Last Post and Trumpet Call.

Sunday 6th January 2019 - Santander Ferry.

As I post this blog we will be on the ferry homeward bound, it will be my last of the trip.

On Friday night I was blighted by 'man flu' and have been using paper tissues like they are going out of fashion.  I had very little sleep at all on Friday and continued to look for sympathy from Janice through Saturday.  Feeling a bit better today but my nose still hasn't forgiven the punishment I have been giving it.

On Saturday we did manage a late morning walk into Santander city centre.  As I said, it was ravaged by a major fire in 1941 and much of it, including the Cathedral was rebuilt.  The City has lots of 5-6 storey blocks of apartments.  I can only presume that many people live in apartments rather than houses.

We enjoyed the walk and saw what we wanted to see...including the traditional cake ring that is called a Roscon de Reyes (Ring of the Kings) and eaten on January 6th to celebrate the Three Wise Men coming to see Baby Jesus.  Apparently a figurine of the Baby Jesus is hidden in the cake.

The cakes are the ones with the colourful candied fruit pieces.  They have various sizes from large to very large.  Some people were queuing at bakeries to pick up their cake.

The new Cathedral was built behind the Christmas tree and therefore easily missed.  We are pleased to report that it seems to be the only Cathedral we visited that didn't charge to enter....which is good because it wasn't as amazing as the others but pleasant enough.

The seafront with a futuristic art museum on the right.....rather too contemporary for us!

We went back to the van and because we were forbidden from staying more than 2 nights at our current location we decided to move out of town to another aire near Cabarceno where there is an open air zoo.  It's a bit like Dalton Wildlfe Park but on a much bigger scale and it is in glorious countryside at the foothills of the Picos Mountains.

On the way (between sneezes) I called in at a filling station to get cheaper Spanish fuel before returning home.  I couldn't resist an item in the shop......

Only a euro!  I wonder if I get a baby Jesus figurine too?  I know it's a cheapie and it won't be as nice as the others in the earlier photo but I will try it later...there is more than enough for both of us.

Our last Spanish night was a lovely location.  We didn't go into the zoo (wildlife park) as it costs 30 euro each and we would need all day to get the best from it.  It has over 20km of roads and has very large enclosures for elephants, zebra, camels, wildcats and many other animals.  It has a system of chairlifts for people to get around the zoo!

We just parked on the car park and enjoyed the bird life on the lake opposite.  There was a massive flock of white egrets (I don't know the collective noun for them).

All the white dots are egrets.

We could watch the elephants go down to the waterhole this morning.  There were 10 elephants in total, they wouldn't all get in the right place for my photograph.  They were certainly our last trumpet of the trip!!

Our last full day had been nice and sunny and pleasantly warm.  A nice way to finish off our trip.  The journey to the ferry was quite short and we didn't have any problems.  We even managed a lunch in Santander before boarding.

So this is the end.....

The trip has been everything we had wanted it to be.  We were a bit worried that we would be caught up in a sea of motorhomes marauding the southern coastline of Spain but it never felt like that.  Maybe we chose quieter places to stay, occasionally seeing larger groups of vans on some sites, we avoided them easily.  We achieved a good balance of meeting up with people and going it alone, we covered all the places we wanted to see and more and we also had a balance between seaside resorts and inland cities that were more cultural.  We have had virtually three months away...the longest we have done and we haven't fallen out or got fed up of our dark night routines of podcasts and crosswords.

HIGHLIGHTS...(no particular order)

Valencia - best paella....and meeting up with Andy and Heather who we still keep in contact with.  It is a great city with something for everyone.  A real competitor with Barcelona for city breaks.

Benidorm - a real eye opener to see how it is a Little Britain.  The performance at the Benidorm Palace will be hard to beat for true professional cabaret entertainment.

Visiting Daisy and Helen at their home near Marrazon.  Thanks for their amazing hospitality and for being such fun.  Again another Little Britain area but the community were so 'can do' in their attitude.  It reflected much of the best parts of the British character, many aspects of which seem to have been lost at home!  We particularly enjoyed the Remembrance Service for the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War.  Coincidentally.....we enjoyed the 'LAST POST' that this final blog is named after.

Gibraltar - we are giving a very British theme in these highlights.  However, it was another unique and historically very interesting place.  I was gobsmacked by the beauty of the views across to North Africa and we really enjoyed walking across the airport runway and the Sunday carvery!

Cabo de Trafalgar - not just for its historical significance but it was the most beautiful beach we saw all trip, proper rugged and wild.

The Sherry Triangle - Cadiz, Jerez and Sanlucar.  I am an unashamed sherry fan but I have now become a sherry nut!  All those cities were beautiful and distinctive....probably the places where the Spanish people go on holiday rather than the Brits abroad.

Culture - Granada tops the list followed by Córdoba, Merida and Seville (didn't get enough time to do it justice).  The Alhambra was a real highlight and a place I have wanted to visit for such a long time.  It didn't disappoint.

Little Gems - Our wildcamps at the Goldmines near Cabo de Gata were really memorable as was the lakeside near Caceres (just a few nights ago)....real peace and quiet in beautiful settings.  Grazalema was a most beautiful 'Pueblo Blanco' and well worth a stop.  Ronda probably doesn't count as a little gem but the views of the cliffs and bridge were amazing.

Big Gem - Malaga was our best city.  A bit more compact than Valencia but it has it (History, Art, Old town and Modern town and great harbour and beaches all in easy reach on foot.

Xmas and New a Year - at Torre del Mar.  We were really pleased with the site we had chosen for an extended stay.  It was quiet and the facilities were good.  The town was easily cycleable or walkable along the beach (with plenty of natural views)! Most of all....we enjoyed being joined by David and Wendy for Xmas.  We had a great time and it made Xmas special (I'm not just saying that because David made us a Christmas Cake!).  

 

I will miss the fantastic oranges we have been having, they don't taste as sweet back home.  We will miss the glorious sunshine and warmth (all our photos have had wonderful blue skies) and lastly, we will miss the PROMENADES!!!!

Thanks for reading the blog.  We have enjoyed writing them.  Remember, this blog is not for your pleasure....it's for our memories!   A great big thanks to Janice for being a wonderful companion.....and doing the proof reading.

Slippery Slope!

Friday 4th January 2019 - Santander.

Yesterday, our plans were constantly changing.  Initially we thought about having a look into Caceres and then get as far as Salamanca for the night.  I had researched the Renaisance and Plateresque buildings of Salamanca and was ready to explain the difference between the two!!  However, we decided to get quickly to Salamanca, missing out Caceres (even though it's a UNESCO site).  We drove on lovely quiet motorways but hit freezing fog as we approached Salamanca.  We stopped at Salamanca just to fill tanks and checked the forecast....it showed that the night would be -6 C degrees.  We didn't fancy that, so, the plan changed again and we carried on the journey.  The fog lifted as we moved north and we eventually carried on to Santander, a total of 350 miles.  Santander weather is frost free and about 10 C in the day with constant sun...it still feels a bit chilly after what we are used to but still not too bad for January.

The place we are staying is near to Santander Real Football Club ground and close to the beach area of El Sardinero and just behind the Universidad of Cantabria.  It is a newly purpose built area for 25 motorhomes and is free.  We are allowed only 2 nights.....we would actually like to stay 3 nights but we are considering whether or not to move on our last night.

This morning I popped out to the supermercado to get some gin for our home stocks....it's quite a bit cheaper in Spain.  The checkout lady spoke a little English, so I told her that the three bottles were for breakfast!

I came back to the van.....and this is what I found.....

Janice was wearing one of my slippers!.....and she didn't even realise!  Now if that isn't the slippery slope to old age confusion I don't know what is.  That was before her breakfast gin too!

The Larios is pretty good.....we have tested it several times.

We continued our 'naughty' treats by cycling to the nearest Decathlon.  We (mainly me) made a few purchases that are hard to justify but couldn't resist.  I bought some walking trainers and some trek trainers....what's the difference?

Good question.....I told you it was hard to justify....the pair on the left are for cross country running and the pair on the left are for cross country walking!

After lunch we cycled around the coast and onto the Santander seafront.  It was cool in the wind but what a beautiful place.

This is the Palicio de la Magdelana built for King Alfonso XIII in 1912 because he particularly enjoyed staying at Santander.

You may just be able to make out the ferry harbour in the distance.  We remember arriving in Santander about 5 years ago and seeing the lovely beaches from the incoming ferry.

This is the Santander Bank building....it's one of the few banks that I haven't got an account with!  They aren't offering a good enough interest.

Apparently the city was ravaged by a terrible fire in 1941 and most of the city was rebuilt from that date.  It feels a bit like a swish French resort with lines of pollarded plane trees along the sea front.  We still haven't been into the city centre but will save that pleasure for tomorrow.

Back to the Country.

Wednesday 2nd January 2019 - Embalse de Salor, nr Caceres.

What a lovely quiet night we had.  Total darkness, starry skies and sunny morning.  Most of the places we have stayed haven't been out in the quiet countryside so there is usually some ambient noise, so total peace and quiet was nice.

Our plan was to drive to Merida an old town which was the capital of the Lusitania Region of the Roman Empire (Janice thought it was 'Lustitania'). It is full of Roman buildings...in pretty good condition. 

Have you ever seen such a frightening gladiator!

The Roman Theatro.....it looks like it has had some renovation but it is as good as you can see anywhere, including Rome.

Roman Goddess of Plenty!

We also went to see the Alcazaba and the Roman Bridge and the Temple of Diana.

You can tell that we had a sunny day.  It started off around 0 degrees and ended up mid teens.....a lovely day, even though Janice kept her jacket on!

We continued to travel north for another wildcamp location.  We got off the motorway before we reached Caceres and found a lovely lake to stay next to.

Complete peace and quiet again, beautiful sunset and no-one in sight.  We did have to risk a rutted road to get down to the lake.  I hope we manage to get back up it tomorrow.

Review and Resolutions.

Tuesday 1st January 2019 -  Córdoba.

We had a good sleep, there had been plenty of loud firework bangs but that didn't bother us.  

This morning....we had clear heads....was a gorgeous sunny but cold morning.  We packed up the van after breakfast and were on the road by 9.30am (we had paid our site bill yesterday so we didn't need to wait for the office to open at 10am).

Janice did the driving for the first part of the trip.  It's the first time she has driven this van in Spain.

We headed for Córdoba and found a place to buy some Propane Gas for the van.  I had previously struggled to find somewhere that sold anything other than Butane and I had previously bought Butane but I wanted Propane this time because it works better than Butane at cold temperatures and I will probably be using this gas bottle in the UK.  The 11kg bottle of Propane cost 13 euros and we know that a 6kg bottle in the UK costs about £25.  What a great price difference!  Twice the quantity and half the price.  Why is it almost four times more expensive in the UK?  We can't blame it all on higher tax!

Anyway, here is a super quick review of 2018 for Janice and I.  in January we had two weeks in the French Alps, one week was a holiday the second week was as makeshift chalet hosts!  In February we had a weeks training course for the Caravan Club and in March we started work at Ferry Meadows Caravan Site till September. In October we started on this trip.  So.......we have maybe spent about 2 months in total at home.  That's a lot of time away, even by our standards.  However, we have had some amazing experiences.  We wanted to do the ski chalet hosting and the Caravan Club job and we did them both and we wanted to have a winter away in Southern Spain too....so all boxes ticked!

In 2019 we resolve to spend more time at home....we can hardly fail!  We are getting a new kitchen fitted later in January/February and in February Janice's daughter, Laura, is expecting our first grandchild.  Exciting times.  We will try to fit in lots of smaller trips in the motorhome.  I might squeeze in another cycle adventure?

I also resolve to take the Queens Speech advice to be tolerant of other people's views.....I particularly mean it in the context of whatever happens to Brexit.  Anything could still occur, between a Hard Brexit and Remain and anything in between.  I want to accept whatever it is that happens because I have no influence over it and am fed up of politicians falling out about it.  I may continue to poke fun at the politicians involved but I must not get 'serious' about the outcome or the consequences!!!  I don't want a country that continues to be bitterly divided.....but again that isn't really within my influence.

That's enough about resolutions!!

We arrived at Córdoba at lunchtime and walked into the Old City Centre across the Roman Bridge.

The Mezquita is the Old Moorish Mosque that was later converted into a Cathedral.  We weren't sure about the opening times on New Years Day or the prices for entry.  We were pleasantly surprised to be waved in at 'five and twenty past one' (I didn't forget my other Resolution!) and being told it closed at 2pm.....free entry today, it would normally be 10 euros each.

I took loads of photos...it was amazing...the photos don't come close to doing it any justice.

I've never seen such a range of styles and religion in the same building.  It is virtually an open plan mosque with a cathedral plonked in the middle.

The city has an Alcazar too...probably not close to the scale of the one at Granada but not shabby!

Late afternoon we drove off to a Country Park in the hills north of the city for a better wild camp experience.

The weather is pretty warm too but it might be very cold tonight!  We may need that full Propane bottle?

Happy New Year again.