Hurray, we made it to our Coimbra hotel without the use of Miss GPS. To get here we took a chance with our book of Europe road maps and kept off the motorway system. As yet we have not been arrested for travelling on the electronic toll road without paying so the blogs keep coming. “Get arrested!” we hear some of you say. Sorry, we think we have a “Get out of jail” free card. All we have to do is go to a post office somewhere in Portugal and confess. We stopped at a wayside fruit stall and bought fresh cherries at 2.50 euros per kilo. We didn’t want that many and the man’s scales couldn’t register the small amount we bought, so after haggling him up from free to 2 euros everyone was happy. ... read more

Crossing the border from Spain into Portugal is rather a non-event. Driving south you suddenly come across the EU symbol of yellow stars on a blue background with the name Portugal written across it. We gave a great whoop and then carried on as if nothing had happened. Really we were quite excited because we were driving into the unknown, and that proved to be just the case. After leaving Santiago de Compostela everything seemed straight forward, just follow N550 south. The scenery was quite picturesque with small agricultural plots on whatever land was able to be cultivated, or coastal scenery. There was still a lot of hill driving. The coffee stop at a roadside cafe was a welcome break and even more welcome was the 1.20euro price for the coffee and complimentary slice. This might ... read more

As we write today’s blog we are viewing images on Spanish TV of a 5.1 earthquake in Lorca, east of Cordoba. Live images show an aftershock causing part of a church to collapse. This viewing brings back memories of events back home in Christchurch where friends and neighbours are still experiencing earthquakes. Our future plans include a visit to Cordoba before heading north to Madrid so we will watch events closely. Today’s trip into the centre of Santiago de Compostela to visit the cathedral ended our Northern Spain pilgrimage. Unlike the hundreds of people we saw walking along the way we did it in the comfort of a car. Many of the pilgrims were sitting in large groups on the many steps around the cathedral obviously relieved at reaching their goal even if rather tired, with ... read more

Today we said good-bye to our rural retreat in Ubiarco, within view of the Bay of Biscay. The nearest settlement of any note is the 11th century town of Santillina del Mar. The coastal area is very much like the East Otago coastline of New Zealand between Waitati and Waikouaiti. During our stay we met a German couple at the hotel. They visit the area at least twice a year and were very helpful in giving good advice for places to visit. A good study of the road map showed there were several toll roads to detour around, and detour them we did, much to the annoyance of Miss GPS. From Ubiarco to Oviedo we did not need the GPS so she was tucked up in the glove box. The early part of the drive was ... read more

The thunderstorms last night were not an issue when trying to get to sleep but with one long shared pillow some diplomacy was called for. Fortunately a cheap pillow had been purchased in Clermont-Ferrand to cater for difficult situations. One positive to come out of the thunderstorm was a reasonably clean car in the morning. Light rain was falling and it was probably our coolest day on this part of our travels so warmer clothes were needed. After a bedroom breakfast (we say these things in hushed tones) we said farewell to the owner, who only spoke Spanish and perhaps some French, and left for some sightseeing in the old part of town. Having taken the scenic route last night we knew exactly where to go and how to exit the city. The underground car park ... read more