Maasgouw This is our last day on the continent before we catch the ferry tomorrow, Friday 11 September, and see Grenville and Janet with Emma in Folkestone on our way back to Southampton. We are in a naturist site but it is overcast, cool and with a little drizzle at times. It's better in England. We spent the morning cycling around the Maas looking at Thorn. We caught a ceremony marking the anniversary of the day they were liberated in 1944 eight months before the end of the war. It was a bit like the 11 November ones in England. [View Full Entry]

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Through north Germany and south to Berlin and Dresden As I thought, it has been difficult to catch wifi whilst touring in Germany but we have it now at our campsite just north of Dresden. So we are fine and still finding this very interesting. Especially as, since Lubeck a couple of weeks ago, we are in former East Germany. Some of the roads are terrible for cycling with large cobblestones the whole way. Most of the roads proper are now treated with tarmac but the backroads and tracks are sometimes in their original state. If they are not cobblestones [View Full Entry]

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This year we are off to the Netherlands and Germany Again, if you don't want to receive these email reminders then let me know and I can knock you off the list. I am not sure about the access we are going to have to the wifi network on our travels so this may be the only entry till we return in September. However, I hope we can let you know of our success in finding interesting things to see and do while we attend the International Tandem Rally in Applesha, Netherlands followed by a tour of northern Germany. We are [View Full Entry]

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And Through Portugal We had a lovely time driving slowly up through Portugal with some lovely and some not so lovely weather. We managed to pop into Lisbon when it was wet and it doesn't matter then. It is still a great place for a short break. We discovered history in Mafre, Tomar and Obidos. And some religiosity in Fatima where we got wet. After that we moved further north to a small campsite near Oliveira dos Hopital past Coimbra where we cycled and stayed for a few days before finding Braganca which was beguiling, a real find. This was our [View Full Entry]

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Lagos We had a lovely time with Anne, Graham and Ben. We managed to show Ben the sea and waves for the first time. He seemed to enjoy himself which meant that his parents relaxed as well. It was a real highlight. The campsite was very well run and impressed us both. But we had to say goodbye on Sunday so that they could return to work. And we took off to explore the west coast of Portugal. Alentejo We always knew this coast from our stays in Feragudo as it was where we went to find some cooler air, about [View Full Entry]

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A week in Conil We have found a lovely campsite with wifi in the van so that we can listen to Radio 4 whenever we want to. It really makes a change in the holiday. Cuts us off a bit from other people and the country but keeps us in touch with the family and friends. We have each morning logged on to BenCam when we join our grandson at his first meal in the day and even catch Graham before he goes off to work. Its been great. Otherwise here we have had some great cycle rides and walks in [View Full Entry]

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Waiting for Anne, Graham and Ben It is now Sunday afternoon, 29 March, two weeks before Easter. Thus A, G & B have got a good deal with Easyjet and Touriscampo (where we are stopped) for a few days in the sun. We have experienced a little expense here with the radiator leaking while we were in Spain. Unfortunately we could not find the leak at the first garage as it was raining hard and so it was all wet anyway. We moved on to a favourite town, Tavira, where we found the garage which solved our problem for loads of [View Full Entry]

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Traveling East in the Algarve Just popped into the library in Tavira in the eastern Algarve looking for wifi but no power in the laptop so am on a pc. We have had lovely weather up till yesterday when we felt rain again. Other than that we have had unbroken sunshine which has allowed us to make some lovely back roads cycle rides. The ones from Salema to Sagres and to Lagos were delightful. It appears that there is an off main road cycle way all along the Algarve coast from the Spanish border to Cape Vincent. It is not all [View Full Entry]

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We've found the sun in Portugal We crossed Spain in some cold weather but amazing countryside and towns. We entered Portugal and stopped at Belmonte a little way from Salamanca. After various stops in some windy and cold weather we have come down to the Alentejo at a place called Monte Barao a little east of Sines south of Lisbon. It is a nice campsite 1.5 km up a dirt track but with fine facilities and wifi we can connect with while sitting in the van. Thanks for the messages from people. They are good to have. Also we are contactable [View Full Entry]

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France and Spain ahead of the snow We have met up with some friends in France, near Evreux and near Bergerac. That was really lovely as they were both very pleased to see us again. We also got fed enormous amounts of good food and wine. We were able to give them each some of the new batch of marmalade. When we were in Evreux we were warned of the snow about to engulf northern Europe including England. So we heard on Radio 4 (longwave) about how the snow was affecting the transport arrangements in the south and then the north. [View Full Entry]

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