Month: August 2018

We moved from the van into the beautiful house in Cabopino and had the best few days with our Yorkshire Lass and her Hypochondriac, we ate, drank, played games and it threw us all back to our twenties.  Although I don’t believe we could have afforded to buy practically an entire cow to barbecue in those days, nor quite so much gin.   Sunny behaved like a star and seemed to be tempted to stay behind when we left, he has fallen in love with the Yorkshire Lass!

Shared memories are such a wonderful thing and we are so lucky to be able to make new ones.  I did learn one important lesson, never ever use plastic cutlery when at their house, it may have been used in ways one can hardly imagine.

We moved on and up into the mountains to a site over looking the Sierra Nevada, there’s hardly anyone here and all we can hear are cicadas and horses, the total antithesis of the one in Marbella.

We came to this area specifically to see a school friend of mine that I hadn’t seen for 33 years.  She hadn’t changed a bit and has made a stunning home here in the mountains where we sat watching the colours change, the goats come home and ate, drank, laughed, made new friendships and revived old ones. I didn’t realise how much I missed her until I saw her again.  We were supposed to leave here this morning but it’s so gorgeous we are staying an extra day!

 

Portugal gained points and requires further investigation but we had a plan to follow so we drove to Spain.  We had a passenger, a girl from Bari in Italy who had been volunteering on the farm she was lovely and we dropped her off in Seville.   Seville is the most fabulous city but it was too hot to explore at 42 degrees so we kept going to Cadiz.   We stayed overnight and drove to Cabopino in the morning.

Cabopino is where we spent many holidays curtesy of our gorgeous Yorkshire Lass with whom I have been friends for 40 years and her fabulous family so we were so excited to see them.

We had made no warning of our arrival and surprised both of them most satisfactorily but I can’t post the video for fear of offending!  We had booked into a campsite a couple of miles down the road, a campsite which is to camping what battery farming is to hens but we drank so much out with the gorgeous Yorkshire Lass and her hypochondriac golfer that we hardly noticed the motorway and fighting cats.

We have been rescued and offered sanctuary at the beautiful house that echoes with memories of children, laughter and enduring friendship.  Much food and drink will be consumed no doubt.

Portugal had not, until today, proved the idyll that I had expected and then we went to the home of a guy that R had employed as a teenager.  He’s grown up now and owns a smallholding in the Algarve to which we were invited.

He had lived for a few years in a beautifully converted van but now has renovated a gorgeous little farm house with wonky walls and stone floors.  He is managing the land in a very eco friendly way and showed us all his projects which he is managing on a shoe string.  The day we arrived he was replanting his avocado trees that had been dug up by wild pigs.  We tasted fresh physalis which were so different than in the shops, really fresh and lemony and sat overlooking the valley where the view changes daily.

He took us into the local village and we had the most amazing barbecue with the best chips I have ever eaten (even R agreed) and made me realise that there is more to explore in Portugal and to stop being so precious about the loos.  He built his own out of bamboo and made a hot shower out of 200 metres of black pipe and it has the most fabulous view.  I am properly humbled.

We left Llanes in Northern Spain yesterday and travelled to Porto in  Portugal, across country.  It has been very interesting observing the driving habits in the countries we have visited; in France they follow the (sensible) rules, in Spain they almost follow the rules, it would appear that in Portugal, rules are simply guidelines.  We also didn’t realise there was an hour difference between the two countries which caused much confusion.   We arrived at our chosen campsite with R suffering from terrible man flu, having consumed several gins he fell asleep at 8pm.

It seemed to be raining all night with loud splashes on the roof and at 7 o’clock I  was rudely awoken  by what sounded like an air raid siren, obviously I panicked a bit but nobody else seemed bothered.  I got out of bed only to find that there was a heavy sea mist which meant you couldn’t see further than your hand, I guess this was what the siren was for and explained the actual foghorns in the night. The mist had caused condensation on the Eucalyptus trees which covered the site, to sound like rain as it fell in the night.  (I didn’t realise Eucalyptus seeds look like little buttons all ready to be sewn on.) We decided not to bother sightseeing in Porto as we couldn’t see anything and pressed on.

We travelled the length of Portugal today which means we have travelled about 750 miles in 2 days and the scenery has been spectacular, at one point we found an altimeter on the phone because our ears were popping, we were 1.5 km high and travelling across endless plains, as flat as Norfolk, we passed mountains and reservoirs and watched the environment change from green to red to brown.  The most surprising thing for me were the rice fields, miles of them, I think I forgot that rice can grow in Europe.  We saw flocks of storks circling on thermals looking for all intents like synchronised swimmers in the air.  Their nests were perched on top of the electricity pylons like messy miniature haystacks, it was a lot to take in.

Portuguese is actually double dutch, I don’t think Jose Mourinho is here, the drivers are crap and I can’t see the sea from the campsite so nul points so far Portugal.

We actually sat down and discussed our journey in detail and decided where we want to go between now and our ferry.  There were several options and we worked backwards from the port.

We have had a really lazy time here in Llanes, I’ve been to the beach and R has sunbathed and dog sat so we have all been very chilled.  The best thing about travelling like this is meeting new people and realising that the world is such a very small place.  We met a guy and his girlfriend, she was from Virginia -where I’ve never been and he was from a tiny village in Norfolk where I’ve been loads of times, he works for the same company that my Grandfather worked for after he retired I did say that it was thirty years ago but he said someone would remember him!

One thing I love about the van is that you can see and hear everything that is going on outside when you are in bed and nobody pays attention to that, they think that because they can’t see you they are having a private discussion, for example, last night there were two English ladies that spent ages discussing their morning exercise routine and how important health and fitness was to them while hiding from their kids and having a sneaky fag!

I must remember to be circumspect when the  roof is up.

Doesn’t mainly fall on the plains it falls mainly on the Atlantic coast of northern Spain.  Today it stopped and  the sun came out thank god because we would have had to move on and I’m a bit fed up with driving!

I went to the beach all day with my new body board and R did his end of year accounts. I didn’t quite have gloating rights though because there was a red flag, which I hadn’t noticed when I arrived at the beach, the current was strong but not too bad and the waves were long and perfect so I was playing happily until the lifeguard came and told me to get out.    The lifeguards kicked out everyone who was deeper than their knees and proceeded to spend the afternoon chatting.  Certainly not what happens in Cornwall.

The campsite we are in is right next to the sea and some tents are on top of the cliff, we don’t have a sea view but we are in a little wood, shaded from the sun in the afternoon which is perfect.  The showers and washing up stands are built into a cliff which looks like it might collapse at any moment.

Staying a few days to relax!

 

We went hiking in the hills in and found a river to swim and I forgot my swim suit, there were other people present and I wasn’t wearing my car crash pants, no swimming for me. We walked along a gorge with a sheer drop, I crawled just in case but Sunny and R leaped along like spring lambs, I thought they were going to jump off the edge. When we arrived it was 1pm and full sun, who goes hiking in full sun? It was hot.

We left Spain and went to see some wonderful old (time wise) friends and their family, we were made most welcome and had a really lovely time.  We left them in a beautiful village and drove back to Spain, to San Sebastian, where we arrived as it started to rain.

We hadn’t booked anywhere to stay but found a campsite, parked on some grass next to the septic tank, ate and went to sleep.  It started to really pour at 2.30am and by 6.30 we were beginning to think that we might get stuck in the mud so we packed up the bedclothes and left just as a river was forming in the middle of the site.

We were aiming to drive the Camino de Santiago and see the sights but the clouds were so low that we couldn’t even see the sea.  With so little sleep and no breakfast the curly roads were making us decidedly grumpy and nauseous.  We kept missing our turns even though there is a sat nav.  We decided that we would divorce by half past two and we would never ever walk the Camino, which we had considered,  because if we couldn’t cope in our snug and warm van, how could we manage to walk burdened and bent with belongings on our backs like the soaking wet people we were passing?

We finally found a campsite in Llanes next to a spectacular beach and hopefully tomorrow the sun will shine.  I actually don’t care if it doesn’t because I packed my wetsuit but R being a sun worshipper will not find his mood improved if it rains again.

We finally managed to book a ferry to Corfu, 17th September but we have to email four days before just to find out if it has been cancelled.

Yup we’re having fun.

We left our lovely campsite in France yesterday morning, mostly to avoid the rain. A campsite so picturesque, nestled at the bottom of a hill, beside a river, surrounded by fields.  Where the people were kind and friendly.  We arrived in Spain in the Pyrenees ten hours later to a campsite that more closely resembles Milton Keynes, all regimented straight lines, with the recreational announcements of Butlins circa 1968.  It smells nice though and is very clean.   The Spanish however, where the French were welcoming and cheerful, have all the friendliness of the central line on a Monday morning.

The journey here was absolutely breathtaking.  Firstly we went to Lourdes which was a bit dingy but not quite as tacky as I expected, I didn’t go into the disneyesque church for fear of being turned to a pillar of salt (and the dog wasn’t allowed in),  R did, he joined the throngs of sick and injured and went to see the service, hopefully he didn’t catch anything.

We left  Lourdes armed with two baguettes and set the sat nav for Spain.  The scenery was spectacular, we passed fields of sunflowers and castles and as we approached the mountains our way was blocked by cows wearing bells or donkeys that wanted to be stroked.  The little villages that are ski resorts in the winter were so pretty and the mountains looked beautifully naked without snow.  We arrived in Spain through a long tunnel and were confronted by a totally different set of scenery.  On the French side it resembled the Alps and I expected to see Heidi depending from the alm, this side it looks exactly like an American cowboy film with the river snaking through gorges gouged out of the mountains.

Today we are going to go for a hike, suggested by R.  Clearly Lourdes worked.

I had a lay in this morning and for the second day running I got coffee in bed, that makes 5 times in 32 years, until now R has definitely not been a morning person, camping seems to agree with him.

We knew we would stay in this lovely campsite for 3 nights so we put up the tent that attaches to the side of the van, it made loads of difference space wise and we were able to detach it and leave loads of stuff on site while we explored.

It was 37 degrees today, too hot to do anything so we dossed about, went in the pool, drank beer and sunbathed, even Sunny got a bucket of water thrown over him to keep him cool. It got very humid this afternoon and thunder and light rain was forecast at 9 o’clock.

At about 7 we thought we had better take down the tent and pack everything away,  just in case.  We were congratulating each other quite smugly at our co-operation and organisation which considering the extreme heat was unprecedented. When unannounced and an hour early massive fat rain and hail came down and utterly drenched me. R had been standing under the tailgate with the boot open, smirking because he was dry and I was wet.  Once the rain abated slightly he closed the boot, it was full of water, sadly I did’t have my phone to video as a whole bath full landed on his head.

Luckily we had already packed everything except the washing up and a melon.

 

We’re near a place called Nerac, it is the most amazing town, it looks exactly like you have been dropped into a Hans Anderson fairy tale.  The houses are so beautiful and we were quite prepared to end our travels on day four, settle down and buy one!  We had a wonderful lunch and wander around the market with the Blonde Bombshell’s sister and brother in law who are lucky enough to live there.  If it doesn’t rain on Monday we will stay on for a few more days.

I took Sunny out for a walk when it got a bit cooler today and walked up the hill to the village behind the campsite, there had been a festival last week and there were pictures all over the village of how it had looked in 1800, apart from the clothes the people were wearing there was absolutely no difference. The festival last week was a lying competition and the village is famous for its liars, there was even a stone chair, clearly very old, that you sit on to tell your best lies.  By the time I’d finished my walk I thought the photos were doctored and didn’t believe anything I was reading, including the sign saying that Pinocchio had lived here.    The photos are of Nerac, I forgot to take my phone on my walk up the hill.