Spain, Portugal - Winter 2022 Nov 2nd - Dec 6th (Wendys nr Coja)

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Back to UK on 20th Oct – Nov 2nd

Flew back, after uneventful journey and after picking our filthy car back up from MalagaCar, was greeted in Churriana by a delicious sweet smell, which we can only assume came from one of the trees! It was good to be back!

The house next door hasn’t made a lot of progress but we did notice that one bag of sand had gone and there were a lot of broken kitchen tiles in the skip. They seem to work when we are not here – I may get a complex about this – or is it a good thing?!!

Went to the Car Boot sale and the Farmers Market at Coin to look for a foot stool! Failed….but we did see a dog wash next to the car wash and a dog patiently being hosed down!!

We had a knock on the door about 9.30pm one evening…but it was just one of our neighbours telling us we had left a light on the roof terrace!! La luz, la luz!!! I wish I could speak Spanish well enough to converse with her ……

Apart from that it was the usual round of walking , socialising and Menu del Dias! We eventually walked to Turon Castle at Ardales – it was one of those walks that we seemed to keep missing ( Like La Concha!!) so it was nice to eventually get there. Did a reccy, with friends, from the zip wire near Cartama– we walked for about five hours, found the way to the top of the mountain with fantastic 360 degree views, but couldnt find a way down for a circular route. ‘Camino Cortado. Propiedad Privada’. However, Chris did manage to find a footstool in a skip!!! But it was such a shame we couldn’t find a walk and we even drove to the bottom of the track where there was a six foot gate with a padlock on it and no way around it!!

We also went in to see to Christmas lights at Malaga! Fantastic display as always, and we were treated to a music show – ½ in English and ½ in Spanish!! Then caught the video show on the cathedral tower as well. Very clever!!

We left on Tuesday 29^th November with the intention of seeing Chris’ sister in Portugal on the way back. Uneventful journey – stopped for lunch just after Seville and struck lucky as managed to get Carilladas!! (Pork Cheeks!!) Its not a dish we have in the uk, but the Spanish cook them very slowly, probably in a slow cooker and they are quite delicious!! After putting our clocks back by 1hr, we got to the Dom Luis Hotel Elvas about 4.00pm. Dumped our stuff and had a good wander around Elvas that turned out to be a bit of a ‘Wow’.

Apart from the largest aqueduct we had ever seen, it was a fortified town with two sets of walls all around it. Both the walls were so thick – they had two sets of tunnels for the traffic and you could walk around between the walls. They were massive!! Loads of barracks and old buildings and a brilliant square in the centre that we also found! Had a drink and admired the view (Cafes don’t open for food until 7.30pm!!) before wandering back to the hotel and eating in the Japanese restaurant there. Mileage 262 miles ( Estimate 127670)

Wednesday 30^th November 2022

A lovely sunny day – to start with – and we drove along the wonderful Portuguese roads with their rocks, yellow flowers and autumn colour trees. The Romans had definitely been here because there were also long straight roads (not much traffic!) Passed a few abandoned stork nests on top of telegraph poles and all was well until past Portalegre.

Then the rain started! It was quite a novelty at first but it just got heavier! Carried on along the IC8, .following the Sat Nav, that took us off just past Serta and we had to follow the N2! Stopped in a weird and wonderful café for lunch – concrete floors, tin roof, doors that didn’t shut properly, but it had a really nice xmas tree and also a log burner! Apart from a local who wandered across, pulled up a chair and proceeded to warm her feet on it, we had a lovely lunch of chips (proper potatoes and cooked fresh!!) for me and a toasty for Chris that he said was very tasty!

And the rain just got heavier and the clouds get lower! Very soon we were driving in the clouds, up over a mountain pass. It was such a shame really as we would have had some wonderful views – we were just treated to hazy glimpses!! Eventually reached Arganil where our route was blocked due to the road being dug up

Found Wendy’s village and then Wendy came to find us and we went back to the house for a good catch up! Had a walk later, around the village ( it had just about stopped raining!!) with its amazing views. Also saw a huge bird of prey , that I think must have adopted the land as its territory as we saw it a few times in the same place. Caught up with a few of the locals including a large dog ( not sure if it’s a stray!) 146 miles

Thursday 1^st December 2022

Best laid plans and all that!! We had planned to visit the market at Arganil without realising it was ‘Portugal Restoration of Independence Day’ and a National Holiday. It was regained from Spain again in 1668! Anyway, that meant that all the shops were shut and no market!! Had a quick look round then went to have a look at a ‘River Beach’ with its weir. They dam the river and put sand along the banks and people use it for swimming! The water over the weir was definitely too strong to walk across now!! Onto Coja for another River Beach & weir where we had coffee and a quick look at Coja ( in the sun!!) Got back and after a delicious lunch of vegetable soup wandered around the village again walking some different paths and seeing the local sheep, goats and owners!! All very rural!!

Friday 2^nd December 2022

A boring motorway drive as we left Wendys and travelled north! Saw what we thought was the same bird sat on the telegraph pole – only it turned out to be a different species. It was another beautiful day to start with, just a bit of fog hanging around the mountains. Stopped in our favourite Portuguese supermarket (Pingo Doce) for shopping and lunch etc at Mangualde and continued on the A25 that snaked across the hillsides. The we hit the fog and visibility was greatly reduced – to say the least! We crossed the border into Spain, still in the fog but it gradually disappeared, and we could see again!! Not that there was a lot to see in this very flat landscape except red kites and other birds of prey! We had booked the Motel Emporio just outside Vallodolid – Its very different with each room attached to its own garage so Very Secure Parking. Drive through check in – told us our room number and the garage was open for us to drive straight into! Food has to be ordered by phone so will reserve judgement, but so far its excellent!! (The food was good too – I ordered hake, chips and veg and Chris ordered lasagne and then we both had apple tart with caramel! It was ordered on the phone- told it would be 20 mins! It took about 15mins and was delivered via a hatch in our room. The food was hot and it was all very efficient! 264 miles (128342)

Saturday 3^rd December 2022

It was going to be another boring motorway drive day, across the Pyrenees and down to San Sebastian. Left by 9.40am ( early for us!) after a breakfast of toast, tomato and jam which arrived, by hatch, quite quickly!!It was very frosty, but sunny when we left (No frost on the windscreen as it had been in its own garage overnight!!) but the clouds soon came across and we started to see snow ploughs! Uh oh! This was getting to be reminiscent of the trip we did on the A75 across the Millau Bridge a few years ago. As we went up higher it started to snow….but fortunately it didn’t pitch and as we started to drive down lower, it turned to rain! Whew!!

And the sun even tried to come out, giving us some very atmospheric photos of the alpine like valley! The trees were showing their autumn colours so it was very pretty! ( for a motorway drive!!!) Decided to stop at San Sebastian to get diesel, lunch and last shop in Spain! BIG mistake!! First, there didn’t seem to be any big supermarkets and when Chris eventually found one, it was a twelve-minute drive across the City, and then there was NO parking to be had at all, and all the cars were waiting in queues!! We managed to get some diesel and left, in a hurry, and stopped at the services! No joy here either as there was just takeaway coffee and no seats!! Ah well!!

Crossed the border into France and got off the chargeable Motorway and onto the N10, stopped to book our hotel and drove there…alongside the E5-E80 that was chargeable!!! Got to L’Auberge de Lugos about 5.15ish …just as it was getting dark!! 335 miles

Sunday 4^th December 2022

Well, I had hoped that was the end of the motorway driving as I thought we would take the tried and tested route on the N10 Stopping at Poitiers and Rouen but Chris had other ideas!! (They don’t call him Crack On Chris for nothing!! ) He decided to take the peage A10 & A28 to get to Rouen and use the money saved on our hotel stop on tolls with a plan of trying to change our ferry crossing for a day earlier!!

Away by 8.30am (we saw the sunrise!!) and back on the Motorway for another looooong, boring drive. It was sunny to start with but we soon drove into thick fog again before the sun came out briefly again!! There are still lots of trees showing their autumn colours, that look spectacular in the sun…..and not so good after we lost the sun to a totally grey sky!! Crossed the Loire river – the fog turned to drizzle and it was decided that was not possible to get to Rouen that day so we stopped in Hotel The Originals Bernay Acropole! Strange name but very easy to find, less than 20km from the A28 with a restaurant attached to it next door!! Tolls 33.10 euros outside Tours. 27.60 Euros at Bernay (junction 15) (I think I would rather have paid the money for a hotel room!!! ) 398 miles

Monday 5^th December 2022

Woke up to a misty, cold, day again and as it was a Monday morning and the traffic could have been bad, decided to drive East to Loisiers and get back on our tried and tested route to Dieppe, as against tackling Rouen! Started off ok but then the sat nav kept trying to put us on the Motorway …so that’s what we did! Went up on the west side of Rouen before getting on our well known route (also a Motorway!!) Got to Dieppe about 11.15am and changed the ferry ticket from tomorrow to today (another 11 Euros!!) and after something to eat, went shopping!! Had a late lunch of moules before queuing for the ferry. Checked into the Premier Inn. Newhaven about 9.45pm (105 miles) 129180

Tuesday 6th December 2022

Drove back to the bungalow in South Wales,ready to go to Plymouth on the 9th for a long weekend. And thats it!!! Hibernating in UK until we go to Cyprus in February! Tne 90 day schengen rule is a pain! Only allowed to be in EU countries for 90 days in a ROLLING 180days!! We only have a totalof 18 days left .........Cprus isn't in the Schengen agreement!!

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Comments

[Catherine]

fantastic writing and pictures !