Lovely drive up from Bergen, lots of scenery -lakes, mountains, pretty villages and waterfalls everywhere. One section of the road after the Stalheim Hotel has 13 tight hairpin bends down to the next river valley. Put the tent up then took the ferry/ cruise up Naeroyfjord, Narrow Fjord, a UNESCO World heritage site, it's the narrowest in Europe. Really beautiful. Weather managed to stay dry until just as we were docking, then the heavens opened and we were soaked getting the few meters to the bus back to Flam and then from there to the campsite. The next morning (3rd July ) we took the famous railway journey, Flamsbana, up from Flam to Myrdal. When we had booked the day before there was plenty of space, as we set off on the 10min walk to the ... read more

My new walking shoes are water proof, unfortunately I know this because it has rained all day. We knew this was likely but it’s a big change from yesterday, or maybe yesterday was a big change from normal, not sure. We waited out the worst of the weather, then when it seemed to be gentle rain walked the 2 km from the campsite, over the huge roadworks going on here into the city of Stavanger. It’s well known as a quiet harbour with Europe’s oldest collection of wooden houses just back from the harbour. It’s all very pretty, with well restored houses along narrow and at times steep streets. Lots of hanging baskets out to add to the prettiness. The harbour view was somewhat spoiled by two huge cruise ships that were docked. This also meant ... read more

Reaching the end of our travels in Andalucia and the final two amazing buildings that I wanted to visit, the Mezquita in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada. The Mezquita or Santa Maria cathedral is a wonderful building, never seen any building quite like it. There’s a special atmosphere, even with the large numbers of visitors. The huge area with the repeating columns with their red and white striped curved tops makes the space seem both infinitely large and quite intimate as no one space is particularly big. It would have been amazing to see it with more than one door open and the light playing through the columns as it was designed to do. The site was originally a Roman temple, then Visigoths, then a mosque that was extended three times, then a cathedral. Many ... read more

Left the lovely mountain area and went down down, down back along narrow winding roads through Lanjaron (known for its spa waters) and on to the small city of Antequera. This was a lovely place to spend a couple of days, very few tourists, quiet with plenty to see and pretty too. More narrow windy streets with an Alcazabar at the top of the hill. We were glad that our hire car was very small as it was super tight maneuvering in and out of the parking at the hotel around the streets of downtown. Antequera was one of the first places to be re-conquered by the Christians in the 15th Century, maybe because of that there are a huge number of old and huge churches and convents in the down town area. The history stretches ... read more

Having crossed the Med from Tangiers to Algeciras we hired a car and began our second holiday in Andalucia. Five days with a car took us around a variety of the White Towns and a day on the Costa de la Luz, south of Cadiz. Enjoyed being up in the hills visiting and staying in some small towns and villages. All seem to wind down steep cobbled streets with pretty whitewashed buildings, flowerpots and very tight corners to negotiate in a car. Small local bullrings, tapas for lunch and very quiet. Grazelma village had had its bull run through the town two days before we were visited and there were still big barriers to ensure the bulls only went down certain streets. Enjoyed some walks in the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazelma, along a river, down ... read more