Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Trip Summary…

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The trip map will evolve as we progress during the trip.

Eurot Trip 7 Summary Picture 2018-03-27…

DateLocationGrid Reference
28th January 2018Bishops Green51.3641987, -1.2799287
30th January 2018Camping Caceres, Caceres39.4892, -6.41221
01st February 2018Camping La Rosaldea, Conil de la Frontera36.2932, -6.0953
15th March 2018Camping Valle Niza36.72032, -4.16487
23rd March 2018Camping Despenaperros38.343113, -3.535522
24th March 2018Camping Madrid Arco Iris40.3825, -3.90978
25th March 2018Camping Fuentas Blancas, Burgos42.34138, -3.657499
26th March 2018Bilbao43.351742, -3.069903
28th March 2018Bishops Green51.3641987, -1.2799287

Mileage chart…

StartEndMileageTime (approx.)
Bishops GreenPortsmouth Harbour601.5 hours
Puerto de BilbaoCamping Caceres3897 hours
Camping CaceresCamping Rosaleda2506 hours
Camping RosaledaCamping Valle Niza1603.5 hours
Camping Valle NizaCamping Despenaperros1804 hours
Camping DespenaperrosCamping Madrid Arco Iris1653.75 hours
Camping Madrid Arco IrisCamping Fuentas Blancas165
Camping Fuentas BlancasBilbao Port973.0 hours
Portsmouth HarbourBishops Green601.5 hours

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 59, Bilbao to Portsmouth Ferry…

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We woke to a rather grey day just as the ferry from England was docking. Grabbed a breakfast roll at the cafe and waited to board. We weren’t sure where to empty the chemical toilet but it appeared to be common practice to just use the regular toilets, so we followed suite,

Cap Finistaire…

The Civil Guardia thoroughly checked every outfit for migrant activity and we finally boarded Cap Finistere at 10:15am.

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 58, Burgos Cathedral to Bilbao…

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The campsite at Burgos was fine with us checking out later in the day so we took the opportunity to travel by bus into Burgos old town in order to visit the Cathedral of Burgos, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, its official name being Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos. Its construction began in 1221, following French Gothic patterns. It went through major changes in the 15th and 16th centuries: the spires of the main facade, the Chapel of the Constable and dome of the transept, elements of the advanced Gothic which give the temple its unmistakable profile. The last works of importance (the Sacristy or the Chapel of Saint Thecla) were constructed in the 18th century, in which the Gothic portals of the main facade were also modified. The style of the cathedral is the Gothic, although it has several decorative Renaissance and Baroque elements as well. The construction and renovations were made with limestone extracted from the quarrys of the nearby town of Hontoria de la Cantera.

In the cathedral are preserved works of extraordinary artists, such as architects and sculptors of the Colonia family (Juan, Simón and Francisco), the architect Juan de Vallejo, sculptors Gil de Siloé, Felipe Bigarny, Rodrigo de la Haya, Martín de la Haya, Juan de Ancheta and Juan Pascual de Mena, the sculptor and architect Diego de Siloé, the fencer Cristóbal de Andino, the glazier Arnao de Flandes or painters Alonso de Sedano, Mateo Cerezo, Sebastiano del Piombo or Juan Ricci, among others.

A series of photographs from this stunning church.

Burgos Cathedral spires…

Entrance to Burgos Cathedral…

Burgos Cathedral interior arch…

Burgos Cathedral chiming…

Gothic stairwell to the back of the Cathedral…

Burgos Cathedral inside…

Burgos Cathedral wooden carvings…

Model of Burgos Cathedral…

Burgos Cathedral upper Cloisters…

El Cid…

We finally hit the road to the port of Bilbao around 2:00pm, arriving at 16:40, including a stop for lunch. The port is open for check-in from 4:00pm to 7:00pm and there were many outfits parked up for the night.

A cafe opens in the evenings for drinks and snacks.

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 57, A1 Madrid to Burgos…

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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.

Madrid to Burgos – snow is anticipated…

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…

Our Pitch (44 or 45) at Camping Fuentes Blancas…

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

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 56, Santa Elena to Madrid…

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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.

Our pitch (67) at Camping Madrid Arco Iris…

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.

Camp[ing Madrid Arco Iris, one of the washrooms…

Insode one of the washrooms at Camping Madrid Arco Iris…

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.

Camping Madrid Arco Iris complimentary Tapas…

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.

Moe’s Postres at Camping Madrid Arco Iris…

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.

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 55, Driving home for Easter…

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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.

Our pitch at Camping Despanaperros…

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!

One of the “facilities” at Camping Despenaperros…

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.

 

 

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 54, Torre del Mar market day…

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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…

Camping Valle Niza restaurant in winter!!!

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 53, Evening BBQ…

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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…

Cakes for the BBQ, courtesy Chris and Alison…

 

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 52, Nerja…

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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…

Eurotrip 7, 2018 – Day 51, Ronda…

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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.

Bullring at Ronda…

Bullring at Ronda…

A riding school is still in business at the Ronda Bullring…

Grooming the horses at the Ronda bullring…

This is where the Bulls were kept prior to release (Ronda Bullring)…

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

Classic picture of the Puento Neuve (New Bridge) in Ronda…

The Puente Viejo (“Old Bridge”) in Ronda…

Peacock roaming 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.