Had a rest day today – weather very cold.
Time to reflect on the different nationalities touring Spain
at this time of year. About 90% of the
caravans on this site are Dutch with the English, Belgians and Spanish making
up the other 10%. It is a fact that although the percentage varies, there are a
huge number of caravans from Holland touring Spain. In fact I am beginning to
wonder if anyone is left in the country. I just hope a dyke doesn’t spring a
leak.Other visitors vary from are to area. In Toldeo there were a lot of Australians, in Seville the French were out in force, the Americans made a good showing in Ronda and Barcelona but in Marbella it was definitely visitors from Essex. In fact I think that most Essex people either live there permanently or have holiday homes in the area.
Monday 20 May
We woke to fresh snow on the tops of some of the higher
peaks and attempted a walk in the hills behind San Lorenzo El Escorial. All was fine going up to Felipe’s Seat,
which is a huge rock into which the King Philip of Spain had seats carved so
that he could look out over the town and the Monastery. We continued on up a clear path to the top of
the hill. Then down came the hail and
rain and away went the path. The map we
had from the tourist office was next to useless as were the downloaded maps
that I had downloaded on the phone. We
did make it down but it was a bit of a struggle in places. Sarah said she needed a cake as big as her
head so we visited the pasteleria on the way back.
Another very cold day, but dry. We drove to Segovia which is famous for the
huge Roman aqueduct. It totally
dominates the townscape. We walked
around the corner from the car park and there is was in front of us. 800m of granite supported by 166 arches and
120 pillars and at its highest 30 m high.
All built using no mortar or cement.
Segovia is only a small town but also boasts a large cathedral and the
Alcazar which is said to have been used by Walt Disney as inspiration for
Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom in Orlando. You could really see the likeness with its
many turrets. We dropped lucky once
again as it was free admission for some reason – I suspect because there were
not many people about. Inside there was
not a lot to see but some excellent Moorish ceilings.
Wednesday 22 May
Brighter day and slightly warmer. Had a morning in and then took what the guide
books describe as one of the ‘Top 10 Drives in Spain’ – El Escorial to Avila,
over the mountains. For those of you
familiar with the Snake Pass in Derbyshire – it was rather like that. We peaked
at 1,484m and as we dropped down we could have been approaching Glossop. We
even passed a couple of parked gritting lorries parked halfway up. They
obviously haven’t been put to bed for the summer yet.
Avila is a famous for the 2km of 11th Century
walls which surround it. They are
extraordinarily well persevered – possibly funded by having to pay on walk on
them – York should take note!! You did
get an audio guide which magically pinged into action at certain points on the
wall but they hadn’t gone to the trouble of editing out double takes or
mistakes. It was very interesting, but
once again there were few people about – we only encountered 2 other people on
the walls.
Thursday 23 May
Blue cloudless sky this morning and feeling warmer at the
campsite. We went up to an area known
as Las Dehasas which is a recreation area in the foothills of the Sierra Guardarrama. There were extensive meadows, mainly covered
in young school children, not sure why.
There is a natural swimming lake and an Amazon Adventure area there. We picked up a walking guide from the
information centre who assured us that the walks were clearly way marked – and
they were. The classic walk from here
takes you to a point at the top of the mountain called Puerto de la
Fuenfria. This turned out to be a long
way up – over 2000 ft from where we started, but worth it. It was freezing up there and there was still
snow around but the air was so clear.
The trees stood out as if you were watching them on a really good HD TV
screen. We them worked our way back
down using a couple of other paths. We were shattered at the end but pleased with
ourselves.
When got back to the van a couple from Burniston near Scarborough
were just pitching their van opposite us, someone to speak to at last.
Friday 24 May
Beautiful day – sunny and warm!! Sarah did 3 loads of washing and we did a
supermarket run, but otherwise just lazed in the sun. Site started to get busier by tea time as
the Spanish arrived on the promise of a good forecast.
Saturday 25 May
Another lazy day in the sun. Site quite busy with more campers arriving and
also a posh lunch in the cafeteria. We
think it was a confirmation event as there was a young lady in a white dress
and pink sash. At first we thought it
was a wedding but there was no sign of a bride or groom! Spanish ladies do like to get dressed
up. The assembled crowd were a riot of
colour. Morning coffee accompanied by excellent
chocolate croissants from the site shop which seems to have sprung to life with
arrival of more people.
Sunday 26 May
Moved on to Salamanca today.
This country continues to surprise me. Here we were driving from the
centre of Spain westwards towards the Atlantic coast. Once again I have
expected dry, arid fields. Instead the countryside reminded me of Norfolk. Flat
with big skies but the surprising thing was the range of crops that were being
grown including cereals, potatoes and a few orchards. The villages were few and far between and
once again the motorway was almost empty. Either nobody goes anywhere or they
find a different way.
After a two hour journey we arrived at Camping Regio, which
despite being a first category site was rather disappointing. Very untidy and the facilities left something
to be desired. Had dinner, if you can
call it that, at the adjoining hotel.
You picked your menu choice, got a ticket at reception and then handed
to the waiter. We had the least weird
sounding combination we could find which was calf fillet, egg and chips. It was terrible. We went back to the caravan and drank wine to
get rid of the taste, well that was our excuse.
Monday 27 May
Not a Bank Holiday here.
We went into Salamanca which is famed as having Spain’s oldest
university. It is a really pleasant
town with a many notable buildings built with golden sandstone. The soft nature of the stone allowed very
intricate carving on the buildings including one covered in carved scallop
shells. You can view some of the
University, though not enough to warrant the entry fee of 10 euros each. You
bought your ticket from a machine. A Frenchman suggested that we both buy pensioners
tickets and get in for half price. I didn’t know whether to be outraged or
thank him for being helpful. I did manage to get into the Royal Palace in
Madrid as an OAP but the ticket lady asked to see my passport. As I didn’t have
it with me she asked me when I was born. Before I could open my mouth Sarah
shouted 1947. I got in for half price but I decided I would not try this again.
So, here we were on a 20 euro tour.
The original University lecture theatres and library were
just like something out of Harry Potter.
The main town square, Plaza Mayor
(enclosed by four storey buildings on each side) was stunning, particularly
later in the day when the sun shone on it.
It was freezing which did rather limit our walk about. We went back in on the bus in the evening as
the guide book says this is when the town comes alive. It certainly did. The Plaza Mayor was much busier, lots of
babies and dogs being walked, lots of students milling about and kids
playing. Had a drink in the square,
sitting in the sun (with a fleece on).
We then went for dinner – once again terrible. Won’t be eating out again in a hurry.
Tuesday 28 May
We are now making our way towards the top West hand corner
of Spain and decided to drive straight towards the coast from Salamanca which
means entering Portugal. The quality of
the roads took a dive as we crossed the border. The roads here aren’t as good as
in Spain AND we had to pay tolls. As you come across the border you drive
through a ‘Foreigners Lane’. You put your credit acrd in a machine and then the
system associates your car registration plate with your credit card. As you
drive along cameras record your progress and you are charged accordingly. It’s
a bit like a modern day Dick Turpin.
Actually, it’s worth mentioning that neither the Spanish or
Portugese seem worried about civil liberty. Every time you enter a car park you
collect a ticket with your car registration printed on it. In one way this is a
good security measure as no one can steal your car without the right ticket. On
the other hand someone always knows where you are. Even most of the campsites
have number plate recognition barriers. When you drive away a digital readout
displays ‘Have a good journey Mr Barry Stockdale’.
If the police ever needed to know my whereabouts they could
easily find out which car parks I have used and almost every campsite visited.
Now they know which roads I have used. No one bats an eyelid. Big Brother is
alive and well and living in the Iberian Peninsula.
We have driven across to mountain town called Sataeo and
have found a lovely campsite. It is
Dutch owned and we were greeted by the owner, offered a drink and homemade cake
and told to park where ever we liked.
Very unusual and welcome. The
site is set in a verdant valley which could be English. (I am serious, if it wasn’t for the Dutch
you’d think you were on a site in Devon). We are parked on very well kept grass
with trees and meadows all around. Can
hear cows with bells on, but haven’t seen them yet. The sun shone but it was cold.
The big news is that we got a satellite signal and watched
the first English TV news for several weeks. As Sarah didn’t fancy watching the
Apprentice we watched a programme on BBC3 about Brits behaving very badly in
Magaluf and we were glad we were here and not there.
Oh yes and by the way, we lost an hour as we crossed in
Portugal. Yes the Portugese have the same time as Britain. This is messing with
my head.
Wednesday 29 May
We were woken by the mobile baker tooting his horn. I
arrived at the rendezvous point along with 3 other Dutch gentlemen. The baker
leapt out of his van and before he did anything he shook our hands and wished
us ‘Bom Dia’ (Good Morning). What a
great start to the day. I walked back to the van with my jacket and hand
covered in flour.
Shortly afterwards we heard what I thought was a Dutch tune
being played from speakers near the owners house. It sounded like some sort of
Dutch folk tune and featured yodelling accompanied by an accordion. I thought
this was the Dutch Version of Hi de Hi campers, but it turned out to be the
fruit and veg man announcing his arrival.
We sat waiting for the next act. Sadly no one else turned
up.
Cold and wet today so have not ventured far. We went to
asked Ron the owner for information about walks in the area. He took great
pleasure in explain to us that there were several and each was colour coded. He
had been out with a tin of paint and a brush and had painted the spots and
arrows on trees and lampposts himself. And he has. They’re all over the place.
Morever he has a cunning system to lengthen the walks. You follow the dots but
when you see two arrows on a tree or lamppost you have a decision. If you
follow two left arrows the walk will take 4 hours. If you follow two arrows
pointing right the walk will take two hours. Then of course you can mix and
match and take one left arrow and one right arrow which would be a 3 hour hike.
The permutations are endless. IM AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!! HE WAS VERY SERIOUS
AND ASKED ME TO PAY ATTENTION.
In the afternoon we took a trip to the nearest town Sataeo
but there is not much there – did find a supermarket and a cake shop – very
important.
We called in at the local tourist office. There were 2
ladies sat behind a high counter with an infra red heater behind them. They had
6 leaflets on top of the counter. There were no leaflet racks but there were
some local bottles of wine on a shelf. They
only had a map of the general area. There were no commercial leaflets about
attractions, no leaflets in any language other than Portuguese and they didn’t
know where we could buy a proper map. They said it was due to cutbacks. We knew
from Spain that 30th May was a Bank Holiday for Corpus Christi. We
asked if tomorrow would be a bank holiday in Portugal. We were told that
tomorrows Bank Holiday and several others had been cancelled due to the
economic situation and the Troika. I can’t imagine the Spanish taking that sort
of thing lying down.
I have just been reading one of the three leaflets we took.
It lists all the local restaurants and phone numbers but there are no
addresses. These people really need some marketing expertise and a budget.
We looked at a couple of restaurant menus but were not
impressed. If you don’t like veal I think you’d starve. Vegetarians would not
survive a week unless you like asparagus.
We put the TV on this evening but can only get Sky News, the
Pavers Shoe channel (it really does exist but is a bit repetitive after 5
minutes) Sky News, QVC and Al Jazeera.
All the BBC channels have disappeared along with the camel racing from
Dubai and Arabic news read by a man in white robes. I think the weak signal is
due to thick clouds and heavy rain.
The weather forecast is much better for tomorrow onwards.
Which is good because the ground is getting very squelchy.
Thursday 30 May.
We drove North to the small town of Lamego. During the first part of the journey the
countryside resembled the Derbyshire moorlands. Then we passed gardens full of rhododendrons,
irisis and broom followed by orchards full of cherry and elderflower trees.
We
passed two ladies with a ladder and bucket who we thought were cleaning windows.
On the way back we saw them up the ladder picking cherries. When we got back to
site we did a short walk. Beautiful day.
Friday 31st May.
Another beautiful day. We set off on the blue walk from Camping
Chave Grand covering 6.7 miles around
the local area.
Saturday 1st June.
After visiting the local market in Lomas we spent a relaxing
afternoon on site.
Sunday 2nd June.
We drove across to the Atlantic coast to Camping Orbitur
Madalena on the Southern outskirts of Porto. Not a great site and that’s being
kind. Shortly after arriving we got call from our daughter to say that Dad was
in hospital and not very well. After a restless night we turned around and headed
back home.
Monday 3rd June
Drove back past Salamanca en routé to Burgos where we stayed
overnight. Had an awful meal in the site restaurant.
Tuesday 4th June
We drove past the foothills of the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees. Beautiful countryside. We made a mental note
to return next year. Having crossed the border into France we spent the night
at a very nice site in Salles.
Wednesday 5th May.
The journey to Calais continues from Salles to Alencon a few
miles North of Le Mans. I’m beginning to feel tired now.
Thursday 6th June
We arrived at Camping La Bien Assise in Guines just outside
of Calais about 2.30pm. After a short phone call home we decided to stay 2
nights to recover from the journey. In the evening we had a very nice meal in
the site restaurant.
Friday 7th June
After visiting the local market in the morning we had a
relaxing afternoon.
Caught an early ferry to Dover and then drove to Hull where
we arrived about 3.30pm.
The trip which we had been looking forward to for so long
was at an end but there remained unfinished business. We hope to complete the
Northern leg sometime next year.
Dad did rally and made it out of hospital but he badly
needed our support during the summer. He died on 13th September
2013.
