Author: CaravanRamblings

An easy five hour (225 miles) relaxed tow had us on-site at Camping Virgen del Mar, near Santander, by mid-afternoon on Thursday. Weather at the beach was cold and breezy and later in the evening, the heavens opened.

Pitches are tight here, particularly in the section they appear to allocate for us folks waiting for a ferry, but the location is great and there’s a lovely beach bar / restaurant that we have visited in prior years.

In between the periods of heavy rain on Friday, we visited the beach bar at Virgen Del Mar for lunch and then retreated back to the caravan to listen to the rain pounding on the roof all night and into the morning. The pitch was nicely waterlogged by the morning and I was soaked after packing up and hitching the caravan.

A short drive to the ferry and remarkably, a very smooth crossing. No dramas, no feeling ill. We were very lucky whilst boarding the ferry in that all the caravans in front of us were marshalled up the ramp to a higher deck whilst we were routed to the front of the boat just behind the lorries.

We weren’t quite first off the boat as the crew had some issues opening the bow doors but nevertheless we were on our way to the CAMC site at Morn Hill, near Winchester by 20:30.

The ferry pitches at Morn Hill are in a second separate section of the campsite where the facilities block is closed during the winter. There’s fresh water and waste facilities but the washrooms and showers are on the main site which is 100m down the access road. There were about 40 outfits on the site (including the ferry pitches) and only 3 caravans. The demographics are changing rapidly.

The ferry pitches are located on a little cul-de-sac and in my infinite wisdom, I decided to maneuver the caravan hitched up to the car with a view to leaving it hitched all night. Reminder to oneself – just un-hitch and motor-move…

It turns out there wasn’t quite enough room to reverse onto the end pitch so I had to turn the outfit around on the next pitch before reversing onto our chosen one. I then finally realised there wouldn’t be quite enough room to leave it hitched up for the night so off came the caravan… The whole process took about 20 minutes and I really should have made the simple decision to unhitch at the outset.

Still, my reversing and maneuvering floor show was soon forgotten and over-shadowed by the arrival of the last of the ferry pitch clients. And what a beast it was.

A fifth wheel attached to a pickup truck.

Better known in the USA where the roads and campsites are appropriate for such a monster, but on a quaint little site near Winchester, somewhat inappropriate. Now, fair play to the driver, because he could have just parked on an access road – all other ferry pitches were now occupied and it was 10:30pm. Often, having the biggest and most expensive rig on the site engenders a sense of entitlement that you can just park where you want, but this guy and his wife set about trying to get onto his allocated pitch next to us.

Big mistake. The fifth wheel just isn’t responsive enough to get a decent lock in a small space and after about half an hour of attempting to reverse, he gave up. Then spent another half an hour trying to get out of the cul-de-sac and to reverse onto a another pitch. Two go-arounds on the site and finally the cursing stopped and the rig was abandoned, front first, in one of the closed-off pitches.

The only thing which could have made his night worse would have been a visit from a warden “Can’t park there mate…”

Bigger isn’t always better. Honestly I don’t know how he found suitable sites to tour around in Spain because there’s very few sites where this would be accepted and then it would need a double or over-sized pitch. And given how popular the winter opening sites are in Spain…

Anyhow, after 90 minutes of the fifth wheel show, the campsite entered a sense of tranquility around midnight.

I say a sense of tranquility because the ferry pitches are close to a main road and the road noise after 05:00 was intrusive. I think next time we’ll try to find a different campsite…

Our final travels back to East Devon were once again in sharp contrast to Spain. 5.5 hours to travel 100 miles after a road closure on the A303. And not a single hold-up anywhere on the Spanish roads this time. Listen to Google when it suggests a 50 mile detour up to the M4…

Salamanca, in northwestern Spain, is part of the Castile and León region. With a history dating back to the Celtic era, it’s known for its ornate sandstone architecture and for the Universidad de Salamanca.

Founded in the 1100s and a key intellectual centre in the 15th-16th centuries, the university continues to add to the city’s vibrancy with its international student population. It is the oldest active University in Spain.

The Roman bridge has survived since the first century and allows passage over the Tormes River.

Day 1 and we underestimated just how cold it would be in the North of Spain. We took the bus into town and walked around the old city sights. The main square, the University area and of course the Cathedral.

We arrived close to the Plaza Mayor and walked through it on our way to the Cathedral.

The Old and New Cathedrals are actually co-joined – a nice touch that they didn’t tear down the old institution when they built the new one.

The stonework on the Cathedral has some odd additions – we had been told about the “astronaut” but it was no-where to be found and after a short time looking, we decided to abandon the search and head for somewhere a little warmer!

In fact, we retreated into a nice Pizza Restaurant (“La Mafia”), mainly because it had no external seating and looked warm and inviting inside!

* * * * *

Day 2 and we would walk into Salamanca (around 7km) following the cycle track which runs from in front of the campsite all the way along the river and into the centre of Salamanca. Today we thought we had dressed far more appropriately for the weather but in the end, there was no bitterly cold wind and with clear blue skies, we spent much of the journey into town carrying our now surplus, multiple layers of clothing!

It’s an easy flat route and tracks through what seems like an endless park along the banks of the River Tormes.

Having passed under a new road bridge, we could see the original Roman bridge over River Tormes.

On arriving in the centre, we headed back to the cathedral to search for the astronaut. This time we found it, quite low down to the left of the main Cathedral entrance door.

What is the story of the astronaut?

The astronaut carving on the Salamanca Cathedral in Spain is a modern addition from a 1992 restoration, not a 16th-century mystery. Sculptor Miguel Romero added the figure to the Puerta de Ramos as a signature of the era, symbolizing 20th-century technology and human exploration.

Key Facts about the Salamanca Astronaut:

Location: New Cathedral (Catedral Nueva), on the Puerta de Ramos facade.

Origin: Created during restoration work in 1992 for the “Las Edades del Hombre” exhibition.

Why an astronaut? It was intended as a modern symbol, following the tradition of artists adding contemporary elements during repairs.

Other Additions: The same artist added other, more whimsical, figures, including a gargoyle eating ice cream.

Controversy: Despite theories of ancient aliens or time travel, it is officially confirmed as a modern, whimsical, and artistic addition to the historic structure.

It was even warn enough for us to sit outside the local Tapas bar and have a small snack.

Whilst heading back to the bus stop, we passed the Convent of San Esteban. The Convent of San Esteban is a Dominican monastery and is situated in the Plaza del Concilio de Trento and was constructed in 1524, following the destruction of the previous primitive convent.

Whilst waiting for the bus back to the Campsite, we bumped into some folks on their way back to France from Camping La Rosaleda. Small world.

Tomorrow I think we will head further North ready for our ferry back to England.

This is a fairly large site on the outskirts of Salamanca, complete with its own Hotel. It’s our first time here and we arrived on site after an 8 hour, 380 mile tow from Conil de la Frontera.

It’s not the easiest site on the route North – South (eg Camping Olympia is just off the motorway) but it has better access to the town of Salamanca and it’s been many years since we visited this old town.

It’s an ACSI site and at a cost of 23 Euros per night, including unlimited electricity, it was great value for money. In fact given the very cold evening and overnight temperatures, I’m surprised the electricity was totally inclusive. There appears to be extensive electrical works taking place on the site so maybe this will change soon.

We have a nice pitch, slightly muddy after all the recent storms, about a 100m from the extensive facilities. The facilities were clean if perhaps a little dated. It was a little cold showering this morning as the toilet blocks aren’t heated and the outside temperature was around 6C.

An hourly bus service (which was always very busy) stops within the grounds of Regio and there’s also a nice 4 mile walk / cycle into town along the river. All off-road or on divided cycle tracks.