Author: CaravanRamblings

A very pleasant start to the day with the sun shining but still a cold nip presides over Madrid.

The heated shower blocks were fully utilised before our 11:00am departure – heading Burgos.

A fairly un-eventful journey, arriving at Camping Fuentes Blancas near to Burgos around 15:30 which included a long stop for lunch at around the half way point. Snow was forecast and although we didn’t see any on the roads, there were manned snow ploughs at many of the service areas in preparation for adverse weather.

Camping Fuentes Blancas at Burgos looks a great stopover site. It’s very busy with travellers heading both North and South. The washroom facilities are ok (not heated which is a shame) but the main campsite looks a little neglected. The electrics are in dire need of replacement and the pitches could use some care and attention.

It is though a municipal site so maybe that explains it…

We should have time to visit the Cathedral at Burgos in the morning before our final night in Spain this spring.

 

We woke to a crisp morning at the somewhat bleak Camping Despenaperros – sun shining but still wickedly cold. Spoke to a chap from Blighty who didn’t appear to have too many concerns driving as far as Madrid. In fact he’d phoned a site close to the M-50 (Camping Madrid Arco Iris) the previous day and been told there were plenty of free places.

The weather forecast North of Madrid, near to our preferred stopover of Camping Riaza, still had severe weather warnings for snow and wind so we decided we would head for Camping Arco Iris.

The campsite itself though is somewhat of a revelation. It’s undergoing a lot of re-development and the pitches, which are of varying size, are nicely laid out and covered in gravel. Ours is a large plot with a fresh water tap and grey waste facilities.

Now, come at the “wrong” time of year and this place is likely to be overflowing but right now, it’s perfect. The toilet blocks are heated – essential – and everything is to a high specification, clean and nicely laid out.

We’ll definitely return to this site another year and spend a week or two near to Madrid. Public transport links from here to Madrid seem fine.

We sampled the Campsite Restaurant in the evening which was very good. The Tapas delivered to the table was a fantastic Potato Tortilla accompanied by something I can only describe as the Spanish version of Pork Scratchings.

We ate with Nigel and Joan (from Melksham, Wiltshire), the couple who at Despenaperros had recommended this site.

Main course was a shared “meat platter” which was also excellent. Moe of course sampled the Postres.

The journey of 165 miles was projected to take around 2.5 hours but in the end, despite no hold-ups, the journey time came out at 3.75 hours. The wind speed forecast and reported was 61 km/h (38 mph) with gusts in excess of 94 km/h (59 mph) and progress was very slow in places. Some sections of the motorway we were towing the wobbly box at just over 40 mph and by the time we reached Madrid, any wild ideas of progressing further had receded.

Note to oneself – don’t tow with wind speeds > 40mph or gusts > 60 mph.

 

Why? A very good question with no satisfactory answer.

The weather can only improve and there is some evidence that next week will be a little warmer in Spain. Rainfall for 2018 in some regions has been 250% when compared to normal years – I think it followed us!

A cool start to the day and we were on the road by 10:30, direction Santa Elena. A small town / village near Jaen (North of Granada and about 130 miles South of Madrid), bordering the Despenaperros area of natural beauty.

Weather warnings for wind were in place for parts of our journey and on several sections of the motorway, we reduced our speed to barely 40mph, the wind buffeting our wobbly box with menace.

Arriving at Camping Despenaperros just before 14:00, the village is living up to it’s name – the temperature with wind-chill is below zero and father Christmas could appear at any time. The campsite is functional but more than a little bleak and whilst some of the facilities are somewhat dated, it’s all clean and most pitches appear to have mains water and grey waste.

In need of a shower, and given the inclement weather, I made use of our on-board shower for the first time in the three years we have owned this caravan!

Whilst we were expecting only to camp here for the night, storm Hugo is arriving across the Bay of Biscay barrelling into Spain on Saturday morning with areas of significant snowfall and winds gusting at nearly 100 km/h. We have therefore decided to delay our departue (destination Camping Riaza) for a further 24 hours to allow the storm to pass through.

 

 

 

Bus to Torre Del Mar and the Thursday market.

Moe bought the latest fashion, to be revealed at a later date.

Joe and Chris visited a local hostelry.

Afternoon was packing up in readiness for our departure tomorrow, whilst in the evening we grabbed a pizza at the camp restaurant.

This is the warmest bit of Europe…

 

Moe checked in with a migraine today so our plans to travel to Malaga were abandoned. We had a day chilling at Valle Niza and a BBQ in the evening. Weather was dry but it wasn’t really warm enough for a full-on BBQ.

Alison brought the cakes – awesome…

 

Our friends from Conil arrived here yesterday having decided to abandon their plans to visit Portugal due to the incongruous weather.

In the afternoon they drove Moe and I to Nerja where the ladies partook in a spot of shopping and the guys a spot of beer tasting. For the beer tasting, we enjoyed a wonderful panoramic view of the bay and the sea, thankful that the bar finally turned on the outside patio heaters. A bracing Northerly wind has taken hold and despite a sunny day, the windchill is brutal.

In the evening we returned to Torre del Mar, dining at an absolutely superb Chinese restuarant – Restaurante Chino Hong Kong. Won’t need to eat for several days now…

Met our friends who have flown in from Yorkshire to spend a short break in Malaga and decided to take them to Ronda.

We have visited this stunning town before and you can view details of prior visits here:

Ronda 2016

Ronda 2015

On this occasion we added the Bullring to our visitation list.

The Plaza de Toros (bullring) in Ronda occupies a very special place in modern Spanish culture and history as the home of the Rondeño style of bullfighting and also of the Real Maestranza De Caballería De Ronda. The bullring was built entirely of stone in the 18th century, during the golden years of Pedro Romero’s reign as champion bullfighter.

Home to the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda, Spain’s oldest and most noble order of horsemanship, an order that traces its heritage back to 1485, and the year the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the Moors in Ronda, thus bringing the city back under Christian rule after 773 years of Islamic rule.

Many tourist guides will tell you the Ronda bullring is the oldest and largest in Spain, in fact the story is confusing. This little bullring only has seating for 5,000 spectators, hardly the largest in the world, but the rueda, which is the large round circle of sand, is the largest in the world at 66m, making it 6m larger than Spain’s biggest bullring, the Plaza Toros Las Ventas in Madrid.

A selection of other photos taken around the old town of Ronda.

It was a long day so in the evening, we declined dinner with our friends and returned to the campsite where we grabbed a Pizza and an early night.

 

 

Nothing much to report. Spent most of the day catching up with computer stuff and updating Caravan Ramblings.

Caught the bus to Malaga, the stop being just a couple of hundred metres from the campsite. Whilst I’m certain I ordered a return ticket, the price didn’t match what we expected for either a one-way or return.

Then on the way back, we were asked for some additional money which also didn’t correspond with any of the fares expected or paid! Only in Spain…

On our arrival at Malaga, we quickly found the tourist information and started to follow the highlighted tour of the historic sites. Malaga in eight hours – a challenge.

We started our tour at the street calle Larios, an important shopping area of Malaga, where the best
designer shops are located. We then arrived at plaza de la Constitution in the heart of the city’s old quarter.

From there we headed west, along calle Compañía to the Palace of Villalón (16th century), home of the
Carmen Thyssen Museum Malaga.

We chose not to visit the museum but instead explored the Iglesia de los Santos Martires.

By now it was raining  little harder, so despite the guide leaflet informing us that we should now be enjoying breakfast, we decided it was time for a late Tapas lunch.

After lunch it was time to visit the Cathedral. The Cathedral of Málaga is of course a Roman Catholic church with the Renaissance architectural tradition.

The cathedral is located within the limits defined by a now missing portion of the medieval Moorish walls, the remains of which surround the nearby Alcazaba and the Castle of Gibralfaro. It was constructed between 1528 and 1782, following the plans drawn by Diego de Siloe; its interior is also in Renaissance style.

Our next stop was the Roman Theatre, situated in calle Alcazabilla at the foot of the Alcazaba. Built in the 1st century A.D., it was used until the 3rd century. After its restoration, the Roman Theatre of Malaga has recently recovered its use as a scenic space.

We climbed up the metal staircase behind the theatre hoping to enter the Alcazabilla but this was merely a viewpoint and by now the rain was much harder so we decided to retire to an Irish bar and watch the England Ireland six nations game. Ireland ran out 24-15 winners.

We only completed about half of our whistle stop tour so we need to return another day.

 

 

Drove to Aldi at Torre del Mar for supplies whilst later in the day we cycled to Benejafare. BBQ in the evening just before the rains arrived.