Sunday 23 December 2018

From Mid-Spain to Mediterranean Spain and the Costa Blanca for Christmas - Days 75 to 82


Merry Christmas from us to you

It may only have been a one horse town, but it was an eight cat town... a little old man walked past, followed by a cat and two kittens who wouldn’t talk to me, despite biscuits, so eventually I went round the corner to find a house where I least expected it, it looked shut up so I went a bit closer, till I saw some little faces, shook my box of cat biscuits for three cats and five kittens to run up, all obviously hungry and not really tame though I did manage to stroke each one as they were busy crunching. They were so cute, I had to promise I would be back, with my husband, obviously they understood every word. By the time B had posted the blog I was hopping up and down, that he had to come and see my cats, they all reappeared still ravenous, so I said I’d see them in the morning. Soft touch? Me?  Where were we? Luciania, here's the location, click on this link for a map: 38°58'57.3"N 4°17'32.9"W
Dinner was an experiment in the thermal cooker. Kedgeree is a firm favourite, so although I’d balked at the price of smoked haddock in Carrefour before we left France, the smoked herrings had caught my eye, and now was time. Kedgeree is one of those dishes that always seems to take loads of pots, well not this time, fried the onion with the curry powder in my pot, added the rice, fish, water and a little milk brought it to the boil and into the thermal outer, with the eggs hard boiling in the top pot. Three quarters of an hour later, took the lid off, shelled the eggs, stirred it all through and yum.
The motorhome parking at Chinchilla. Originally planned as a housing estate


Three and a half driving hours the next day, longer than usual, but an easy drive, to another little town, on the outskirts of Albacete to a huge, quiet parking area in a nice enough place, seemed to have a good castle, but we could only walk round the outside. There were also a number of cave houses, locked and abandoned, except for one, abandoned but not locked, very interesting.   Here's where it is, click on this link for a map: 38°55'15.3"N 1°43'20.6"W



The castle at Chinchilla de Montearagon
Abandoned cave houses at Chinchilla de Montearagon

Another long drive, which could have been far worse, we woke to really thick fog so terrible visibility, fortunately when we went down it cleared so the journey was ok. Our final stop, in Benissa, so very close to Dad and Elizabeth, but with facilities to enable us to empty and clean Ted for him to stand quietly for a few weeks  (here's a link to a map: 38°43'16.8"N 0°03'37.0"E). I’m still not sure what Benissa has to offer, though we had a lovely fried fish Menu del Dia, hurrah, we are back at the sea. I wish my Spanish was better though it may not have helped, but there seemed to be lots of drama going on at what was obviously a works lunch out....
Rooms inside one of the abandoned cave houses
More cave houses, this one still lived in

I’ve been losing sleep about getting Big Ted onto the drive here ever since we bought him, it’s a funny shape, a sharp turn in, steep, lots of trees...... but actually he’s slotted in like a dream, and we’ve even got him nearly flat!

So this is us now till sometime in January, a family Christmas before housesitting for Pepa cat while D&E go back to the UK for New Year. We’ve got involved in normal Christmas preparations, I’ve had a much needed haircut, we’ve been to Calpe for our favourite fish lunch and yesterday got step uncle Michael admitted to hospital! Not what anyone wants at this time of year, but hopefully when he comes out he’ll have got some mobility back which will be a great improvement. That was yesterday’s ‘excitement’ so we’ll be off shortly to find out what is what!
The motorhome parking at Benissa. More 'parking at the side of a road' actually, but it was an official motorhome parking area and did have water and waste disposal facilities (and shops and restaurants close by!)
Arriving at Richard (dad) and Elizabeth's lovely house on the Costa Blanca. Big Ted slotted in nicely on the drive...
There he is, taking up a tiny amount of space on the drive. We drove up through those black gates on the left which was interesting. The clutch was smelling a bit hot by the time we'd got him parked there!
Richard (dad) and Elizabeth displaying their Christmas jumpers on their balcony (the Bernia Ridge visible behind them)
Out for a fabulous 'fish fest' lunch in Calpe in warm December sunshine. LtoR: Richard, Jackie before her haircut, Jane, Elizabeth (and Brian's shadow!)
Sunset on the shortest day of the year. I'd really like a photo of sunset on the longest day, apparently it's right over to the right
Elusive, scardy Pepa cat, who we're in charge of next week. Even getting a stroke is a major achievement
Sunrise from our bedroom window this morning at about 08:15 just as the first reddish rays of sun reflected off the mountains  

Here's a little video of Jackies before and after haircut:




Saturday 15 December 2018

Monfragüe National Park & Trujillo - Days 71 to 74

Griffon vultures at Monfragüe National Park
We arrived at the campsite early, she (the lady in reception at the campsite) obviously couldn’t quite work out where we’d come from in order to arrive at that time, and we’d messed around as long as we could.... (campsite location: 39°56'38.5"N 6°05'03.3"W

Sadly the weather didn’t clear as we hoped, but he’d posted the last blog and we’d had lunch, so we had to go out. We walked round the corner out of the campsite where she said there was a new visitor centre, it was slightly further than expected and was certainly new, it still smelt of wood! We learned a bit, but most of it was in Spanish. 
Here's one flying overhead
So pack Ted up for the 15km drive into the Monfragüe National Park. This is the down side of a motorhome, it’s it or feet or bikes, and bikes would have been bad. So leaving a chair in the spot we had chosen, close enough to the bar for the iboost to pick up the WiFi, off we went. The visitor centre in the park had the map we’d hoped for so after much discussion we went for a drive, below the low cloud, deciding a walk might be too depressing. This is obviously the downside to being out of season, the upside however was that all the carparks were empty so we could stop and look at all the viewpoints with ease. 
And a couple standing on rocks on the opposite river bank
We weren’t going to bother with the last one, but turning round was a bit tricky, and we are so glad we did, as from this final point a short walk from the carpark we could look across the river to the huge breeding colony of Griffon vultures as they majestically soared in to perch on rocks on the skyline. B spent ages trying to get a good picture of one at about our level, the other side of the river and did end up with a great picture of a bluetit that appeared right next to him.....



And the little blue tit that landed next to me
What a cutie! We thinks its a Black Redstart
Having still not really had a walk we decided to stay two nights as the forecast was for overnight rain which the camp lady said would wash away the fog. Back to the site we thought we’d go for a beer, which was easy, but we really wanted a tapa too. This seemed harder so we settled on some olives until our lovely barman appeared with some albondigas, or meatballs, fab, just what we wanted. Not knowing what to expect to pay we asked if we could pay by card, “non! €3” for two beers, a big bowl of olives and 4 meatballs? OK!
On our hike to the castillo
The views from the top were stunning, here's a few of them....

It did rain overnight, and it did then clear so we set off, back to the park, packing up Ted, leaving a chair..... A good ‘proper’ walk, with hills and everything, rather than just 8 or 10km through a town ensued as we made it to the Castillo. Fabulous views, perfect weather, though we both had to confess we were glad to get back to Ted, all ok, having been left all alone in a lay-by for three and a bit hours......


The river you can see is the Tajo, that starts in the mountains in central Spain and enters the Atlantic at Lisbon in Portugal 
Looking back from where we came, beyond the bridge and round the bend 
We decided to eat in the restaurant on the site, €9 each for three courses, bread and a bottle of wine, rude not to! Glad we did, our man would have had nothing to do otherwise.... The bill, with two beers to start came to €21 which made the beer €3 so the olives and meatballs the previous day had been nothing, what a very nice man!
Back at the bridge, the castillo we went to is on top in the distance

We were sad to leave, a break from city breaks was just what we needed. It does mean we have left ourselves slightly short to get to Dad and Elizabeth on the 18th, so it was Trujillo or Mérida. So glad we chose Trujillo.







We think (but we're not sure) that the bridge visible here (and the one we walked across on our walk) and the road in the foreground was the original road through the park, now replaced by a higher road and bridge in the above photo, as this one is now below the high water mark when the reservoir is full, which you can see above us. 

Trujillo
Walking up to the castle in Trujillo

As I paid at the campsite I asked if she had any advice on Trujillo, I prefer Caceres she said.... hmm.

A relatively short drive brought us towards a town with a fantastic castle on the top. For those who have watched Game of Thrones (we are three episodes in so don’t know if that counts) this castle is the home of the Lannisters in series 7...



The castle and old Trujillo beyond
As ever by the time we’d arrived in a slightly strange parking area, it will be an Aire, at some point but is currently just a dump point, no water, outside of the old bull ring (campsite location: 39°27'26.1"N 5°52'20.0"W), had lunch and found the tourist information we had about an hour before everything shut at 14.00, to open again at 16.30. We have been falling foul of this quite a lot, by 16.30 we don’t want to be heading out again, but contemplating cooking dinner before a wine and crisp. Straight to the castle then. 
More of the fabulous castle. We have many photos it is so photogenic
Never has a castle needed an entry sign more. We somehow found our way round the back to where the archaeologists seemed to be working, but we went in, up and down steps and along ramparts before deciding they might be packing up for lunch. Not wanting to be locked in we dashed out, walked the other way round the building and found the entrance! We paid our money €1.50 and went in to a fabulous castle, looking down on all the bits we’d just been in!
Plaza Mayor in Trujillo and the statue of Fransico Pizarro, leader of the conquistadors of Peru. Having been to Peru and having read the Conquest of the Incas, lent to me by Simon it was really interesting to visit the birth town of this man. Columbus had first visited the New World in 1492 and colonisation by the Spanish had started soon after. Pizarro first sailed there in 1509, but it was in 1530 that he sailed to Panama with a number of other people from this city, crossed the isthmus, entered the Pacific and found Peru. With his small band of men with guns, armour and horses they trekked inland to Cajamarca where they encountered Atahualpa, chief of the Incas, ambushed him, held him hostage and with immense cruelty went on to defeat the formidable Incas, conquer Spanish South America and found untold quantities of gold and silver that was transported back to Spain
Plaza Mayor and, opposite, the Palacio de la Conquista

And that was it, arrived at the church with the towers you can go up, just as it was shutting.... couldn’t find anywhere doing churros and chocolate, they were still all on lunch, so we went back to Ted and made our own, well hot chocolate and Cadburys chocolate fingers. Will we make it out again? Despite both being tired (why did we not sleep well on a campsite?) we did, we had to do the church and he wanted to go to the Pizarro museum, he discovered Peru, so we learned all about him from the other side two years ago! The church was great, the museum shut, but at this point I didn’t really care, I had Spanish tortilla to prepare, or actually just to finish as I’d had the foresight to put mostly cook the potatoes and onion on the electric ring before leaving the campsite, so not costing us, just as well as it took a lot longer than I expected. Jamon Iberico seems to be big business in Trujillo, so I thought a couple of slices to go with the salad, tortilla and chorizo might be good. 


The shield on the Palacio de la Conquista. It shows the Spanish ships arriving, the walls of Cuzco together with the Incan Emperor, Atahualpa and his chiefs in chains. It was built in 1560 be Hernando Pizarro after his return from Peru. Hernando was Fransicos half brother and son-in-law, having married Pizarros daughter, the half Inca Yupanqui who came with him to live here
The Palacio de los Duques de San Carlos, opposite, has pyramids of Aztecs and Incas on its chimneys as a symbol of those subjugated to Spanish rule and conversion to Catholicism in the New World
The house Fransico Pizarro grew up in
We passed a shop where she was unloading leg upon leg of ham. She had no English, so in my best Spanish I explained what we were having for dinner and she sold me some little pieces of ‘the good stuff’ for the same price as a few slices of the only average stuff! She was right, it was ‘the good stuff’. I went back after dinner for another couple of packs where I had to wait behind a lady why bought two whole legs and two whole smoked pork fillets. I don’t know if the just over €300 was for all three of her receipts or if that was just two of the three..... all I could do was apologise for the paltry sum I was spending!
Walking the streets of this fabulous city

A good nights sleep, a long but quite pleasant drive and we are now in a one horse town, planning on hibernating for the afternoon, before another couple of longish driving days. Big country Spain! Our campsite location in Luciana, our current stop: 38°58'57.3"N 4°17'32.9"W













Inside the Iglesia de Santa Maria Mayor, located up the hill towards the castle and close to Pizarros home. He was baptized here
View from one of the two towers of the Iglesia de Santa Maria Mayor. You can see the other tower and, beyond the fabulous castillo on the hill
Some of the castle walls. Every part of this amazing city was so photogenic I just couldn't stop taking photos. I have many, many more and it was difficult to pick which to use here. This is a fabulous city and should be on everyone's list to visit. It is as though it has stopped in time in the sixteenth century
Jackie found two cats who wanted some fuss in Trujillo
Look at this photo of a really interesting bird in Luciana, where we are staying now. We think its called a Hoopoe
This is an Azure winged magpie, apparently only found in Extramadura, this part of Spain

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Valladolid, Salamanca & Placensia - Days 67 to 70

Despite Burgos not being particularly exciting we stayed two nights, the first the last blog was posted and we didn’t go anywhere except to the churros and chocolate van at the end of the car park, a lovely man, 6 churros and some butchered Spanglish. It seemed very busy, and a little noisy, was that really the bin lorry at 02.30? The lady opposite thought so too.... Almost we stayed because it was busy, we hadn’t actually looked at the town, and we were in an official parking space, unlike many others. When we walked to get churros on Saturday night (12, but that was all we were having for dinner having been out to lunch) we counted 79 vans through the auto-caravanes parking (poor Ted is having quite an identity crisis, he’s gone from a motorhome, to a camping-car and now he’s an auto-caravan) and the regular parking on a site that’s meant to hold 30!

Queuing for churros and hot chocolate in Burgos
The very busy campite in Burgos (42°21'02.5"N 3°40'49.9"W)
So, Saturday morning we wandered into town and met our first tourist information man, still very helpful. Saw all the sights, weren’t that impressed so decided to have lunch, a simple portion of paella, a large plate of lamb chops and chips, and a flan. 1/4l wine, very full!








The impressive Burgos cathedral from the castle on the nearby hilltop
Impressive hey? And the bull statue isn't bad either!
We got back to Ted wondering if the weak sun would have worked on the solar panel to boost his battery, to find him down at 84%. In theory nothing to worry about, but not quite right. The battery volts and the percentage charge have been a bone of contention between us ever since we got the van, it charges to 100% when on Electric Hook Up but then gets a ? And then starts dropping, still with ? If left on the solar panel in storage it's just at 100% Brian says I overreact and I hate that it makes no sense! Anyway, with looking at why it hadn't charged up on the solar panel, we still don't know, though it's possible that the outside light, which does seem very inefficient, may have been knocked as we went out, BUT it appears that the control panel may think it's got one 80Ah battery as opposed to two 110's could this be the cause of all our strangeness? We decided to wait till we are on a campsite in a couple of days and reset it, see if it can get its life sorted out! All we've proved so far is we don't know what to believe.

Plaza Mayor panorama in Valladolid. It was the first plaza of its kind in Spain , originally laid out in sixteenth century, and became the model for plazas all over Spain and in South America. Columbus lived in Valladolid as did King Ferdinand and Isobel. The city was rivalling Madrid in the seventeenth century to become the capital city of Spain, but much of the city was destroyed in the Peninsular War with Napoleon's France, where the UK's Wellington came to the aid of Spain in 1804-14 
The likeable city of Valladolid
Anyway, we parked up in one of the 15 legal spaces in Valladolid aware that it had been as hideously busy as Burgos, there were vans all over, half parked in the dividing grass, all sorts. What a difference as towns go, there were Christmas lights, happy families, a lovely atmosphere. So much so we went out again after dinner to look at the lights in the dark.




Valladolid. L is Santa Maria la Antigua church, R is the cathedral
Red squirrel in the park
We heard from David and Linda, our Ozzie mates, who confirmed that bad luck does indeed go in threes, their ferry crossing had been cancelled, from Saturday to Thursday, but they were seeing the silver lining as they were doing some beautiful drives. I emailed back telling them how their story had made friendly ferry lady decide their problems were nothing, so they’d improved someone’s life without even being there, and how horrible the crossing into Spain had been according to a guy who had pulled in beside us about 5 minutes earlier.

Lots of happy people in Valladolid's Campo Grande park
The beautiful San Pablo church in Valladolid
Another day, another city, off to Salamanca (you know, him, the James Bond villain - I knew Brian was wrong but it took me such a long time to remember Scaramanga....) bright and early as the carpark was free till 09.00 and we had a little drive before bus messing about and you never know how long that will take... Actually not very long, we checked into a fairly basic and mostly closed campsite, but all clean, and lots of hot water before hopping on the bus. Campsite location: 41°00'00.9"N 5°40'42.3"W 



Jackie said she looked happier after I'd cuddled her! As you can see, it was cold!
As we left Valladolid we reset the control panel, telling Ted he had 220Ah of battery not 80, this obviously confused him as he decided he was 50%? charged, we were expecting this but it’s still horrible! On arrival at the site he decided he was 100% charged and we could breathe.....almost..... despite being on EHU he decided 99% was as high as he was going, so we’ll just have to see how we get on.



Tapas and beer in a Salamanca bar
We liked Salamanca and were very pleased with the trip we took up to the bell tower of the Old Cathedral, only €3.75 but everything seemed to be €3.75 and they could have soon added up. The lady in the tourist information had said it was her favourite, so glad she did. We saw into both new and old cathedrals from above and had some amazing views over the city, saw some very scary cracks that were probably caused by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. It’s not fallen down yet, but we didn’t hang about in that doorway! Lunch was a 3 tapas and small beer for €4 deal, can’t be bad, except don’t have rabo de cerdo, pigs tail, I can’t recommend it, but you have to try something new.... the other 5 things were great.



Views from the splendid cathedral at Salamanca
Today was a scenic driving day, (though actually not as scenic as the drive from Cabarceno to Burgos,)to Plasencia, a nice enough town, though we weren’t going to bother with the town except it was a longish drive. So, no Aire here, but a carpark on Searchforsites and on Park4night, so we decided to give it a go, just randomly park in a carpark. It’s all legal, as long as we are only parked and not camping, so no chairs, washing, bbqing etc but we arrived and were the only ones here. It’s stupid, but when three other vans turned up about 16.30 we decided perhaps we would be ok to have a glass of wine after all... Tomorrow (which might be today when this gets posted) we are going to a national park, just down the road as we are a bit citied out, do a bit of a walk and stay on another campsite.

The old cathedral at Salamanca
Near the top of the bell tower
We normally do ‘things’ in the morning and chill in the afternoon, today however it’s very foggy, so chilling this morning and hopefully walking this afternoon, after a fine night in the carpark, except for the bin men at 04.00!

















Salamanca cathedral and Roman bridge
The cathedral at Placensia
The Trujillo gate at Placensia
Another driving video. This was was part of the scenic drive along the N110 road towards Placensia. It last just over 2 minutes: