Wandering with Wilf

 Well concerns about the weather were completely unfounded. We both slept soundly and woke to sunrise at the cabin window. The sea isn’t completely calm but in comparison our previous experience it’s s mill pond! We have a day filled with bananagrams, reading and walking around the deck. There’s even sunshine from time to time but the wind is pretty cold and gusty all day.  The last two hours are spent wrapped up on deck coast spotting as soon as we recognise studland and identifying bits we know around the water and up to the docks. Such a joy to have had a positive experience this time … makes the next booking much easier!  Bit slower getting off this time and a fairly long wait for passport control but thankfully don’t have to take stuff out for a search… the dirty washing bags would be a bit embarrassing!  Some data:  Total trip miles: 2679 Site fees : 543€ Diesel cost : Approx 500€ (564€ but we still have a full tank of cheap Spanish diesel) Step count …. A...

Our last morning in Spain and we are rather rudely awakened at about 7.15 by a large horse lorry manovering into the horse yard. To be fair on this occasion it isn’t so bad as the alarm was set for 7.30, ferry is at lunchtime and we’re squeezing what we can from the final minutes.  Outside is grey and rainy like a Cornish spring break.Last ‘tostada’ breakfast and we turn around the van with both of us inside which is a bit challenging with the extra bags on board but we have a good system now. Some adjustments for looking after the wine bottles when on board the ferry and it’s done.  It stopped raining for just long enough to have a quick walk around the harbour and watch a surfer who is seeing the waves as a challenge…slightly scary to watch but admirable. For the last time we take the ‘slow road’ out to the village and onwards for ten minutes during which time we see several walkers on a stretch that’s also on the Camino de Santiago. Once we’ve got some cheap fuel we move on...

 Grey morning as expected and a bit drizzly. I guess had it been sunny we’d have stuck around in deckchairs but this is definitely incentive to get going and see if there’s something interesting that we can get from our last day.  We are just over an hour from Bilbao at Laredo so it’s an obvious choice to head that way and shorten our journey time tomorrow.  First though it’s the all important wine shop. We have limited space in the van whilst we still have to sleep in it but can cope with the inconvenience for one night so, though it seems  pretty slovenly after all the bodegas we’ve passed, the only practical choice is supermarkets and there are plenty to chose from nearby.  There’s a minor road hugging the coast from here to Bilbao so that’s obviously the one for us. We start off heading to Castro Urdiales which looks about half way. The road goes up high over the town giving us a great aerial view of the Laredo peninsula and seeing how much bigger the town i...

 Good start to the day when ‘Merlin’ identifies the sound of a Wryneck and G spots it just above the van in a tree. All this time thinking they were super elusive and there’s one sitting 20ft away for half an hour! Quick breakfast and a good tidy up and on our way. As always we’ve chosen a slow route so we can nose around and this time we’ll get a good last look at the Ebre which feels fitting. The journey is lovely (though there are a couple of slight slip ups!). It’s not long before vineyards give way to riverbanks , and then to mountains as we climb high over the Torino’s pass before descending into the Basque Country towards our  stop in Laredo.  Still not got my head around supermarkets being closed on Sundays and the fridge is pretty empty so I was delighted to see a mini carrefour in a small town that meant we had food for a picnic tea.  Not many stops today, we were just enjoying the sunshine and the views but we did spend a while in awe at the top of the pas...

 Morning after the night before!  Slept like a baby but woke feeling warm and a little ‘dehydrated’! Graham went of in search of fresh croissant whilst I got the coffee on. Beautiful morning and already glad of the trees at the car park. It’s busier now with it being Saturday and also being adjacent to the sports centre but still lots of space around us. We also discover that the toilets are on the outside of the sports centre so accessible from the carpark! Todays journey is s short one. We are heading to Haro, the birthplace of Rioja, and so possibly more wine to drink later! We use the road adjacent to the motorway, not specifically to avoid tolls but to see if there’s an interesting stop on the way. After running alongside the Ebro for a bit we diverge and the road becomes a constant  stream of vineyards and bodegas. When we pull over just before LaGuardia to look at a small body of water we notice a track running alongside it and the next couple of hours are sorted. ...

 A morning like no other… woken by birdsong and the sun rising over the reservoir and streaming into the van. Still on our own here I head down to the waters edge in my nightclothes and breathe. The air is cold but the sun is really warm. We are at about 3500 ft and we can see some snow on distant mountains. The most beautiful place you could hope to wake …. Absolute bliss! Hard to know how to follow this , the idea of Burgos doesn’t appeal, too big, too busy. Not trying the Rioja towns feels like  an oversight though so we decide on Logrono for a night out tonight! The journey out gives us a feel for the size of the reservoir which is currently high level and vaste, branching off in all directions.  We head for the mountain pass which will take us up to the Santa Ana ski lift and then wind back down to the main road into Logrono. Another great drive, pine clad hills, snow caps and even some snow on the road edges at times.  At the peak it’s over 1850 metres and we h...

 Waking to sunshine and cuckoos, definitely spring now. Really hard to leave with the sun shining so we take our time doing all the necessary tasks when you are taking advantage of staying at a campsite.  A little later than we should leave we hot the road but only for a couple of miles to the limestone castle in the adjacent village of Penafiel. On paper this is a walkable distance but being at the top of a high hill the drive is very welcome.  The castle is unlike any other we’ve seen. It sits along a narrow ridge and to do this had to be built long and narrow. It’s almost ship like with one tower in the centre like a giant funnel. It’s also unlike any other in that the only way to visit it is on a Spanish speaking guided tour and on a ticket that includes seeing the ‘wine museum’ that is housed within the castle walls (€6.60). We tack onto a tour but are unable to keep up with the Spanish, so wander at the tail end of the group enjoying the sunshine and trying to work ...