Another Month passes..........

4th.MARCH 2013

Well there's a month gone and apart from the loss of many little grey cells and probably quite a lot of the functions of my liver, not a lot to show for it.Except that it's been a very social,enjoyable and fun.

The Gf returned to the Uk on March 2nd in order to be with the family for Mothering Sunday and will return on the 11th. In the end Nick drove us to Seville ( 90mins drive, 30 mins to discover how to get into the car park)
as he and Dave had hired a car for a month and were looking for things to do to justify it. Larry has still offered to provide the transport for the return trip but as he will have to drive friends to Gibralter airport the following day I may ask Dave...or Mike...or Bryn...whatever. Or drive the van there as a last resort as I would have to use the long stay carpark at 14€ for only a very short stay, plus 14€ in tolls plus fuel for a 180 mile round trip at 30mpg as opposed to 45mpg in a small car.

Right, so what's been happening to explain the attractions of wintering in Spain. Well not really the weather. The sun has shone a great deal and is very hot but overnight temps have been down to a very unseasonable 4-5c making evenings and early mornings very cold. There has been snow less than 100 miles away (Seville & Ronda) and blizzards and bad snow from Madrid to the north. This has been caused by the Jetsteam lying just over the straits of Gibralter rather than north of Scotland and pulling cold air down over the whole of Europe rather than pulling warm air up from Morocco.
Consequently we've had winds most of the time that are very cold if you are not sheltered or outside of 12-3pm. The Spanish think its start of the ice-age and wear more clothes than the Gf whilst the brits stoically walk around in shorts as its just like the average uk summer. The Gf now has a ski mask whilst cycling and has alarmed more than one passing police car and several shopkeepers. She's been christened Eskimo Nell on the campsite and on one very hot afternoon with no wind when she dug out her shorts for an hour or two people came from all over to gaze in wonder. I jest but those who know her will understand completely. As we move into March the temps have risen overnight due to cloud cover but we also have strong winds causing minor havoc. The low temps have meant using more gas for heating than anticipated ....electricity is metered on monthly stays, and charged at 0.25€ kwh and we are already running at about 10€ a week so using gas makes sense. Except that We now have refillable LPG cylinders and unlike the rest of europe, Spain has not embraced Autogas universally following a massive loss of life after an LPG storage tank explosion. So we have to drive to Jerez to refill which is about 40 miles away. Not really a problem as we can have lunch and a day out in a very pretty city. We've only had to go once so far but are probably getting close to one cylinder needing a refill soon. Hopefully it will last to our departure which will now be next week so that we can fill up on the way to Portugal (which has more Lpg stations than Spain).

On the quiz front we've won 4 times out of 7 and both the GF and I have each won the weekly whist tournament once bringing total earnings to date to a rather handy 126€. Since Harry & Joan have amassed 122€ in the same period we have rather cleaned up between us as no-one else has won more than once. We all felt so chuffed with this that we took Mike the Quizmaster out to lunch just to start the rumour mill rolling and managed to spend 190€ on a meal for 5 in a fantastic restaurant on the beach within feet of the crashing surf with a view to die for. Since we then won the next quiz we managed to annoy a lot of people.

Boules has become very competitive with the ladies now having the edge, the Gf,Patricia and Joan making a formidable team even without Sabena who left a couple of weeks ago. The afternoon matches are extremely good fun and the apres-boules does nothing for the liver.

Lots of good evenings at the restaurant, including a very good Valentines dance, a paella night and a complimentary Andalucia day meal ....when the food is free why do we spend more on alcohol?

Don & Sandra did an excellent BBQ spare ribs on their enormous gas bbq which is so large I'm sure that they have to tow it behind the motorhome for all the usual suspects and a very alcoholic lunch lasted from 12-7pm when it got too cold to sit out any longer.

Despite what I said about the weather we've been out and about on the bikes and had a lovely day walking along the beach towards Trafalgar, 3hrs each way and a picnic. Discovered that the tyres on my bike were wearing badly so the local bike shop replaced them with very good michelins for a reasonable 40€ (17€ each plus 6€ for fitting which as removing the wheels from electric bikes is a daunting prospect seemed a good deal to me).

That'll do for now, I'll post more later in the week.

FEBRUARY 7TH 2013

The days roll by and it's strange where the time goes to now that the sun has returned and the sky is deep blue.....the only downside being that the jet stream has decided to settle a long way south of its normal position and that the nights are colder than we would like, exacerbated of course by an abscence of cloud cover.Still, it's lovely and warm by 11am.
The festival was held after all and after the procession had passed we cycled up to El Colorado where they all head for to watch the festivities which seemed to consist of eating and drinking as much as possible whilst making as much noise as they could before damaging eardrums. This years extravaganza seemed to have attracted more people than ever, with more highly decorated floats (full of alochol) and many more people...either there's no recession in Andalucia or they've  given up and  said let's just enjoy ourselves.
That Sunday, the 27th, saw the weather change for the better as the clouds disappeared and the shorts came out.
The campsite organised a bus trip to the mountains to see the White Villages of Arcos, Grazalema, El Bosque and Ubriche which was a very jolly affair. Things went downhill at the first coffee stop, where after a long discussion about the Spanish having started selling a brandy at only 30%, Harry and I embarked on a mission to discover why, which involved tasting as many as we could everywhere we stopped. By the last stop we stepped off the bus straight into a bar and missed the tour of the town completely and have agreed that 30% brandy is definitely an inferior product and should be avoided in preference to the 36% or the 40% which is even better. An enormous glass of brandy in these bars generally sold for €1.50.....more of this later.
Better result at the quiz which we won with Paul & Caroline, and the princely sum of €60 between us. When we first arrived, Harry & JOan suggested we team up for the quiz but they were currently partnering Don & Sandra who had friends arriving in 3 weeks who they were going to team up with when they arrived. So we agreed, especially when Paul & Caroline said they were only staying for a month and would therefore only be around for the next 3 quizzes. The Harry/Don combo took second prize so the change of partners seemed a dream team. Unfortunately, the dates got a bit muddled and  Don's friends arrived on Sunday,leaving H&J with no partners so we had to dump Paul & Caroline this week,who were a bit miffed,and team up with H&J when we stormed the quiz and won another €60. Fortunately, despite only finding one other person to team up with, Paul & Caroline came second which proves something. Despite always doing well in the quiz, winning 2 weeks in succession is a first and half of the winnings went on brandy at the Terry's  Bodega in Jerez where they sell their 36% at €5 a bottle which seemed remarkably cheap and necessitating the purchase of 3 to take home.
The ladies boules team of which the Gf is now captain had a remarkable run of success and the GF is now going for the Grand Slam of winning the boules,quiz and whist.....the situation was so serious that when Tony & Sabena offered us a day out to Santa Puerta Maria for lunch and a visit to Decathlon we accepted with alacrity as Decathlon sell proper boules. I was sorely tempted by the tournament edition set at €89 but common sense prevailed and I settled for the €29 reduced fron €39 set. And promptly restored the mens winning form with some stunning play.
Taichi is great fun and I shall continue when I return home. My work with the fan was rewarded with a gratefully received "Moy Bien, Paul"
A quiet lunchtime saw the Ceremony of the Good Luck charms after Justin had sent us the 2013 charm to hang in the van and bring us good luck in our travels. The 2012 model, now redundent after stirling work in protecting us for 12 months had to be disposed of in a fitting and solemn manner and the result can be viewed at .http://www.youtubecom/watch?v=fIflbuhC6WE
My thanks to Don for his support and Harry for his constuction work.
 A very pleasant evening with Nick & Barbera, Dave & Geraldine at the Paella night and a bike ride to La Barossa with Tony & Sabena for lunch.
And Larry & Pat have offered to take us to Seville when the Gf is flying home for Mothering Sunday which solves another problem.

And time slowly passes.....

January 24th.2013

The weather is distinctly iffy. When the sun shines it is very hot but we have had a lot of cloud, some cold winds and an exceedingly violent storm last weekend with winds of 55pmh plus. Fortunately it had been forecast so hatches had been battened but it still caused a few problems. Social life is very bubbly, and more people than ever are attending events .The management put on their usual free meal in honour of the Conil festival which consists of the whole town joining a procession of decorated wagons loaded with the entire stock of alcohol from the supermarket and walking to the next village where they have a bbq in the woods.Its called the Romeria de San Sebastian but was unfortunately cancelled on Sunday as the high winds meant that they couldn't get the floats decorated in time but it may kick off next Sunday although the forecast is not looking good for that.But the lunch was still good anyway. We play boules with Tony & Sabena when the sun shines & canasta with Harry & Joan when it doesn't.The Gf does pilates and I'm doing Tai Chi twice a week. Harry has started a Progressive Whist night,after a reasonable showing last year, which is even more popular this year and makes a very convivial evening. We've walked and cycled( weather permitting) into town and along the beach and have several offers of joining others for mass electric bike rides....the popularity of electric bikes increases every year, and they can even be hired in town now. The Gf is still wary of cycling if the wind is cold after last year when she was laid low with sinus and throat problems, so cycling is mainly on hold at the moment. Nick,Barbara,Dave & Geraldine arrived on Friday, in time for a very rollicking night at the restaurant with music by an aged rocker called Chris Cody who was excellent . We are not having success at the quiz. Wednesday night saw 118 people participating, 30 teams which is probably a record and we came 5th. We scored 39 and the winners scored 43 and we could have equalled them if certain peoples had been listened to. Our new partners, Paul & Caroline are ex-schoolteachers and their input should be better. I caved in to Picasso as the answer to 'Spanish painter 1904-89 who was born & died at Figueras' when I knew full well that Picasso had died in France, in the 70's & was 90+, and that Dali must therefore be the answer but they seemed so positive. There were other examples but I'm sulking so move on.
Last note on the weather, people who arrived yesterday spoke on having driven from Calais in 6 days and  had snow for 5 of them right down to Caceres, which is only a days drive from here. At least its much warmer than home.
 

OFF TO SUNNY SPAIN

January 17th 2013

who came down twice, spent a lot of The Fridge......had problems in September when the fridge wouldn't switch to 12v power when driving. Not a huge problem as it worked on gas and mains whenever we stopped, but not right, and then on our last night in France, it stopped working on gas and defrosted itself. So took it down to Chelston in Taunton in November for repairs - and had the filler connector for the refillable autogas bottles moved from inside the locker to outside to keep the french happy. The fridge problem was an electrical relay from the engine that had died so was soon fixed, but the fridge still didn't seem to be getting cold enough when I got home. This is a long story and I'm getting tired of typing.......found a Dometic engineer in Norwich time and eventually replaced everything on the fridge except the carcase and seemed to have it working...it was a brand new fridge by now. However, when we came to switch it on prior to loading up and leaving for Spain it certainly wasn't anywhere near cold. Frantic phone calls to our man in Norwich finally isolated the problem to having the winter covers on the ventillation ducts which was preventing a satisfactory airflow.....normally the covers go on in October and remain in situ until the spring but it seems the very large fridge we now have only requires vent covers when the temp. is below 10c. as there is a large gap between top & bottom ducts. So they are off all the time now and the fridge works and this may have been the problem from the start.
Stop me if this getting too technical.......

Down to Folkestone 6th.Jan. and through the Tunnel on the 7th at 07.50. Weather cloudy all the way to La Suze s/Sarthe (Lemans) and next day to Bordeaux. The continued work on the N10 seems near to completion and depressingly we passed a large Toll Station being built so more expense there next year. Decided to continue past San Sebastian where we have stopped before as we were making good time, and onto Vitorio Gasteiz, capital of the Basque country. Adequate but subsequently noisy aire in town but nice tram ride to historic centre which is worth a detour. Salamanca the next night where it was warm and sunny for the first time but the mist, cloud and drizzle returned the next day all the way to Zafra, another new stop on the route. Scrubby Aire in the showground complex but for some reason we followed 2 german vans round the back to find a quieter but more vulnerable place to park. Turned out ok but I still don't know why I let the Gf persuade me to go there.. Mist and fog next day down to Seville where we stopped for to top up the gas bottles (LPG is not readily available in Spain and the closest to Conil are Jerez & Seville, so best to fill up whenever possible) and then the sun came out as we passed Cadiz and arrived Conil about 14.00. Refueled, stopped at the supremarket for fresh supplies ( 2litre wine up from €2.17 last year to €2.70 but the usual Rioja down from €1.79 to €1.64 and Cruz Campo beer on offer at €1 for 2 550ml tins.)
Conil looking good, La Rosaleda fuller than it was this time last year and lots of old faces. Spent Saturday & Sunday getting straight after 7 days of travel (GF very tired & weary). Obviously without P&M to partner us in the Wed. quiz we had to find new blood and were happy to find Paul & Caroline, neighbours last year, had also just arrived and were happy to team up. Came 4th out of 22 last night with 39/50 and the winners only scored 41/50 so we are in the right zone...I said that the ribbon on the VC was purple but the Gf overruled me and that the Road to Istanbul was not a Hope&Crosby film otherwise we would have tied for 1st and we know how bad that could be for us..... 

Here we go Again.

January 17th 2013

Well there's a bit of catching up to do as I left this in the wilds of Croatia with a distinctly poorly member of the group who was having a great deal of trouble driving, on account of gear changing with his right arm being agony....alert readers will have spotted that he drives a lefthand drive vehicle, so there's a lesson to be learned.
From Croatia we had planned to visit Venice, always a pleasure, and we pitched up at a very pleasant site at Lido di Jessolo. P&M went straight to the hospital where x-rays revealed a detached muscle and he was told to rest it and take pain killers. We ended up staying for 11 days at Lido as the sun was shining, we were on the beach and Venice was a short ride away on the ferry which we could cycle to or catch a bus, and the local farm shop across the road had an excellent selection of fill-your-own-bottles of wine at €1.25 a litre and they would also fill 5 litre wine boxes as you waited, so a few of those came home when we left. Had 2 trips into Venice which was heaving with visitors even at the end of September and it is surprising how much a day out in Venice can cost, even if you go prepared. Eventually D&M set off home first as M. wanted to go shopping in France (?) and they had to have the dog vetted, followed by P&M a few days later who were going to be driving on the motorways very slowly and resting inbetween. If they got into difficulties we would not be far behind and could help out.  
We left Lido on Oct.8th and after all the sunshine had a rather miserable trip home getting colder and wetter by the day. Started at Locarno, over the Simplon Pass to Lac Leman, Bad Sackingen on the Rhine and then following the Neckar river - stopping at Rottenburg, a visit to the Porsche factory at Stuttgart (where we had the best meal of the whole trip), Eberbach for 3 days to visit Heidelberg and onto Trier. Apart from the day we went on the train to Heidelberg, the weather was cloudy,misty, drizzly and cool and we should have stayed in the South for longer but for wanting to help Paul in case of problems. We also had a week longer to stay as when rebooking after the kidney stone episode we added another week for some reason.So we stayed at Spa in Belgium for 2 days which was more than enough and then a night at Gravelines where the fridge finally packed up before  catching the ferry home on Oct.19th.
Great trip, lot of fun, destruction of preconceptions re Croatia (ie. not a land full of murderous bandits waiting to rob, plunder and sell our wives into slavery), marred by P.'s accident which curtailed our journey somewhat and setting off for home too early when the sun was still shining. Will definitely return to Croatia again and continue down to Dubrovnik, probably giving the Istrian coast a miss next time.
  

Ok we won't close down.

After throwing a hissy-fit over irritating comments from u-know-who I have been persuaded by nice comments from others to continue with my 'diary' as it appears to amuse. I have also set up a new facility now available whereby i can post by email which may solve some issues I've had in the past..so this is by way of a test run. Should it work i will finish off the Croatian trip in the next few days.

ADRIATIC HIGHWAY....

21st.- 24th.September

Left the lakes and headed south through scenic countryside towards ZADAR, turning up the coast slightly to STARIGRAD PAKLENCA and found a terrific campsite on the coast where we were lucky enough to get pitches right on the beach. Only downside is that Paul missed the step getting out of the van (no, he was sober) and has done serious damage to his shoulder and gear changing is agony let alone lifting beer & wine glasses and opening bottles has had to be delegated to Marianne. Actually its quite serious and we are now reorganising things so that he only drives on motorways and rests the shoulder  by stopping longer on sites......

Love STARIGRAD. Close to ZADAR where we took the bus to on Sunday. Nice town. Alfred Hitchcock said that Zadar had the best sunsets in the world and from Starigrad, about 20 miles as the crow flies, I feel he might be right. The bus trip was hilarious. Outward leg charged at 41 kune each, no ticket issued; return leg 5pm on a packed bus taking mostly students back up Rijecka and as we didn't have reservations it nearly caused a riot as we sat tight looking bemused and people with reservations had to stand and the conductor calmed everyone down ( I thinK ) pointing out that we would be getting off in half an hour into a 4 hour journey. In the end I had a long conversation with a nice Croation lad from Zadar whose parents owned a restaurant and who
was returning to uni after the weekend at home to study archeology. Saw no future in Croatia and was planning to emigrate to Canada or Australia and said he was typical of his generation. Scathing about the EU and saw joining the Euro as a disaster. Parents were suffering as tourism, on which this country seems to exist, was slowing and takings were less than 4 years ago. We have seen practically no agriculture and little livestock and he confirmed that most farms are little more than smallholdings feeding one extended family with no surplus for market even though there are fertile regions.....apparently potatoes all come from Moldova.

We feel that Croatians are a very happy bunch of people who are always smiling  and for whom service is a pleasure. Everybody speaks some english, even in country stores and most speak very good english. Campsites are very good and the facilities mainly modern, clean and always an abundance of hot water. We have never felt threatened and everyone we have encountered has been cheerful whilst relieving us of money - the country not being cheap and probably on a par with France (except in attitude). Food is plain, grilled mainly and lots of fish along the cost as you would expect but service is quite exceptional and a pleasure.

Paul's shoulder made the group decision not to go further south an easy one and as a long term decision to spend a few days in Venice had already been made we spent longer in Starigrad than we planned. This was no problem to me as I have fallen in love with the place and will return, I hope, many more times. The national park, Paklenica, is famouse for westerns being made there and I would like to explore more.

We left there with regret, heading north to OPatija and Lovran which we had passed through on the way to Krk and which looked like nice places.

Paul went the long way round on the motorway, we took the pretty route up the Adriatic Highway coast road which was the most spectacular 100 miles or so I have ever driven.
Dramatic coastline, sheer drops, mountains and views across to the islands of Pag,Rab and Krk.Not sure about driving down it, as that would be on the side of the road where the drops are (and the road was unguarded in some Places) but we had a great drive.

Fairly scrubby campsite at MEDVEJA but we all turned up, Paul in pain but a few beers revived him........beers are now bought in 2 litre bottles for about £2 which seems very civilised but which don't seem to last long.