Torre de la Mora

On Thursday, having departed the busy area between Benidorm and Alicante, we travelled almost 300 miles with consummate ease towards Barcelona. We have now arrived at a lovely little bay in the rather smart village of Torre de la Mora. The bay is made up of fine sand with a shoreline of around 400 metres and at each end there are rocky outcrops, giving a cosy feel to the beach. Behind the beachhead, the ground rises into pine woods, which conceal the caravan site. Having said that, our caravan is directly up to the beach, providing the constant sound of waves lapping on to the beach and lulling us to sleep, or is it the red wine, I am not sure which.

We are a matter of around 5 miles from the ancient town of Tarragona, which will be visited in the next few days (kindly recommended by my brother).

We have come to the conclusion that this spot is so nice that there is no point in rushing away, so after a touch of brainwork, we have discovered that there is a car ferry linking Barcelona and Genova in Italy, which sails 3 times per week and the overnight sail will give us a cruise in the Med'. It will also save us 500 miles of driving, so we will stay here a bit longer, therefore, it may be a while before we do another blog. In any case, Margaret has booked a hair appointment for Tuesday

We have attached a couple of photos which show part of the bay and also the modest little swimming pool provided for site users benefit.

Granada and Sierra Nevada

What a life!

This edition is written alongside a pool at our present site which is close to a beach on Costa Blanca in a small village aptly named as El Campello between Alicante and Benidorm, which is an area in stark contrast to our previous site site high in the quiet mountains of the Sierra Nevada, close to Granada.

On the basis that a blog is only as good as its honesty, I had better tell you of some of the lows as well as the highs. The lows include a split molar, which required the attention of a dentist who only spoke Spanish and a smattering of French and who insisted in asking lots of questions. The problem was solved by Margaret, who spoke to the dentist in Spani/French and then tranlated to me in English with a French accent!

The next low was the action of a toady thief who stole the back wheel off Margarets bike whilst it was locked up at Cordoba Railway Station, whilst we travelled to Seville by train. This particular problem was overcome by a visit to a fantastic but chaotic cycle shop in Granada that was operated by Arkwright's understudy ably assisted by a long suffering son (get the picture?). The shop had so much stuff that it woulod have been possible to get a front brake block for a Penny Farthing. Notwithstanding the stock levels, just try asking a man who only speaks Spanish that you want a 20 inch rear wheel for a folding bike and you also want specific ratio 6 speed gearing, and that you do not require tyre or inner tube as you have spare ones at the caravan! Well we managed it and all for 29 Euros, so yet another problem solved.

Our previous site was in the area of Beas de Granada, and was blessed with the most wonderful snowy mountain views from the caravan windows (see photo). The highlight was our trip to Granada and our visit to the Alhambra Palace and gardens and also the adjoining Generalife gardens and minor palace. It was a day that we shall remember to the end of our days. Granada is a fine city and is surrounded by high mountains throughout 360 degrees. I have hopefully attached a couple of photos to show the Alhambra.

You will also see from the photos that the journey is taking its toll on both car and caravan, but still we continue onwards along the Med' coast towards France and then on to Italy.

Buenos Dias.

Cordoba

We have been in this area for almost a week and have had every sort of weather except volcanic ash! We arrived in glorious sunshine which then deteoriated over a few days before a full blown thunderstorm on Sunday.

Thankfully we are now basking in glorious sunshine at 31 degrees C. We have visited Cordoba 3 times, which is perhaps and indication of its fascination. The whole area seems to be enveloped in the soothing aroma of orange blossom, with the constant sounds of birds. The old city contains a good deal of ancient history including building from the Roman times through the history of the Moors and latterly the Christian rulers. One place of particular interest is the fortress palace and gardens of Alcazar. The building contains an Arab bathhouse in full construction and an original roman pillar. The gardens were simply stunning by the use of water, plants and trees. There are 3 separate terraced pools, which can be seen on the photo above, which are fed by water from the nearby hills and all controlled by gravitational flow.

Today (20th April) we took a 4 hour guided tour with a guide who was clued up on all the local historical information that our little brains could take in and spoke farily good English. We were able to visit many of the special sites including the cathedral of the city which is contained within the original mosque. The building is absolutely immense and although we have taken many photographs showing the various pillars and arches, it is impossible to convey the scale of the building which covers an area of 4 acres and can partially be seen above in the photo.

Tomorrow we intend to visit Seville by train and then perhaps move to Granada in the next day or two.

Madrid Area (El Escorial)

On Monday morning nothing was spoken but we both came to a decision to move further south, so we quickly got ready and departed towards Madrid.

At one point we stopped at a motorway cafe and as ever, I was a touch anxious about leaving our car and caravan out of eyesight as one hears such horror stories. We were waiting to order coffee when the little cafe was invaded by around 30 police officers, who were armed but not dangerous. They ate, smoked, drank coffee and San Miguel as I wondered what my old bosses would have made of such apparent indicipline, but at least I though my car etc was safe as it was parked near to 7 police carrier vehicles. As we left, my heart sank as I saw two officers giving my car a great deal of attention, but all was well, as on my approach, one officer declared; "Mazda, beuno, bueno!" I quickly reviewed my original decision and decided that they were ok after all. It is surprising how much attention the car gets wherever we go, and as yet we have not seen another one.

The weather was hot and sunny as can be seen from the photo overlooking the hills of Madrid, and from our high vantage point we could see down into a valley far below and some snow capped mountains. The GPS co-ordinates entered into Tom Tom got us directly to the site reception at El Escorial. It is a massive site with pitces for almost 700 touring caravans and also a camping area and hundreds of statics. The facilities are superb and are shared between about 30 tourists such as us.

On Tuesday we awoke to gentle rain and all around the low hills were coated in a dusting of snow. We set off to visit the walled city of Avila, which can be seen above. Our route took us over two mountain passes and weather which included rain, sleet and snow as we reached the summit at almost 4,500 above sea level. After reading the guide books, we were fortunate to see the magnificent Imperial Eagle soaring on a thermal just above us; what a splendid sight! The city of Avila was amazing and we enjoyed a walk around the complete circuit of wall which surrounds the old town and stretches for just over 1 mile. The books recommend the view from an area known as "The Four Posts", and the result can be seen in the photo, which reminds me to say that if readers of the blog click on the photos, they can be enlarged to view more easily for those who are visually challenged! Our return was via the same route but in better conditions and seem to take half the time. The weather remains cold but the overnight rain on Tuesday/Wednesday has now abated. We intend a leisurely morning and then a trip to Segovia to visit the Roman Aquaduct there.

We hear the cuckoo on occasions, which should signify warmer conditions, but tomorrow we move towards Cordoba and hopefully towards higher temperatures.

Buenos Dias.

Castello Y Leon

We are now in the area of Spain which is titled above, and is accurately described in one of our guide books as containing "awsome expanses of ochre plains which stretch to hills crowned with castles."

After turning our backs to the Bay of Biscay, which provided a sort of symbolic link with the UK, we travelled south, initially in pouring rain and then slowly improving conditions which were better, but a very cold wind at high altituded ensured that we remained in warm clothing. On arrival at our present site on the banks of the mighty River Duero, the weather took a dramatic turn for the better, with clear blue skies and warm to hot daytime temperatures which then cool rapidly as the sun sinks, however, we are snug in our caravan and under our duvet. We are around 2,200 feet above sea level.

The site is on the outskirts of the ancient town of Tordesillas, which is around 50 miles north of Salamanca and due east of Porto in Portugal, so a quick look at an atlas should pinpoint our position. The site is very well equipped and we are joined by similar travellers from all over Europe, with some making south and others returning north after spending the winter in warmer temperatures. The photo above shows the view of the town at a point close to our caravan.

Apart from local walks and general relaxation and reading, the highlight so far has been our trip by bus to Salamanca, where we arrived before the streets were aired! The city has an ancient part which dates from Roman times and is a mass of fantastic architecture and demonstrates the suberb carftmanship of stone masons over many centuries. The two cathedrals and the university are perhaps the finest examples, and a sample picture gives only a flavour of what we saw. There was so much to see that it was easy to get click happy with the camera and thus we have recorded much of what we observed including a Roman bridge into the city and many other wonderful sites.

Yesterday (Friday) we took a cycle ride after our siesta and set off to the village of Nava del Rey, which was around 15 miles away and perched high on the surrounding plateau. Our outward journey took us gently uphill through pine forests and then through agricultural land whilst assisted by a following wind which made Margaret feel like a genuine hill climbing cyclist. On turning to cycle downhill back to base, the wind was as our faces and we had to pedal hard at times to make much progress.

The area abounds with bird life and we have seen many species, although it is the storks that are presently nesting on virtually every tower or church steeple that we like most of all. We are very much enjoying our time in Spain and we are already thinking that we will be spending more than the month that we envisiaged in this fascinating country, which is the benefit of our loose travel arrangements.

Buenos Dias.

The Basque Region

It is hard to believe that we have only been away from home for one week, as we have seen so much that it seems ages since we left home, although I am already worrying that time will pass too quickly!

Our stay in this region has been simply superb, with a great site and wonderful cliff top walks direct from the caravan. The ocean view is huge and the photo shows the area very well. Each day has been like a time lapse video with flowers and foliage bursting out and continually providing us with any ever increasing verdant landscape. The cliff walks have supplied a riot of spring flowers including Primroses, Violets, May Flowers and a host of others too numerous to mention. We face a spectacular cliff face which changes colour as the daylight alters and also provides shelter for a couple of Peregrine Falcons that can be seen and heard frequently. The area abounds with footpaths and is perfect for lovers of fresh air and scenenry.

We have visited the local towns of Deba and Zumaia on the coast and yesterday we took a trip into the hills to visit the birthplace of St Ignatius Loyala, a rather splendid cathedral built around his family home. Today we let the Basque train (Eusko Tren) take the strain and for the pricely sum of 6 Euros 50 cents we both travelled return to San Sabastian on the most glorious of days. The bay is perhaps one of the most spectacular in Europe with a 180 degree sweep of sand and a narrow entrance to the sea, which provides shelter. At the entrance to the bay there is a moderately high mountain known as Monte Urgull, which is basically a park with paths leading up to the summit by either direct or circular routes. The top is the site of a former castle which has been much renovated and provided stunning views around not only the Basque area of Spain, but also to France.

On Wednesday we move on towards the region of Salamanca, but our impression of the Basque area has been a very pleasant revelation.

Seascape between Bilbao and San Sebastion

Just an example of the wonderful coastline around our caravan site.

From Forton to Northern Spain

On Monday 29th March at 0900hrs we finally set off in pouring rain to Hampshire, where we had afternnon coffee / beer with my cousin John and his wife, Heather. Then we made the final leg of our journey to Portsmouth to board ship which sailed at 2000hrs to Bilbao. All of my worst fears came to fruition as we sailed in a force 8 / 9 gale across the Bay of Biscay, arriving on time at 0700hrs local time on Wednesday 31st March.

We were the first to depart from the car deck and after removing seaweed and a couple of dolphins from the front of the car (joke), we off to our first destination and duly arrived around 11.30 hrs after a visit to a supermarket to stock up on provioions as everywhere shuts down on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. The camping site is superb with the most glorious sea views with stunning cliffs all around. We explored a coastal path in the afternoon and then spent hours trying to get the satellite dish to work without success!

After the best sleep in years (awoke at 0910) I decided to try the dish again and whilst carrying it to another position, Margaret indicated That we had a picture, so so much for all the technical stuff! We can now watch Look North West etc etc etc.

Enjoyed a great walk this morning and then took a short drive to the lovely seaside town of Zumaia, where the sun shone down and all was well with the world.