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Published: October 3rd 2018
We are sleeping in later this holiday. There is no rush to get off to swim or to go to work. We can set the alarm, switch it off and ignore it. There is no overriding need to be anywhere. It is more a holiday of tootling about from place to place with no particular place to be. We can change plans by the day, by the hour and even by the minute. We dont worry if we miss things. It is not the end of the world. We can take our time . Astorga our destination today is just two hours away and we should be there for lunchtime . In time for a menu del dia - perhaps the first paella of the trip. Why Astorga? We are heading to see a different type of palace and a cathedral. Just for a change. Glenn had done had done his homework. He had google earthed Astorga going round and round its walls looking for a parking place for Gabby. He found one just beneath the walls , close enough to the palace and the cathedral. All was good as we travelled the roads where the fields turned from mustardy yellow
to heathland of purple heathers. Our bip and drive tag bips away clocking up the cents and euros. Astorga looks interesting as we reach the interior of the city. We have passed through the graffiti covered littered streets and were now entering the cuidad centro - the historical heart and our parking spot. The parking is up ahead - Glenn shouts - look out for the entry off the roundabout. Oh yes it is there however it is railed off . Workmen have and are converting the convenient parking to a park. Drat , blow , pig words to those effects are uttered from our mouths. Looks like it is not a parking spot any more. Cars are parked on the streets so we look for a gap. Each time we see one it is on the opposite carriageway and inaccessible or it is a disabled spot. In the end we give up on Astorga, move on and stop for a quick bite of lunch. Sometimes you have to admit defeat . This was one of those times. Some you win - some you lose. Lunch was at a petrol station . Not the most salubrious place to stop for
lunch but it served a purpose.
We set the co-ordinates for Ponferrada and hoped for the best. We had tried once before to park up and find the castle without success. This time we had a better chance or at least that was what we hoped. Two misses in a day would be hard to bear. Ponferrada was busy and we traversed its grid like streets coming to a huge car park designated for motorhomes. Free and we could even spend the night here if we chose to. Off we set in the muggy heat looking for the castle - a Templars castle with later additions . We passed pilgrims with their sticks, back packs and shells along the way. As we approached a corner we came to the castle. 8 euros entry fee Jubiladoes . Tour which is self guided takes one hour or if you are slow nearly two. In this heat and with the clouds darkening we reckoned we would be done before the rain set in.
Originally the castle was just a small smattering of houses. That was until the 12th century when it was taken over and reinforced by the Knights Templars. The
good knights who wore white mantles with a simple red cross emblazoned on the front. Fierce in battle they were always the first in and the last out. We entered the gateway which led out to an open area surrounded by the castle walls. The walls rose high above the River Sil which formed a natural defence to one side. Across the courtyard we climbed up to the Old Castle built by Pedro Fernandez de Castro. Largely intact it had towers and keeps. Up and up we climbed towards the darkening sky until we reached the top of the keep with its commanding views over the town. We managed to miss the Library with its supposed collection of medieval books. It was not marked up on the plans and from the face of it looked out of bounds to visitors. Perhaps we were just too tired and hot to bother looking. Sometimes that happens. We went out of the castle and walked up the town which in typical Spanish style was closing for the day. With nothing left to do we walked back to Gabby as the first sounds of thunder rumbled above us. We needed a good storm to clear the air. When back at Gabby we realised we had missed the Musuem of El Bierzo and the prison - closed , the old council Palace - closed and the radio museum - closed. The only thing I really would have liked to have seen was the Railway Museum but we missed it and it was probably closed anyway.
Should we stay and sit out the heavy rain and the rumbling thunder or should we go and find an aire out of town. Our camperstop book told us there as a free aire with 8 spaces at the town of O Barko . Up in the hills it would be quiet and cooler . Close to the shops and cafes it was described as simple. What could go wrong with that? Firstly it was hard to find hidden away but a dingy back street miles from the shops and cafes. It was a lonely dirty spot opposite the industrial units . Hardly the sort of place you would choose to spend a night. Then there was the entry - a bit of a slope, a bit of a raised stone area . Prime material for clanging the undercarriage of Gabby. Over she went bang - she hit the bottom which meant the same on the way out once we realised we didnt feel safe in O Barko. Outside we set Silly Sat Nag for another 10 place quiet aire near the lake in A Rua . This time near to the football stadium. It was getting late and we had had enough and it was A Rua for the night . What a pleasant surprise - flat and with another motorhomer there already. Mums and dads were bringing their children in for tennis and football and it promised to be quiet when they all went home. Our neighbours were British just off the ferry at Santander. They were from Northumberland and were travelling with their dogs. Not a bad night stop all in all . No showers , no electric but we could manage for one night .
Our gas lighter gave up that night . Our fault . It was bought in 2012 when we purchased Suzy and had fizzled out finally. Yes we should have bought a second one for emergencies or at least realised it was on the way out . Will we be able to light the gas in the morning I wonder for breakfast . I need a supermarket for matches of all things. A funny old day all in all, a disappointment in Astorga , an interesting wander round a Templar castle , a poor camperstop but we are still smiling and have very fluid plans.
Lao Tzu said " A good traveller had no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving" Perhaps we have become good travellers . Motorhoming is never about arriving as you never have an end place to get to.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Castles
Another gem from your collection of castles Jennifer. I have posted some of yours in the Palaces & castles thread in the Photography Forum. Keep 'em coming.