Malaga to Madrid

Thursday 9 May

On our return flight to Malaga we were joined by a number of ‘Hen Parties’. They were easy to spot as one group wore matching pink T shirts with the slogan ‘On it till we Vomit’. Watch out Puerto Banus (It was printed on the back of their T shirts). The other group put on straw hats as soon as they got on the plane and started to re-apply their make up an hour before we landed. They were clearly going to hit the ground running.

I was quite impressed by Ryanair. A smooth journey on a newish plane which took off and landed exactly on time.  We were in the car within 30 minutes of landing.  Had slight difficulty finding the Holiday Inn Express we were booked into for the night, it being dark and no signposting to be seen.  However, we did find it and had a nice chat in the bar with an English couple on a long weekend break, until we were joined by a very drunk Irish man trying to avoid his Danish girlfriend!!

Friday 10 May

When we opened the curtains I realised that although it took us an hour to find the hotel we were in fact at the end of the runway. After breakfast we drove back to Cordoba along an almost deserted motorway. En route I noticed that yet another new motorway was under construction linking Cadiz to Granada. I am at a loss as to why they need all these motorways when there is very little traffic on any of them.

We stopped at a service area for coffee to find a bunch of English people who were on a coach tour of the area. A chap from Scotland was moaning about it being too hot.

We hit the Carrefour to stock up with supplies and then onto the caravan which was fine. We were pleased to note that it was about 10 degrees warmer than when we left.  Actually by 4pm it was so hot that I got the fan out, only to discover that it had literally fallen apart. We haven’t used it since we went to Italy and it has been shaken about a lot since then. I was not happy.

It was even hotter when we went to bed. It was very uncomfortable and difficult to sleep. My thoughts turned to the hen parties. Would it be too hot for them?  Were they drinking enough water?  Would they be able to get a taxi back to the hotel?  Had they rung their parents to tell them that they’d arrived safely? I hoped it wasn’t too cold in Puerto Banus as they didn’t seem to have brought any cases. Certainly they weren’t wearing much on the plane.

Saturday 11 May

Every year Cordoba has a competition in which the inhabitants enter their patio gardens for a prize. This year it’s a three day break at a flash hotel in Tarifa. (Having been to Tarifa I wouldn’t personally bother but there you are}.  It is a bit like the courtyard garden exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show but without Alan Titchmarsh.   The City is split into six areas and as it was a weekend we had to have a ticket.  The tickets were free but were an attempt to limit the number of visitors to each patio.  You get a 3 hour time slot to view one area of the city.   The area we chose had 11 patios.   

Some of them were quite amazing, all surfaces of the garden covered in flowers.  The most common flower was the geranium, many varieties of which I have never seen before and have obviously been nurtured over many years, not bought as plug plants each spring. 

One of the patios we visited was actually a communal artist’s area made up of a number of homes in a series of interlinking streets and patios all a riot of colour.  

Anyone even slightly interested in gardening would enjoy this event.   There were a number of groups of the Spanish WI (or similar) on a day trip.  We had to queue for some patios and boy could these ladies make some noise.  Weather hot and sunny.

Sarah had been complaining for some time that her head kept getting very hot. Suddenly I thought I saw smoke coming from her hair. Then it dawned on me. She kept putting her reading glasses on her head which focused the strong sun onto her hair. Fortunately I brought this to her attention before she caused an incident. The thought of explaining the cause of a blaze to a Spanish fireman filled me with dread.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped off at Carrefour to buy a new fan. I wish I was collecting Carrefour points!

The fridge was still not cold enough so we had to turn it up to almost maximum.

Sunday 12 May

Our plan for this trip was to stay in the South and then travel North when it got too hot. Well it was hot so after breakfast we packed up and hit the road heading North towards Toledo which is about 30 miles South West of Madrid. The decision to travel North was premature. More on this later.

The journey was a revelation. Once again I had expected dry dusty countryside. Instead we passed through rolling hills which were reminiscent of Derbyshire. Many of the fields were filled with poppies.

We drove through 2 national parks ‘Parque Natural Lagunas de Ruidera’ and Parque Nacional Tablas de Daimel’.  I made a mental note that if we come to Spain again, we must spend some time in these areas and also in ‘Los Alpujarras’ an area we didn’t explore in Andalucía.

The caravan site (El Greco) is situated just outside Toledo with a spectacular view from the bar terrace.  

It was quite hot but the swimming pool was empty. On the positive side the site is lovely and has washing machines!  (We are becoming very sad people). Treated ourselves to dinner at the site restaurant – very good. (We had a bit of trouble with the menu as one of the items had been translated as ham dust.)  Sarah had baked salmon with asparagus. I had chicken cooked in garlic.

Monday 13 May

Sarah woke me by waving a bottle of Listerine in my face. You have to gargle this she said. Wonderful start to the day.

A hot sunny day (about 29 degrees) – Sarah had four loads of washing done by 10.30. I washed the bird crap off the caravan roof. I did this by opening the rooflight and standing on the bed.  

In the afternoon we went into Toledo.  The City is built on 7 hills apparently, like Rome and Sheffield, so there is a series of escalators to take you up the hill.  A river nearly surrounds the City with a number of bridges old and new crossing the river. Had a wander and a ride on the little train that was actually branded as ‘Trainvision’. It was actually a tractor made to look like a train pulling a couple of trailers with seats on.  The train ride was very good with some excellent views.   

The sky started to blacken and thunder could be heard so we started to rush back to the car as some washing was still out and the skylights were open on the caravan.  At the bottom of the escalator Sarah tripped and literally fell flat on her face.  She ended up with two grazed knees, one grazed hand, a scratched pair of glasses and a bust lip.   A nice lady accompanied by a gentleman who looked like the former Archbishop of Canterbury came to our assistance with Savlon and plasters.  She rummaged around in her bag and I swear I saw a neck brace and defibrillator. I got the impression she’d been waiting for this moment all her life. Sadly Sarah only had a busted lip. She was shaken but was able to walk.

When we got back to the site the Dutch version of a Caravan Club tour had arrived. They were much better organised than the Caravan Club tour we had been on. For a start they had a flag which flew from a collapsible flag post. The leader had installed signs on the main road to ensure that his party did not miss the site and, (this is the killer) they had a portable white board with information about the next day’s activities including a game of boules at 3pm the next day. They even had bunting and a portable tea urn. You’ve got to hand it to them. The Dutch really know how to do Europe in a caravan!

Tuesday 14 May

We drove to the town of Aranjuez (as in Rodrigo’s guitar concerto D’Aranjuez) which is apparently a town the people of Madrid escape to in the summer when it gets too hot.   There is a large palace apparently inspired by Versailles.  

There are many opulent rooms inside including a very extravagant room where the walls and ceiling were covered in porcelain.  I would love to show some pictures but photography was not allowed inside and if you did look as if you were going to get a camera out the guards were ready to pin you on the floor. The town also boasts extensive public gardens which we walked through.

Wednesday 15 May

We went into Toledo again today and visited the cathedral which was very interesting.  Quite a mix of styles and influences.  Very good audio guide.  We then wandered around the Jewish quarter of the City and down to the river.  The architecture is very different, much more geometric and angular.  It is a lovely City to wander around.  They were preparing for the festival of Corpus Christie at the end of May so flags were being hung from walls, lanterns strung across the streets and canopies being put up over the streets to protect the procession of the from the Cathedral.  

Toldeo is famous for its decorated jewellery, marzipan and knives. We bought one of each but ate the marzipan confection before we got back to the caravan.

On the way back I allowed Sarah a little treat and stopped at a supermarket she had not visited before. Eroski is like any other supermarket in Europe but it was fun learning a new layout. This one made a point of featuring local produce in the centre of the store. An innovation we had not seen elsewhere.

Weather colder today – down to 15 degrees.

Thursday 16 May

Moved on to Camping El Escorial – North West of Madrid.   A huge site near the town of San Lorenzo El Escorial with 3 swimming pools but not many people on it.  Sarah estimated that there are about 450 caravan pitches plus space for 500 tents and there are about 1,000 static caravans. I counted about 36 touring caravans so we more or less have the place to ourselves…and guess what. The Dutch group have also arrived.

The guide book says the site has very good security and it does. A man drives round on a golf cart 24 hours a day. With so few people around I don’t know what sort of problems he is expecting.

I had been very much looking forward to relaxing on a deck chair and taking a dip when it got too hot. In fact having read the guide book I was dreading the intense sun. After Seville this is the second hottest place in Spain.  I needn’t have worried. By the time it came to BBQ the sausages it was freezing. It was like being at home, I was outside wearing a fleece and Sarah stayed inside. It’s a good job that the hen parties didn’t come here. They’d have got hypothermia.

Friday 17 May

The temperature got down to 4 deg C last night. This morning it’s a bit like being in the Lake District at Easter but without the traffic and daffodils. Snow has fallen on the hills behind us and it’s cold and wet. We have put the fan away, dug out our warm clothes and turned the fridge down as things are beginning to freeze.

A high of 9 degrees is forecast today.    Apparently this day last year it was 29 degrees – so much for summer in Spain.    We took the bus into Madrid.   Actually it was a very well appointed coach. It even had free wifi . The day was dominated by eating.   We had a walk round in the morning and found the market of San Miguel which was full of food stalls selling everything from fruit, to tapas to oysters.   We sampled a couple of stalls for lunch.  

We were both impressed by the older buildings which were full of character.

There are several haberdashery type shops selling buttons, ribbons etc. 

They were packed with people. You had to get a ticket and wait till you are called ( a bit like the deli counter in Tescos).

After lunch we went off to find a map shop to try and get some information on walking in the hills around where we are staying.   Having found that we then went to find the ‘Chocolateria San Gines’.  This is a café selling hot chocolate and churros (long strips of donut type confection) which you dip in the chocolate (not drinking chocolate but as thick as a melted bar of Cadburys), traditionally eaten for breakfast.  The place is open from 9.30am to 7am. (Yes it closes for 2 ½ hours a day). This is the place to go on your way back from a night on the tiles to help soak up the alcohol.  They were very good.

We then went to look at the Royal Palace.  Again a large number of very opulent rooms. (Which we were not allowed to photograph).  Particularly notable for Sarah were the chandeliers.  There were dozens, all different and all works of art in their own right.   The palace also has an enormous collection of suits of armour for men, children and horses.  Very impressive, though not sure how the horse could move what with its armour and the man sat on it in his armour carrying a huge pike.  Sarah was very upset at the thought of children wearing armour. We did not see the gardens as it was pouring down.

The coach journey back to the site took 30 minutes. The coach didn’t stop once thanks to the protected bus lanes. The Metro system was also very efficient. Why is it that Spain can do public transport much better than England? I mean for goodness sake they’re Spanish.

In the evening we went into the site cafeteria which is the only place you can get wifi. I asked for a couple of drinks and handed over the cash. The barman asked for a ticket and would not take the money. I kept saying I didn’t have a ticket but he kept pointing to a jukebox on the wall. Upon closer inspection I realised it was not a juke box but a machine which issued tickets for drinks and snacks. Sarah bought tickets for a tonic water and a glass of red wine. The barman was placated.  They might know how to run public transport but they have a lot to learn about running a bar.

Saturday 18 May

Still cold, more snow on hills. Colder here than in the UK.   We did some shopping this morning and found another supermarket we had not visited before. Sarah got very excited that this one ‘Super Cor’ was owned by Spain’s big department store chain El Cortes Ingles. The chain is like John Lewis’s. So, she suddenly realised that she was in the Spanish version of Waitrose. It made her day.

We also had a look around San Lorenzo, though this was brief because of the rain.  San Lorenzo is famous for the huge palace/monastery built there by King Philip who wanted to live like a monk for some reason.  It is a very austere grey square building (the guide book describes it looking like prison).   It was free today so we went to have a look, but I am not really sure what to say about it.  Many rooms full of gloomy paintings and not a lot else – glad we didn’t pay.   The palace had a large mausoleum full of dead Kings and Queens and room after room of tombs of royal children.   I think we are palace’d out and need to avoid them for a few days.  

In the evening we watched a couple of episodes of Broadchurch and had a bottle of wine. Since we arrived in Spain we have been buying orange juice from a company called Don Simon, it is very good. Earlier in the day I noticed that Don Simon also did red wine in a plastic bottle. It wasn’t quite up to scratch but very good value at 1.60 euro which is cheaper than their orange juice. We will buy again.

As for Broadchurch, we watched it off a DVD which I copied before we left home. I had hoped to get live TV but out newly acquired automatic searching satellite dish can only pick up CNN and QVC in English. We can however watch a host of Arabic channels including Al Jazeera and live camel racing from Dubai.  

Fortunately we can keep up with the news on the BBC website and we download podcasts of the News Quiz and the Archers.