Soria

23rd April

Madrid to Soria.

46044km leaving Madrid.
45e Camping and 40e diesel.


Had to hang around for a short while before leaving the campsite in Madrid as the woman who runs the place was out walking her dug and that delayed settling up. I used the time to empty and fill the water tanks just in case I wasn't able to find a campsite later.

The journey was ok. A lot of it was motorway and the last third was on an N road. They seem to be clearing land to widen the road, like to the size of a motorway, but the traffic was really light, so I don't know where the justification is in that. Maybe they're trying to improve the infrastructure to try to attract investment into the region? Just as I approached Soria, I spotted a camping sign and hung a right off the main road down to a nice quiet little site in Fuente la Teja, which is about 3km from Soria itself.

I biked it into the town which is very nice, although quiet. I think it must be a holiday today, as the shops were all shut. I thought they were jusy closed for siesta time, but even at 5pm they were still no signs of life.

I wandered around the pedestrianised central streets and squares and enjoyed the architecture, which is very 'real' Spain and not too touristy. There is also a really nice public park and just outside, there was a stall selling books where I picked up a rural Spain guide to the attractions. Ok, so it's all in Spanish, but at least it gives me something to go on! I stopped off at a bar and sat outside and enjoyed some local red wine at 1e a glass in the sunshine. I laughed to myself at the price.....

No sign of any net cafes, so the blog update will need to wait a while yet. Mum called me to update me on her weekend away in Blackpool and to see if I was still alive. The bike journey back to the site was thankfully mostly downhill. I'm not quite as fit as I'd like to be for the cycling yet and still get a bit out of puff on the uphill sections.

Edit:
I cycled back in to Soria in the evening, after dinner, and it was absolutely jumping. There were loads of people out, strolling through the streets, drinking in the bars and outside and eating in the restaurants. I'm very taken with this little city. (City may be stretching it - large town?) It's a bit off the main tourist beaten track but well worth a visit.

Madrid

20th April.

Toledo to Madrid

Up out of bed at 8ish and decided to head up into the old town of Toledo to have another look around, this time without the tourists. I biked it from the campsite to the bottom of the hill that the old town stands on, left the bike at the bottom, and took the 6 sets of escalators that take you up to the start of the town the easy way....

I walked around for about 1 1/2 hours and had a far better time of seeing things as the touist coaches hadn't arrived en-masse at that stage. It's definately a good city to visit, although I'd probably have liked to have had a couple of days to really relax in the city and take in some of the cafes and bars.

I headed back to the site, showered, and passed in a book to the Aussie family in the van next door, Lisa, Alex and kids, said my goodbyes and settled up the bill for the night which was 17e and a very nice site. Time to make tracks for Madrid!

It was a fairly short journey on the Autovia A42 and I'd found the campsite I wanted to go to, Camping Osuna, near to Barajas Airport by 12.30. Camping was 16e without electric, as I was hardly going to be on site, as I'd arranged to meet up with Matt later in the city and to crash at his place. The site was a reasonable size, with hard standings for caravans and motorhomes and a large grassy field for tents. The best thing about it was that it's only 500m or so from the metro stop at Canillejas which runs right into the city centre without having to change trains. The toilets and showersalthough clean, were a bit dated and there was no hot water in the evening the one time I tried, so I ended up using the shower in the van after that experience... brrrrr....

I spent the afternoon in the city, well a couple of hours anyway, just to kill some time, and later headed in to the city again to meet up with Matt outside the Opera Metro station. I'd been advised by the owner at reception to buy a 10 journey metro ticket and this was only 6.40e and ended up lasting for nearly the whole weekend. It's also valid on the bus. I was really impressed by the public transport system in Madrid - there are buses running all night and not at increased night bus prices, so it's really easy to stay out very late and still get home ok. It also felt very safe, unlike the buses in Glasgow and Dublin at night that are full of drunks looking for a fight.

I was a bit worried that neither of us would recognise each other as it had been 4 years since we last met, but I shouldn't have worried at all - he hasn't changed a bit. Matt showed me around some of the tourist sights; the Royal Palace, very grand and all lit up, and the gardens below it, the Plaza Mayor, which is like the main square and is a huge courtyard surrounded by grand old buildings with restaurants and bars on the lower levels. Just around the corner, we stopped off for something to eat and there's a really good wee place that sells bocadillos (crusty rolls filled with your choice of filling). I had the chorizo spicy sausage and washed down with a beer. Even in this capital city, prices weren't bad at all.

Later, we went to some bars and in Matt's favourite (I foget the name of the place) we had the local speciality drink, a Kali-Paquito, which is served in a pint glass. It has about a half pint of vodka to start with, another splosh of some blue coloured spirit and then something else, which when completed turns the whole drink a lovely shade of purple!It tasted ok though, albeit looking like methylated spirits, although after one it was a bit sickly sweet. The woman serving behind the bar was hilarious. She was like an elderly Bett Lynch from Coronation Street on TV and never once cracked a smile. In fact, she seemed to be a right grumpy old bat.....

We were waiting in the bar for Oscar, Matt's boyfriend to arrive, and he appeared with a friend of their's and we had some more drinks and a couple more bars were visted along the way. Madrid was really buzzing by this stage and there seemed to be as many people on the street outside the bars drinking as inside, but no hassle. One minus point is that in every bar we went into, toilet facilities were crap. I.e. not enough toilets to cope with the number of punters in the place. Minor irritation I suppose.... One of the bars we went into, I think it was called 'Gris' (Grey) had a giant screen showing 80's music videos and some of Scotland's (ahem) finest exports were on show in the guise of Ultravox and The Jesus and Mary Chain. strange place.....

Before we had realised, it was half 4 and decided to call a halt to the drinking and head back to Matt's apartment which he shares with 3 really nice Spanish girls, 2 of whom speak really good English, so the conversation in the morning wasn't as stilted as it may otherwise have been. I slept until about mid-day and then headed back to the campsite to get showered and changed before heading back into the city on the Metro to meet up with Matt again that afternoon.

This time, we walked around the shopping street and through the lovely Parque del Buen Retiro, stopping off for a drink (Non alcoholic!) along the way. It was a lovely chilled out stroll around in the sun, in a fantastic, cosmopolitain European city that I had never really even considered visiting before. There's a real buzz about the whole place. It's areal outdoor cafe culture and abviosuly helps that the weather was great. It reminded me of London somewhat, but the people were a lot friendlier and even in the main shopping streets, there wasn't that crazy crush that there is in london with people bumping into you all the time. I felt very safe the whole time that I was in Madrid. Sometimes I can feel a bit 'on edge' in cities that I'm not familiar with.

Later on that evening, we headed along to a house party being thrown by a guy that Matt works with. It was a good opprtunity to have conversation in English, as Matt's colleagues are all English teachers who work in the language academy with him. We had a laugh comparing some of the words that have different meanings between U.S. English and British English. 'Settee' for example, doesn't seem to exist in the States. I also explained the term 'Bingo Wings' and how it's used..... :)

We called it a night about 2am as we were both wrecked and I crashed at his again.

Next day, I met up for a final drink and something to eat and made an early night and said cheerio to Matt and hope to see him again long before 4 years next time!

Plan for tomorrow is to visit the city of Soria, about 230 km North East of Madrid as it's been recommended.

p.s.... sorry, no photos of Madrid as I didn´t want to be carrying my camera around with me and only took one pic on the cheapo disposable...

Toledo

19th April.

Cordoba to Toledo via Ciudad Real.

Arrival at Toledo 46946 km



When I got back yesterday evening from sightseeing around Cordoba, I put the satellite dish up on the van and tuned in the channels. And lo.......... let there be - BBC! Well BBC prime to be exact, but I'm not going to quibble as I had a whole eveing of English language programmes that wasn't just the news! The site was really busy when I arrived back and it seems to be a very popular spot. It's certainly situated handily enough within walking distance to see Cordoba, But I dunno.... a lot of folks just seem to sit around....

I got up about 9am and had some breakfast, having remembered to hit the Mercadona on the way back last night for a few bits and bobs. I packed everything away and was on the road by about 10; Maisy providing the directions as per usual. I queried the price of the camping at reception but was told "you pay for the place" when I asked about pricing it individually. I think, yet again, I may have been conned slightly. I suppose their thinking is that you're taking up a space that could be occupied by a family, thus netting them about 25e, but they do list the individual prices for motorhome, persons and electric, and most other places are quite happy to price it this way. Anyway, I'm no gonnae greet aboot it any more, it wuz only fur the wan night.....

I headed out the A4 autovia and then veered north on the N420, which is a single carriageway road that goes up into the Sierra De Anjujar National Park. Scenery on this road was stunning. It doesn't climb crazily steeply into the hills, just a gradual climb, but very picturesque. At one stage I had to stop and take a photo of a hilltop town that was so pretty. The panoramas contunied the whole way until just outside Puertollano, which was a wee bit bizarre. Out of nowhere appeared a large chimney that looked like a cooling tower and then a lot of railway tracks and what looked like a coal mine! Just a whole lot of industry that suddenly appeared on the lanscape, and once clear of the town, disappeared again....

Ciudad Real was passed through without any problems, but it didn't really look all that worthwhile for stopping. I had pulled over just before the city on a disused bit of road so that I could grab a quick sandwich and drained off the grey tank while I was at it. So by the time I hit the city proper, I'd already consulted the map and made the decision that if there wasn't anything worth stopping for, I'd head on to Toledo. I'm glad I did.....

On the approach to Toledo, the road goes from Autovia to single carriageway, with a horrenous surface. They are doing works there though and it looks like they're extending the Autovia towards the city. Once on the inner approaches, I spotted a large car park with a few motorhomes parked up in it, so I reckoned that would be as good a place as any to stop off and get my bearings. I parked up Hermione, taking up her usual 2 spaces and wandered up to the old city walls and up the hill towards what I presumed was the old town. A bit of a climb, but worth it, not only as I found a net cafe half way up the hill, but also because at the top of the hill it opened out into a large square.


Toledo is stunning. Cordoba was nice, Seville was very nice, but Toledo is fab. The old town sits on a steep hill, bounded on 2 sides by the curve of the river Tajo and on the remaining curve by the city walls. It was obviously built to be difficult to break into! A lot of the fortifications remain and the gates into the city, and once inside, it is a rabbit warren of cobbled streets and hills, and it seems that every time you turn, another building of note looms ahead. The Cathedral is huge and seems to appear out of nowhere from the end of a laneway into a large open entrance to it.

I had a snoop around and stopped in at the tourist info cabin and picked up a map. I plan to have a proper look early tomorrow. I headed back to Hermione and hooked up Miasy and keyed in the post code for the campsite that I'd got off the net. To my surprise, the campsite was listed under the post code and Maisy took us right there. It's a really nice site, quite busy though and I had to check for a decent pitch to be able to back Hermione into easily. I got parked up and right next door ther is an Irish plated motorhome. A biggie - even bigger than Hermione. There is an Australian family who are touring for a year in a Euramobil 810. I chatted for a while and then got stuck into a much needed clean out of the carpets and then sat down for a beer or 2 and some bread, cheese and pesto. The sun is out, it's about 25 deg C still at 6 pm and hardly a cloud in the sky. Does life get much better?

18th April

18th April

Dos Hermanas / Sevilla to Cordoba.

Arrival in Cordoba 45616 km.




Left early so that I'd get to Cordoba early enough to do the sightseeing in the afternoon. Not much to report on the journey. Only about 160km, all Autovia. Maisy took us practically right to the gate of the campsite which was a bonus as there were no signs until practically upon the place. Camping Brillante and Av. Brillante.....

Very well looked after campsite, grade 1, 3 star. 23 euro p/night inc. lecky, but I think they're trying the old trick of charging me for a 'package' rather than individual vehicle, person and electric. I'll query it in the morning. The pitch was pretty tight to get on to. Initially I went over a very narrow bridge and a sharp right turn, but this led me down the wrong section of pitches. I had a bit of a job getting turned and even more hassle getting back over the bridge, but got there in the end.

Once pitched, I checked the temporary repair I'd made to the exhaust only to find the bungee cord had melted. hardly surprising really. I remembered the tailpipe in the boot which had been sleeved on to the original pipe from the silencer had a hanger bracket attached to it and thought I may be able to adapt it to fit on to the stub of pipe left on the silencer and this would make it more secure. I managed to get the hanger close enough to the hanger on the chassis and adapted some rubbers to fit. It seems to be far more secure, so should be ok until I can get a new part ordered.


I walked down the road from the campsite towards the city and it took about 15 minutes, then down into the historic district. Cordoba is another lovely city, lots to see and plenty of eating places, shops and bars. I came to the Mezquite; the old mosque that had been converted to a cathedral and paid my 8e entrance fee to see inside. It's a very interesting mix of the eastern architecture with pillars and arches everywhere, then adaptations to make it more westernised and christian. To be honest, I preferred the Mosque style. The Christian alterations seemed out of place there somehow. From there, I wandered around the outside, past the old city walls and moat and did a circuit, then back into the old town and through the maze of streets.








I headed back, trying to find a net cafe, but the only one I found was full up. Back via the supermarket to stock up on essentials. The camspite is in a nice district. I only travelled through one dodgy looking part of Cordoba and that was in the way in. Well it was more scruffy than dodgy really.

Weather warm but overcast. Temps 26-27 deg C. Plan is to move on tomorrow morning towards Madrid and maybe have a stop off half way. The 'N' road up to Cuidad Real looks like it might be scenic, although there are a couple of steep inclines marked, but I think I'll head that way and see what it's like.

17th April

17th April

Sevilla


I wandered up into Dos Hermanas town and managed to buy a return ticket in my best Spanish to Sevilla - Santa Justa station. 1.80e return... really cheap. When the train arrived, I was on the wrong platform and had to sprint down the stairs and back up the other side to be in with a chance of catching it. I'd forgotten that the trains run wrong way round from Britain and Ireland, i.e., as in the other side of the road for driving. Anyway, drama averted, I rode the 3 or 4 stops into Santa Justa. I really didn't have any clue where I needed to go once out of the station, so I just followed the crowd in the hope that the general direction was to the city centre. It was a stroke of luck, as not only was I going the right way, but I came across a discount electronics store, so I popped in there and managed to pick up a 2Gb memory card for the sat nav for 17e. This means I can use the smaller one from the sat nav in my digital camera, so result all round.

Initially, I think I must have been on the outskirts of the centre, as the buildings were all of a fairly modern architechtural style, but initial impressions were good about the city. Once I finally found the city centre proper, I was even more pleased with my visit. Down by the river reminded me a bit of Paris and the River Seine and there were even cruise boats running in the style of Paris' 'Bateaux Mouches'. I had a wander down a pedestrianised street where they are busy installing a tram network and wandered into a building belonging to Sevilla University. It had orignally been a tobacco factory and was built in a very grand style.

I continued my journey and was just moseying around really, when I spotted the city tour buses parked across the road, so I decided to buy a ticket and see the sights that way. There were lots of old British Leyland Atlantean double decker buses being used by the rival tour operator, so now I know where some of them have gone to retire. These were the same type of buses I used to travel on in Glasgow when I was a boy. In fact, Glasgow had one of the largest fleets of Atlanteans in the Uk, somthing like 1400 buses they bought from the early 1960's through to the early 80's - useless piece of info for anyone reading. Anyway, point being, they don't build buses to last like that any more!


The bus trip was a good idea, as Sevilla's sights are spread out over quite a large area and the tour took about an hour to complete it's circuit. Interesting to see Sevilla had hosted 2 exposistions, one in 1929, of which lots of the pavilions have been retained and converted for other uses, which saddened me to think that all of Glasgow's 1938 Empire Expo pavilions have been lost; just shows what can be done. The flip side to this was that the 1992 expo pavilions looked to be in a sadly neglected state, as if no-one knows what to do with them. Either convert them or pull them down, as they're a waste of space otherwise. There was even a life sized replica of the Arianne 4 rocket used to launch European satellites.

It was very interesting to see all the palaces, gardens and colleges. Sevilla is a pretty city with a lot of life about it and a population af around 700,000 people. Sevillan's also seem to be on the whole a good looking bunch of people. Some parts of the old city wall are still standing, although much of it had been removed in the 19th century to allow the city to expand, but it's good to see that at least a part of it survives.

I stopped off for a spot of lunch after the tour was over, as by this stage I was starving. Sadly, I chose an Irish pub, purely out of handiness, as I happened to be passing it. The food was fine, but the beer was too expensive at 4.40e a pint. I thought I was back in Dublin! I must make a point of going to a proper Spanish place next time. I had ordered my food in Spanish, but even then, I found the waiter addressed me in English when he came back to check the order. Can't win it seems....

Finally, I took a walk into the Barria de Santa Cruz, which is the city's old Jewish Quarter, although they managed to drive them out in the 1490's, so it's maybe a bit of a tall tale to think that there's much Jewishness left in it! It was an interesting wander around though, as the narrow streets and passageways wind their way in a maze of unfathonable proportions to the uninitiated visitor. I really liked this area and could have easily spent longer there, maybe taking in a meal had I not already eaten at Chez Arthur (Guiness!!).


I walked back to another train station I'd seen, San Bernardo, which was far closer to the centre, and rode the train back to Dos Hermanas. At no stage today did I feel in any way threatened like you sometimes can feel in a city. Sevilla is a city that I felt instantly at home and at ease in.

Back to the campsite and was surprised at how cool the van was when I opened the door. Those old, tall palm trees certainly provide good shade! As I was having a beer, an old guy in one of those little mobility scooters came tootling past and started chatting to me in Spanish about my knackered exhaust. Manana, I told him, but it spurred me on to have a look at it. In the end, I removed the broken tail pipe section completely and tied the silencer up with both wire and a bungee cord. I knew packing those may come in handy..... I'll need to try and get a new silencer ordered in Cordoba or Madrid. Hopefully it should last until then- just be a bit noisier, that's all.

Weather, scorchio once again.... 30 deg C in Sevilla in late afternoon, but it never felt opressive. It's very much a dry heat, so you don't feel all sweaty and sticky in it. Right... I'm off to chill and to see whether all my maps have transferred to my new cheapo memory card! Hasta manana........

16th April

16th April.
Tarifa to Sevilla
45171 Km leaving Tarifa45457 km arrival at Dos Hermanos outskirts of Sevilla.
After yesterday's glorious weather, I left the bedroom windows open with the flyscreens down last night. The campsite was very quiet, although having arrived late (dusk), I hadn't had a chance to have much of a look around. I slept well, waking with the light of day as I seem to have grown accustomed to on this trip. I took a quick snoop around the campsite and sorted a few small tasks that needed doing before heading off around half 11. I had swithered about maybe staying on another night but felt that I wanted to give Sevilla and Cordoba both 2 nights each to do them justice.

Just along the road from Rio Jara camping, there is a picninc area where I pulled off the road and had a wander down to the beach. It was very blowy, but a gorgeous sandy, empty beach lay there, with hazy views across to Africa, and a few ships out in the straits.

I'd forgotten to empty the grey water tank, so I resorted to the trick of opening the dump valve slightly and letting it trickle out on the journey ahead. The road from Tarifa to Medina sedonia is National road, single carriageway and quite scenic. The landscape changed from coastal mountains to climb into the hilltop town of Medina Sedonia and runble back down the hill where once joining the Sevilla Autovia, the scenery changed to small rolling hills. The journey as far as Sevilla was uneventful. The only blip up to that point had been a car driver trying to squeeze past on my inside as I negotiated my way into a filling station for diesel and she hadn't realised the amount that Hermione's back end swings out by and she got a bit of a fright!

Nearing Sevilla, I'd stopped at the roadside to check the camperstop guide directions for the campsite. The one that was closest to the city was out at the airport, but the directions weren't very clear and I managed to get a bit lost and that swallowed up a bit of time trying to find it. When I finally did find it, it was closed. Looks like it's shut for good, although maybe that's a good thing, as it's wedged between the Autovia on one side and the airport on the other.....I checked the guide book and the next nearest site was in a town called Dos Hermanas, slightly to the south of Sevilla. Fortunately I had an actual address for this site that Maisy the sat nav accepted and she brought us right to the front gate.

There's something that registers in the head when you've been driving a certain vehicle for a while, and that's that you learn to know when it sounds normal and when it doesn't. Just outside Dos Hermanas I'd got the feeling that the engine note sounded lower and louder. Once I'd pulled on to the camp site<>

The campsite itself is a bit strange. Initially it looked just like a motel and I was wondering where the camping part was, but the wee man directed me down past the apartments and in behind there is a camping area laid out in what looks like the grounds of a grand old Spanish house. The pitches are under really old, tall palm trees and in amongst an old orange grove. It's nice and shady, not too noisy, apart from the odd train going past behind us and it seems a shame to see the old house lying empty and getting a bit shabby. It looks like it would make a really nice renovation project.

So, I've had a home cooked dinner of Chilli con carne, rice and tortilla chips which was rather tasty even if I do say so myself and all I need to find out is how I can get in to Sevilla. I'd hoped that someone on site might be English speaking; alas no..... all Spanish and French plated vans on site, and the wee man in reception gave me no inclination as to him maybe speaking English, so I shall have to go and suss things out. I think I'm gonna just chill for the evening and head in to the city tomorrow morning and spend the day there. I'm hoping there'll be a bus or a train in...... Spending today: 51e diesel.

15th April

15th April.
Mijas Costa to Tarifa.

Arrival in Tarifa 45171 km.

I slept in the van on a hill next to where Rab and Carol are living. It wasn't the most ideal of spots to be sleeping in the van, but after I'd had a few pints beforehand, it did the trick. It also saved 15e which appeals to my scabby nature!

I knocked up at their apartment around 11am and a decision was made to head down to Benalmadena in their car after the dogs had been walked. Benalmadena and Fuengirola are not my idea of fun places to be. Just your typical package holiday destinations with too many Brits for my liking (i.e. the Union Jack shorts wearing type). The marina at Benalmadena however, is nice and we had a wander around there for a while checking out the nice yachts and motor launches. Too much money some people have.....

I managed to get my neck badly sunburned. I could feel it happening and stupidly hadn't put on any sunblock in the morning. Once back at Rab and Carol's I got the clippers into action on Peter's hair and gave him a trim of sorts! God only knows what his pals in school will say tomorrow!

I headed off around 6pm for Tarifa. The road was busy for the first 20km or so and then the traffic eased off a bit. It seems that the whole stretch from Malaga down past Marbella is just wall to wall with people, as if they have all decided that's the place to be. It's not a place I'd particularly want to live, but up where they're staying is fairly quiet and all residential, being a good bit back from the sea front areas.

A glorious evening for driving. As I approached Gibraltar, I had a notion of stopping off for the night in La Linea de la Concepcion which is just across the border, but on getting in to the town, I had a major panic on, wondering a) If I could find some place to park up and b) Would I ever be able to get back out of the crazy narrow one way streets, so I decided to give it a miss. I hadn't heard great reports about Gib anyway; that basically it was like little England. I did stop and take a couple of photos from a viewpoint on the approach to the rock and it looks stunning.
I pressed on to Tarifa and ended up in the town and down at the port. Nice enough town but getting a bit late for looking around and I needed to find a campsite as light was starting to fade. I carried on back out on the N340 and stopped at Camping Rio Jara which looked fine in the fading light. I got checked in and hooked up and sorted for the night. Had top open the windows and vents as it was pretty warm in the van from the drive down.

14th April

14th April.
Torre Del Mar to Mijas Costa.

An uneventful journey down the short distance between these 2 towns, mostly Autovia all the way. I got myself a small bit lost on the last leg as I'd taken the wrong exit, but Rab appearedon the bike, after I'd been chased out of a supermarket car park by the security guard who was mumbling about "solo trabajos" as the place wasn't actually opened yet. I don't know why he was getting upset. The place was empty.

I followed Rab on his motorbike up the steep hill to where they're living and parked the van on another steep hill in a cul de sac for the night. An extra 'rock' hand brake was put under the back wheel just in case!

We were soon catching up on all the gossip and chatting away, out on the balcony and supping a few beers. Glorious sunshine today and felt myself starting to burn...... Strange again how you haven't seen people for nearly 4 years and catch up like it's been a fortnight. The kids are nice kids. Peter is motorbike and quad daft. Gemma just never shuts up! Reminds me of a certain other little miss back home......Rab and I headed out later for a few beers in the bar down the street and didn't finish up chatting back at theirs until about 4am.

Down to the van for bed on the hill.....

13th April

13th April
Camping Torre Del Mar.

The last couple of days have been pretty much chilled out. Since the weather was so bad, I didn't venture out of the van much and did a lot of reading. In fact at this rate I'm going to run out of books to read soon.
It's lovely weather today. It feels as though it's finally getting back to where it should be for this area. I've just come back from the internet cafe and made arrangements to go and see my American friend Matt in Madrid next weekend. My rough plan for the coming week is to visit Algeciras, Tarifa, possibly Cadiz, then Sevilla, Cordoba and then to Madrid and spend the weekend there. That should take me up to about the 22nd of April which will give me 2 full weeks to get to Milano, Italy where Bruce is joining me on my travels for a few weeks. That should give enough time for it not to end up as a mad dash and leave some time for sightseeing.
Graham and Karen appeared down at the campsite at lunchtime and we went for a stroll down to the beach and had some lunch at one of the little beachside bars here in Torre. I decided when I got back to take on electric hook up for the next few days as the battery in the van is getting a bit on the low side since she's not been moving anywhere. This means I get to watch as much Spanish TV as I like too!
I've just realised there is a Dutch van parked opposite me now. This could make things interesting when the time comes for me to move out.

11th April

11th April....


I´m losing track of the days and dates. it´s one of the problems of having no schedule to keep to.

I left the site at Lake Vinuela and had a look at the free camping area, but I didn´t like the look of it, so decided to press on further round the coast. I headed past Malaga and Torremollinos, Fuengirola et al and all the time, the rain chucked it down. I didn´t like what I saw there either. Very busy. Very built up. Not my idea of fun. I stopped at an open air market and managed to get parked up and prepared some lunch while I pondered what to do. I made a decision. To head back toward Torre del Mar and see what the campsite at the end of the town, next to the beach was like.

The rain continued it´s constant tirade and I headed back along the coast, all the while thinking that the road and the drivers on it were just an accident waiting to happen. All the time trying to keep a safe braking distance, some lump would nip into the gap and cut the distance by half. I was glad when i finally arived back in Torre. The camp site is fine, although the pitch is long and narrow and was a bugger to get on to. I´ll be fine for getting out - I think - as long as no-one parks in the pitch opposite. It´s 15 a night which is ok as it´s right at the beach and near to shops, bars, restaurants etc. I may stay on here a few days. I still want to go and see Rab and Carol, but I will probably take the bus from here as that end is just a nightmare for traffic and I really don´t fancy camping there.

I had a wander around town in the evening after the rain subdued for a bit and grabbed a small bit of shopping so that I could cook a proper meal. My washing from the other day is still not completely dry and unless the rain lets up, I´ve no way of getting it fully dry.....

I want the weather to improve! It´s not supposed to be like this here.......

10th April

10th April.

In the area around Velez-Malaga and Lake Vinuela.....

Weather: Bright but hazy - stayed dry!



I had an absolutely fabulous sleep last night. I think I was the only one on site and no noisy kids to contend with. I'd made arrangements to go out with Graham and Karen this morning into Velez-Malaga, which is the nearest biggish town to try to buy a set of hair clippers as the aul' mop was begiining to make me look like Wurzel Gummige! I'd just stuck my laundry into the washing machine and had started washing the outside of the van when they arrived, so the van washing was put on hold and I got my ass into gear.

Our first stop was at the vets in La Vinuela village, another nice little Andalucian village; all whitewashed houses and narrow cobbled streets... Poor Troy the rottie is getting his nuts removed on Monday - bless....
Then on to a small market where we had a snoop around the stalls - i bought a jar of hot lime pickle - and then into a little cafe / bar for some breakfast. Bacon rolls - mmmmm........... proper bacon too; not the Spanish streaky stuff which is more fat than meat!

Final stop was Velez-Malaga for some horse and pony feed for Karen and into a Chinese bazaar that seemed to stock everything - and very cheaply. It reminded me of the Pakistani owned cash and carry's in Glasgow where you can buy almost any old tat - made in China - at wholesale prices. I got a pair of rechargeable clippers for 8.50 and also bought a new hose for the shower in the van as the old one had started to leak around the fitting on the wall. 2.50 for the shower hose - about 10 euro in Atlantic Homecare anyone? just shows the mark-ups that go on things. Talking of showers.... the ones on this campsite are some of the cleanest I've ever come across and loads of hot water, so I had a good long soak this morning, rather than my usual: lather up, stop the water and then rinse off as I try to conserve hot water in the van. Showering in Hermione has to be a rushed affair!

Graham and karen dropped me back up to the camping and we sat outside on the restaurant terrace, the devil dog hardly living up to their reputation as he dozed on the tiles, oblivious to all and sundry who passed! We had a few drinks and took in the rays, as the sun had finally decided to grace us with it's prescence. The forecast isn't great at all until Saturday when the weather is supposed to pick up, but today has been passable, with no rain here, and decent temperatures at times.

I headed back to Hermione and decided to cut my hair - probably not the best idea with a few beers in me......
Of course, Sod's Law, the clippers ran out of battery charge half way into the job, with me looking like Limahl out of Kajagoogoo with a really bad 80's mullet! I had to abandon the trim and put the clippers on charge. I finally finished the job off about an hour later. It looks ok from the front and the sides - well, from what I can see anyway, but god knows what it looks like at the back!

Tomorrow I'm planning to move on and will try to get the fresh water filled up, as I've been shown a free camping spot just further round the lake. The only problem about being on site here is that in order to get to anywhere, I need to take the van off site which is a bit of faffing about, get the barrier raised, gun it up the steep hill and hope for the best. As a result, the past 2 days have been pretty lazy, although plenty of sight-seeing has been done courtesy of Graham and Karen.

I see the Dutch motorhome has re-appeared this afternoon, so there are now 2 of us on site. I hope that they're going to be quiet!

edit: left next morning,
camping 34 euro inc washing
Mileage 44750 km.

9th April

9th April

Almayate Costa to Lake Vinuela.


I got up and made a start on packing up to move. It had been raining again during the night and I'd forgotten to bring the deck chair in so it got soaked. I filled up with fresh water after a rather interesting conversation with the wee Spanish cleaning woman in by best attempt at Spanish. She understood what I was looking for, but I didn't have a clue as to her reply! Hand signals and a combination of mime and pointing got things sorted out.....
I couldn't find the area to drain off the grey water tank, so I'll just need to empty it later.

I settled up for the 3 nights at reception and got the feeling I was ripped off a bit as the bill came to 95 euro for 3 nights camping! Bah! I know I was taking up one of their larger pitches and it was Easter weekend but I was charged a 'package' price for a car, caravan and 2 people including electric hook up and I think if it had been priced individually it may have worked out a bit cheaper. Anyway, as my Spanish isn't very good, I couldn't be bothered trying to make a fuss about it. You live and learn, but it did stick in the throat slightly.

I finally hit the supermercado and did some grocery shopping as the fridge was extremely bare looking, since everything had been closed for the weekend. I had about 6 bags of shopping that included a 12 pack of beer, 4 litres of wine (and a bucket with a lid!) and the whole lot came to 33 euro! I reckon that would be around half the price of the same stuff in Ireland, although I'd probably have normally steered clear of the alcohol normally. If I can stick to living on those sorts of prices, I should be ok. I also fuelled up Hermione as she was running a tad low on go juice. I'd earlier checked with Graham as to what the difference was between the cheaper and more expensive diesel and found out that it's just down to the additives used, so I'll use the cheap stuff without worrying from now on.... 93 cent a litre, that'll do for me.

I headed up towards La vinuela with Maisy giving directions. Unfortunately the village is a good bit away from where the lakeside camping ground is, so I ended up a bit lost.....
My mobile rang and it was Graham. "You've gone too far, matey" he said and I just laughed. I had visions of hime sitting at his computer tracking my movements by satellite, but it turned out that I'd passed Karen on the road as she tried to wave me down, but I was oblivious. I turned around and headed back down the road and spotted Karen and her business partner Jenny. We popped into a bar and had breakfast and a natter and made arrangements for them to lead me into the camping.

So, here I am, camped next to the lake. It's only 15.50 euro a night although I've opted to go without leckie to keep costs down plus I don't really have a huge need for it. It's only the telly and laptop that knock the stuffing out of the battery if I use them for long periods on the inverter, so I'm sure I'll manage. The site also has a decent laundry area and the washing machine is only 3 euro to use, so I'll get my laundry done tomorrow and that's another job out of the way.

I think I'm doing ok for gas so far as I'm not using any heating, so hopefully I should have plenty. I'm still on the 1st bottle and have another full one there. The weather's been a bit damp today although it dried up and the sun came out in the early evening. It's a really peaceful little spot and a nice site that looks quite recently built. There's only 1 other van on site; I think they're Dutch and have a big aul' German Shepherd dug with them.

I have the satellite TV set up which didn't take long but I couldn't seem to get a signal from Astra 2 as i think I'm way too far south and the dish is far too small to pick up the beams so I'm locked on astra 1 and can get BBC world, Sky news, CNN and some music channels in English. it's all I need really. It's just nice to keep up with events back home.

Depending on the weather tomorrrow, I may go and do some exploring in the van to some of the villages and towns. I need to phone Rab and Carol and make arrangements to head to Mijas to see them in the next couple of days.

I've been told that Algeciras and La Tarifa and Cadiz are well worth a visit, so depending on the forecast, it might be nice to do that later in the week. I also need to get in contact with Matt now that he should be back from Morrocco and make pland to visit him in Madrid some weekend.

8th April

8th April

Somewhere high in the hills around Lake Vinuela, Andalucia.



Sunday morning found me waking up with a slight hangover and a lump of a rottweiler trying to climb into the bed beside me, licking my face as if to say "I'm bored, come play with me!" He eventually took heed that I wasn't getting up yet and when I finally did surface, around 10, Troy and skippy, the little terrier, were down in the paddock with the horses while Karen was getting on with jobs in the stables. Considering how much I'd had to drink, I didn't feel too awful.

The sun was shining although the temperature wasn't amazing. The weather's been unseasonally cool so far, and wet also. Apparently it's been the coldest Semana santa in 40 years in Spain. It's not exactly cold. 16 deg isn't cold but then the locals will feel it more as they are more acclimatised. The forecast for the week ahead isn't great either with more rain expected.

We headed down to Bar Triana for Sunday lunch which was your traditional British Sunday roast job and was very good. Again, very good value with starters and drinks it was about 15 euro a head. I don't plan to eat out loads, but at least at these sort of prices, it won't blow the budget entirely. We also sampled the village's Spanish bar which was showing the bullfighting in Madrid on the telly. Graham dropped me back down to the campsite as I really wanted to have a shower and a change of clothes. The site had emptied out while I had been gone, although I still plan to move on in the morning and head further inland to camp up. There is a campsite next to the restaurant up at the lake to go and suss out...

7th April

7th April

Almayate Costa, Costa Del Sol, Spain.


I surfaced about 10 and started cleaning and tidying the van in case visitors appeared, i.e. Graham and Karen! I couldn't have the place looking like a bomb site and in a small space, it's easy for things to start to get messy very quickly.

Graham and Karen appeared about 2, although karen had to wait outside with their rottweiler, Troy, as the campsite doesn't allow animals, although they did make an exception for my soft furry 'tigre' who is my travelling companion! I locked up the van and jumped into their jeep for the drive up into the hills to their place which is near to lake Venuela, a large man made reservoir.


We stopped off at their 'local' pub in a village called Triana and had a few drinks and I was introduced to some of the folks they know from round about. There were lots of english people, but then it is an English owned pub. It's a really nice little bar that also serves good food and has a pink pool table! It also doubles as the local library a couple of days a week. Very versatile these ex-pats!

After that, we headed up to their little house which sits high up in the hills along a crazy dirt road. The house is small but very cosy and homely. They've built a canopy /tent type of thing over the front patio which effectively gives another living space for outdoor living when the weather's warm enough and there's also a roof terrace. Actually, it's a perfect size really, especially for 2 people. The views are stunning and the place is so peaceful. I can definately see the attraction of their lifestyle. Karen has her horses in a little paddock and stables just below the house and the setting really is idyllic.



Arrangements had been made earlier to have dinner up at the lake with friends of theirs. The restaurant we went to overlooks the lake, which although man made, is very pleasing on the eye as it nestles between the peaks. The photos I've taken really don't do the views justice in the flesh. Dinner was very nice. I had an enormous t-bone steak that was cooked just the way I like it. It really was massive and the bill including starters and drinks came in at about 20 euro a head which is excellent value. Prices in general in Spain appear to be very cheap, certainly when comparing with Ireland.

We headed back to Graham and Karen's place and had some more drinks and general chit chat and catching up on things.

The drink continued to flow well into the wee small hours as we finished off the Spanish Brandy and then the vino tinto. Catching up on old times and shooting the shit about music and bands. It was a really enjoyable evening and it felt like it had only been a fortnight since I'd seen them last and not 3 1/2 years!

I've really taken a liking to the region where they live. The scenery is absolutely stunning. Towering mountains and sharp hills and dirt roads everywhere, leading off to little hamlets. Pretty Andalucian villages that are very vibrant, with lots of life in the villages. Everything is very laid back too. I could just picture myself with a little plot of land to park the van on and maybe build a small 'casa'. I'm not as keen on the 'costa'. It's far more built up since that's where most people that come here want to be, but it's not really my bag. It's ok to visit, but just too built up. Inland is much more 'real' and pretty,in my opinion.

A weeks worth of travel....

Friday 30th March 2007
This being my last day in work, I wasn’t particularly in the mood for doing much……As it happens, once I’d had a meeting with my supervisor, I was able to get away early which was good as this let me get the last few jobs needing done completed in the daylight. As it happened, I was all ready to go by 3.30pm, so I decided to fuel up and get going towards Rosslare for the ferry tomorrow. While I was in the local Agricultural Suppliers getting cheap diesel, I asked them to weigh Hermione on their weighbridge, which they kindly did, free of charge. So, now I know… she weighs in at 3560KG loaded, but without any passengers. This leaves a reasonable 440KG of payload.
I set up the sat nav system and headed off. The adventure begins!
It was a very uneventful journey via motorways for a lot of the way and only a couple of small traffic hold ups to contend with, nothing too bad really, especially for a Friday afternoon. I made Rosslare Harbour by about 7pm and spotted a sign for a campsite and I pointed Hermione in the direction of St. Margaret’s Beach.

It’s a nice little site from 1st impressions and looks well maintained. The woman in reception charge me 15 euro for my pitch, which I had a free choice of and I didn’t bother with electric hook up, partly because it’s only for 1 night and also because I need to fit a connector to my hook up cable and really couldn’t be bothered!
I was absolutely starving by this time as I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast time, so it was time to do a raid on the fridge and see what was there. Well, I made myself quite a nice snack of carrot and coriander soup and a pastrami sandwich, all washed down by a lovely cold beer. Aaaahhhh…. Start the holiday as it’s meant to continue!
I’m just about to get settled down for the evening and watch a DVD I think. I have ‘Cars’ there which I’ve only seen at the cinema so that will do. Meantime, I have my music on the go with the speakers powered from the inverter, so I’m pretty well sorted.
The ferry tomorrow is at 4.30pm, so I’m hoping I can hang around here until about 2…..
Spending today: Diesel: 42 euroToll: 2.60Camping: 15
Mileage at start 42282 kmFinish 42542 km




31st March

Woke up fairly early (6.30am!!) and decided to lie on. Had a quick look outside and the weather looked quite grey and windy. Finally surfaced about 9am and had breakfast, then took a wander over to the shower block to have a shower. Found the showers to be nice and clean and looked to be just recently refurbished. All in all, this is a nice little site, very quiet at this time of year.
I took the bike off the back of the van and headed down in the direction of the beach with my camera. Only about a 5 minute cycle mostly downhill to St. Margaret’s Beach which is lovely golden sand but was very cold with a sharp northerly wind whipping across the sands. I cycled over towards the small harbour area to have a look at the boats that were tied up at the pier. The only let down from this otherwise really nice beach was the unmistakable odour of raw sewage from an outfall. I think I would be wary of swimming anywhere near the outfall. The other end of the beach would probably be better, but I also imagine that the water would be freezing!

On the way back from the beach I stopped off to have a look at some old ruined farm buildings. Quite a substantial range of building that had just been abandoned. Looked like an ideal renovation project…….
I plan to head off around 2pm and get organised for the ferry.







1st April

Irish Ferries? There’s not much Irish about them these days. I didn’t speak to one Irish crew member the whole time I was aboard. All the crew seemed to be Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian. Now I’ve nothing against any of these nationalities, but there’s just none of the craic that you used to get when at the car when the crews were Irish.
The ferry itself was a bit shabby, but I just headed for the bar and had a few beers. There was a huge horde of French teenagers on board and they seemed to completely take over the bar area and moved around in a swarm…..
There was a band playing from 9pm, but they were a bit ropey…… mostly to do with their sound equipment playing up, but this also distracted the guitarist from his playing. They were ok in the end though and kind of got into their groove……I ended up chatting to a drunk Polish lad called Lukas about how he was finding things living in Dublin. He was amazed that he could understand my English ok as he has trouble understanding the Irish. I found out that he works in Firhouse in Tallaght which explains a lot. Eg…. “how mooch is dat bood?” Translation: “How much does that cost, my good man?”
I finally rolled off to bed (a reclining seat – not all that comfortable) about 1am and eventually just took to the floor with my sleeping bag. I actually slept not too badly and managed about 8 hours before the teenage horde had decided to take over the area I was sleeping in and 3 of them kicked me on the way past and another practically stood on me until I growled at her!
The ferry was delayed due to poor weather. Some folks looked a bit green and I saw one girl being sick, but I was absolutely fine – must have good sea legs! I headed fort some breakfast and got chatting to an English truck driver who is now living in Ireland and was on his way to transport a load of baby milk powder to Lisbon in Portugal. A very interesting character…. 60 years old, has an old Harley that he’s spent thousands on over the last 20 years and is a member of the Outlaws M/C club.
I finally managed to get off the ferry about 1.30pm and headed out of Cherbourg port after a cursory glance at my passport from the Gendarmerie and set the sat nav for Bourgneuf en Retz, about 400km south. On the way, on the odd occasion I strayed from the autoroute and RN, I travelled through some really quaint villages that would have been nice to explore. Everywhere is so clean. Not a drop of litter to be found anywhere. The French have a real pride in their villages and even on the roadside verges, there’s no litter. Not many shops open; not sure if it’s because it’s Saturday or a holiday weekend.
On the way down, I picked up signs for Le Mont St. Michel and reckoned that this was a must see since it was only about a 20km detour from the autoroute. Wow!On the approach, I could see Le Mont off to the right in the distance. It just seemed to rise out of the land.

I stopped about 2km from Le Mont and took a couple of photos. I rolled into the Aire (Parking area) and paid my 8 euro for 24 hours which allows me to stay overnight. I got chatting to some Brits in motorhomes. One, Mark, was in a huge Frankia tag axled outfit with a Peugeot 107 being towed behind it on an A frame. Quite an outfit. I strolled of to visit Le Mont and there were a load of youngsters, mostly scouts I think, carrying branches for palm Sunday. Le Mont St. Michel is very pretty and quaint and well worth a visit; lots of steps though…… The only slight let down was the number of touristy shops on the way up through the very narrow cobbled street that climbs up.

I headed into Hermione on my return and had a snooze as I was starting to feel a bit wrecked and snoozy, and later set up the sat dish, although I had no joy in picking up astra 2, so decided to cut my losses and get astra 1 instead, which although mostly foreign channels, has a few English language channels.
So, that’s day 1 nearly over. The rough Plan for tomorrow is to head for around Nantes or La Rochelle direction.
One thing I’ve noticed as a lone traveller is that people are really willing to just come up and start chatting away and are quite surprised when they hear I’m alone in the big van.
Spending today: (not including too much spent on the ferry!) 8 euroMileage: 42749 km





2nd April
Le Mont St. Michel to Saumur.

It’s been a bit of a clumsy day for me today so far. I woke up about 8am and stuck the boiler on for a bit so that I could have a shower. While I was outside packing up the satellite dish, the inevitable happened…… I clattered my head off the bike rack. I cursed under my breath and tried not to show the pain I was in to my fellow motorhomers around me, hoping that they hadn’t noticed it happening! I have a lovely big red mark on my forehead….. Not long after that, I managed to walk into the edge of the drop down bed over the cab. I just completely forgot to duck. Hmm…..
Anyway, while I was packing things away, David, one of the guys I’d been chatting with yesterday wandered over to say that he’d managed to get his fridge running on gas. Yesterday, he was studying how the gas knob on my fridge worked as the knob on his was the wrong one. The knob works anti clockwise for on and clockwise for off, so I showed him how to set it and switch it on. So, he’d managed to get it running on the last week of their trip. He passed on his contact details to me so I can update them on my progress…..
I wanted to get off fairly sharpish to make decent headway, so once the packing was complete (why do all the things never seem to fit back into the boot?) I went to start Hermione and………… the curse of the dodgy starter struck again! Well, I say dodgy starter; I can now rule the starter motor out of the running completely, as the extra fly lead that I had (wisely, now it seems) hooked up to the starter solenoid last week before leaving Ireland came into play and I managed to get her started no bother using that straight on to the battery. Phew! So it seems that it’s either the starter key switch that’s at fault (intermittently) or maybe a relay, but I’m not sure if there’s one fitted in the starter circuit or if the cable goes directly to the solenoid.
I headed off in the general direction of Angers, as I’d decided I wanted to visit the Loire Valley and that looked as good a starting point as any. The drive was pretty uninteresting on the autoroute, but finally I got on to the Route Nationale and there was at least some scenery to be had. And very nice scenery it was too……
‘Maisy’, as I’ve now christened the American woman inside the sat nav, decided about half way to throw a wobbler and was showing me as driving across open fields. This led to me having to go back to the old fashioned method and…. Consult the map! I decided to ignore Maisy’s protestations and continued using the map and road signs toward Angers. I think that due to my change of general route, I have missed out the map sections needed for this area, so I’ll need to deal with that later from the map software on the laptop. She did continue to show the main roads, but they must be quite old mapping as the alignment seemed to be a bit off at times.
I stopped off at an InterMarche in Beaufort en Vallee for some provisions for lunch and also managed to pick up a bulb kit for Hermione since that’s needed along with a warning triangle in France. I forgot to weigh the bananas before getting to the checkout, so that led to some embarrassment as the checkout girl threw some French phrases at me in rapid fire. “Jen e comprend pas” I muttered, while no doubt turning a lovely shade of pink. She smiled and took the bananas off to be weighed while I waited, no longer looking cool at all in my shades….. Hermione didn’t start again when I got back out to her. Maybe she doesn’t like being left alone?
The final part of the journey was along the RN to Saumur, a reasonably large town on the banks of the River Loire. I set Maisy for the Municipal Aire and she managed to take me fairly close (about 200m) and it’s more of a small car park at the end of a long cul-de-sac, next to a campsite. I would go into the campsite and pay, but I’m being scabby and am on a budget, so I’m gonna freebie it here for the night. I still have ¾ of a tank of fresh water on board and the loo is only 1/3 full so I’ve no real need for the services of a campsite.

(Left Pic.... Le Chateau De Saumur)
The weather is absolutely gorgeous. I reckon it’s about 18 or 19 deg outside, but le Francais must all be acclimatised to the warmth as they’re all wandering around with woolly jumpers and jackets on while I sweated it out in my t-shirt. I wandered along the river bank towards the town and had a snoop about. It’s a really nice town full of historic buildings and a chateau up on the hill. The buildings are all made from limestone and have great architectural detail. The town centre was a couple of main streets and some of the shops were closed with this being Easter Monday. I had a good walk around anyway and down to the other side of the river bank, where some more motorhomes were parked up, but I reckon my spot will be a lot quieter as the river is right next to the main road.
Update:I was knackered and was in bed by about 10pm after a couple of glasses of wine. I stuck on some music and drifted off, only to be wakened by the rain teeming down, so I jumped up and quickly closed the roof vent. It continued to pour down for most of the night; and I mean in torrents!. The parking spot was totally safe and quiet. I woke up early and did the dishes and got some brekkie and decided on an early start and to try and get some decent miles under the belt on the way south......
Mileage to this point 43060kmSpending: 31 euro diesel and 18 euro in Supermarket.
(Left pic.... Fiat 500 snapped in a street in Saumur. I declined the offer of having my pic taken sat in the driver´s seat!)











(Left pic..... some fine terraces in Saumur)














3rd April
Saumur to Biarritz......

Toady was just a day for driving. Not a whole lot to write about. The N137 was the most scenic part of the journey, before ending up on a poxy dual cariaggeway that really just resembled a motorway with serious amounts of lorries on it. I just cruised along about 90k's and took my time. Maisy got us lost again; or actually it was probably me initially who decided to ignore her and try to stick to the main road. Her detour took us along some crazy narrow country roads and the French don't like to slow down as they're coming towards you! One guy in a Volvo estate nearly ended up putting himself in the ditch.
Approching Biarritz, I set Maisy for the Aire de Service, although having consulted the book, it was showing as only being open from mid May onwards, but I though it was worth a try....The route to it was a small bit tricky as some of the streets were quite narrow and then I came across some muppet who had parked half up on the pavement opposite another car. I think I just managed to squeeze through with about 2 inches to spare between each wing mirror. One thing this trip is doing is making me ever more confident at throwing the big bus into tight spaces!
Maisy brought us impeccably to the Aire de Service and boy, was / is it busy! it holds about 40 motorhomes and there must be about 30 on it today in early April. Still, it's a useful enough spot to park up and so far I haven't had to pay any money to anyone. Lots of the vans are hooked up to the electric, but there don't appear to be any spare points, but I'm pretty self sufficient anyway, having stuck the laptop on charge using the inverter on the drive down and also having charged my phone. So, I won't bother trying to get hooked up, although I did use the opportunity to empty the loo. I still have a 1/2 tank of water.....
(Biarritz Aire)


It's quite cool today; definately hoodie weather and I wandered over the road to the small beach but there was no one around. Not much surf happening either. Tomorrow I'll head in towards town and see what the story is. I think I'll stay here tomorrow and move on Thursday, probably toward Bourgos in Spain. I reckon I'll hit the south of Spain around Sunday and I've no plans on killing myself with silly mileages. Today was just about ok, but verging on the limit of what I'd want to max out at.... 540km, about 340 miles.
The stupid starting hassle is still happening, more often than not, although the temporary fix is doing fine; the only hassle being having to remove the engine cover to get access to the cable. I might try and rig up a switch somewhere under the dash area if I can get somewhere to mount the switch I have in the toolbox.
Anyway, that's about all that I have to write about today. There is only 1 other English speaking van here on the Aire, some Brits who I had a chat with when I arrived. They've just come back up from Spain and are heading over to the Med Coast of France in the next couple of days.
Right, I'm off to sup my wine.......
Mileage: 43600Spending: 38 euro diesel leaving Saumur and 50 euro diesel between Bordeaux and Biarritz. 10 euro in Lidl.





4th April
Biarritz to (just beyond) Miranda De Ebro.

The Aire in Biarritz continued to be very busy.....I decided to walk into the city centre and see what Biarritz had to offer. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe it was because it was cold; although it was bright and sunny, but it was and it wasn't what I expected. Part of it reminded me of an old fashioned English seaside resort, like say, Scarborough; full of Victorian / Edwardian elegance, but there just didn't seem to be any 'vibe' about the place.


Lots of old people to-ing and fro-ing from the Boulangerie etc., but I don't know.... I just wasn't that taken by the place. In fact, after Saumur, Biarritz was a big disappointment.
I decided, post disappointment, that I woudn't stay another night, but would make tracks that afternoon and head down into Spain. The weather has been a big disappointment today as well. It's cold, hoodie weather for me, although for the poor French, it's coats, scarves and gloves weather and I did in fact get some stares when I was down to my t-shirt after a brisk hill climb. Oh, that's another thing. Biarritz is very, very hilly. I left the bike back at the van and decided to walk it.


Anyway, headed back to the Aire and started to get organised. I really needed to empty the waste water and top up the fresh. The first task was accomplished after waiting for an eternity for 4 surfer dudes in a hired motorhome to get their hippy asses into gear and stop pissing fresh water all over the tarmac while I waited (impatiently). I managed to dump the grey tank, but the fittings I had for the hose connection were of no use, although in hindsight, I think I had a fitting in the boot of the van that could have been made to fit.... anyway..... I still had about 30 litres of fresh so would be ok.I've also found that using the inverter to power the laptop really takes a punch out of the battery, so I've found it best to have the laptop charging using the inverter while driving - that way, the alternator is keeping everything topped up and I can get a couple of hours from the laptop on battery.
I moved off and down the twisty road towards San Sebastian, just over the Spanish border. I decided not to take on any more diesel as I reckoned it would be cheaper in Spain. I was right.... a good 10c a litre cheaper in fact. Once over the border, you didn't need any signs to tell you that you were in Spain; the road surface said it all. The road went form smoothly tarmacced to an abomonation of uneven surface, ruts and potholes. Obviously the Spanish don't take quite as much pride as the French in their roads, which I have to say, 90% of the time have been excellent. Even the more minor, equivalent to say, an Irish regional R road, were really well surfaced. Spain is different.
San Sebastian is a kip. Well, from what I saw of it while driving throught it anyway. It was raining, so that didn't help any, but it looked very industrial and run down, grimy and as if no-one really gave a toss about it. The drive out of the town was a bit of a nightmare. The N1 road was very heavily congested with articulated lorries and the road twisted up and up into the mountains. Picture a mountain pass, only in dual carriageway format. A bit scary actually. I just kept the speed to about 90k's and was in no rush as the surface was so crap and it looked very greasy in the rain to boot.
As the dual carriageway ended, the traffic ground to a halt as drivers jockeyed for position on to the single carriagewaY. Once through another industrial looking smallish town, Miranda De Ebro, the road started climbing again and the weather was getting worse. And I really needed to pee, so I pulled off the road into a lay by type picnic area place. Just as I came into the main parking spot, there were signs for a campsite. I'd had enough by this stage of the drive, and the signs sealed it!
I pulled into the campsite, which was located at 'Monumento Al Pastor', through the pillared entrance, and spotted another 3 motorhomes parked up on a concrete hard standing which turned out to be the basketball court! Somehow I don't think anyone was going to need the use of the court today! I headed into the bar / restaurant and spoke pigeon Spanglish with the waiter dude and finally made myself understood that I wanted to camp for the night. It was very cheap... only 8.36 euro without electric. As I settled up, I looked outside and it had started to snow! This is not what I signed up for.... I expected sunny skies to greet my arrival!


I got settled in and had to put the heating on. I only hope that the gas supplies that I have will last until I can get back into France to get some TotalGaz or to Germany where I can exchange the bottles I have. Time will tell...... I had parked up in behind a German 'Hobby' motorhome towing a Smart Car on a trailer and only hoped he wouldn't be needing to move, as I wasn't going anywhere for the night and had pulled down the silver blinds and cranked up the heating......
I set the alarm (1st time in the trip!) for 7.45, as I wanted to be away before Herr Hobby needed to move his rig and it would also give me a good spur to get some serious miles under the belt. Dinner consited of pasta in a tomato-ey kind of sauce (from a packet....) and some left over French bread from earlier in the day. It was surprisingly quite good. The snow is belting down.... I hope it doesn't lie too much. My notes read: "Too bloody cold for my liking!"
Mileage to date: 43850 km






5th April
'Monumento Al Pastor' just outside of Miranda De Ebro to Granada.

Awoke early.... brrrrrr..... cold. Stepped out from the duvet and very nearly decided to get back under it again, but threw the clothes on instead. Once the blinds were up, I could see it was pretty white outside, with the snow lying on the higher slopes of the hill. I backed Hermione up th the toilets area and decided to try to get her filled with fresh water. this was going to be a military manoeuvre! I unravelled the flat hose from the cassette reel and decided on my choice of fittings. Thankfully, the 1st one screwed on to the tap ok, but when it was turned on, a good impression of the Trevi fountain being made and the wee cleaner wummin who had just arrived on site to start her shift looked none too impressed as it sprayed water all over the washing up area ceiling! I retreated to another tap slightly embarrassed....... This time I managed to get filled up, but boy, were my hands freezing afterwards. I'm reminded of Glasgow on a January morning.
On the road now........
Single carriageway, twisting in through the mountains; quite spectacular scenery in parts, just a shame that the road is so shite.... It snowed more or less continuously for this section of the journey and even beyond, when we cleared the mountain part, we must have still been high up, as the snow kept coming down. I started to worry a bit when the snow ploughs started passing going the other way. I hoped that it just wouldn't lie.
Beyond the mountainous region, the scenery went to poo..... All flat fields and nothing really to speak of. Some mountains in the distance, but that was about the highlight of it, but at least the snow had turned to rain and finally eased off and dryed up. I made the decision that I would keep moving and stop around Granada. Once into the region of Andalucia, the scenery became dramatic again. Mountains and crazy roads, 3rd gear hillclimbs stuck behind the lorries. I was in no hurry, and wasn'y going to screw the life out of Hermione's engine. I'd just take axtra time that's all. The Spanish drivers are also a bit nuts. They overtake you and then cut straight back in front of you. The antithesis of Irish drivers who just like to sit in the outside lane and not get their arses back in to the inside lane. The Spanish do at least seem to posess some modicum of skill in their driving.
Madrid was a bundle of fun.... I managed to take a wrong turn in the roadworks on one of the many ring roads. Thankfully, Maisy got us out of the jam admirally, after some 'close yer eyes and hope for the best' antics on a few roundabouts. Although it does appear that car drivers at least respect that 4 tonnes of motorhome 'may' just do them some damage if they get in the way!
On the approach to Granada, I stopped, and set Maisy up with the campsite adress from one of the books, in the hope that I might find it. Well, she did us proud. I was just about to give up, and had set her with an adress of a different campsite, when we came around a bend and spotted the camping signs. It was a bit of a crazy 90 degree swing in off the main dual carriageway, into a campsite surrounded by high hedges, so I couldn't really guage what to expect and when I swung all 26 feet of Hermione in through the gates, my initial reaction was "Shit!, How are we gonna get back out of here?"
Camping 'Maria Eugenia - 2 star' was small and it's Easter weekend..... It (on initial unfair 1st impression) looked a bit hillbilly too.....
I stopped just inside and was greeted by the couple running the place. Well, I'm assuming they're a couple; maybe bro and sis.... Nice folks anyway. She spoke pretty good English and he spoke none.... They showed me the only pich anywhere of a size that would accomodate Hermione's size and I said I would give it a go. The place was very, very busy. Basically, any spot that could, had a tent, a caravan or a campervan on it. I had to blitz us through the muddy quagmire toward the pitch and hope for the best. We very, very nearly got stuck in the mud. Only my rocking the van back and forth in gear, we eventually managed to get enough traction to get beyond the mud and after a 6 point turning job, managed to line us up on the pitch. Getting out may prove more difficult in reverse. I was congratulated on my skills by the English gent in the caravan next to us who has been stuck here for 3 weeks after his car gearbox gave up the ghost. Still, it's reasonably cheap at 14.50 euro and is hopefully going to be close enough for a visit into Granada tomorrow for some sightseeing.
It's just as well I didn't leave things any later, as another 3 French motorhomes arrived at our back and they squeezed them on to my access 'road' on to the pitch (after asking if it was ok). The place is chock full.
After all the driving, I really was knackered, and although I tried to read for a bit.... some of Christopher Brookmyre's 'Country of the Blind' (cheers Neil!), I really needed to hit the hay.
The rain pelted down again tonight and I really felt bad for all the poor sods in tents who had come away for the weekend, as I've been there and done that. (Remember Italy Lettie?) I just tucked my feet into the end of the duvet and listened to the rain lashing down. Bliss...... camping as it was always meant to be! ;)
Mileage to date: 44562 km
Spending:70 euro diesel14.50 camping.





6th April
Granada to Almayate Costa.

I surfaced about 9am, after having been woken by the young team who'd arrived back on site at 6am after a night of wreckin' it in town no doubt. (OK, I'm jealous!)
I had some brekkie and headed in towards the city on le trusty mountain bike. Brrr....... it was cold! I very nearly had 2nd thoughts about going back for a jacket, and I did wish that I had gloves. I saw a sign with the time on it that also read '4 deg', so it's no wonder I felt a bit chilly.
It was a bit of a trek into the city (about 6km) and I didn't really manage to get my bearings at all. No nice, simple grid system for Granada.... no, this is your good old fashioned planned as they built it kinda city. I did eventually stumble across the city centre. Initially it was very quiet and lots of the shops, in fact nearly all, were shut, but the Granadians? did eventually come out in their droves for their Good Friday perambulation.
It's a nice city. Not stunning, but interesting and certainly somewhere worth a visit for a couple of days, maybe take in some of the nightlife etc. I wanted to find Le Alhambra and kept seeing fleeting glimpses of signs pointing this way and that way. I eventually managed to get on track but it was a long, climbing road that left me ditching the bike and having to push it up a very long, steep hill, only to find, once at the top, that I could have accessed it far easier from the old town, but the signs were for cars. Grrrrrr.......
There was a huge queue to get in to the Alhambra, so I decided on a small tour around the outside. Impressive and old. Not a lot else I can say really, since I didn't get to see inside. Maybe another day..... The journey back downhill on the bike was much more fun, hurtling down in towards the old town. I headed back toward the campsite to get moving again.
Today is going to be the final day of travelling on the road for a while and I'm looking forward to the rest.
Luckily, the caravan that had been parked in front of me last night had moved off, so I was able to drive straight out and on to the road. I had enough diesel on board to make it to the coast. The journey was fairly spectacular in terms of scenery, but good concentration on the road was needed too as it snaked uphill, then over the crest and down the other side, from dual carriageway, to single carriageway, older section of N342, then finally on to the coast road, the N340, which was a bundle of fun to drive as it switchbacked all over the shop. Nice in a Mini Cooper perhaps - not in a big motorhome.
Eventually we drove through Torre Del Mar and found Camping Almayate, which is very big and looks to be well specced, but it's heaving busy again and it's very expensive. 31 euro a night (inc electricity) over the Easter weekend, although that'll drop to 14 once the Camping Card rate kicks in on Tuesday, if I'm here that long.
Actually, I'm kicking myself, as after I got set up and biked it back to Torre Del Mar, I realised there are another 3 sites to choose from, all off the main road and closer to town. You live and learn. I've been pretty lucky so far. It's a bit of a trek to town, but it's more the cost that's pissing me off, as I don't want to blow the budget on campsite fees.
I'm also running low on supplies and there are NO shops open at all. I don't suppose there will be until at least Tuesday, so it looks like packet past and rice will be order of the day!
Mileage to date: 44695 km.
Spending: Nothing so far... not paid for camping yet....