the owner, who didn't even offer me a glass of cold water even though I had driven for over 6 hours on an incredibly hot day and was visibly sweaty and exhausted. Anyway, the highlight of the stay was the rich breakfast served on the well kept patio in front of the building which saved the stay from being a completely bleak experience. And even though it's not the owners' fault, the whole area is plagued by flies. Wherever there is extensive herding, that's a natural consequence, there's not much one can do, but it's still annoying. Having booked for three nights, I left after the first one, and that was the best decision of my whole journey.