Wandering with Wilf

    It’s the first morning that’s started with wiping condensation for a while! It was more chilly last night than we’ve been used to lately and the windows are dripping.  The sun is having a go at breaking through now and we appear closer to the river than I remember being last night!  There are still cuckoos in earshot but woodpeckers too today. The dawn chorus was loud enough to wake me up! Nice to have some different birds too because of the river , first time we’ve seen a grebe this holiday! On a sunny day this would be divine, apple blossom , water, birdsong lots of wild flowers …even without the sun it’s pretty special!  Before we leave I compress the load a little making some space in cupboards for extra shopping later and pulling some bits out for a ‘boat bag’ for tomorrow.  The road out and over the river seems vaguely familiar. Like a less dramatic version of yesterday’s gorge drive it’s not until  we reach Valdenoceda that we realise we are...

  Bit grey again, but the reservoir is lovely and cuckoos are singing. It was quiet ish overnight with an occasional car passing but now It’s Sunday morning and there is a constant stream of people walking quite seriously in trainers and leggings past the front of the van. It feels a bit busy to hang around here so we are heading into town for breakfast, but not before doing a bit of a litter pick. There is a fair bit of mess around and we don’t want anyone else to think that we left it.   We can’t resist the drive across the dam even though it’s not the most direct way to get to the town. Always a fun activity and more so when it’s a steep winding uphill to join the main road afterwards.  We manage to park in the town centre and happen to be beside a small bar so start with a coffee, it’s a real locals bar and I copy locals having chocolate with a cake slice for breakfast which is rich but yummy!  It’s only two mins to walk from here to the main square where it seem...

  It may be grey of sky but this must be the cleanest most well designed aire we’ve been to. Despite its proximity to the road there was no significant traffic noise and whilst there’s an absence of birdsong for the first time in a while, we do get to watch a stork!! The castle opens at 12 and we are the first to arrive. This means that the first ‘tour’ is now in English. Which also means it’s just for us! A Spanish family are asked to come back in 15 mins and the guide gets up from behind the till, locks the office, unlocks the castle and takes us in. He gives us a potted history of the castles origins and building style. The impressive stone facade would have hidden a building largely made using the more common local technique of earth construction which unsurprisingly has not survived as long so there is little to see within the walls but he does well at painting a picture of its history to English people with limited knowledge of local aristocracy.    We are then left...