Spanish Trip
January / February 2015
This trip is dedicated to the memory of Tony and Sylvia Pollard
There is a Photobucket album with more photos of this trip, the address is:
We planned to have our first winter trip to Spain starting January 2014; but unfortunately, Val’s father passed away the day before we were due to leave.
So this is the second attempt.
Lots of Brits are now doing the extended trip to Spain for the winter to escape the harshness of the British winters so we thought we would join them to see what it is all about.
We couldn’t leave until late January as we had booked the New Year meet with Beds DA and then had the customary trip to Ripon to see our grandchildren in Panto. So we took the first sailing after the Panto.
Wednesday 21st January:
An early start for us, we were due on the 12:45 sailing from Portsmouth to Santander, so on the road shortly after 06:00. We had stopped realising that such times exist. Our journey to Portsmouth was slow as expected with heavy traffic on the M25 and M3. Then there was an accident on the outskirts of Portsmouth causing us to take a diversion.
We arrived at the Ferry port in time to start loading; if you have done it then you know that this is a very slow process taking up to 2 hours. Perhaps it is better to push the envelope and arrive in time for the last check-in as that then only takes 45 minutes, but then you are one of the last off.
The MV Pont Aven is a massive ship, the largest of the cross channel ferries. On this sailing it was almost empty; just as well as we had to change cabins twice due to faults in the first and no heating in the second. By 21:00 we were firmly ensconced into our final cabin for the night. On these ships there is a captive audience, which means that meals have to be purchased onboard. The prices are quite reasonable, but the choice is limited. Walking around the ship is interesting as it is quite easy to get lost. Val was disappointed to find that the swimming pool was closed.
We are not sailors and despite the relatively calm crossing, we could feel every pitch and roll as we traversed the Bay of Biscay.
Thursday 22nd January.
We arrived at Santander and were disembarked by 14:45 Spanish time. There were streaks of sun, but also some heavy cloud, the temperature was 13 C. Our plan was to head for a Motorhome Aire about 60 miles south at Aguilar de Campoo. Getting out of Santander was simple and we soon picked up the Motorway. After an hour and a half we arrived at the village where the aire was located. We had come over the Picos de Europa and had been shocked to see so much snow. For every mile that we drove south the snow got deeper. As we approached the aire we could see the road had not been driven along for some time. There were 12 inches of virgin snow, which I had no intention of driving on. The decision was to carry on driving south in the hopes of escaping the snow.
Escape the British winter, come to Spain
Our next choice for an aire was Fromista. This was easily found and turned out to be a quiet aire not far from the motorway. There was no snow, but the temperature dropped overnight to -3C. It was warmer back home.
Friday 23rd January:
A very frosty start, the noticeable thing was how dark the morning was. At 08:00 it was still dark. Our plan was to head for an ACSI site on the outskirts of Salamanca. We arrived at lunchtime, a bad time as siesta has cut in. The reception didn’t open until 15:30. We had a look around the site, it wasn’t for us. The site was extremely muddy and apart from a couple of pitches was closed off. There was another ACSI site on the other side of Salamanca, but it didn’t look any more appealing than the first. The Aires book came up with an aire at El Encinar, we headed for that. This was a good choice, hard stand and room for 40 Motorhomes. This was to be our overnight stay.
Saturday 24th January:
Gosh, that was a cold night; -3C and very clear. The plan for today was to head for a city called Caceres. We know very little about this town apart from the fact that it is on our route and has an ACSI site. What a revelation, the site is excellent with terraced, good sized pitches, each with electric and water, but the surprise was that every pitch also has a brick built toilet, shower and washing building; locked and solely for use of that pitch. The sun is shining and this afternoon it is comfortable to sit in the sun until 17:00. Internet access is excellent, there is even a special offer of 4 nights for the price of 3; a total of 48 Euros (£9.00 per night). We even managed to have our first barbecue of the year.
First barbecue of 2015
The internet tells us that the city of Caceres is a World Heritage Site with an internal walled city that has it’s origins in the races that have shaped Spain over millennia, we have decided to discover. There is a bus stop 2 minutes walk from the site and the fare to the city centre is 1 Euro, looks like we will be using the facility.
Sunday 25th January
A quiet day today, we have spent the past days travelling and I appear to have a particularly virulent case of Man-Flu. The site is very quiet with lots of empty pitches. Of those in use, most are British followed by Dutch and then German and French. Nearly all of the visitors to the site stay overnight and then continue their journey the next morning. We went for a walk this afternoon, only a couple of miles, but it helped to blow out some cobwebs. On the way back, Val decided to look at the scenery from a different perspective; she tripped and fell. The next thing that I could see was her rolling on the ground directly under the Armco crash barrier. Lesson here Mr Spanish Roadbuilder: we Brits can circumvent any protective measures that you can come up with.
Fortunately, the injuries were minor although I did get worried at first; just a couple of grazed knees and a bruised wrist.
Monday 26th January
We grab the opportunity to visit the City of Caceres. The bus stop is about 5 minutes walk from the site. The bus was on time and spotlessly clean. We paid our 1Euro each for the fare and within 15 minutes we were there.
The Medieval City of Caceres is certainly one to visit. It is one that the tourists do not get to hear of as it is nowhere near the Costas. This consists of a complete walled city with buildings dating from the 10th Century to the 16th Century. All of the buildings are still in use, many as public offices and many as dwellings. The churches and museums are spectacular with very little interference in the name of security.
There is an Arabic museum dating back to the Moorish occupation, a church and square dedicated to Saint George who slayed the Dragon of Moorish occupation to return Spain to Christianity. The Cathedral of Santa Maria still has the original steps of the circular staircase up to the bells at the top of the tower with no entry restrictions save only for a 1 Euro entrance fee.
Oh! and Storks, can’t forget the storks. These enormous birds are treated with reverence in these parts and encouraged to nest wherever they wish. There are even nesting towers along the roadsides in places.
In keeping with modern thinking and EU ruling, this place pays absolutely no deference to wheelchair or any other special access needs. It is as built and good for them.
Tuesday 27th January
There is a need to spend at least 2 days exploring the Medieval City of Caceres, so this is our second. It is an easy bus ride from the campsite into the town centre and the €1 fare can’t break the bank for anyone.
Today’s visit has left us with a mystery. There are lots of special landmarks and they are all shown on the map. Some of these landmarks are buildings, others heraldic, and many religious. It was at one of these religious landmarks that the mystery came about. The particular spot was Arcos del Cristiano (Christ’s Arch), above the arch is a windows and through the windows can be seen an effigy of Christmas. I took a photo, but when I look at the photo all that can be seen behind the glass is another building. ..no effigy….Strange.
Wednesday 28th January
It is peculiar knowing it is still January, but the sun is blazing and the daytime temperature is in the low 70’s.
Today we have moved on to Seville, the home of those super oranges. We are staying on a Motorhome Aire beside the river. It is nothing special as it is in a secure car compound, but it is under £10 per night plus electrics and is only a 15 minute walk from the city centre. We have just found out that there is F1 testing at Jerez this weekend so it will be crowded; may have a change of plan as Jerez was going to be our next stop.
Thursday 29th January
Well this is not going exactly to plan. We woke this morning to the fact that Val’s wrist had given her extreme pain during the night and she felt that it needed treatment. I checked the map and there was a Hospital within about a mile of where we were, so walking distance. We got dressed, checked at reception that this was the right Hospital and set off.
About 15 minutes later we arrived at a modern, massive hospital. There were entrances everywhere, but as this is Spain, we couldn’t figure which one we needed. Eventually, by use of sign language, we found our way to the Urgencia Department. Now one of the joys about foreign hospitals is that they do not have Government targets and can therefore get on with the job. Val was triaged, X-Rayed and checked by the doctor, informed that it was just a bad sprain, bandaged up and we were out within 90 minutes. Excellent, apart from the fact that she emerged gooey eyed over the young fit Doctor that treated her.
Seville is a large City with lots of old grand buildings to see. It is also a very busy and expensive City to visit. We spent the afternoon walking through looking at many of the wonderful sights. On the trees that line many of the streets are growing and ripe oranges. We enquired as to how so many were still there as in the UK they would have been picked or trashed. It seems that these trees originally did supply the UK with those famous oranges used in our breakfast marmalade. However, over time, due to these particular trees not being cultivated, the fruit has returned to it’s natural state, which is very bitter and inedible. The trees in the Orange Groves are still cultivated and those are the ones that still form part of our staple diet.
Friday 30th January;
We have moved south west to the town of Sanlucar De Barrameda, which is about 16 miles west of Jerez de la Frontera. This is Sherry country and we hope to find a few Bodegas to sample. Stopped in Jerez this afternoon to fill up with gas and food. Nice to find a Repsol station where we filled the 10kg bottle for 16 Euro (About £12)
The Aire here is large with a peculiar water arrangement. The fresh water is accessed by way of a stopcock and union on a cover in the pavement. Waste goes down the drain and Elsan has it’s own manhole.
This is a super place to visit as it is right on the beach and the next stop is America, about 60 miles to the north is Portugal. The outside temperature now at 20:44 is 15C and interior is 21C. This could be another night without any heating…..Love it!!!
There is free WiFi here and all along the promenade. It is restricted to 30 minutes per day, but that is per unit; so a phone is one, tablet is another etc.
There is a bus from here to Jerez, which we may try tomorrow as Jerez is a big and busy city that may not be the best for motorhomes.
Saturday 31st January
Well, nothing goes exactly to plan. The bus only runs three times per day if they feel like it. So we missed the bus. As an alternative, it is market day in Sanlucar and this is a town to explore. There are 2 Kilometres of beach and a nature reserve across the estuary.
The market specialises in fish, great if you know what you are seeing and how to cook it.
There is a weather stream across the whole of Europe which is bringing high winds and cold weather to much of western Europe. We have had gusts today of up to 50mph and a yellow warning. Rocked last night, but today is much better.
Sunday 1st February
We woke to a glorious day, clear blue skies and almost still air. It was cool, but we knew that the temperature would soon warm. We took a walk into the town centre for our bread and soon realised that it was certainly warm enough to not wear coats; even though the Spaniards were still wearing thick winter coats.
After coffee we took a brisk walk along the sea front and then back for lunch. Mid-afternoon it was time to take another walk into the town centre. we had noticed that the traffic had increased and on our walk we found out why. Every bar and restaurant was full to the point that people were queuing for the more popular places. This is traditional Spain, where families consider that time spent together on a Sunday lunchtime is sacred. The eating rituals lasted until 17:00 and then the whole town hit the streets to go home.
It is such a relief to find that the commercialism that is rife in the non-existent in mainland Europe, long may it continue.
The photos of old American cars are those that are parked as a matter of course in the road beside the Aire.
Monday 2nd February
Bit of a non-day today. We left the aire at Sanlucar mid morning and drove to an ACSI site at Estepona. The site did not impress on first arrival; we drove in and another motorhome drove in shortly after us. Well he tried to drive in, but there was no more room on the approach road and he ended up partially blocking the roundabout outside. Before they would book us in, the staff insisted that we both drove into a dead end parking zone. to get into this, we had to back up and then drive in, then another reversing operation to get back out once we had been allocated pitches.
This is where things got worse, it was cool and windy anyway and then it started to rain. The pitch was again very tight and only just possible to get onto. Our inspection of the site showed shower blocks in a poor state of repair, Water taps that are totally unsuitable for use by caravans or motorhomes. The “Indoor swimming pool”, which was claimed to be heated; turned out to be a small pool under a Poly-Tunnel arrangement that heated if the sun shone on it for long enough.
This is a site that we couldn’t recommend to anyone.
Tuesday 3rd February:
A move is in order. The plan is to head for Granada and the Alhambra Palace, but I was informed this morning that it is extremely cold up there with ice in the fountains. Perhaps leave it until warmer times.
As we were driving along the Avenida de Mediterranee, we decided to look at sites on the coast. Malaga area looked good and we chose a site on the eastern outskirts. It had good reviews and we duly arrived. Bad news, the last pitch had just gone to the German woman in front of us. We were advised that all sites with close access to the beaches were full and that we should look at Les Pinos at Torrox. This was about another 10 miles further east. When we arrived, we had a look around and found that there were several vacant pitches. We chose one and booked in.
This is a large site in a quieter area and is good enough for a couple of nights. Tomorrow we need to hit the washing machines, that should be fun. Spanish sites do not have a reputation for large pitches, in fact if they are described as large then they are normally just enough to site an average motorhome or caravan. The next consideration is the trees; because traditionally Spanish sites have trees for shade, they often have low branches, which restrict access. Fortunately, we only needed three manouvres to get onto our pitch. We have learnt to walk and select our pitch before booking in.
Torrox is a strange place as it is split into Torrox old town and Torrox Playa. The site is at Torrox Playa and we have found out that it is not possible to reach the old town on foot. There is a Motorway in the way and it cannot be crossed. Even the locals have to use transport to get from one part to the other.
The beach is about 1 Kilometre away from the site down a steep hill, which will make for good exercise on the way back.
Thursday 5th February
Time to hit the road again. We have looked at the Aires book and there is an aire at Almerimar that looks good and we have heard good reports from fellow travellers who have come from that direction, so that is our destination today. Travelling along the Autovia de Mediterranee is interesting today as the wind has come back and there are several strong wind cautions in place. We certainly felt the cross wind in places. Having said that, this was our coffee stop:
The aire at Almerimar is absolutely gorgeous. It is right beside the port and yachting marina. It is closely watched over by the Harbour Master, who takes your booking. He speaks perfect English and advises not to pay for the WiFi provided by the Marina as it is unreliable. Best, he says is to use the free WiFi at any of the waterfront bars. We parked up and this was the immediate view through the windscreen:
Our original plan was to stay here for one night and then to head onto Murcia area, but it is such a lovely place that we decided to stay another night. There is a good supermarket a short walk away and the walks along the promenade are good. There are even some exercise machines dotted along the promenade. The sun shone and the temperature rose sufficiently to sit outside in the afternoon. Later the wind came back up and by evening we were starting to experience some quite interesting rocking.
Saturday 7th February
A short trip today to the small town of Vera, but first some supplies; we need gas and diesel. Gas is only available at certain Repsol stations in Spain, but fortunately, we know of one on the way back to the motorway. At the same station we fill up with diesel, unfortunately the price has gone up since our last fill-up. Soon we are on our way and enjoying the sun.
A quick stop for coffee and by just after midday we arrived at our stop for tonight. This is an aire that is run by an English man, he has laid it out in terraces and with quite good sized individual pitches. He charges 9 Euros per night and that includes Electric and WiFi. The price is reduced if you stay for longer and there are some who have been here for more than 2 months. Fortunately, it doesn’t have the Shanty Town look of some long stay sites.
We have been hearing of the terrible weather that much of Spain has been experiencing, fortunately for us all that we have noticed has been the wind, but not too far north, from a line north of Granada they have experienced snow at levels that are very rare for this country. The military have been called upon to rescue 220 motorists who were stranded in snow blizzards on the motorway.
We decided to go to the bar this evening, very rare for us. Oh dear, what a night; we ran into some English guys, Tony, Ralph and a couple of others. They had been in the bar for some time and were already getting raucous, but very good humoured. They invited us to join them, I pointed out that Val was female in the feint hopes of some decency. They said that they hadn’t noticed and carried on as before.
Well, a few beers and some hi-jinx later and it was time to retire for the night. Tony invited us to his Birthday party the next lunchtime; not certain if the excuse was genuine, but any time seems to be good for a party.
Sunday 8th February
Today is Paul’s birthday, quick text to him and job done. I am sure his gorgeous girlfriend Stephanie is far more capable of helping him celebrate.
We are heading into the Alicante region in order to visit our old friends from the Refuge Assurance days, Pat and Ray; and two of our oldest friends Les and Sue. Pat and Ray have lived in Spain for nine years, and Les and Sue moved out last July.
Our site of choice is Camping La Pedrera at a small town of Bigastro, South of Orihuela and North of Torrevieja. We chose this site as we believed that one house was in Orihela and the other in Torrevieja. The site is great, spotlessly clean with good clear pitches. We were made to feel especially welcome and in view of that we decided to hire a car and extend our stay at the site to eight nights. When we asked for the WiFi password we felt a spooky chill, the password is the name of our now defunct website. Made us feel even more welcome. I booked a car through my favourite agency (wedospain.com), and arranged collection on Monday at 12:00. There is a bus from the town to Torrevieja, so that was handy. It was a gorgeous, very warm evening and barbeque was the order of the day.
Monday 9th February
It is cloudy, but dry. Just have to check on the location of the bus stop and then collect the hire car. The ladies at reception have printed off the bus timetable and have phoned the town hall to check where the bus stops. The bus is due at 10:55 and it is now just after 09:30, so we have sufficient time to walk the mile or so into town. We arrived in the town centre, but could not figure out where the bus stop was, asked at a couple of shops and a bar and eventually located it. Plenty of time to waste now so we stop at the bar for a refreshing cup of coffee. It is colder this morning with a distinct wintery chill in the air. The bus was on time and took us on a roundabout route to Torrevieja Bus Station. It was now raining heavily and we still had about 2 miles to go to the car hire place so a Taxi was the order of the day. Eventually we made it to Dickmanns Rent-a-Car, where we allowed ourselves to be ripped of to the tune of 90 Euros on top of what we had already paid, but that is another story.
Having collected the car and stopped for lunch, it was now time to visit Pat and Ray. We had the address and the Sat Nav, so should be easy; not in Spain. In Spain, the postal address is rarely the one that is used for Sat Nav, in fact it is impossible to locate a house by postal address; GPS coordinates are the only way. At least we found the correct road for Pat and Ray, a quick phone call soon had Ray coming up to locate us. It was great to see them again and to have a few hours catch up. The house is adequate with quite a few steep stairs. on the upper floor is a bedroom with an open balcony and at the top is an open area for catching the sun. Unfortunately, like all Spanish houses there has been no attention paid to heat insulation and therefore the house is very cold.
During the afternoon we had an unexpected phone call that is likely to lead to new adventures later in the year.
Tuesday 10th February
Today we are off to visit Les and Sue, friends since our teen days of caravanning, we all grew up together. First job is retail therapy, well it is raining, so when raining hit shops. This is an easy decision as we have noticed massive retail park on the Outskirts of Torrevieja. We know that it is close to Pat and Ray, but have only just realised that it is even closer to Les and Sue. That came about because we were confused as to the location of Les and Sue, unfortunately, their address does not exist according to any maps (It seems they have changed the street name.)
Eventually, we found their house, thanks to some directions from my brother, Google Earth, good luck and the wind in the right direction….Oh and Elvis Presley!!!
Les and Sue’s house is identical to Pat and Rays, it is just another corner of a square block. They have fitted a conservatory, but it is just as cold. Although they have only been in Spain since July 2014, we were amazed at how they had settled down and were determined to make Spain their country of choice. We had thought, wrongly that Les and Sue might adopt the wrong attitude and perhaps wouldn’t settle, but we admit we were wrong.
Today was not really a good day as it is the first anniversary of Val’s fathers funeral, which means that coincidentally it is also the first anniversary of Sue’s mother passing away. So we raised our cups in a toast to both of them.
As we were leaving, we were joined by Sue’s sister Jan and her husband Phil. They had moved out to Spain at the same time as Les and Sue and were going to have an evening of memories.
Wednesday 11th February
From the time we arrived back at the van yesterday we have felt poorly and getting worse, very cold and shivery. Despite turning up the heating we still felt cold.
Saturday 14th February
For the past few days we have felt particularly unwell, we have had a couple of excursions to Torrevieja and Benidorm and yesterday we popped back to see Pat and Ray, but today we feel worse than ever.
It is Valentines Day and there is a meal and dance at the bar tonight, but we are not up to it. In fact we spent the whole of today in bed, jealous of all those who joined in the Valentines Day festivities.
Sunday 15th February
Not much change, both feeling slightly less unwell, but very weak, mainly due to lack of eating.
Monday 16th February
Time to move on again. We have to take the hire car back this morning. This is a revelation for Val as the first time that she had ever driven a left hand drive car was for about 1 mile yesterday. Over and above that she had not driven a manual gearbox for about 10 years. She did very well and was very impressed with herself, only once did she stall it and lose me, but was very soon back on my tail and in my mirrors. We still believe that we were ripped off by the car hire company, but that is another story.
Our destination today is Alcoy, in the mountains between Alicante and Valencia. There was an aire that would suit us for one night. We found the aire and then set off to get some provisions. Problem there was that Monday is Market day and there was nowhere to park. Eventually I managed to find somewhere suitable and sent Val off in the direction of our food supply. Our quiet night on the aire was disturbed by more frequent and heavier rain.
Tuesday 17th February
Continuing our anti-clockwise tour of Spain, our destination today is Valencia, one of Spain’s largest cities. We have identified an aire on the Northern outskirts that is close to a Metro station and therefore very accessible to the City Centre. The aire was easy to find and we made ourselves cosy for the rest of the day. At the aire they have tickets available for the Metro and maps of Valencia. We have found out that the Metro costs 1.50 Euro per journey, very cheap as it is a 30 minute journey. The aire is very busy and during the afternoon and evening we see many outfits of different shapes and nationalities arrive.
Wednesday 18th February
Our outing to Valencia. We have been so poorly that we have hardly stepped out for a week. We have our tickets for the Metro and away we go. Always amazes me that other cities in other countries can provide clean, reliable and cheap transport, yet in the UK we fail on all three counts.
Our train arrives on time and deposits us in Valencia. This is a very busy city, but as it is an ancient city, most of it’s sights are around the centre. There is a wonderful Central Market Hall, which sells just about every kind of fresh produce that you could thing of. All of it beautifully presented, with an aroma that is unmistakably Spanish. The Fish, Meats and vegetables seem to blend together and conjure up visions of the Sea and Mountain grazing that mean so much to this Country.
We visit La Lonja De La Seda, which was once a nobleman’s plaything where he entertained various ladies. The carvings and paintings are very intricate and every now and then slightly erotic.
The Cathedral is quite plain when compared to the grand buildings of France. Finally, the Hermitage is a joy of a church with gold-leaf decoration everywhere.
Unfortunately, as this is our first trip out for about a week, we are soon feeling very tired and headed back to the Motorhome.
Thursday 19th February
We’re on the road again. This time we are heading North East up the Mediterranean coast to Peniscola. Before that though, it is time for a couple of confessions: firstly, I filled the fresh water tank this morning, what a shame I didn’t read the sign that shows “Aqua Non-Potable” (Non-drinkable water). A quick rush for the drain to empty 100 litres from the tank. Secondly, after the first mistake I was primed for a second; and it came. I had set both Sat Navs for the co-ordinates for the site and we set off. After about 35 miles I thought that we were heading inland and not towards the coast. I stopped in time for coffee and checked the co-ordinates, they were correct, or so I thought. For the first time on this trip we were headed East of the Greenwich Meridian, but I had set the co-ordinates for West of the Greenwich Meridian……Oops.
Eventually, we made it to our intended site for the day and were pleasantly surprised. Camping Los Pinos is a small site on the outskirts of Peniscola. It is clean with reasonably sized pitches that are quite easy to get onto. There is EHU at each pitch and free WiFi. On top of that the charge for ACSI members is all of 10 Euro per night. This looks to be a nice spot that will suit us for four nights.
Sunday 22nd February
Again a quiet section in the Blog. Unfortunately on Saturday I was not at all well when we got up and was extremely wobbly on my legs. I therefore spent the whole day on the bed. This morning I felt somewhat better, but still very weak. This afternoon there is a marked improvement, fortunate as we have to hit the road again tomorrow. We have 410 miles to cover by Thursday morning so need to gobble up some miles.
It is a shame as since we arrived in Peniscola we have been very impressed. The site is a delight as is the surrounding area. We didn’t make it to the old town or castle so that is reason enough for a return trip.
Peniscola also has a resident turtle population and we need to investigate that further.
Monday 23rd February
We are travelling again, this time we are heading for Tudela, a small town about halfway between Peniscola and Santander. The plan is to put as many miles as possible into the early part of the week, giving us some leeway as we get closer to Santander.
The road to Tudela is great, plenty of climbing and hairpin bends, just what I like. The scenery is quite stunning; a massive improvement over the desolate scrubland of the coastal areas. We stopped at a small town named Morella for coffee. There is a Motorhome aire here, just on the outskirts of the town. The town is an old Medieval walled town, which appears to be fully intact, complete with their castle at the top of the hill. We have made a note to come back here on another trip. We are fast building our plans for another trip.
Just a word of caution: keep clear of this Aire and most other areas where Pine trees are growing during the month of March!!!! Proccessionary Caterpillars nest in Pine trees. These caterpillars can kill animals and some humans!!!!!! The nests look like gossamer pockets in the trees.
As we headed North after lunch I received a text from Brittany Ferries to let us know that our return ferry had been cancelled and that a replacement would be on Saturday instead of Thursday, a two day delay to factor into our travel plans. We are already feeling so poorly that we wanted to get home as soon as possible. We were surprised to see so much snow at the side of the road this far South, more so as the temperature outside was 18C.
Tudela is a small town with a hidden gem for the men: On the main road just before you turn off to the town centre is a steam engine and agricultural tractor reclamation and restoration works. There are some real treasures on display outside.
Tuesday 24th February
Onwards and upwards, our destination today is Burgos; about 115 miles from Santander. We found the municipal site at Burgos; a clean site with large new ammenity blocks. From June to September there is a good bus service from the site into the ancient City Centre. As we now had time to spare we decided to stop for two nights. Unfortunately, we were still feeling too poorly to go into town.
Thursday 26th February
We decided to head closer to Santander and to get a change of scenery. On our first day we intended to stay at the Motorhome Aire at Aquilar de Campoo, about halfway between Burgos and Santander. We failed then due to the snow, so decided to have another attempt today. Again, this is an old walled town, which is still very much intact. It has been protected by virtue of the fact that all modern building has been carried out outside the medieval walls. The Aire is about 10 minutes walk from the main town gate. The snow is piled high at the side of the roads and to the side of all of the school playgrounds.
Friday 27th February
Our final full day in Spain. We head towards Santander as we need to buy some supplies before leaving Spain. We were again surprised to see so much snow around at the end of February. We need to find a Lidl store and there are three listed in Santander. Unfortunately, the first one on the list cannot be found. We tried the other two to find that neither of them had a car park suitable for a motorhome. This was a problem as the supplies were going to be heavy and bulky. The second store had the best parking in the street and I could take the trolley down to the Motorhome. Shopping done, then it all went pear shaped. The trolley was fitted with a magnetic brake, which actuated as the trolley was about to leave the car park. I crashed into the trolley as it stopped and then had to carry the load down the road to the motorhome. Four trips later and I was knackered.
Our home for tonight had been planned for the Animal Park at Cabarceno, about 10 miles outside Santander. We arrived there by mid afternoon to join several other motorhomes and caravans all due to catch the ferry next morning. The Aire is at the side of the lake, which had several varieties of water birds swimming on it. Further up was the Elephant enclosure, although we could hear the elephants, we could not see them as they were indoors due to the cold weather.
Saturday 28th February
I still can’t believe i am saying this, but this is the day that we have been longing for. We are boarding the ferry for home. The ferry is due to sail at 10:30 am; by 11:30 am we are loaded and cast off. Soon after came the announcement on the Tannoy: “Due to poor weather, forecast at wind force of 6 to 7 and a swell of 6 metres across the Bay of Biscay we would not be arriving at Portsmouth until 11:00 am Sunday” (90 minutes late).
At night, the sea got worse. Waves crashed over the bows of the ship and in our cabin we could feel the impact as we hit another giant wave. Not a lot of sleep tonight. In the morning came another announcement: “Due to worse weather than expected, we shall now arrive at Portsmouth at 12:00.”
We eventually docked on time, but another complication led to another 20 minute delay. The doors to the car deck had jammed and we had to wait for them to open.
Sunday 1st March
Finally home to God’s own country. There are lots of places to visit, but only one to live.
We found out the following day that our ills during this trip had been the Flu-like virus that has been sweeping the UK, and I had exported to Spain thanks to our doctor for passing it to me on the day before we sailed.
Our conclusions:
Spain is a massive country that doesn’t get justice. Too many people visit the Costas, which in fact are the least attractive parts of the Country. The remainder of the Country has the scenery and the more temperate weather. Also we have learn’t that visiting Spain is not good in January or February, as these are the coldest months and can actually be colder at night than the UK.
Many campsites on the Costas are closer to resembling shanty towns due to the overcrowding and untidiness of the long term campers who can often be pitched for four months or longer.
What we did find was a Country that needs to be explored further and we were able to make notes of lots of places to visit, more than enough for one return trip.
What’s next?
Well, back in the late 60’s Ralph Lee published an article in the C&CC magazine about the trip that he and his wife had made to the Arctic Circle, that established the Order of Blue Nosed Caravanners. We always promised ourselves that we would make such a trip. Whilst we were away, I had a call from the C&CC to say that a vacancy had occurred on their Escorted Arctic tour for this year and would we like to go. We booked immediately and will now be travelling from late May to mid July on a 47 night tour of Denmark, Sweden. Finland and Norway with a furthest north point of North Cape and the land of the midnight sun. I shall become of official retirement age at the land of our dreams.
Watch this space for the Blog