13th May 2018

May 132018
 

We left Camping Villsom in Dos Hermanas at about 9.15am and headed back towards the A4 and according to the sat nav had to turn back towards Seville and take the first junction onto the SE40 but, unfortunately, for the first time the CoPilot software let us down as the SE40 is still being built at the moment. We continued back to the Seville ring road and then turned off onto the A92 and headed south and east towards Malaga. The road surface was smooth and well maintained and we saw several birds of prey soaring on the thermals looking for prey. The landscape was undulating plains with mountains in the far distance and the road curved around olive groves, fields of corn / wheat and also fields of sunflowers where some of the flower heads had started to appear. Just past Osuna we passed a convoy of tractors towing ‘gypsy style’ caravan trailers heading in the opposite direction, there must have been around 50 of them complete with a Guardia Civil escort. We stopped for coffee at about 10.30 and in the car park of the bar there were another 10 or so tractors with their caravans and an escort of two GC motorcycles.

After coffee we rejoined the A92 and just before Antequera we passed another large convoy of tractors towing trailers heading in the same direction as the others. We turned onto the A45 and headed south for Malaga, this road winds along a river dvalley and has several tunnels, sharp bends and steep hills with various speed limits and speed cameras. Going round one sharp bend one of the cupboards came open and the crockery fell out and knocked the kitchen sink tap on which caused a small flood. Ingrid temporarily stowed everything whilst we were on the move, turned off the water and put a tea towel down to soak up the worst of the water. At Malaga we joined the A7 and headed east towards Torre del Mar. The sat nav took us straight to the campsite where we checked in and settled and tidied up the fallen crockery properly. An earth / gravel pitch under the trees close to the beach.

Today’s route

12th May 2018

May 122018
 

We decided to have a bit of a lie in and a lazy morning as we were still aching from all the walking of yesterday but Mike and Sue wanted to do some more sightseeing and so they caught an early bus into Seville. We took a later bus and agreed to meet them at the restaurant for lunch at 3pm. We tried to find a cab to take us from the bus stop to the restaurant but every one that we saw already had fares and so we had to walk, we still arrived on time though. The girls had chosen the restaurant, it was an excellent choice, we all had something different but all courses were excellent.

After a lazy late lunch we had a short walk around the area and had a couple of afternoon liquid refreshments whilst we waited for the Flamenco show to start. We returned to Casa de la Guitarra just before 7.30pm for the show. It is a small intimate location for about 60 or so visitors with a small stage for a guitarist, singer and dancer. Due to the lighting and the inability to use flash the photos all have a red caste but give some impression of the show. After the show we took a slow walk back to the bus stop and took the last bus of the day back to the campsite. Again the bus dropped us off right outside the campsite even though it took the long route back.

11th May 2017

May 112018
 

As planned today we wanted to visit Seville and so took a walk into town to the bus stop where the bus ran into Seville every 30 minutes for a very reasonable €1.70 each for the 12 km journey. The bus stop in Seville was at the rear of Plaza Espana, as we got off the bus another British passenger said ‘Don’t be put off by the back of the plaza make sure you go round to the front’. So we took him at his word and were amazed at what we saw once we walked around to the front of the plaza.

Plaza Espana

We then took a 45 minute ride around Seville on one of the many horse and carriages that were available for hire, €45 for a 45 minute trip for four of us was very reasonable. We saw all the important buildings and received information about each of them from the carriage driver. After the ride we walked into the centre of town and found a restaurant that Mike and Sue had been to before for a snack lunch that was excellent. After lunch we continued our exploration of Seville, booked for a Flamenco show for the following day and also a late lunch at a restaurant. With all the walking we were pretty exhausted and so took the bus back to the campsite, it dropped us right to the door so that was good for the tired legs.

10th May 2017

May 102018
 

We packed up and left by 9.45am and negotiated our way through the morning traffic in Cordoba. With all the traffic lights and one-way systems, it took us over 15 minutes to reach the A4 motorway. We headed east towards Seville and stopped at the first services to fill up with fuel, €100 poorer we continued on our way and saw some stork’s nests on electricity pylons and a couple of storks roosting on the street lights. The road surface on this section of the A4 was better in some places than the routes from Santa Elena to Cordoba but in some places, it was equally as bad.

Alongside the motorway for the first section of the route we were passing through more olive groves and these gave way to open green fields with some solar farm areas. We routed around the Seville ring road which was pretty busy to Dos Hermanas just to the south of the city and on to Camping Villsom, arriving at just before 12noon. The road outside the campsite is being re-routed and was marked as closed but as the campsite was only 50m past the road closed sign I took a chance the road closure was immediately after the campsite entrance. We checked in and the first pitch we were shown was too small and the front half of the van was still in the road. We were then moved to a large pitch opposite which was excellent.

We decided on a quiet day today after all the walking and sightseeing of yesterday. We had lunch under the trees and then Mike and I took a ride on our bikes to the local shops to buy some food for dinner as the campsite restaurant was closed for today. I rang the local caravan repair firm to see if they could come and look at the awning but they don’t have anything to do with Fiamma awnings unfortunately.

Today’s route

9th May 2017

May 092018
 

After rain overnight, we woke up to grey skies with occasional light rain. As a result, we decided not to go into Cordoba but to walk to the local shopping centre only 10 minutes away. There the girls did some shopping and we picked up a few bits of food from Carrefour. By the time we left the occasional light rain had stopped and we walked back to the campsite for lunch.

After lunch we took a taxi in to the old town. We walked around the area looking at the shops and various sites and took some more photos. We stopped in a bar for a cold drink which had loads of bull fighting memorabilia in it that we weren’t interested in but it also had a display of various Venetian masks which were interesting. We took a cab back to the campsite and started to pack up ready to leave in the morning. I found a problem with the awning in that it would not retract into its housing properly. I was unable to adjust it but eventually managed to get it stowed suitable for travel and will have to find a firm to adjust it properly.

8th May 2017

May 082018
 

We woke to heavy mist in the campsite, whilst picturesque not ideal for travelling. Luckily by 9.30 it had started to burn off and we left just before 10 o’clock. Today’s journey was due to be around 140 kms from Santa Elena to Cordoba straight along the A4. This was a different journey today as the road was more undulating and had many long curves and fairly sharp bends but what made the journey worse was the poor road surface. This was very rough with many repaired pot holes in the nearside lane, this is probably the roughest most worn out road surface I have ever experienced in Spain. I suspect that this is due to the large number of lorries using the road. The grape vines of yesterday gave way to large Olive groves today.

We arrived on the outskirts of Cordoba about 80 minutes after leaving Santa Elena and found some large multi lane roads that wound through a busy town with lots of sets of traffic lights. The sat nav was flawless and led us through the town to the Municipal Campsite El Brillante where we checked in. This is one of the most expensive campsites we have ever stayed in at €27 a night plus an additional €5.50 per night for electricity. We were assigned plot 90 which was at the far end of the campsite over a narrow bridge with a width of about 2.5m when the motorhome is 2.32m wide it needed some accurate driving. Immediately behind our pitch was a wall and the other side of the wall was a school playground, which made it a little noisy when the children were out playing. We set up and had lunch.

After lunch we took a cab into the old town and paid a visit to the Mesquita which lived up to expectations. It is a fabulous huge old Muslim Mosque with a Roman Catholic Cathedral created in the centre of it. Entrance was €10 but it was worth it, words cannot do it justice, it is a ‘must visit’ place in my view I took a large number of photographs of the inside and a few of the outside which are here. We left the Mesquita and found a bar for a cold drink and then walked alongside the river to the old Roman bridge and as a light rain started to fall we took a cab back to the campsite stopping at Carrefour on the way for some supplies. During late afternoon and evening there were brief very light rain showers. We then settled down for the night, more sightseeing in Cordoba tomorrow.

7th May 2018

May 072018
 

We met up with Mike & Sue at the Lo-Cost petrol station in Ondara and filled up with cheap fuel before heading on to the AP7 motorway north towards Valencia in 19 degrees and bright sunshine. We had an uneventful drive to Valencia and then on to the A3 in the direction of Madrid. We stopped for coffee at a motorway service area near Utiel then continued along the A3 and then turned on to the A43 in the direction of Albacete. We stopped for lunch at another motorway service area, unfortunately a coach had arrived just before us so there was a queue at the ladies conveniences. After lunch we continued along the A43 and then onto the A4 in the direction of Cordoba. The scenery along the way was varied from undulating plains with straight roads, some fairly steep uphill sections and some large fields of grape vines. The sat nav took us off at junction 258 to Santa Elena our final destination for the day. The route it to us to the campsite was a little more convoluted than it needed to be BUT the route was wide and trouble free and avoided taking us through the village centre. We pulled into Camping Despenaperros and found a picturesque site set amongst trees. It was €17 for the night for a fully serviced pitch with drinking water, electricity, waste and free wifi all included. This is definitely a site we would stay at longer on another occasion when we have more time.

The restaurant in the campsite was not yet open for the season but we were given a 10% off voucher for the restaurant in the local hotel about 100m from the campsite. We had an excellent reasonably priced meal and I can recommend the venison with mushroom sauce (really a lovely stew) the girls had the cod with garlic and Mike had a steak all were excellent as was the wine. Whist we were in the restaurant the thunder that we had heard earlier turned into a small rain shower which had stopped by the time we left the restaurant. Once back at the vans there was some lightning but no more rain.

We woke up on Tuesday morning to a misty cold day, hopefully it will burn off soon.

Today's route

Today’s route

22nd July 2017

Jul 242017
 

This post covers are trip back home and then comments and costs about our holiday.

We left the campsite at about 10.30am and had an uneventful trip through the village and back onto the A3 towards Valencia. There was a small queue at the junction with the A7 motorway and we made our way south, the motorway was much busier than normal presumably because it is ‘tourist season’. We left the A7 at Ondara and drove back to Parking El Vergel where we left the caravan as usual. A nice lunch in the ‘Chicken Shack’ a quick shop in Lidl and then home to Orba.

The first thing we found on arrival home was water flowing down the stairs from the tap outside the underbuild, the gardener had left the tap on and in the sun and with the pressure the hose burst at the joint with the tap and water was pouring out of the tap. Probably for more than 24 hours. We then went inside and found the the hot water pipe had also burst in our bathroom and that was flooded with the cabinet ruined along with medicines and toiletries stored in the cabinet. The next few hours were spent mopping up everywhere. A call to our insurers and it turns out we are fully covered for water damage so now waiting for the plumber and then quotes for the new cabinet.

To summarise our holiday:

25 Days away
6 Campsites visited
€753.20 in Campsite fees
2,776 Kilometers travelled
€348.03 for fuel
€31.32 in motorway tolls
€156 Cattery bill for Mika

A review of our campsites:

1: Las Corralizas near Bronchales, this is the highest campsite in Spain at 1727m. A lovely site set amongst trees with vaguely marked plots with friendly helpful staff. A long electricity lead and long hose for water are required. Nice modern wash rooms. Excellent restaurant. If we were in the area we would definitely stop there again.

2: Camping Entrerrobles near Valdeavellano de Tera not far from Soria. This was a nice grass site with large plots and electricity but no water or grey water disposal on plot. The restaurant is superb with a menu using lots of the local wild mushrooms. Very friendly helpful laid back staff. Unfortunately no wifi coverage. We will definitely visit here again.

3: Igueldo near San Sebastian. This was a terrible site, how it gets such a high rating from ACSI I don’t know. The office staff and security guards were disinterested and unhelpful, however, the site workers were friendly and helpful so this made up for it to a limited extent. The pitches are exceptionally small even though we had booked a large one our pitch could only just accommodate our caravan with no room for our car. Wifi patchy, restaurant reasonable. We would definitely not stay here again.

4: Caravanning Oyambre near San Vincente de la Barquera about 40km from Santander. An excellent site with large grass pitches with water, electricity and waste on pitch. Very helpful friendly staff but a bit of a walk to the central washrooms. Very good reasonably priced restaurant, wifi coverage good but need to login every hour.

5: Monte Holiday near Gargantilla del Lozoya a nice site with grass pitches for larger caravans and motorhomes. Staff are welcoming, friendly and very helpful. Very busy at weekends but deserted during the week. Poor internet reception on the grass pitches due to the distance from reception. Can be a long walk uphill to the central washrooms. Very good restaurant with cheap lunches but more expensive evening meals. A well stocked on-site shop. We will definitely stop here again.

6: Kiko Park Rural near Villargordo del Cabriel a nice site with large gravel pitches about 8km from the centre of the village set in a restored tiny village which is now the entire campsite. Very pleasant helpful staff, choose your own plot was what we were told, close to a large lake and the high speed rail line to Madrid but that didn’t disturb us. Very good wifi coverage. Excellent reasonably priced restaurant. We will definitely stop here again.

Total route

21st July 2017

Jul 212017
 

Well the final day of our summer holiday 2017, it was supposed to be raining but luckily it didn’t. We have had a lazy day with a lie in this morning followed by reading and slowly but surely tidying, packing and cleaning. Not much left to put away in the morning and then we can head back home, it should only be about 2 hours from here. No photos today as you don’t want to see us lolling about.

I will do a final post of this trip over the weekend with details of mileage, comments about the campsites and a synopsis of highs and lows as well as costs.

20th July 2017

Jul 202017
 

A bright hot and sunny day today. We decided to drive in to Utiel for a bit of food shopping but first we would drive down to the lake and take a look and some photos. We turned right out of the gate and followed the rough tarmac campo road in the direction of the lake and we slowly made our way down and then the road turned to pot holes and gravel so we decided to stop and walk down as far as we wanted to. We got a fabulous view of the lake but it was obviously very much lower than normal probably nearer 20 meters rather than the 15 I originally thought. The photos don’t do the turquoise colour justice.

We turned around and drove back towards the campsite and then on into Villargordo, rather than joining the A3 motorway I decided to use the N111. This road was incredible with one lane in each direction and completely straight for about 10 kilometers but it did undulate so from the tops of the hills you could see a long way in each direction. We drove into Utiel and looked for the Mercadona supermarket but even with directions from a local bar owner where we had a coffee we didn’t find it but we did find a large Consum instead. After doing our shopping there we went looking for a Tabacos for Ingrid, a very nice lady lead us through the back streets to the main square and there was a Tabacos opposite the large church. The church was inaccessible as it was undergoing building works, the lady explained that it needed a new roof. After finding that Ingrid was out of luck we made our way back to the car and headed back down the N111 which had large fields of grapevines on both sides of the road and the high speed rail line ran alongside the road too. Back at the campsite we had lunch and settled for a quiet afternoon reading.

I walked around the campsite late afternoon and took some photos of the area. As an old village it was picturesque with the old village houses being turned into rental chalets.

Wasp enjoying leftovers

For dinner we had a BBQ of fillet steak that we bought from Consum. It was excellent and even the wasp who joined us when we had finished enjoyed it.

The last two night we have been treated to spectacular sunsets and here are some examples.

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