The whole shebang in the right order

Molly goes to Spain and Portugal. 2018

Fri 27th April.

A foul day and we are booked on the 1700 Brittany Ferries crossing from Portsmouth to Santander.
We went via a local weighbridge, and found we were 70 Kg overweight. Lunch in the rain in the New
Forest. As we left Portsmouth we passed the new aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth. A nice cabin,
but well forward, and the Channel was a bit lumpy.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Sat 28th April

The Bay of Biscay has a bad reputation, but I've never had a rough crossing. And today it's flat calm,
and the sun is shining.

Arrived in Santander 1730 local time, but it took an hour to disembark. Not as slick as in Calais, and
then you have to clear customs. The port area is huge, and the route out takes you right through it, to
get you on to the motorway. Unlike UK motorways, these are well surfaced and largely empty, and the
views as you drive west are spectacular - even in the occasionally very heavy rain.

We have driven 70 miles to Alar del Rey, where we are wild camping between a railway (only 1 train)
and a canal (no boats).

Santander

Sun 29th April

By golly! That was a cold night! 3 degrees this morning. But we are at 3000 feet - most of Spain is at this
height.

We have taken a cross country route to Burgos, 60 miles or so. Some lovely scenery, big skies, but a
photo would look really uninteresting. There is a big free aire de camping-car at Burgos, which is now full.
The weather is very cold, and alternated between sunshine and heavy rain. We have walked the mile
into the city centre, to see the cathedral - a UNESCO world heritage site - great if you like over the top
 baroque rococo, but it's more burlesque than anything else. Then on to the Museum of Human Evolution
- a large purpose built museum, built primarily to show the million years old human fossils found near-by
about 20 years ago. The whole thing is superbly presented, and as a bonus, pensioners get in free.
(I just wish I had to ask for it, instead of getting it automatically!)

El Cid's original coffin (he is now buried in the nave)

And we heard our first cuckoo today, too.

Mon 30th April.

Another bitterly cold night! We have decided that many of the motorhomes on the Aire are stored there
by local owners.

We have driven another 110 miles South to Medinaceli, a small hilltop town with a Roman arch and a
free aire. South we may be - but it's snowing:( -height now 4000 feet, so maybe no surprise.

Medinaceli is a pleasant restored village, with some ancient buildings, 1 shop, a very good
archaeological museum, and lots of restaurants.when we arrived the large car park was full of
Spaniards taking an extended Sunday lunch.

observed cameo

Roman arch

By the time we went to bed there were 15 or so motorhomes parked up for the night.

Tues 1st May

May day holiday in Spain. Last night was even colder - I even turned the heating on and donned a
jumper in the middle of the night. But the morning was bright and fresh (very fresh!).

The car park is again full with day visitors. We are at Ceramica, a restaurant where 2 of the waiters
spoke excellent English, and translated the menu for us. €52 for 2 courses and a bottle of rioja.
We both agreed we prefer eating Italian food!

Wed 2nd May

And another cold night, with more heating required. However when we started the engine to leave, the
gas level gauge was showing only ⅓ full - heating really hammers the gas. No problem - we have a list
of LPG stations, but all some distance away. We eventually reached one near Cuenca - and we couldn't
get any gas from the pump. The garage attendant tried, with a different adapter, and got the same result.
So either we have a major problem, or the pump was not delivering sufficient pressure. We need to find
another LPG station to try again - meanwhile, we are rationing our use of gas. - tea making has the
highest priority.

And talking of tea making, we are almost out of fresh milk. We expected to find a supermarket in Cuenca,
but….we did manage to get some UHT milk later (UHT stands for ultra horrible taste).

Cuenca is a dramatic Moorish city, sitting on very high cliffs. A long walk up from the car park at the
bottom, but spectacular views of the city when you reach the top.

Cuenca

The Aire charges by the minute, so a couple of hours cost nearly €7. We did not stay overnight, but
carried on to Torrebaja, 70 miles away. This is a very scenic road. Good surface, little traffic, and a
pleasure to drive.

We have squeezed in to a little aire, beside an arboretum. A very tight turn in with an overhanging tree.
After we arrived we noticed it was for sub 3 metre vans only. Oops - too late!

A lot warmer, as we have descended to only 2500 feet (4000 last night).

Thurs 3rd May

We extricated ourselves from the aire, to face more complications in the town. Narrow streets, houses
close to the road and bollards to keep you off the tiny pavement. Then a crossroads, and the way
straight on is No Entry. There was no way I was going to be able to turn right without blocking 4 roads,
so straight on it had to be, the wrong way up a narrow one way street. Luckily we didn't meet anyone
coming the other way.

Our target destination was Teruel, where there is another LPG station. This one worked, and we have a
full complement of gas - we can start showering again! At the same location there was a large
Alcampo supermarket - like Waitrose but better, so we have been resupplied with milk and Rjoca, too.

We were in this area in 2011, and there is a particularly spectacular road that runs through the Sierra
de Albarracin, a national park, that we wanted to see again, and also Albarracin the town. Well worth
a visit if you're in the area.

Albarracin

We are now wild camping near Una, at Fuentes del Arenazo, N40.2004403, W1.9377824. this is a
small picnic area where spent a night 7 years ago.

Fri 4th May

We have just realised the sign says “no camping". Oh well…

Have you heard the saying “eat a live toad for breakfast and nothing else will seem so bad all day”?
Read on!

As we are again at 4000 feet we were not surprised to see frost around us. A moderately early start
took us through some spectacular scenery again. Crops are a lovely spring green, set against a dark
red soil. No photos, though. The main roads here are superb, hugely better than the UK. However you
can drive a few hundred miles and never see a lay-by for lunch or coffee, never mind a quick photo.
On the way we saw several large birds of prey overhead, including 2 golden eagles.

It was a long drive today, and we were aiming for a small campsite at Cazorla. I inspected the site by
foot before drove in, and decided it was too small for us to get in to. So we carried on, into Cazorla
old town, following a commercial van. The roads got narrower and narrower, with tight bends, and we
only just cleared the wing mirrors. Finally, we found a street that, even with the mirrors folded in, we
were wedged! Jammed on both sides. There was no way we were going forward! And behind was a
queue of cars. Rosemary was in front to see us through, and couldn't get back in, or tell the people
behind to back down this long narrow street.

They get the message when I opened the rear window and gesticulated, and with amazing good grace
they reversed to let us escape. It did entail reversing 100 yards down a narrow street, with 2 inches  
clearance on either side of the wing mirrors, but compared to minus 1 inch, it was a doddle! One lady
driver gave me a nice smile and a cheery wave when we had sorted ourselves out. Such nice people!
I am increasingly embarrassed about being British when I think how we Brits would have reacted.

So having managed to turn round - a ten point turn - we went back up the narrow streets we had just
come down. We are now on an aire outside the town, with lovely views, and all the bunkering services
we need. A tour of the van send to show that damage is limited to minor cosmetics - scratched bumper,
mirror guard, and wheel arch - all fixable. Phew!

Now well south, in Andalusia, and at only 2900 feet, so a good deal warmer.

Sat 5th May

Walked the 1km back into Cazorla, to find the street that gave us so much grief. Not only is it narrow,
it is also a main pedestrian route, and pedestrians have to hide in shop doorways to let cars and
misguided campervans past.

we reversed down here...

wing mirror wedged one side, wheel arch wedged the other:(

Where we did our multiple point turn yesterday there is a sign saying the view from there is the most
photographed view in Andalusia. We also visited the castle, guided tour only, and in Spanish only.
(but on the plus side, it was free)

the view from where we did a 10 point turn

Lunch in the square we passed through twice yesterday. It is rather nicer when you’re not negotiating
narrow streets ands and tight corners. We will have to work at getting to grips with Spanish food, as
we have with Italian.

a house with style!

Sun 6th May

The weather forecast for the next few days is grim, and we have got rather fed up with cold nights.
We are heading southeast to the Mediterranean coast. After 180 miles or so we are at sea level, at
Camping Sopalmo near Mojacar. Mojacar is a modern resort, and luckily we are not too near.

Mon 7th May

This is our first campsite of the trip, and some laundry is called for. 2 hours in the sun and breeze
and even the woollen stuff was bone dry.

The climate at the moment is superb. The sun is not too hot, and there is a sea breeze. After lunch
we walked along a dry river bed to the sea, then walked along a quiet dirt road beside the sea.
There are some interesting historic lookout towers, and some secluded naturist beaches
(even more interesting).

Sopalmo castillo de Macenas

This our first real test of the 12 volt (only) fridge, 4 leisure batteries and 2 solar panels. We had
been concerned that the fridge would consume so much power that we would flatten the batteries,
but the batteries had recharged by lunchtime. At one point the solar panels were delivering 11 amps.

Tues 8th May

We found yesterday's walk along the dry river bed unpleasant and tiring, so instead we drove to
Las Negras, a small resort further up the coast. Big mistake! Getting there involved driving through
acres and acres of plastic sheeting and polytunnels, used for growing tomatoes with no taste.
Las Negras itself is a rather grubby one horse town.

Wed 9th May

Time to move on. We are heading for Cordoba, but have stopped at an aire at Priego de Cordoba,
about 80 miles short. An impressive drive over the Sierra Nevada, snow capped mountains. Rugged
and dramatic scenery. Apparently it is often used for shooting cowboy films. We are back up to
2300 foot elevation, but the forecast is for reasonable temperatures overnight.

The Sierra Nevadas "cowboy country"

Priego de Cordoba, a town not far from Cordoba

Priego de Cordoba

Thurs 10th May

Ab early start to make sure we get a pitch on the Cordoba camp site - it tends to be busy all year, but
in the event there were stacks of places, although these were mostly full by late afternoon. There is
WiFi on site, but it is so slow and intermittent that it is effectively useless.

On site at Cordoba

We have come to Cordoba primarily to see the festival of the courtyards. For a fortnight a number of t
he courtyards in the old town are open, similar to the UK's National Garden Scheme. Not that long ago
women weren't allowed out of the house, and the enclosed courtyard gave them some fresh air, and
somewhere cool in the summer. So this afternoon we visited a number of courtyards. Some had lengthy
queues to get in. Very attractive, all with water features (presumably a Moorish relic).

We returned again in the evening - they're open 11-2, and 6-10 pm. The evening had fewer coach
parties and fewer queues. A number of groups of ladies appropriately dressed toured the courtyards,
with a Spanish guitar and a drum, putting on lively impromptu shows.

By the time we had got back to the van we had walked 10 miles, and were exhausted.

Fri 11th May

Rosemary went in to do more courtyards - but not me - I needed a rest! She chose a route that
turned out to be labelled “wheelchair friendly”. Long queues developed, as parties of severely
disabled people were (reasonably) ushered to the front of the queues. Then parties of 2 year olds
also took precedence, so probably a circuit best avoided during the day.

We both went back for more in the evening, but this time we caught a bus both ways. More groups of
Flamenco singers - they were VERY good, and were obviously really enjoying them selves

Sat 12th May

We were woken a couple of times in the night by tawny owls. One must have shouting into the open
roof vent, it was so loud!

NOT an owl!

Roman bridge - the mosque is at the far end on the right

The famous Cordoba mosque is free entry between 0830 & 0930, and no organised groups are
allowed. (I don't know about you, but I find organised groups a real pain. They cluster impenetrably
so others can't get near the object of veneration, the tour guide talks loudly, even in cathedrals and
mosques, and when the group is on the move it is like a colony of marching soldier and nothing
will stop their progress, certainly not an individual tourist standing in their path!).

So an early (& cold) start to get the mosque by 0830. This was my third visit, and this time I didn't get
the magic of the previous two visits. The mosque is cleared at 0930, when there is church mass in the
cathedral that was built in the mosque - even the Spanish king at time declared it an act of vandalism.

Mosque at Cordoba

Cordoba mosque

...and in the evening, yet more courtyards. We have seen nearly all of them, and tramped miles in the
process. They are very interesting, and there is a lovely atmosphere, but after a while they all look the
same. It is very competitive, and they are judged by a committee. The results were announced this
afternoon, and there was a huge queue outside the winner this evening.

Add caption

There are many references to "colon", such as "Colon Clinic". We assumed this was a clinic
specialising in bowel disorders - we had already seen a well marked fertility clinic on a main street -
no chance of keeping your fertility problems a secret! However it transpires that Colon is simply
Spanish version of Columbus. (I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere about the discovery of
America!)

Sun 13th May

3 days in Cordoba, and we have itchy feet. This isn't a cheap site €27 per day, and electricity an  
extra €5.50. Despite the shade, our solar panels worked well, so we didn't use hook up.

We were headed for an Aire at Olvera, a typical Andalusian town, but the road to the Aire was
blocked by roadworks. However we parked beside the road and walked up the hill into the old town.
Quaint and pleasant, as usual.

Olvera

After a few hours there we moved on to Arcos de Las Frontera, a town we visited 20 years ago.
Rosemary declared she wanted to buy a house here, but over the last 20 years there have been
quite a few towns that have found her favour. It seems that more than a few Brits have bought
property here, judging by some embarrassingly loud ex-pats we passed.

Arcos de la Frontera

We are spending the night wild camping beside an avenue just  below the town, with a lovely view,
N36.7486315, W5.8161285

Mon 14th May

Continuing our march south, we first went headed for a site labelled as Vejer de la Frontera, but in
fact turned out to be a ramshackle shanty town with tumble down bars, windsurfing schools, and
general squalor! We beat a hasty but slow retreat along dirt tracks, back to Vejer, and parked at
the top of the town, beside some historic windmills. The gardener opened one up for us to see
inside, and insisted on giving Rosemary a chair so she could sketch the windmills. Before we left I
gave him a can of English beer. We Brits need all the goodwill we can get!

Windmill, at Vejer

Finally, we went to an aire at Tarifa. This turned out to be tatty I'm the extreme. We plan to stay the
night, and move on tomorrow. The whole place has a slightly menacing air to it.

Tarifa is a port, at pretty well the narrowest part of the straits of Gibraltar. Strong wind blows
continuously, and it is no surprise that a few miles inland there are hundreds of wind turbines.
The coast of North Africa seems not much further away than the Isle of Wight, and a lot closer
than Calais to Dover.

Tues 15th May

Although we are very close to Gibraltar, we have elected not to revisit. I was there many times in my
naval career - it was always the first outbound port and the last homebound port - and it always had
a quaint charm. The London bar, for instance, in 1976 had obviously not changed since the war.
Walls and ceilings were black with nicotine, and the black and white photos around the walls were
f battleship anchored in the bay, and sailors in black “HMS” hats. When we drive there in 1998 that
had all gone, and it was no different to any other tourist resort. Not worth the hassle of getting across
the border from Spain.

Instead we drove the 10 miles to Algeciras just for a view of the Rock, then returned to find a
campsite on the long beach beyond Tarifa. We are now close to the sea at Camping Torre de la Pena,
with back doors open, and a view of Africa, and all the ships transiting the straits. There are lots -
and using vesselfinder.com we can see what ship, where she's been and where she's bound, and a
stack of other details too. There was just one Royal Navy vessel in Gibraltar - a small patrol boat.
How did that music hall song go? "Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves..."

Gibraltar, from Algeciras

We have caught up with our laundry. We hung it out to dry and in the hot sun and strong wind it was
dry in under an hour.

Wed 16th May

Another day of sunshine and a cool breeze. The gale promised in yesterday's forecast has not
materialised. A long walk along the beach meant our legs got a good sandblasting!

The view from the campsite - Tarifa with the Atlas mountains of North Africa beyond

Now we will head NW for Jerez (for the sherry) and Portugal (for the port)

Thurs 17th May

That's enough of the beach! Time to move west, for Jerez. There is an expensive aire situated in the
area around a motorhome dealer. Expensive, but does include electricity and WiFi, and is on a bus
route to the city centre. And we we were welcomed by  a very helpful lady with perfect English, bearing
glasses of sherry.

The bus into Jerez is only €1.10. A very pleasant city - wide avenues, many statues, fountains, tapas
bars.

Tio Pepe

Tio Pepe founder

Fri 18th May

Caught the bus in and visited the Sandman sherry bodega. We came here 4 years ago. The major
sherry player here is Tio Pepe, which has a bodega taking up a large area of the town. Some English
girls we met on the tour said the Tio Pepe tour was very commercial. An interesting tour, and it included
3 different Sherries and a glass of the smoothest brandy I have ever tasted. We have bought a case of
the Amontillado, which we will collect tomorrow.

a scene from Harry Potter

Our Sandeman guide

Sat 19th May

We drove in to collect the sherry. Luckily we noticed we had been given cheap cream sherry, not the
better quality Amontillado we had paid for. An accidental swap, I hope!

Royal wedding day - Prince Harry weds Meghan Markle.

We lunched at Cruz Blanca, beer, tapas, sherry. Then coffee and pastries just round the corner.

Sun 20th May

Last day of Spain for a while. Time to head for Portugal. Before we left we bought 2 more sherries,
a Pedro Ximenes and an oloroso.

We were headed for Tavira, not far from the border.  As we crossed the border from Spain there is a
big sign directing ”foreigners” into a lay-by. Where, with no real explanation, we were led to believe
we had to hand over credit card details and get an e-card to pay tolls. No mention at all of costs. I
enquired at a nearby police station, and was told we didn't need a motorway or tolls to get to Tavira,
as the toll didn't start for 20 Km. The official signs carefully avoided saying that.

The government is doing everything it can to encourage motorway and toll use - the national roads
are terrible! Now in a large and dusty car park on Tavira, in a thunderstorm and heavy rain. Suddenly
Spain seems awfully inviting! However it is easy walking distance of the town, and free. There are
about 15 other motorhomes here, the majority of which are French - the French always seem to travel
in convoy.

the aire at Tavira

Later - the rain has stopped and we have walked into town. Although we came here 20 years ago
can't remember it at all. We have found a pastelaria selling pastel de nata - Portuguese tarts. Lovely!

Tavira

Mon 21st May

Sunny day with a cool breeze. We took a ferry out to a small island - Ilhe de Tavira - but didn't
disembark, just went for the trip past the salt pans, only €2 return.

in Tavira

Roman bridge

Visited the remains of a Moorish castle with fine views and a nice garden. We like Tavira, it's touristy,
but in a pleasant way.

If you want to know the time....

During an evening walk we came across a cat seeing off a dog. When the dog came too close the
cat went for it. They settled on an uneasy truce,

Eventually the cat sat on the bench beside the dog's owner. Then the dog, obviously jealous, went
and sat the other side

Tues 22nd May

Woke to a cloudy morning. We have had to drive to an aire 9 miles away for fresh water etc. This site
is right beside a sandy beach, and is pretty awful. A large aire full of vans parked nose to tail, and it
seems most of them have been here for months.. We returned to Tavira as quickly as we could.

Molly on the aire

Tavira

In the afternoon I went out to the island for an hour of beach - lots of soft sand - very difficult walking,

.Ilha Dr Tavira

We ate out in the evening - there's no shortage of restaurants here. Rosemary had swordfish steak
and I had pork and clams. I'm not normally  a shellfish eater, but these were very nice (but the pork
was even nicer)

Wed 23rd May

Time to move on, after a lot of shopping at the adjacent market. We saw a strange looking fruit,
which turns out to be a  “custard apple”. We bought one to try - it is rather like a pomegranate -
lots of pips - but with a white custard tasting flesh. Tasted very nice, but the pips are nuisance.

Last night two hikers arrived with a tent, which they pitched close to us. We were impressed with
their portage facility - a runners push chair, filled with tent, bedding, and even full size shoe cleaning
stuff. The guy was meticulous about packing away carefully before they strode off

We have taken a road slightly inland from the coast - the Algarve coast can be quite unpleasant.
The road went up into the hills - very twisty and very scenic. The gum rock rose is flowering everywhere.
This plant is the source of a lovely resinous smell that fills  the air for miles around and says “Iberia”.

Gum rock rose - the source of a glorious and all pervading scent

We are now at a secluded Dutch owned aire - almost a campsite - with wifi, and no electricity.
Everything here is solar powered. We had a long chat with the owner. His site is full from October to
April with Europeans escaping the cold. He is already 80% booked for February 2019. He also
agreed that that Tavira is the only nice town on the Algarve. “Camperstop Messines”,
near Sao Bartolomeu De Messines.

The site is miles from anywhere, just peace and quiet, birds and flowers. LOTS of flowers!

Thurs 24th May

We had planned to move on today, but it is so nice here we're staying another day. Walking in the hills
by the site we came across a large snakeskin, empty, luckily!

Fri 25th May

An early start, via an Intermarche supermarket. We took a road parallel to the Algarve coast but up
in the hills. Very twisty, and very scenic. The hillsides were covered in gum rock rose,, and the scent was
glorious.

At one point Sally took us on a shortcut, via a deep ford with steep slopes in and out.
We declined her route and retraced our steps to rejoin the main road, and continued to praia do
Armando. We came here 4 years ago. A large car park, long sandy beach, surfers, and good
walking along the cliffs. As we settle down to bed there are about 30 other vans doing the same. This
area is famous for its cliff nesting storks

Praia do Amado

Praia do Amado

Some of the dune flowers. There was a huge diversity of flowers, but the most prolific are Hottentot Fig - an invasive species from South Africa.

A (very) distant windmill

Sat 26th May

Rain was forecast but never arrived. We had planned to move on first thing, but have decided to
stay on for a lunch at a nearby restaurant, the Sitio do Forno. We are here 4 years ago, and declared
it one of the best meals we had ever had. I had a carbonara type of dish but with chicken added to the
usual ingredients. Then dish was stuffed with meat - more meat than pasta, and a rich sauce as well.
Delicious, but it was a struggle to eat it all. Then a HUGE egg pudding, effectively a creme caramel.
Just as well we asked for just one between us. A very friendly Siamese cat come up to cuddle my rucsac.

We have now moved a few miles to another beach, Praia Amoria (or similar) near Aljazur. Not a
surfing dude beach like the last one, but sand dunes running up beside a nice clean and swimmable
river, down to a wide flat sandy beach. Less parking here, but fewer motorhomes or parked cars.
More of a family beach. A long drive along a pretty awful road to get to it, though.

Praia Amoria

Praia Amoria

On the way we were pulled over by the police. My heart sank! Last time this happened was in
Bosnia some years ago, with a cop looking for backhanders. As we slowed down to pull over
he must have realised we were British, and waved us on. Presumably the prospect of communicating
with Brits who don't speak a word of Portuguese was too daunting.

Sun 27th May

Another day, another beach, and more cliff nesting storks, Praia do Odeceixe.This is the only colony
of cliff nesting white storks in the world. It seems they are so contented here that they stay all summer
and don't migrate like most storks. We came to see these storks 4 years ago. The path, very soft sand,
runs right beside the cliff edge.

Usefully, the town of Odeceixe has a fresh water tap and an accessible public convenience for
bunkering facilities, and a tiny supermarket.

A large car park for motorhomes, above a tiny resort and bigger sandy beach. Parking for cars is
much closer. Down a steep gravel path from the motorhome parking is a small secluded beach,
one of Portugal's few official naturists beaches. The Atlantic wind straight off the sea was way too
strong to take off a jumper, never mind skinny dipping!

Mon 28th May

There were about 15 vans here last night. We are continuing our crawl up the Atlantic coast, stopping
at the lighthouse at Cabo Sardao (yet more cliff nesting storks- the closest and clearest view we’ve
had yet).

Then on to Sines to top up with LPG, and Santiago do Cacem for a supermarket. We are
now at a remote campsite near Mina do Lousal. We came here 4 years ago. Dutch owned and
mostly Dutch campers (all except us and a resident Brit, who turns out to have a house in Bexhill,
near Hastings, where were brought up.)

Tues 29th May

Time to catch up on laundry - I have run out of socks. Unfortunately the weather is cold and cloudy,
which really doesn’t do the site justice. However, there are storks nesting on electricity pylons - the
authorities attach shelves to attract them.

...and the highlight of the day - the clasp on Rosemary's Fitbit - a hideous piece of engineering - gave
way and it fell into our toilet. Luckily it was almost empty - only a wee bit in there...

Wed 30th May
Lazed around on site all day

Thurs 31st May
We chanced a walk from the site today - "chanced" - because many of the houses have fierce dogs,
and there's always a good chance of getting lost. However the road - a proper road despite just being
a dirt track, took us through some lovely some lovely countryside - I have never so many species of
wild flowers in just one square yard of country. This is what I imagine the American prairie must have
looked like before the Ferguson tractor arrived.

cork oak trees

A sample selection of wayside flowers - there were acres and acres like this!

Fri 1st June

4 days on this site - quite long for us, but it is a very pleasant and friendly site, and I’m leaving with a
good deal more skin colour than when I arrived.

We stopped spent the night at an aire  in Alvito. There is an interesting Mudejar chapel, built on the
eastern edge of the town as protection against plague. The castle has been converted into a posada -
an up market hotel, and we had dinner there. The food and the service was superb - I had a stuffed
mushroom, topped with quails eggs, to die for.

Alvito, Portugal

Mudejar chapel, Alvito

Sat 2nd June

Another day, another town- Beja.  It has a Pingo Doce - a supermarket of Waitrose quality, and some
heavily discounted port.

There is a Visigoth museum, and I hoped to learn more about them - they sacked Rome, so they
can't be all bad! - but it only contained a few fragments of carved stone. Another museum is housed
in an old convent. The decoration of the chapel is so ornate I expected to see a statue of Shiva, and
some of the cherubs looked like they had been borrowed from a fairground galloper.

Beja's impressive walls

We spent the night at a cheap municipal campsite at Serpa, which was surprisingly good. The town
has an impressive aqueduct, and tiny white houses in narrow streets.

Sun 3rd June

Pleasant little town though it is, there isn't enough in Serpa to occupy more than a day, so we moved
on to Moura, so called after a Moorish wife jumped off the castle walls rather than be taken by the
Christian conquerors, with all that would have entailed. Another pleasant white walked town, but
with only so much of interest. We walked out to an olive oil museum, hoping to learn about how
olive oil is harvested and processed. Another disappointment - no real explanations, just a few bits of
industrial archaeology, and photography was not permitted.

Serpa, more walls

We have moved on 20 miles or so to Estrela, a village beside the largest man made lake in Europe,
for the night. We are on a peninsula, with lake almost all around us. A lovely view, but as the sun sets
the wind is whistling over the vents.'

Europe's largest man made lake

Mon 4th June

Now a 60 mile drive just inside the Portugal/Spain border to Evora, a big town with walls and a 17th
century  aqueduct. Cold, overcast and some rain. We are parked right beside the aqueduct for the
night.

Temple to Diana, Evora

Evora

Evora is a very attractive town. Quite touristy, but not unpleasantly so. And in the afternoon the
sun shone and we found we were overdressed.

Tues 5th June

Another cold day in Evora, with occasional warm spots, but the promised rain didn't arrive. We have
moved on to an aire at Terrugem, about 50 miles from Evora, as it has bunkering facilities.

Wed 6th June

On to Marvao. Marvao is probably our favourite place in all Portugal - a tiny hilltop town on a very
high and rugged hill, superbly complete walls and a very interesting castle. Pleasant and steep
cobbled streets, a few bars and restaurants, no gift shops selling tourist tat.

View from the van, Marvao

The aire, with bunkering facilities, is on the side of the hill just below the town, with a spectacular
view over Spain - the border is only a mile or 2 away.

Marvao

More impressive walls, Marvao

Marvao

There is a single, small and well stocked grocery shop, and the bread is really good. It seems you have to order it the day before, as the unreserved bread ran out within 5 minutes of delivery.

Thurs 7th June

A very short hop to quite a large town, Castelo da Vide, another town we have previously visited.
There is an aire close to the centre.

House number 33

It has a castle, not as large or complete as Marvao's, but within the walls is a mediaeval village,
still inhabited.

The weather is now even colder than ever. Even though I was wearing a jumper I returned to the
an to put on a windproof jacket as well. Î doesn't help reading that it is hot and sunny at home!

Fri 8th June

We are giving up on Portugal! It's now raining heavily, and forecast to continue for a week. The
orecast for Spain is a lot better. Before we left the area we did a circuit of the dolmans in the area.
Many are well hidden (ie we didn't find them), but there is one classic dolman.

,,,no comment...

We have travelled less than 100 miles east to Merida, and the temperature had risen 10 Deg Celsius,
and it isn't raining. Merida's main claim to fame is its extensive Roman remains. We spent an hour
going round the theatre and the amphitheatre, then walked down to the Roman bridge. Actually, it is
mostly mediaeval, but the bases of the powers are Roman. As we walked back we came across
columns of Roman soldiers, and various other military types, alkaline dressed appropriately. It seems
we have stumbled on their annual Roman weekend.

Romaan theatre, Merida

on the Roman bridge

Sat 9th June

We had planned to leave today, but will now extend by a day to see what is going on. Not only were
there Roman soldiers, there were barbarians, slaves, senators, monks, vestal virgins, and Roman
citizens. Pretty well half the population was wearing armour, togas, or the simple Roman dresses.
There was an impressive array of gladiators, showing all the different types.

Temple to Diana, Merida

Gladiators

There is good aire, which costs €12 per day. It is only a 15 minute walk to the Roman bridge, though.

Later, a procession of “Roman citizens”through the streets.

Sun 10th June

On leaving, the €12 turned into a very expensive €34 for 2 days. But there is no arguing with a
ticket machine if you want to get passed the barrier. In did query the attendant, but he just shrugged.

We are now 60 miles further northeast, at Trujillo, on an aire outside of a bull ring. The bullring looks
like it hasn't been used for quite a while (good!)

Bullring and aire, Trujillo

Ten minute walk into town, and a lovely town it is, too. It was obviously once a very wealthy town,
and it seems many of the conquistadors came from round here. There is a statue of Pizarro, who
conquered Peru, cast in the 1920s. According to Lonely Planet, it was created as a statue of Cortes,
and offered to Mexico. Mexico refused to take it - they did not have a happy time as part of the
Spanish empire, so the sculptor's widow renamed it as Pizarro, and offered it to Trujillo, Pizarro's
birth place.

Statue to Cortes, or Pizarro (take your pick)

There are numerous churches and convents, and most of them have several storks nests on them.
It seems to me that in the 16th century half the population of Extremadura was in church, and the
other half in south America slaughtering the natives.

As usual, around the large main square are servers restaurants, all with large umbrella covered
tables outside. On Sunday Spaniards traditionally go out for Sunday lunch, and the table were full.
Instead of keeping the sun off, the umbrellas all supported patio heaters.- this in Spain just 11 days
short of midsummer's day.

At 7pm, it sounded like a rave had begun in the next street. I went out to investigate, and never did
find the source. It was at least a mile away. The noise nearby must have been deafening.

Then just before midnight, dustmen came round emptying bins!

Other than that, a peaceful night.

Tues 12th June

I've run out of clean socks again, so it's time for another campsite.

First, a visit to Jarandilla, in the Gredo mountains. There we came across the best tourist information

agent ever. W asked about the town (obviously). He pulled out an A4 map, turned it round to face us

(i.e upside down to him), then took us through all the historic attractions in the area, writing and

drawing on the map, all the time talking to us in English. Excellent sketches, excellent text - all done

upside.down. He said the reason he could do that was because he was Polish….(?)

This are has a lot of mediaeval Jewish houses, with animals kept on the ground floor, living

accommodation on the first floor, and food supplies under the roof. We also visited

Cuacos de Yuste, another village on the mountain ridge.

Knights Templar castle converted to a church

We have now dropped off the mountain, into the Val de Jerte, famous for its cherries, to a campsite at

Navaconcejo. Most of the site looks like an abandoned refugee camp, with static caravans and tents

packed close together, covered with rather ragged canvas to keep the sun off. These are all empty at

the moment, and the whole place has an air of gloomy dereliction. No doubt in July and August it will

packed with families living cheek to jowl.

...but it does have WIFI and a washing machine…

Wed 13th June

At last - we have some sun! Walked into town for lunch. Almost every garage has people sorting

cherries.

This little chap insisted I took his photo

Thurs 14th June

Drove up the Val de Jerte, passing acres of cherry trees. We bought a 2 Kg box for €5. (& they were

almost gone by Friday evening).

Our next stop was Avila, where there is another aire. Avila has complete mediaeval walls, built in the

11th century. They look so perfect they must have been substantially renovated. It is a fascinating

town, well worth a visit.

These impressive walls go right round Avila, a long way

stupendous views

same ladies, different exposure

We have had several ice creams in Spain. There are very many good things about Spain - but its ice

cream making is not amongst them. We may have been spoilt by several visits to Italy, but Spanish ice

cream has been consistently unpleasant.

You knocked?

The local saint is St Theresa, famous for her ”ecstasy”, and tackling corruption in the church. There

are numerous statues and museums around the town.

Rosemary looking for ecstasy tips...

birds can be so tiresome!

Fri 15th June

An easy and very pleasant drive of about 60 miles to Segovia. If your vision of Spain is of an arid and

parched landscape, visit in the spring. If only England had such a profusion of wild flowers! And so green.

The impressive aqueduct at Segovia

Segovia cathedral

We rather like Segovia. A spectacular Roman aqueduct, a large and ornate cathedral, and an over the

top castle that served as the template for Walt Disney's fairy tale castles.

The castle that inspired Disney

...and just for a change, more storks. These right beside the castle

(NB 2 images)

...and 2 cuckoos

Today was the opening matches of the 2918 world cup, and Spain played Portugal, the old rival.

(Think England v Scotland). Lots of excitement in town, but the result was a draw, Portugal scoring in

the last few minutes.

Seen from Segovia's walls

Sat 16th June

The rubbish bins were emptied at 3 am!

Molly, on the aire beside the bullring. You may be pleased to hear the bullring does not look as if it used a great deal

Spanish supermarkets aren't open on Sundays, and or ferry is on Monday, so we have gone to a large
Carrefour in Valladolid. All the on site parking is under a 2 metre height barrier, so we circled around for
a bit until we found on street parking not too far from the entrance. We had envisaged having to ferry
a large amount of Rioja a few bottles at a time back to the van, but luckily the trollies were not disabled
at the entrance, and we were able to take it along the street back to the van.

Thence on to a campsite at Castrojeriz, on the Camino del Santiago pilgrim route. A pleasant little site.
After we arrived, we discovered it had been featured in the Guardian in March this year, as one of the
20 best sites in Europe.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/travel/2018/mar/24/20-best-campsites-europe-camping-greece-france-spain.

Knights Templar castle

On the hill above the site are the remains of a Knights Templar castle. It was apparently destroyed by

the Lisbon earthquake.

However the highlight of the day, and probably of the whole trip, was the 100 mile or so drive along
superb Spanish motorways, in sunshine. The roads were almost empty, and the scenery was

spectacular, due to the vast profusion of spring flowers. I have seen more poppies in the last few

hours than in all my previous 70 years put together. And not just poppies, dozens of other species - it's

just that poppies are the only ones I can put a name to. We were rather lucky - the weather has been

so wet and cold in Spain and Portugal that spring is very late. Normally by now the landscape is fried

to a crisp.

We ate in the restaurant on the site. 3 courses €10, but the first course was just pasta with tomato

sauce. I made the mistake of asking for Rioja - they are very proud of the own local wine - so we had

that instead.

Sun 17th June

A quiet day on site, or strolling nearby. The village is right on the Camino del Santiago and there are

numerous auberges and hostels for pilgrims. Quite a few use the campsite. Mostly they are walking,

but there are more than a few cyclists, and the route is certainly well marked.

Mon 18th June

Our last day in Spain for a while. It is a 2 hour drive to Santander. We had planned to leave the site at

11 am, but just as we were about to leave we had a text from Brittany Ferries. The ship was delayed

by a medical emergency involving helicopters and was running nearly 4 hours late.

As we waited in the queue for loading, we discovered we were right behind another Vantage

campervan, and got chatting to the owners. Quite a coincidence - they only make 60 a year so there

aren't many around

So far, a fairly smooth crossing.

Tues 19th June

The crossing continued to be smooth, and we berthed in Portsmouth 3 hours late at 5 pm. At 10 am all

of our family was at sea, or was in Jersey having just been at sea, and was captured by a screenshot

of vesselfinder.com. I have simplified the image for clarity - you can see how crowded the English

Channel is.

As we passed the Isle of Wight, a Coastguard Rescue helicopter looked as if it was going to land on -
it hovered just 50 feet from the stern for a while, but then veered away.

The carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was no longer alongside, but the Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond
was.

Sallyport

HMS Warrior

HMS Diamond

The delay in arrival meant we disgorged into the hectic Portsmouth and Southampton rush hour. We

aren't used to the terrifyingly fast and busy English motorways - Spanish motorways are so much

more relaxing and enjoyable.