The free bit of Alhambra

June 3, 2024June 2, 2024 | Mairead

Saturday, we left the small hilltop town and drove two hours to Granada. We’d read about a camper parking near a restaurant and a bus to the city. It was hot, hot, hot when we arrived at the parking. A quick lock up and we set off for the bus stop.

The guy in reception didn’t have very good English but I understood we had to walk to a nearby petrol station and then the bus stop would be across the road. Which wasn’t completely accurate. Across the road and twenty minutes walk would have been more accurate. We were lucky to meet a couple of other campers who gave us directions when we looked confused.

They then told us where to get off when we arrived in the middle of Granada. By now we were hungry and tired and needed food and a sit down. We picked the first cool (temperature not vibe) restaurant we passed. We ordered and sat in silence listening to the chatter all around.

The food really helped because when we were finished we had a sense we could do anything, including find our way up to the Alhambra (the old part of Granada) by following our noses. We were eventually successful but all energy reserves had been used up scaling the scenic route. Warning: Make sure you have the shortest, shadiest route uphill when the weather is 10 degrees higher than you are comfortable with.

Path less travelled, with views of Sierra Nevada in the distance, Granada

Eventually, we reached the top (where we saw the buses we could have taken… oh well never mind). We were confused not to be able to see the Alhambra but at least we saw the entrance. Seeing the entrance turned out to be the high point because in order to get inside the entrance you have to book tickets many months in advance… we had not booked tickets.

We spoke to a lovely local guide, asking if there were any tickets available into anything. There were a couple of buildings (including toilets) near a different entrance, free to enter. She directed us towards them via the gardens.

Alhambra (the part where no ticket is required)

It’s funny how grateful you can be for something you’d normally take for granted. Today we were so delighted and grateful for directions to a bus stop, cold drinks, food out of the sun and now we were absolutely ecstatic with gardens. Why? Because they were created to make you feel cool when the temperatures are hot. The city of Granada gets the highest summer temperatures in Europe (and I think it also gets the lowest winter temperatures).

Our temperatures had continued to rise all day and by now it was the hottest but we were fine. There was a forest of trees and stone benches and the best – channels of cold water running down both edges of the road. The Spanish really do know how to do cool.

Oh there was a wedding (with disco) late into Saturday night at the restaurant near the camper parking. Meaning, there was no dinner for the uninvited (us) so we utilized our first emergency dinner rations – a tin of red salmon and a pack of cream crackers – Irish tapas, anyone?

Three for two plus free bread

June 2, 2024June 1, 2024 | Mairead

Hello! I’m back and sorry about the delay. I was bitten and it was hot and it took all my energy staying sane. We are in Portugal as I write, sheltering from the heat with shade and showers and cafe abatanada (americano coffee) on tap. There’s no going off on adventures, catching local transport or visiting museums – staying cool seems adventurous enough.

Some of my bug bites. Also, toilets are the coolest place (as in, not as hot as outside)

It’s 27 degrees C here at the campsite at the moment, it’s forecast to go past 30. I’m sitting on the steps of a closed restaurant in a sliver of shade. We will move on tomorrow and hug the coast and travel north to get that temperature down for me. Denis doesn’t have the same requirement for sane temperatures and can work away inside the van (where temperatures go up to 10 degrees higher than outside) while I wilt (and complain loudly) in the shade.

Here’s the beautiful beach near the campsite with the monster bugs

The bug bites are healing now and I don’t look as diseased as I did… or maybe I don’t care as much. They were a new kind of bug and I didn’t really notice them at first, thought they were flies landing on me. Two days later I was able to count 40 itchy blisters. It had been during the day, there was a breeze blowing… mosquitoes come out in the evening and don’t like the wind, right? What were these new monsters? I really don’t like getting bitten, it’s like a blackness comes over me and everything turns negative. I am hell to live with. Of course I didn’t spray any repellant, I thought I was safe if I stayed inside at dusk with the little bug-killing light. I wasn’t, nope.

View of Baños de la Encina from the camper parking at night

I want to catch you up on where we’ve been since I last wrote and that’s what’s coming next.

Not sure photos can show the steep gradient in the town…

We left Toledo late afternoon on Friday and headed for the small town of Baños de la Encina where a hot shower awaited. It had been a long day and there would be two and a half more hours driving but the temperature was lower than France had been so all was well.

Arriving at the foot of the very steep village at 8.45pm we had quick showers and headed uphill. It was the kind of hill that was so steep it makes you wonder how you’ll get back down again in one piece. But of course every step upwards brought views worth the effort.

View of the countryside from halfway up the hill

We had googled for a tapas restaurant and there was one at the top. The place was hopping, our timing was accidentally perfect – meaning food was available. We read the menu as best we could but didn’t quite understand the procedure. There were plenty of options but which ones were tapas and what were those others?

When the waitress arrived Denis asked, do you speak English? She smiled, said no, just a moment and left. While she was gone we did our best to use the translate app on the whole menu but still we weren’t sure. Eventually a young man arrived at the restaurant door, rushed to a cupboard to pick up his apron and came to ask us what we wanted. He could speak English! We ordered what we thought were a few tapas dishes and then he told us something that now made sense as we looked around at all the other diners.

He told us the tapas were free with an alcoholic drink – Denis could have one but I would have to pay for mine. Everyone there had a single tapas and a drink. No one was actually having dinner. This was possibly pre-dinner time. When he arrived with our food we started to understand that we had ordered three full dinners between us… and he’d also added a plate of free bread. Plus we had just finished our “free” tapas.

Needless to say we couldn’t finish our dinners. We did make it back to the campsite without getting lost or sliding down the hill and next morning (Saturday) we headed off to Grenada, another hilltop old town.

And another place where we didn’t quite understand the procedure.

Toledo and the Museum

May 22, 2024May 21, 2024 | Mairead

View of Toledo (old city) from our parking spot

Friday morning we left the scene of the massacre and drove to Toledo, just south of Madrid. We parked in a free car park at the base of the old city. And as luck would have it someone had built an escalator up to the top. Although not as hot as our first week we appreciated the assistance.

Arriving at lunchtime is perfect when you’re in an old city – lots of tourist cafes. We found a small one cafe and ordered eggs, leeks and potatoes (chopped up and fried together) along with sparkling water. There were so many attractions we could have visited within ten minutes of the cafe but we picked just two.

The knights of Templar museum was underwhelming but had good toilets, we’ll call that a win. The El Greco museum on the other hand was most enjoyable. I had a vague recollection of an artist called El Greco but remembered nothing of his work but it wasn’t his art that I enjoyed. It was his house and garden. Well, when I say his house it wasn’t exactly his house, it wasn’t his house at all really.

Some years ago guy with enough money bought a house he thought had been El Greco’s, then renovated it so that it looked exactly as it did when El Greco was alive and well and painting. Now, I don’t know if this guy found out his mistake but if he did I hope he wasn’t too disappointed because although he may have been wrong about the house, he ended up creating something very beautiful. I’m glad he did.

Denis decided he wasn’t interested in El Greco so found a cafe nearby while I made my way to the museum. We had been travelling since early and had already walked a lot, it was getting hot and I was tired when I walked into the reception area. When it was my turn I asked for one ticket. The lady asked me something I didn’t understand (my Spanish is slightly better than my Japanese and a little worse than my French) but she asked again in English. “Are you over 65?”

The front door of the house leading into an open courtyard

Thinking I must look as tired as I feel, I smiled and said no. “It is free if you’re over 65, I have to ask and many people don’t look over 65. Like you, you don’t look over 65. I have to ask because it is €3 if you’re not.” She was out of breath by the time she finished and I was laughing. I handing over my money. She asks where was I from and when I said Ireland, she was delighted because her daughter’s teacher is from Ireland and “a lovely person”.

Cookbook in the kitchen of El Greco’s house

I’m was still smiling as I exited reception. It took me a moment to realise I’d entered into a cool dark green garden, sheltered from the sun, I’m all alone. The Spanish know how to generate shade. I suppose it’s key to surviving here. It feels like I’m being hugged, I feel grateful to the man who decided to create this place even if it’s not exactly where he thought it was. Happy mistake.

While I was at the museum Denis was enjoying a coffee with this view! Toledo is very surprising

Massacre at Matute

May 21, 2024May 20, 2024 | Mairead

Thursday we left the big truck parking and made our way to Segovia, the name was so beautiful but the parking was beside a bull fighting arena. There were fortunately no bulls. As it was an overcast day and our parking spot was not attractive, we moved on. To the edge of a small town called Vegas de Matute.

Stone walls in Vegas de Matute remind me of the west of Ireland

Very different setting, all stone houses in the centre and small ploughed plots of land on the outskirts. The town was empty except for two women chatting in the tiny grocery shop where I bought bread. We had originally picked this parking location because of a restaurant with good reviews nearby… unfortunately closed until tomorrow but don’t worry about us, we had a long date pasta bolognaise waiting in the fridge along with the crusty bread.

The clouds lifted in the afternoon and I took advantage of a perfect bench nearby to enjoy the moment. I had noticed lots of wild flowers, that morning, ones I had never seen before. Of course I took pictures and just as well because in the afternoon they were all gone!

A very loud strimmer had woken me from my siesta (yes, a necessity after my night with the prawns) but I never thought the flowers might be in danger. But sitting on my perfect bench I saw the flowers were gone – murdered by an unseen strimmer.

Oh… my phone thinks this might be poison hemlock…

Although, that might be hearsay as I only heard it, I never actually saw anyone. I didn’t even seen the strimmer machine. All I can be sure of is the flowers were alive and well in the morning…

Might need a new map – Vegas de Matute is on top of the P in Spain

Take pictures when you can everything has a lifespan.

Sleeping with the prawns

May 20, 2024May 19, 2024 | Mairead

Wednesday, we set off from Palencia in the direction of Madrid. Probably not going to Madrid, cities are hard work with a bigger vehicle. We had been told about Toledo a few years ago when the temperatures were too high for a comfortable visit. It was positively chilly-ish at the moment… Let’s go see Toledo!

I can no longer remember what we had been told about the city so we will have to look it up but there’s loads of time we are travelling more slowly and we won’t reach Toledo until Friday. What will we discover? Beautiful buildings? Interesting history? Nature and wildlife? I wonder will there be parking for us? Or public transport?

We spent Wednesday night in the middle of rolling farmland, as far as the eye could see. Navalmanzano services has a petrol station, plenty of parking, a small shop, toilets, and a cafeteria serving breakfast lunch and dinner. We were almost the only ones in the enormous parking, so we could park anywhere, we went up the back, away from the road. Denis started work while I ambled around taking photos of fluffy clouds.

It was surprisingly quiet all day with only birdsong and a sky full of my favourite clouds. The cafeteria was busy and absolutely packed between 1pm and 4pm when multi generational families arrived for lunch. The food looked great, very simple homemade style and served all day so it was still available when we were ready in the evening.

Just before bedtime we noticed the parking was filling up and a new truck had parked beside us. Judging by the photo on the side it was full of prawns. We didn’t realise the significance of this until much, much later… sometime around midnight, I’d guess.

Food trucks need refrigeration and this one definitely had refrigeration. All through the night the fridge turned on and off at intervals, to keep the prawns comfortable. The odd thing for me was I woke up in silence and was about to get back to sleep when I heard the noise start. Can silence wake you? Seems like the noise of the refrigeration motor lulled me to sleep and the silence woke me up. Denis slept right through the silence and the noise.

The black (with a touch of red) dots – journey to Navalmanzano

But I do love prawns…

Here I am…

May 16, 2024May 15, 2024 | Mairead

Sunday afternoon, we finally arrived in Spain. And spent the night in a supermarket carpark. The supermarket was closed. It is closed every Sunday… there’s something we did not remember about Spain.

Next morning we topped up the groceries, had a Spanish coffee and set off. It still feels like we haven’t arrived at our destination yet. It makes me feel unsettled and disturbed. I’m starting to realise this happens every time and now might be a good time to get comfortable with the discomfort. Or at least stop resisting the discomfort. Maybe get comfortable deciding that everywhere we go we arrive at a destination. Or maybe comfortable with the idea that there really is no destination. This kind of travel means we will be continuously travelling until we turn around and travel back. I’ve never thought of it like that before. Is that what we do all our lives…?

On Monday after the supermarket we drove to the town of Palencia about 90 minutes south west. That night we found a tapas bar for dinner. Another thing we had forgotten about Spain, the Spanish eat dinner much later so no food at the first two places we tried. Number three was successful even thought we were the only ones ordering food. People were dropping in to meet friends, to stop on their way from work, from minding a grandchild or to watch football on the tv. Everyone was offered a tiny bread roll with a slice of ham, a potato croquette skewered on top. Sounds odd? Tastes surprisingly amazing and gives you a bit of an appetite for more plus due to the saltiness of the ham, an appetite for drinking. Ingenious marketing.

I remembered to take a picture (of the least photogenic but very tasty dish we have had on this journey…)

We ate our little rolls and stared hard at the menu. Everything was in Spanish and we could have done with a few photos, like the Japanese menus but it was not to be. We ordered four tapas dishes, or so we thought. We had actually ordered one (chicken, salad and chips) dinner and one tapas (spicy chorizo). It was all tasty and no one seemed to notice us eating from a single dinner plate.

One of the many churches in the center of Palentia

Tuesday morning we walked into town for coffee. Two coffees, one pastry and change from €5… we had forgotten that about Spain too. When Denis left to start work I started my work – people watching. My favourite was the lady reading a book with her coffee while her dog snoozed on her lap, his little head supported by her arm. An older couple sat close together, arms intertwined, him staring off into the distance, her reading quietly to him from a newspaper. A younger man carrying a bulging, battered red rucksack with an umbrella sticking out the side. When he maneuvered his tray into a nearby table I noticed his ankles were very swollen. Had he been walking for days? Was he unwell?

Sitting here in this cafe, I have arrived, sharing space with these humans and this dog is my destination today. This is more than enough

French Rules

May 14, 2024May 14, 2024 | Mairead

Not exactly French coffee on the road… (from McCafe)

Saturday, we got up early having learned from the previous day that the coolest time for driving is early morning (or in the dark). Let me rephrase that, we got up early – in our dreams. When we woke at 10 it was no longer early. We had learned to be less optimistic about the length of time we could spend driving in this heat – also in our dreams. And we drove for exactly the same amount of time as yesterday. I can’t help but feel disappointed in us, we could have done so much better.

But we weren’t punished for our lack of learning and within a half hour of our destination we noticed clouds. Would there be rain?

Indeed there would be rain. Not a lot but enough and the thunder we heard promised more. We were staying the night in an old French campsite with more rules than we are used to from the French. Having travelled for, the now regular, 7.5 hours to get there I was less than on top form for translation but Denis enjoys leaving the sign ins to me. Ce qui sera, sera.

The French receptionist didn’t speak English and as I alluded to yesterday I don’t perform well in the heat (also not in the rain or impending stormy weather). So I agreed to all the rules and paid up. I directed Denis to park in the manner I understood was necessary to be a good camper and made myself comfortable.

I woke up to find Denis and the husband of the receptionist discussing our parking… it seems we were on the wrong side of the tree and pointing the wrong way. There was a storm coming (yippee!) and our position was dire and would cause us storm damage. I could hear Denis’ incredulous, “Really?”and the husband repeating (in English) “Really!” We had to reposition.

The storm turned out to be a little lack luster but the rain did not come in our open door and we did not have storm damage. But the rain meant we would not be making the 10 minute walk to the town for another chance of a French meal. Probably just as well, our eating out budget was already over stretched. French restaurants charge the same as Irish restaurants, our budget is more Portuguese inspired. Fortunately, we had visited a supermarket before we left Fontenay Le Compt and dined on fried fish and salad leaves listening to the thunder.

That’s us on the wrong side of the tree, pointing in the wrong direction

Next morning we set off (no, not early) in fog and mist feeling a little chilly, thrilled with ourselves. Today we would be crossing the border into Spain, a journey of little over an hour. As we got closer I remembered something I really needed and googled a supermarket just kilometers inside the border. The French love crafts and a lot of their craft magazines are exquisite with lots of pictures, making the language barrier almost insignificant. Today, I would be the happy owner of one more. (Yes, I have a collection of them at home. Yes, I do need more.)

Yes the supermarket was closed but look at that beautiful overcast sky!

We arrived in the car park, me like a child at Christmas. Until I noticed the sign, Ouvert Dimanche Matin… Noooo, it’s Sunday! “What time is it?” It was precisely 12.30pm. Precisely. That is the time French supermarkets (the few that open on Sundays) close on Sundays. There would be no craft magazine today… my little heart was broken…

Oh no hang on I’m grand, maybe the Spanish like craft magazines?

Over and Out

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 | Mairead

I had the best day yesterday just doing my things. I wrote some morning pages, I crocheted a few centimeters and then ripped it back and tried again. I read some of a book and I listened to some of another book. All the simple things as I waited for a hotel check out or a train or a different hotel check in.

Airport hotel is near an outlet mall and a big wheel

It’s the morning of our flight and we’re in Joyfull the 24 hour cafe around the corner from our hotel. It’s cheap and cheerful and they provide unlimited tea, coffee and soft drinks. We had dinner here last night and didn’t expect to have breakfast but we got a notice that our flight was delayed so we took the opportunity. We have gotten better at waiting and thinking of it as an opportunity.

Denis reads and I write. I attended a writing class last year and the teacher suggested writing in the cracks. At first I didn’t see how this was possible but she’s a very wise teacher and eventually it dawned on me. Along with shitty first drafts – where you just get the thoughts out without making it good enough or correcting anything. All the corrections come later in the next writing crack. It’s been the most productive behaviour change around writing I’ve ever made.

You have to press a button when you’re ready to order. Frightened the life out of me at the beginning of this journey but it’s the most efficient way to order and I love it now!

The nicest thing is that when you get back to what you wrote you’ve forgotten writing it and it seems ok, not great but ok. And this new moment is different so it brings different energy and if you’re lucky different ideas. All useful. Never correct yourself in the first draft – unless that works for you, you do you but when I correct in the first draft it makes my creative spark shy away from saying anything else. Could shut her up for days! Don’t want to do that!

Anyways, there’s something I want to tell you… I’m going to keep going at this writing. In a slightly different way. I’m going to try my hand at writing fictional short stories. Why am I telling you this? I need a place to put these stories and the whole blog discipline seems to work for me. So I’ll be putting them here.

I visited Kyoto Museum a few days ago and this building was closed… can you read the sign?

There’s every likelihood they won’t be good – and that’s not false humility – most things start out not so good but with practice might get better. So here’s my message to you: There is no need for you to read these stories, ignore them. If you’re tempted to judge them or tell me how I can do bettter – don’t, it’ll just upset my creative spark and we don’t want to do that, do we? She’s already quite bothered and thinks fiction is impossible.

Here’s that building again – very French and the statue is French too, a Rodin

And when we next travel and I get back to blogging about it I’ll give the first post a title like TRAVELLING AGAIN so you’ll know you can start reading again. Ok? Right, that’s it from Japan. Thank you for joining us, I have loved your company xxxx

Goodbye, Japan, thank you for the stories x

Hop on Stay on

January 16, 2024January 16, 2024 | Mairead

We went on a Hop on Hop off bus tour around Kyoto yesterday. Not the best way of touring a city, I’ll admit, especially as it was Monday and a lot of the sites were closed for a holiday or maybe they just close on Mondays. But it’s great way of getting a feel for a city and staying warm. That last bit, staying warm is particularly important at the moment as it’s been bitterly cold for several days. I have always believed people when they said the humidity in Ireland makes the low temperatures we experience feel worse than the frighteningly low temperatures you hear of in other countries. I no longer believe them. It was a gentle 5 degrees celsius here today and I thought I would literally freeze. I am very sorry I used that phrase at home where I was never in danger of freezing so it’ll be like I cried wolf but it’s woeful cold here, I am not lying.

So we took the tour to keep warm, basically. And we were warm and toasty inside the bus. One of the best things about this mode of tourist experience is that you from time to time get off and wander around an interesting location. A castle, maybe? A temple, perhaps? A shrine, perchance? Or what about the Imperial Palace? I was very tempted, fortunately it was one of the places that were closed, no hopping off for us. We stayed for the whole journey, marvelling at the time keeping of the driver. Now, I can’t say the traffic was heavy but there were red lights and pedestrians crossing when he wanted to turn left at a red light (all legal in Japan) so it was steady traffic and yet as I consulted the brochure showing the forecast timing of each bus stop pick up, he was always on time. Always. It was possibly the most exciting thing about the tour, waiting to see if he’d make it. He came close once but only close. It must be wonderful to live here and know the buses and trains will always be on time.

Normal bus through the tour bus window. The city bus drivers (and the train drivers) wear white gloves

We loved having such a great transport system. We never needed to be on time anywhere… oh wait we did when we were going on the Shinkansen our tickets were reserved and timed. But with our homeland experience of a notional train and bus schedule we arrived more than an hour early. But back to the transport, it is so useful to have a rail transport system that goes from the airport to the city, we really should think about something similar in Dublin or maybe Cork? If it could be in place by the time we get home later this week all the better.

Another temple on the other side of the bus

Anyway back to our bus tour, it became obvious about halfway around that there were far too many temples, shrines, museums, markets and other amazingly beautiful places to visit in Kyoto. We would stop at a shrine and see at least two impressive rooftops (a tell tales sign) in the vicinity. Then we could see a passenger asking the conductor for directions to the proposed site from the brochure and be pointed in a completely different direction to the impressive rooftops we were looking at. I did mean to google a list of the temple, shrines and museums in Kyoto and if I do that I’ll include a screenshot of it here…

I got as far as googling how many? and there’s 1600 temples and 400 shrines, right. The Hop on Hop off tour is now sounding like the best idea we had. We’re obviously settling into tourist life fine and there’s nothing we need to change. The photos perhaps? Yes they are a little indistinct through the bus window and behind other people’s heads with the high back seats and all but small price to pay for the warmth. It’s freezing out there (not literally).

But then today we went to two absolutely must get off the bus places. We didn’t go on a bus we took the normal train (have I mentioned how great the transport system is here in Kyoto? It was great in Osaka too. And in Hiroshima where they have Streetcars or trams) There’ll be better photos tomorrow… all going well.