Travelling back into Spain, although I bemoaned that Portugal did not say ‘hello’ when we drove in it certainly said goodbye and thank you for visiting! We’d loved our travels there. Seville was next on our agenda, we were rather dubious because of the heat, but it was less than 2 hours driving, and right on our route so we dived in. At times our travelling may seem glamourous with all the sights we are so fortunate to see, but travelling by camper is certainly tricky when visiting cities. We’d found a safe secure parking place with good bus access to the city...fab! downside was it was basically a warehouse. We were persuaded to camp inside due to severe heat, but boy was it hot in there! Not wanting to sit in a car park, we ... read more

Arriving in Lisbon, the cicadas are singling merrily indicating it’s getting hotter! and we are looking forward to a dip in the beautiful campsite pool. However, relaxing at the campsite was a challenge, there are hoards of children, primary school aged, seemingly in summer schools, identified by different coloured hats. They are everywhere, including over 100 in our campsite pool! Tram 28 featured highly in the guidebook and social media as the ‘best way to experience Lisbon’. We arrived via bus from our campsite, duly bought our public transport tickets and headed to the recommended start of the tram route, only to find over 100 people queuing! The trams are delightful vintage stock, but they only take around 20-30 people at a time and run every 15-20 mins. Plan B -walk the tram route, its only ... read more

Our first sight of Porto was early evening, bustling crowds crossing Ponte Luis (bridge) on two levels, alongside cars and trams, and a funicular railway lifted you to further heights, whilst cable cars traversed the Vila Nova de Gaia bank. Colourful houses piled high above each other, intertwined by cobbled streets. It was delightful. Music came from all directions, the bars and many street entertainers, soft, sultry, jazzy sounds, and not a bad voice to be heard. In the evening the crowds gather across the river to watch the sun going down, quite an event, there must have been several hundred people on a hill, listening to music and applauding the sunset. Our campsite for the night was certainly not so romantic, a tiny car park. We got in with the help of a guy named ... read more

We arrived in Portugal, without any fanfare, no passport control and not even a sign saying ‘welcome to Portugal’, but there was a warm welcome at our campsite. With a short walk over the dunes to a fabulous, very windy beach we were astounded by the number of kite and wind surfers in the water, the colours, the tricks and criss-crossing it was incredible they didn’t get knotted together! We had inadvertently chosen a kite surfer’s paradise, Praia do Cabedelo. A short hop on a ferry from our beach location and we were in the bustling town of Viana do Castelo. A medieval centre with lots of small shops and restaurants, houses and other buildings are decorated with some beautiful tiles. Just behind the station is a 100 year old funicular railway that takes you up ... read more

1. Picos de Europa When Spanish mariners returned from their early voyages to the Americas, the first sight of land they had from far out to sea was that of the giant mountain summits just behind the northern Spanish coastline of Asturias & Cantabria. They called them ‘Picos de Europa’, and in 1918 became Spain’s first National Park. We were naturally drawn to these mountains, although there was also some anxiety about driving ‘Django’, our new to us, but rather bigger than our previous camper, through the mountain passes. However, we had our trusty guidebooks, and even a ‘Back roads of Spain’ driving tour, what could possibly go wrong? The gateway to the mountains from the East is Potes our first stop, and a visit to a fantastic information centre. The pictures show some of the ... read more