Author: CaravanRamblings

Despite our slightly tardy departure from Bilbao the previous evening, we arrived on time at Portsmouth, having enjoyed a very nice meal during the crossing and a free Breakfast courtesy of our Brittany Ferries club card.

The disembarkation was somewhat less prompt. The “abnormal load” which had delayed our departure proceeded to get stuck on the off ramp, blocking all other vehicles from driving off the ferry. After a couple of hours, Brittany Ferries abandoned their attempts to free up the stuck vehicle and we all returned onto deck, allowing the boat to move to a new berth.

Not a great week or two for Brittany Ferries, given their flagship vessel, the Pont Aven, is still stuck in dry dock at Brest.

Final task of the holiday was to visit a public weighbridge and check the various weights of the van and car.

We left Camping El Astral at Tordesillas around 1:00pm for what turned out to be around a 4.5 hour journey to the Port of Bilbao. Our crossing was the Cap Finistere at 10:30 on the Tuesday morning which we had been very fortunate to reserve given our original crossing on the Pont Aven had been cancelled due to her being in dry dock having a broken propellor fixed.

We were concerned about where to stay the Monday evening in order to guarantee arriving at the port for 09:00 the next day. Many campsites restrict vehicular movement between 12:00am and 08:00am.

We had read that at Bilbao, we would be able to check in the previous evening and then stay on the van portside overnight. This worked out really well. There was a bar / cafe open during part of the evening and early the next morning for breakfast. We had a decent nights sleep on dock side.

We picked up a brochure showing a number of walks and trails around Tordesillas, and whilst most of them were up to a full day, the one we walked, and subsequently cycled the next day indicated that perhaps the longer walks would also have been highly suitable to cycle.

The route we took on both days is shown here on the right. On the first day trying to walk it we got hopelessly lost at the section where the loop starts. Here there is a fairly well “hidden” bridge in some state of disrepair which leads over the river. We spotted where we went wrong and cycled the entire route the following day.

Saturday evening was a BBQ and Sunday night we ate at El Astral campsite restaurant.

A few pictures from the trail below.

First call of the day was to Leroy Merlin at Valladolid, some 20 minutes drive away, to stock up with some DIY products to replenish the caravan toolkit. Things like additional cable ties. Then a few extra things for back home in blighty as the prices are much less than those charged at the likes of B&Q.

Afternoon was a trip to La Cuba De Rueda – my favourite part of the journey home. It is like a wine distributor and delicatessan and it’s here that we purchased last year’s selection of wines. Much to our surprise, the wines we had purchased one year ago were still being offered for sale.

The staff only spoke Spanish and at first were a little reluctant to engage with advice and tasting. It wasn’t long however, before they appreciated that I was going to be their best customer of the week and soon, a whole plethora of bottles were opened and glasses lined up for tasting. It didn’t seem to matter whether they were opening a 5 Euro bottle or a 20 Euro bottle despite my interest only at the lower price bands.

 

After much joyality, the section of car boot allocated to wine was filled with the following:

3 x 5l boxes of Vino Tinto @ Euros 9.5 each
6 x 6 cases of local wine, varying from Euros 20 to Euros 36 per half case

 

 

 

 

 

A success. If you are in the area, well worth taking the time to visit. Website is www.lacubaderueda.com – the selection of wines in the store is significantly larger than those on the website.

 

 

 

Another wet and cold day. Dinner was at the campsite restaurant in the evening.

Following on from yesterday, it seems Pont Aven (our ship home) is still in dry dock with a propellor problem but our sailing on Monday has yet to be cancelled (according to the website).

Under normal circumstances, a several week delay to our return crossing might be appreciated but we have a lot on during the next couple of weeks in blighty so it is important we arrive home by Wednesday. There is one other crossing from Bilbao to Portsmouth that would achieve this, although limited availability – we needed to speak with Customer Services first thing.

08:31 and we are through to Customer Services but our sailing is still scheduled and there is no accurate indication of when the boat will be fixed, so we can’t do anything to re-schedule. Just as we were about to end the call, the lady announced “Oh, your crossing has just been cancelled”. What a stroke of luck as we secured one of the last remaining places on the Bilbao ferry.

After the excitement of contemplating a long drive through France, we took a walk into Tordesillas and visited the convent there. On Wednesday and Thursday afternoon’s, the visit is free to members of the EU, although should we vote to leave next month, I think saving 6 Euros each on entry will be the least of our worries.

The Royal Convent of Santa Clara is a nunnery in Tordesillas and was founded by the king Pedro of Castile in 1363; this convent of Poor Clares is now under the administration of the Spanish national heritage organisation, the Patrimonio Nacional.

 

 

 

It is noted for its mudéjar architecture, such as the ceiling of the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening we returned to Tordesillas for dinner, the restaurants as is the usual in Spain not opening until around 9pm. We ate at San Antolin.

We left Camping Internacionale Aranjuez around 09:30 and the journey to Tordesillas took around 3 – 4 hours. It would have helped if we had taken the M-50 around Madrid in a clockwise direction. As it was we had to head closer into Madrid and picked up the M-40 heading clockwise this time to the A-6 which would lead us all the way to Tordesillas.

Our plans were to stay here in Tordesillas until Saturday before driving back to Santander prior to our Monday afternoon ferry crossing on the Pont Aven to Portsmouth. Tonight I decided to check the status of the Brittany Ferry sailings and whilst it was doubtful that the weather would be inclement enough to cancel, I thought it was worth looking.

That’s when we found out that Pont Aven sailings up until Sunday (leaving our return still scheduled) had been cancelled due to a broken propellor and the boat was now in dry dock at Brest. A quick look around the internet suggested that the boat was likely to be out of action for weeks though, not days.

We are staying at Camping Internacionale Aranjuez which is around 40km south of Madrid. It’s a great place to stay if you wish to visit Madrid as the train takes only 45 minutes and the station here is around a 20 minute walk from the campsite.

Anyhow, we aren’t here to visit Madrid, just a stopover on our final leg of the journey back to blighty.

We did however visit the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, in the freezing cold and wet. Apparently this inclement weather is over most of mainland Europe presently but all is set to clear at the weekend.

The Royal Palace of Aranjuez (or Palacio Real de Aranjuez in Spanish) is a residence of the King of Spain, and is open to the public as one of the Spanish royal sites.

It was commissioned by Philip II and designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, who also designed El Escorial. It was completed during the reign of Ferdinand VI by the mid-18th century; Charles III had two wings added to it.

The huge gardens, built to relieve its royal residents from the dust and drought of the Spanish meseta using the waters of the adjacent Tagus and Jarama rivers, are Spain’s most important of the Habsburg period. The Jardín de la Isla is on a man-made island bounded by the River Tagus and the Ría Canal.

 

 

 

Monday morning and we are up at the crack of dawn, the alarm clocks ringing at 07:15. It took the usual 2 hours to pack the final items away and shortly after 09:15 we were on our way to Aranjuez, around 40km south of Madrid.

The journey from Granada was uneventful until we reached the outskirts of Aranjuez when the heavens opened up. We followed the ACSI site directions from the South (we had travelled pretty much due North on the Autovia) which directed us through the centre of this old town.

With limited visibility, a plethora of one-way streets (not orientated one-way per our satnavs), abandoned cars everywhere (sorry that’s a Spanish term for “parking”) and lots of cobbled roads, the final 15 minutes were tricky. Note for next time: Follow the A4 to North of Aranjuez and then at La Estacion take the Carreterra de Chinchon a A-4 to the M-305 and then directly South on the M-305 to the campsite.

The campsite itself had also been deluged with rain and it was difficult to find a pitch without a personal water feature. Anyhow, we found one eventually and the weather cleared up enough in the evening for our customary BBQ.