Blogs from Castile & León, Spain, Europe - page 9

It was around 7:15 when we left the albergue in Burgos. I pulled a Raresh when departed, leaving my walking sticks leaning against the railing of the cafe across from the albergue and not realizing it until the young lady with us mentioned it. I left my backpack with Raresh while I hurried back to get them. The young couple continued on ahead and we didn't catch for quite a ways. It took quite a while to actually get out of Burgos. We took a short break at a picnic area/playground at a major intersection outside the city. About 10 long kilometers later we entered Tardajos and stopped at the first bar in town for breakfast. A sign said they had fresh gazpacho, and since I needed to get some good food in me to ... read more

We left Belorado around 7am, hoping to stop for breakfast in Tosantos, but we didn't see anyplace to eat, so we continued another 3 kilometers to Villambistia, and again nothing on the Camino. There was a sign for a bar off the trail, but Juan had continued on ahead, so I followed, telling myself that I was stopping at the town no matter what, at least for a break. At this point, Juan was ahead out of sight and Raresh and the young couple were behind me out of sight. When I entered the third town of Espinosa del Camino, lo and behold I spotted the welcome sight of a bar right off. Juan had apparently continued on, but I was hungry, so I stopped after verifying that it was the only place. Raresh and ... read more

17 - 24th July 2017 At last we have ventured 'abroad' in Astrid and drove her on and off Le Shuttle with ease. Before leaving Abbey Wood we had taken the train to Charing Cross and visited Stanfords travel book shop to buy a book listing commercial camping sites in France and Spain. There was only one, a huge tome that covers all of Europe, called Camperstop. The assistant said it was the only one she knew so we bought it despite the price of £28. Anyway, once we had chance to read it we realised it was not what we had been looking for. It does not list 'normal' commercial sites but places where motorhomes (not caravans) can stop. Many of the sites are free and a high proportion provide toilets, water fills, grey water ... read more

Spain is a beautiful country with many contrasts what with the busy tourist beaches along the Mediterranean coast to the huge inland mostly barren mountains in the south. There are also acres and acres of olive trees and orange trees. Pete is loving all the variety of olives whilst I have never tasted such sweet oranges! 　 After meeting up with my old primary school friend in Barcelona we then ventured further down the coast and met up with another old high school friend who I had not seen for close on 50 years so it was an amazing catch up and a great evening. Then, last night we had a great old chin wag with a very interesting and fun Scottish couple and it was especially nice for Pete to finally have a decent conversation ... read more

An easy day yesterday, strolling along the riverbank in the morning before a BBQ steak lunch and relaxing read in the hazy sunshine in the afternoon. Today, guide book out and into Salamanca Old Town, in search of the elusive little frog which sits on the Universidad facade!! We saw the Catedral Vieja and Catedral Nueva, the old, built in the 12th-13th century and the new......16th-18th centuries......so not that new!!!! In the Plaza Mayor, a rather grand cycle race was about to begin and it seemed as if every competitor had brought their mothers, fathers,cousins, grandmothers and great aunts twice removed, to cheer them on their way!!!!! A good Sunday morning outing obviously! We passed the Casa de las Conchas, a mansion adorned with scallop shells which are a symbol of the Order of Santiago-these shells ... read more