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Hello again,
We drove from Almeria to Calnegre and opted not to stay in a dusty field for €6 and wild camped on the beach. We spent the €6 next morning having breakfast in a local bar. The little village was quiet and we sat having a drink, a few feet away from the sea. The owners of the bar were taking down the sunshade closest to the beach and we thought it signalled stormy weather. No was the response
“ we don’t have a licence for this and the council come to inspect tomorrow, then we will put it back!! “
Thursday we drove back to Casas Nuevas to find the house enclosed in security fencing and the garden walls demolished and all of the foundation work done for the pillars for the second floor. We collected our little Opel combo and parked in the aire in Mula, not the most salubrious place to spend the night but the view of the castle is pretty good. We visited our builder at home and sorted out the final arrangements for payments during the work.
Friday we did some sorting out of payments etc with the architects and
set off to El Berro campsite. It is in a beautiful little village in the Sierra Espuna and although we have visited the village the campsite was new to us. The hardest part was finding a pitch big enough for Henry but eventually we got ourselves sorted with the biggest one. The views were stunning and we spent three nights enjoying the landscape. The campsite staff were lovely but the facilities a bit basic, albeit clean and tidy.
Saturday our Spanish mobile switched itself off as the battery had drained looking for signal!! Neither of us could remember the pin but knew exactly where the card was with the number on, in the bedroom in the house in Casas Nuevas along with everything else we had stacked up in there to empty the house for the builders. We had two options either go and get it or spend time in the phone shop on Monday, which in Spain could take several hours.
So Sunday we drove to Casas and retrieved the number. Afterwards we had a meal in El Berro and I was able to choose carefully from the menu to fit in with my new regime. I
also asked for no oil or salt which resulted in Chris getting a very dry piece of salmon.
Our original plan was to start heading north on Wednesday 17
th May but we changed that as we could do all our last business on Monday 15
th. We drove back and Chris sorted Henry with air for the tyres and filled the tank (€76 at 1.005 per litre!!). He sorted out some paperwork with the abogado and got some cash from the bank. We have left our Opel with Sue and Tony and we then went out for lunch to Banos de Mula and were joined by John and Lyndis who had also helped us out and let us stay for a while. Eating out is becoming a bit more of a chore than a pleasure trying to find things that are low fat, all three starters were off limits as were the desserts but the company was good.
We met with our builder and at 5 o’clock set off homeward bound. Our original plan was to drive to Albacete, as a stop off before heading to the Picos de Europa, but Chris felt okay so we stopped on an
aire , below a castle in Castillo de Garcimunoz. It had been a hot day and we had a fitful night despite having every window open. We were up and away by 7.30 and had breakfast en route and arrived in Burgos about 2pm. Another last minute change to the plans as we had to pass the city to get to our final destination and it has been on our list for a few years.
The campsite was pretty chaotic and full with no real system of allocating pitches. When we got back from a short walk a small van had squeezed in beside us. The facilities were pretty ropey too and it is definitely overpriced at €19 a night. What it does have is location, in the sense that it is within easy to access Burgos.
There is a bus into the centre but on Wednesday we walked into town along the riverside. Burgos, bathed in sunshine, is a beautiful city and the jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the cathedral. A coffee stop outside beside the main arch into the city was lovely in the sunshine. Burgos is on the Francesa pilgrim route so there were
lots of people on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
For once I set aside my principles about paying an entrance fee to a place of worship and was amazed by the history and splendour of the place. The audio guide really enhanced the visit and there were surprises round every corner and often above you. El Cid is buried there too.
We then had a wander through the streets enjoying finding gorgeous squares. We had lunch in a vegetarian restaurant where very choice was suitable for my new diet. I had asparagus gazpacho followed by veggie rice and an asparagus mousse and apricots for pudding. We ended up sharing it with an American woman doing the camino and it was fascinating hearing her talk about Trump as she was not a fan. We then found an old fashioned local bar for a glass of wine. The rain started just as we got the bus back and the timing was perfect, we had spent seven hours wandering around, no fun if it had been raining.
It rained most of the night and about 7.30am on Thursday we had thunder and lightning so strong it shook the camper.
Our next destination was Potes in the Picos de Europa-last year when we drove north it was cut off with heavy snow. It was a fabulous drive through the north of Spain with green valleys, fields of cereals then eventually cattle- a sure sign for me that you are in the north. We stopped for coffee in Cervera de Pisguerga and as we set off we had the amazing, and at times scary, sight of about 700 motorbikes coming in the opposite direction. Driving through spectacular scenery with a little bit of snow on the tops was fabulous. We arrived in pretty little Potes the heart of the east side of the Picos. We stayed on La Viorna campsite and it has everything. The location is magnificent with views of the Picos, the facilities are spotless and the staff are a lovely friendly family.
We were 2k from Potes so we walked in and spent Friday wandering around and found the start of our walk for the next day. We bought some corn bread and a local type of black pudding called borono, which is not high in fat. We had it dry-fried for lunch with apple and salad and it was delicious.
Saturday we walked from the campsite to Potes then to a deserted village called Povieda and another kilometre to Tudes for lunch, where I had green bean stew as everything else sounded delicious but was very fatty and salty. The whole trip was 19k and the journey up to Tudes was beautiful, fabulous views of the snowy tops but the downward journey was a bit more tedious and Chris’ knee is never good going downhill. We got back to the campsite felling good to be alive and still able to enjoy the pleasures of walking.
Sunday we packed the van up and drove the 23k uphill to Fuente De and took the 4 minute cable car up to the top. It’s possible to walk at the top but we just had a little potter admiring the views. The sun came out while we were there and the changes in the colours were fabulous. There were griffon vultures and choughs souring overhead. We then swopped campsites in Potes to a riverside site with a nice feel to it and good facilities. We decided not to cook in the evening and had a very mediocre meal.
So today Monday 22
nd May we are driving to Bilbao to get the ferry tomorrow morning at 10.30am arriving in Portsmouth on Wednesday morning. We left the UK on 8
th September last year and have had two very brief return visits.
We love our life it’s a nice balance between living in a Spanish village, tootling in Henry, overseas trips and time with friends and family.
Till next time
Norma xx
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