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

Chao españa!

May 20, 2023May 20, 2023 | Mairead

We finally left Bermeo yesterday but not without having another coffee at the park. For some reason there weren’t as many people around and our cafe was closed but the one next door was open. I wonder do the cafe owners get together to decide what days they’ll have off?

We’ve almost come to the end of our time in Spain and we’ll be returning home via France. Each time we go visit Spain we see things we didn’t see the last time, like the fishing villages on the northern coast. We have passed them by on the motorways and we could see them from the viaductos. We’re so glad we got to visit. I’m itching to learn more. Do you have a recommendation for a good guide book for the lesser known towns of Spain? Oh, and in English?

Last night we stayed in Gernika again, we were here on the 17th April. Only a month has passed but we feel different. We are very comfortable finding our way around, we’ve got the hang of ordering food and “cooking” our salad, markets are no problem and although we still haven’t barbecued any fish, I’m confident we will… all we need is a fish,

A statue of a fisherman’s wife delivering fish, Bermeo. In the past the men went fishing and the women took care of the business, selling, delivering, canning

We’ll be in France by the time you read this, buying French tapenade for our salad and considering some fish. We’ll be missing the cost of living in Spain and Portugal, especially the price of diesel.

There’s also a square in the middle of the narrow streets, with a church, a bandstand and town hall

And of course we’ll be practicing our French. We have almost no Portuguese and a very small amount of Spanish but we have enough French to ask questions in the supermarket and read most simple signs. Do you know why we have more French? It’s because the Portuguese and the Spanish speak English to us. The French do not and it’s the motivation we need to give the language a go. It’s the only way I’ll be able to find my tapenade in a French supermarket.

People watching in Bermeo

May 19, 2023May 18, 2023 | Mairead

We had a great couple of night sleep beside a graveyard overlooking the sea. Bermeo is surrounded by steep hills and blue sea and we had to drive over the hills and down to the sea to get to it but it was well worth it. This beautiful town is full of character with tall colourful, narrow buildings, very narrow streets and a marina filled with boats.

The motorhome parking is located at possibly the highest point around, in front of the graveyard and beside the football pitch. The graveyard has a better view of the sea but as it protects the parking from the wind we couldn’t complain. We also couldn’t complain about exercise, the steep terrain did our hearts a power of good.

Yesterday morning I was able to indulge myself in my favourite thing to do when we are away – morning coffee and people watching. We walked to the centre of town via the old stone gate and on down the narrow streets, and out into the open areas near the water.

You can’t get lost because every cobblestoned road leads to the water. The open area consists of a park with cafes and restaurants on one side, a playground on the other and beyond that the port. We sat outside one of the cafes under an awning in the shade for almost an hour. Denis was reading but I was looking at the people.

There was a granny with her grandson, a lady throwing a ball for her sweet collie dog, workers putting up market stalls and a couple of police officers patrolling. A group of older woman sat down near us and practically every person who passed waved at them – locals.

It’s not easy to see in this picture but imagine… cars arrive via narrow streets to the top of those steps and then have to turn right between the yellow and orange building on the left… but what if they don’t turn? There’s nothing stopping them from going down the steps…

There was another lady who got herself a coffee and then a newspaper and sat with her back to the first group – a past falling out, do you think? I hoped she wasn’t lonely, she did look a bit grumpy but soon another woman appeared. The new woman was smiling from ear to ear when she saw the paper reading woman. Then they walked off together chatting and smiling – no drama here. All good in Bermeo.

Motorway Salad

May 18, 2023May 17, 2023 | Mairead

Less than twenty minutes away from the medieval town of Santillana Del Mar we found our home for the night. It was another old town, not quite as big but just as full of stone houses, walls and roads.

The town of Cartes provides parking for motorhomes beside the park where geese and ducks ramble freely. There’s also a (17km) greenway for walking and cycling that leads to the coast and a playground with zip wire and table tennis table. All for free and quiet at night.

We arrived just time to have a ramble around the old part of town before dinner. Dinner was salad. At one of the motorway services we had a surprisingly tasty salad. I’m not a great salad eater or maker but I did think I could replicate this one.

The ingredients had been sitting in the fridge for a day or two… but were still within date so I offered to assemble my version of Motorway Salad. In case you would also like to replicate a motorway salad, here are the ingredients… bag of salad leaves, mozzarella cheese (the one in the bag of water not grated), ripe avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, tapenade, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

And the method… wash and dry the salad leaves, take the mozzarella cheese out of the bag, drain and lay on a bed of leaves, slice the avocado, dot it and the sun-dried tomatoes around on the leaves, drop dots of tapenade likewise. Sprinkle the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper over everything. Done and Yum. It also looks great… forgot to take pictures, sorry.

Isn’t this adorable? As well as real geese and ducks they have ornamental chickens

Santillana Del Mar

May 17, 2023May 16, 2023 | Mairead

On Sunday searching for a campsite (or even a place to park for the night) we drove to one of the highlighted towns on our tour. It was billed as one of the most beautiful villages in Spain.

Weathered stone wall, probably 800 years old!

Santillana Del Mar is very beautiful. It is situated between Gijón and Bilbao and not on the sea so I don’t know why Mar (the sea) is in its name. I will be adding it to the map… below.

The entire village looks like it’s from a medieval film set. Every building, every wall is made of stone and of course the roads are cobblestoned. Our guide says the entire town is a museum but people live here too.

I love this drinking fountain, making it look like the water tap is fed from the stone urn above

And you can stay in the houses, we saw people arriving with their luggage. There are also a few very attractive (from the outside and barred to non-residents) 5 star hotels.

We were tired from the driving and searching so we took it easy, bought ice cream and walked around soaking up the atmosphere of an outdoor museum.

Wandering around did make me wonder how this place was able to stay untouched over the centuries. It could be the saint buried in the church…Santa Juliana is said to have imprisoned the devil.