Finally home

So after  getting a bit lost finding somewhere near lisieux we ended up south of rouen in a small but lovely hotel  in the middle of nowhere signposted on a D- road equivalent to our b- roads. I had a a lot of difficulty talking French after speaking Spanish for so long.  It had taken us 9 plus hours to get here from where we were in Comillas and we were every tired, so freshened up and had a gin before we ordered a very nice meal in the adjoining restaurant which was open.  We were every aware that many places close at this time of year so the food and drinks were grateful.  There was nowhere else around.

Next day So blading north to Calais we knew was a 3 to 4 hour drive, and then how many of us at the terminal to check in ? Well we got there at 3 and we're on the next ferry.  There must be 8 daytime ferries and at least as many nightime ones due to the freight we saw.

So arriving at Dover we now have to get to shedfield, well it was about 2 hours.  Got b.ack at 1930.  We had a nice glass of wine to catch up with Jerradine to finish up her cat and house sit to find out any problems, none, but some funny incidents with the two cats.  Renamed ronnie and reggie.  Into everything.

Well if you have enjoyed the blog so far thank you, it is left open as we are in the canaries in Lanzarote from the 24th February.

Thank you for looking at the blog and see you next time when I am away.

Chrystianne

Have to drive to Calais

Worst fears are confirmed, they have cancelled tomorrow's crossing from
Santander to Plymouth so we are now on a mission to get to Calais from tomorrow morning after our lovely stay here in Comillas.

It's raining and blowing a gale although tomorrow's weather is much better and have looked up towards Bordeaux and that is good too.

We have no map so will have to buy one in France and we will be staying at off-motorway service stations to get as far north as we can.  I have a business to run and need to get back and need to organise all the paperwork for the claim, which I have already put into motion.  I asked them how long we should take to get up there, they didn't have an answer (sorry I think I said that before).

I hate the French at the moment and Bill has said Brittany Ferries are joining Ryanair in our list of services never to be used again.

Hotel Josein in Comillas - Tuesday 25th September

I've benn onto the ferry company 4 times since yesterday morning and the latest update on their website says our ferry is still on but the negotiations in Roscoff are still continuing, but at least talks are progressing and hopefully we will have some definite news of our booking this afternoon at about 3pm.  Otherwise we will have to drive to Calais.

I was very stressed yesterday and didn't sleep well either, we want to be home as soon as possible.

This is a nice if garish coloured hotel right on a beach front which was the only one that looked open in this village.  We are about half an hours drive from the ferry and have all day tomorrow to kill until 2030 when hopefully we will be waiting at the ferry terminal to board.

Will update later today.

Cancelled ferry

Brittany ferries are on strike, so they have cancelled our sailing tomorrow and their website states that the alternative crossing is Calais which is 2000 miles away - is it ? Perhaps you can check please.  I got through to them eventually about an hour ago and told them our plight, I.e. we have no maps of France with us, so how the hell we are supposed to get there and how long it will take etc etc god only knows.

They said on the phone that a sailing to Plymouth is scheduled for Wednesday and we are now booked on that, it leaves Santander at 2130 and gets in at 1930 our time.  But there is no guarantee of the sailing.

One important factor is that as from 1600 tomorrow when we supposed to get the ferry to Portsmouth we will be saving all our receipts to claim on our travel insurance through Lloyds bank because we will have extra expenses to stay for another 2 nights plus fuel from plymouth and I just want it logged that this has happened, as from previous experience Axa insurance is a nightmare to deal with.

I can only hope that the sailing goes ahead on Wednesday otherwise I have no idea when we will be home.  I even text my friend Val who works for Carnival to see if there are other sailings I.e. from Bilbao but nothing.   Will be updating the blog.  I will be able to access the Internet until tomorrow morning when we have to check out of these lovely apartments.  We will then be looking to stay somewhere nearer to Santander as we are approx 120 km from there at the moment (but as the roads are so good here compared to the uk it would only take an hour to get there).

I have informed our cat sitter Jerradine about the cancellation but not the latest news and Mick I spoke to earlier, he thought the ferry was cancelled because of a hurricane !!


Never trust the French.  Bastards !!!


Sent from my iPad

Leaving Benavente to the north coast

So - last nights meal we waited whilst drinking some very nice wine, there are obviously no tourists here, or, that even venture here.  The very helpful barmaid who spoke no English at all served us well, but in the evening in the restaurant there was no menu ! We are used to that kind of situation so had what was on offer, there were only two choices, paella or pork, and as we had filled up on a few tapas decided on the pork, which was very nice with salad and chips that were very crisp.  The bed in the room wasn't terribly comfortable and no air conditioning but in the morning it was quite crisp and clear with a temperature of only 15 deg.  So, blade on to the coast found us going through the asturias mountains, very spectacular, like Scotland, and as cold.  Temperature went down to 12 deg and we had to put the heating on !  The roads as usual have hardly any traffic (apart from the underground motorways in Madrid). So it's very pleasant to drive.  Looking at the map towards Gigon and turning the heating off as it was now 23 deg we decided to come to a place called Ribadesella for two nights in a self catering apartment for 65 euros a night - we only have 2 nights left and as we drove so long yesterday need some time off.  Santander is 100 km away so can be reached in an hour on Monday, the roads are so quick here and nothing like the UK.  These apartments are very nice and spacious, I'd recommend them for a few day's stay at least.  The are called Las Vegas apts.  There is a river than runs out towards the fishing port and there is a big fish market here and some fishing boats to look at.  They mainly use trammel nets for fishing but there are some stern trawlers. There are lots of cafes and restaurants in the old town and there is a museum and cave with stalactites situated over the river which the proprietor told me about in great detail in Spanish I had a job to keep up with his speed of lingo.  we may go and look at the cave or museum tomorrow.  also the advantage of staying here is that Sunday is a dead day if you are trying to look or book a hotel so just as well we are here.   It's a lovely atmosphere again with no one that speaks English, the proprietor helped us park Bill's car as it was very tight.  Parking is as usual a nightmare but we found somewhere close for a change.

Bill's in siesta mode again snoring as its now 6pm local time an hour ahead of us and again we probably won't eat until 9 or 10 pm tonight.  Still at least we don't have to get up tomorrow for anything or anyone.

Great place, would come back here.  More later ....

Beneveldos or something like that

Well we spent 4 hours travelling north to Zamora only to find that it was bigger than expected and a warren of one way streets, trying to navigate to find a hotel was quite stressful.  So after trying to pull into a hotel that we did find but missed the junction twice we decided to come another 35km or so north to this place.  On entering the outskirts it seemed a multitude of commercial and industrial areas but going into the town we found hotels, but the same as the last place, all of them a shut.  They seem to like their siestas between 1300 and 1800 and the small boutique hotels shut at this time, which is when we normally arrive.  No 5 star hotels here and in fact we are in a hostel but it's very nice with an ensuite bathroom and clean and tidy at 40 euros a night.  Nobody here speaks English at all, apart from one person I met to check they had rooms.  I did wonder whether they even took cards here to pay, but they do.  Managed to park near the hotel and it's free for a change.    Still, a bit of a change from last nights palatial room, but it does the job and it's quiet.  The hostel is also a restaurant but doesn't open until 9 as usual. Spanish eat so late so we had a quick snack of Iberian ham on arrival.  So going up into the centre walking up a hill brought us surprisingly to the Plaza Mayor which is currently on a festival of vegetables and local produce for a few weeks, where you can buy huge peppers, onions, garlics, squashes, honey, water melon all grown locally.  So, after a couple of gins we went round and bought onions etc and then to a butchers to buy Serrano ham, salami, special flavoured regional pork and chorizo so we can share with our friends when we get back.

So now we are in the hostel waiting for a meal and then an early night.  Hope to get somewhere tomorrow near Gigon, it's old stomping ground from 20 years ago when we first started wandering around Spain.

More on Zafra

Last night has got to be one of the best tapas bars experienced so far, recommended by the hotel manager.  Called La Aubache near the castle, if we come down this way again by car it's a definite stop en route to the south.  Gorgonzola cheese with fig jam and walnuts; deep fried Auvergne in batter with sauce;  Serrano ham on toast with fresh tomato sauce; then Bill had a plate of seared tuna served rare with a parsley sauce that was so tendere it melted in your mouth.  Wow !!

Zafra

We decided against meeting up with Alan as we would have to stay another night in Taviera and instead drove back into spain.  Well about 3 hours drive from Pedras del Rai bought us here to Zafra.  After finding the 2 plazas that were described in the book, the place is empty but all the bars have all their tables and chairs out for the two or three people that are here, and we are two of them.  Going to one of the corners of the square one of the bars looked open and had 3 customers, one very drunk old man who asked me for a cigarette so I plastered him with English rubbish, then a beggar came out of nowhere and ditto !!  Still it's lovely here.  4pm The hotels were all shut so I asked someone in my best Spanish why that was, only to be told that they all reopen at 6pm and that it was lunch siesta time.

So 1745 I tried to open this door of the hotel we are in now and it was locked only to find that the proprietor was sat inside and I asked in Spanish if he had a room available.  Well not only that but I got a whole history lesson on the Romans when they were here and how the arches are similar to the ones in Pompeii, if you are interested go to www.hotelbalconesdezafra.com.  It's a lovely hotel and I think the cost he said in Spanish was 65 euros including breakfast.  The room is great too, large and spacious.  Our plan is to head towards Zamora tomorrow for the night then up to the north coast to Gigon and then somwhere else for Sunday closer to Santander for our Monday ferry trip back.  One thing I know is that we wont be eating on the ferry but have a lunch in a place we know near the port which is walking distance, and we can leave the car at the port.

So I'll be updating later on to see if anyone does come out to sit on all these chairs to eat and drink !!  I took some photos.

Leaving Pedras del Rai

So sadly leaving here today, we will come back to this place again and stay for longer, there is a lot of relaxation and lovely beaches and inexpensive restaurants all within cycling and train distance so a car isn't really necessary.  So we made a plan to travel north to somewhere around Badajoz, then Alan phoned just now asking what we were doing for lunch, so we may change our plans and stay near Tavira again or .....??

From Tavira to Pedros d'el Rai for 2 days

So on checking out from Vila Gale hotel in Tavira we made our way towards where our friends are staying in Pedros del Rai, it was much shorter than we expected, 10 minutes drive and we were here.  So we checked in for 2 nights, the apartments are a very good price at just over 50 euros a night breakfast included.  Met up with Steve and Diane and have spent the last 48 hours eating fish meals, sunning by the pool and the occasional gin and tonic, beer and wine.  Walked last night to Santa Luzia for a meal which was very good and inexpensive and today we ate loads of fish in Olhao in a back street bar we went with Alan and Sue in June.  Food is very good here all round

So tomorrow we are not sure of where we will be, we would like to go back to the fish restaurant in Fuzeta we ate in yesterday lunchtime which was fab, 4 fish meals, 2 carafes of wine, water, beer and salads for 40 euros for the 4 of us.  We left a 5 euro tip and he bought us more glasses of wine !!

So off now for the last of the sun around the pool and a gin and tonic.  More later ......

Restaurants in Tavira

Don't go to the restaurant Mares in Tavira, we went for lunch and the sole fillets with banana ( I wanted to try it) was an over cooked product with breadcrumbs and the banana I think was a plantain, it looks like a banana but has no flavour.  Bill had a cheese and ham salad which was just bulk lettuce and the ham was thinly sliced shite.  We weren't that hungry and just wanted a small meal.

Still we found a nice local cafe afterwards and had a very good glass of wine and I'm now in the hotel pool area in the shade, it is still vey warm.  There is an Indian restaurant Bill would like to try in the old town so we may do that tonight.  It's near the restaurant we went to last night.

There are a lot of English people in this hotel that are obviously travelling with Saga, they get free tea and coffee !  Wow.  More later ....

From Conil to Tavira

Via Cadiz and Ayemonte.  One cannot go to Spain without at least a visit to Cadiz. We would have stayed there but could find nowhere to park, not even for refreshments.  Still it was interesting to drive around the old city.  New plan we then decided to drive up to Seville and along towards Portugal to stop in Ayemonte on the Spanish border which we have visited before with friends,but could not find a hotel anywhere within walking distance for the town.  So here we are in Tavira which we know well, only to find the hotel we wanted to stay at was full.  Luckily the Vila Gale had rooms which was a relief after travelling for nearly 6 hours.  decided to stay 2 nights, so am by the pool right now soaking up the sun and considering a swim in the by the very nice pool in the hotel.  Steve and Di have been in touch and we are meeting them tomorrow.  More later....

Conil

An hour up the road is a place called Conil which is another town full of bars and holidaymakers, mainly Spanish.  On driving along the front with a huge sandy beach there were several hotels and hostels, this one we decided on called Playa Conil.  It's half the price of the one in Tarifa and not as noisy, although I can imagine the evening will be busy in town with all the restaurants.  Our new plan now is tomorrow to look into the old town on Cadiz on Alan's recommendation, and if we find a suitable hotel, stay there, or just go for lunch as Portugal is now not far away.  As we arrived here early 1130 their time we had to wait for an available room, but lunch of mixed Iberian meats and red pepper salad with caramelised goats cheese was fantastic.

It has to be one of the hottest days today as we could not stay outside even in the shade this afternoon so had to revert to our room for a siesta and air-conditioning.  I did want to have a swim in the sea but I don't think I'd be able to walk on the sand.

Going to find a cold drink and read for a while.  Bill is still having a siesta.

More onTarifa

There are so many restaurants here and bars that came out of the woodwork on the old walls around here after dark it was impossible to select one over another, but decided on a fresh fish and wood fired pizza restaurant in the old town where we are staying.  Problem is everyone else is awake and it's now after 11 at night and there's some sort of street entertainment outside our hotel of which even hearing it in Spanish there is no interest on our part.  Quicker we get to Portugal the better, somewhere we know quiet and to stay for a few days before our journey back.  Certainly Spain has opened our eyes to the traditions of eating at 10pm at night and late breakfasts, and our journey tomorrow will be with late lunch in mind and then to stop for the night wherever near or in Cadiz.

So, more tomorrow.....

Still at the hotel and just had a very strange breakfast of cold chopped eggs, cold toast, peach jam and warm orange juice.  We also had to listen to the delights of some woman on the audio system belting out Spanish flamenco style music rather too loudly.

Tarifa

1100

So leaving the Brits abroad we drove to Estepona to look for somewhere to stay, but the only hotel we found looked very expensive, so decided to move on to Algericas near Gibraltar.  On approaching via the autoroute it looked a huge city, not what we were looking for at all, trafic was terrible, so moved on to somewhere called Tarifa which has to be the southernmost tip of Spain to the west of Gibraltar.

What a gem of a place - its lovely here and although the hotel is a bit on the expensive side it was worth the extra travelling.

Later at 1800

Out and about here gave us an insight into the old town and port, ferries going south, with its moorish features and hundreds of bars, cafes and restaurants we will have to choose from tonight.  You can see Tangiers from the harbour side, where there are a few fishing boats moored up and rigged for tuna fishing.  I have taken a few pictures but not sure how to upload them on here, will experiment.

Pete  and Min our friends are travelling to Estepona tonight but we are meeting them up in Tavira next week in Portugal along with others that are here as well, Steve and Diane are currently there at the moment and Alan, Sue, Steve and Lisa will be there from 19th.  A right Wheatsheaf get together for all of us.

Apart from a bit of stress with directions driving today was hard work and we are looking forward to spending a couple of nights somewhere nice perhaps north of Cadiz, or Cadiz itself.

We've arrived in the Englishmans Universe !!!

So - from the lovely and quiet Motril yesterday with its tapas and wine we now are in Benalmadena, next to Torremolinos.  Quelle Horreur !!  Actually it's not too bad and the restaurant on the beach we had lunch in was full of Spanish people and the food was lovely.  But the whole place is a concrete jungle with Brits on their two week holiday in the Spanish sun.  Oy boy alert, avoid football pubs and go back to that restaurant !!  We decided that Almeria was to be another holiday via plane and hire a car if we are to meet our friends next week, so the plan is to travel west to Cadiz for a couple of days rest and then on to Portugal.

Hotel ok, 4 stars, will judge that by the breakfast menu.  A bit steep at 90 euros but it did include parking and breakfast.  The weather was more windy today but it's still very hot.  And of course it is noisy which is something we are not used to.

So just having an evening snooze before dinner tonight, and of course we are in for a treat with tonight's entertainment at the hotel here.  Some smiling gink with a microphone and backing tracks no doubt, to make the oldies with their zimmer frames smile.  I'm really looking forward  to that.  More later no doubt....

Going west not east

New plan.  As we want to meet our friends in Portugal we have decided to go west of here so it's pot luck navigating around the British suburbs we are trying to avoid.  More later at our destination.

Last night

We ate so many tapas in the bars here it ended up we didn't actually go out for a meal.  The tapas here are delicious, usually fish, and presented beautifully.  Time now for some breakfast before packing up and moving on towards Almeria.

Valdepenos to Andulucia

Leaving the Castello de Lyon region and driving south saw desert style terrain and not much else, so pretty boring.  It is also getting warmer by the hour, more A/C needed in the car.  Last night was another successful eating establishment by the main cathedral and we selected a tapas style restaurant which Bill described as eating someone's fish tank, the fish were very small but delicious.   No English people around at all.  So driving south we hit the andulucian mountains on the border consisting of a huge gorge, very different to the desert style we have been used to.  Green everywhere, and then driving into the Jaen region, millions of olive trees spaced out like vines, as far as the eye can see.  Passing Granada to get to the coast saw incredible lakes, dams, rivers and new motorways with huge viaducts 1500m + high, the mountains an incredible sight and wonderful views. So - the coast is looming, so where to head for ? Almeria which is our destination is still another 100 km away and we travelled in the car for 3.5 hours today to get some distance, so now we are at Motril, which I have never heard of.  It's east of Malaga, and we are in a lovely 4 star hotel again for 64 euros including breakfast for the two of us.  A great sea view too, not very busy and had a really good tapas in a local bar for a late lunch.  Thinking of staying here for another night  as the swimming pool is very good and there are no british people here at all, nobody speaks English that much so it's a great place to stay.  The sea is blue and the beaches are empty, exactly how we like it.

More perhaps later....

In Valdepenos

The meal we had in Burgos last night was very good, I had duck with apple sauce and cherry sauce and Bill had Pork, sloshed down with a very nice and inexpensive bottle of wine.  Whole meal came to about 44 euros.

On leaving Burgos this morning about 1045 we decided to make a good run to get south.  We deliberated whether to navigate through Madrid or go west to avoid it, but in the end decided to go for the navigation around the M30 in Madrid.  An experience only for the ambitious, we travelled 5 miles at least underground in a 3 lane motorway to avoid surface traffic, they must have been like rats to bury through all of that two ways.  We then took the signs to take us to the A4 autoroute south towards Cordoba.  The roads are so good here and empty of heavy traffic it was very easy to run a long distance.  So here we are in Valdepinos where they produce a lot of very good wine of which we have sampled a couple of glasses already.  The Hotel here is vey nice and for a 4 star very good value at 76 euros including breakfast.  We want to get going a bit earlier tomorrow to get to the coast and stop a few days and relax.

Off out now for a tapas dinner by the cathedral locally, it is very Spanish here and apart from the hotel receptionist no one speaks English.  Not a problem for me !

My next blog will hopefully be on the coast where we are starved of the sea and looking at fishing boats no doubt :)

Monday 10th September

The food on board the Pont Aven, of which we had to queue an hour to get a booking, wasn't terribly good on the way over and the breakfast buffet, the hot food was cold.  Coffee undrinkable.  Still, we made our way out of the terminal in Santander which has changed since the last time we were there, you now drive all along the docks to get out.  The  signposting although good for our destination of Bargos was ok for a short while, I had to look carefully at the map to navigate in the right direction for the N632 which is a non-motorway route.  The scenery of the mountains, greenery and wildlife were stunning, and I was lucky to see some Vultures high up in the mountains flying on the thermals.  It was around 29 degrees so had the air con on for a while.

We stopped in a small sleepy village en route, one of many, for a cold drink and some Serrano ham which was delicious.

On arriving in Bargos via a new road that wasn't on the sat nav we drove around to find out first hotel.  As we arrived in siesta time the traffic was thankfully quiet, so after about half an hour of driving around we decided to stay in this 4 star hotel, a chain called NU, Palacio de Merced which is next to a very old church.  On walking to find a gin and tonic we came across this beautiful cathedral not unlike the one in Barcelona.  A suitable watering hole was found nearby, whilst we sat in the sun the waitress delivered two large bowls  with thick stems full of ice and plenty of lemon, then proceeded to pour a very large gin, then poured the tonic in and had a handy spoon ready to mix it.    Sometimes you just can't replicate something like this in the UK.

The rough guide to Spain I'd bought with me is invaluable for information on local cuisine, history and of course the architecture.  We are going out tonight to an area where it's been recommended for tapas bars, and we have looked in on a breakfast place for tomorrow as we won't have breakfast in the hotel as it wasn't included in the 85 euros we paid for the room !!!

Not sure of our plans tomorrow, there is a lot to see here, but Almeria is a long way away and if we are to get to Portugal as well to meet all our friends we may change our plans.

Hopefully wherever we are tomorrow I will have the free wifi again for the update.


Free wifi in this hotel is brilliant but you only get a 24 hour password.

Sunday 9th September 1500

The car started fine this morning with no problems and after a lovely lunch in Plymouth at the Village Restaurant in the Barbican (recommended for a light lunch) we are now at the Brittany Ferry Terminal waiting to board.  We discussed whether we could have done any better to improve our sorry situation from yesterday but as Bill repaired the part that was faulty at home and our mechanic broke his weekend laws of not working the fuel starvation problem has now been solved and our decisions were definitely the right ones.  I did book us on the ferry from Portsmouth for the coming Tuesday to be on the safe side just in case the part could  not be repaired but re-changed the booking back to Plymouth for today- but at some cost.  We took one of the only two cabins left available on this crossing today.

The sun has come out and it is warm, a good omen for what is to come.  John S phoned me this morning for some eggs today so any egg customers must see Mackeral Mick in the Wheatsheaf this afternoon and forthcoming days.

I think they charge for wifi on the ferry so my next blog will be in Spain in a wifi spot.

Still at home

First Leg

Shedfield - Okehampton - Plymouth - Santander

Friday 7th September

0800  Set off from Home in Shedfield to Okehampton. We had a meeting there and had made arrangements to stay the night.  Hotel was OK; just OK.  Indian Restaurant up the road wasn't up to much.  We were looking forward to staying at the Grosvenor in Plymouth the next night, and then catching the ferry to Santander.

Woke up this morning, car wouldn't start.  The Lexus is under a year old and had just had its first service.  Long story, but we had to come home to Shedfield to get our mechanic who did the service to assist in repairing a part on the car that had broken (partly his fault).  Hopefully all will be well tomorrow morning.  It will decide if we go back to Plymouth to catch our original ferry to Spain or to stay here until Tuesday to catch the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander.  You may ask why we didn't call the AA, we did, but coming home was the most practical way to solve the problem.