Chilled and sat around the campsite all day. Another beautiful day but not sure how long the weather is going to last.

Quiz night at Rosaleda in the evening, partnered with Pat and Caitlin again, from Ireland. We did pretty well just two weeks ago (although how much of that was Moe and I is debatable). This week the largest section was on showbiz, TV etc which isn’t really our scene so no chance of winning the money today! Good company and a pleasant evening.

Moe disappeared for the day shopping to Chiclana de la Frontera with two ladies from the campsite. Splendid idea, the three of us (myself, Chris and Mike) left behind would spend a long lunch at the Conil Cervezeria, the local micro brewery.

What a mis-calculation. The brewery only opens in the evening and Friday to Sunday lunchtimes. Most of the afternoon was then spent at the TBG (The Good Burger), which, despite it’s name, is one of the nice bar restaurants on the seafront. Weather is hot, the beer cold and remarkably varied for what on the surface looks like an average burger joint.

The ladies eventually return and provide transport back to the campsite.

 

The weather has been gradually improving over the last week with plenty of opportunity to sit in the sun, read a book and grab a beer.

It’s still chilly in the evenings but the wind has lost the biting edge which was a feature during the first part of our stay.

It’s now warm enough to drift across to the shower block in shorts and a T shirt, although we aren’t rising particularly early in the mornings… Nine o’clock seems to be the earliest most folks start moving around although we have been known to face the “walk of shame”, visiting the deserted shower facilities after 9:30!!!

Thursday we joined a walking group and headed for a picnic to the Port of Conil. The consensus was that we walked a total of around 10 miles. We might be some of the youngest on-site but we certainly aren’t the fittest.

Friday and we decided to buy a couple of electric bike kits, which will hopefully be delivered to Spain this week.

I opted for the Dillenger street legal kit.

and Moe is getting a Cyclotricity one, as she needs a pannier mounted battery.

Sunday went for lunch at El Nautico with some folks we met on site – Alison, it turns out, shares a birthday with me. Not just the same day of the year but we were also born in the same year!

Monday was sorting out some chores before a buffet dinner in the campsite restaurant.

It’s Valentines day today. It hadn’t occurred to me before we left Blighty that finding cards over here in Spain might be equally as difficult as finding a wedding anniversary card in Croatia (last year)!

Moe of course had apparently brought one she purchased last year, claiming that it wasn’t the one actually given last year but just an unsued one. Hmm. Work that out.

Fortunately Amazon Prime came up trumps with a nicely deisgned, hand-decorated card, boxed with our new travel kettle. Bit of a cheek really because I had to pay about £6 additional postage on each item for delivery to Conil and Amazon just popped them into the same outer box.

The campsite laid on a four course meal in the evening which was excellent.

During the day, we had visited another of the white Spanish villages.

Arcos de la Frontera

One of Andalucia’s most dramatically positioned pueblos blancos (white villages), Arcos balances atop a rocky limestone ridge, its whitewashed houses and stone castle walls stopping abruptly as a sheer cliff face plunges down to the river Guadalete below.

As it was still siesta time, we stopped at the terrace at the Parador Hotel on Plaza del Cabildo – this is the place to go for a leisurely drink and enjoy the best views in Arcos. It doesn’t look like it will be too long before the crumbling limescale ridge becomes a real issue for the monuments.

Castillo de Arcos (11th-15th-century castle), is a medieval castle of Moorish origin having been rebuilt almost entirely in the first half of the 15th century. Currently it is private property and not open to the public.

Iglesia de San Pedro is a 15th-17th century church built on the site of a 14th century Al-Andalusian fortress or watchtower. Different styles can be observed here in its tower and facade.

A trip to the shopping centre at San Fernando, direction Cadiz and a visit to Leroy Merlin (my favourite diy shop in Spain) and then a walk along the beach at Conil.

Beautiful views towards the town and endless miles of empty beach. We’re sure it isn’t like this in the summer!

Hiked over to the El Nautico restaurant at the port of Conil. Total distance there and back around 7 miles and a good start to the Fitbit “Workweek Hustle”!

The food was very good, with Mo and I both having the “Atun rojo de Almadraba” – Red (or Blue Fin) Tuna.

A good choice but some of the Tapas being served on neighbouring tables looked even better so we may need to expand our horizons on our next visit.

It was another cold day so a nice warm coffee set Joe up for the return journey.

The restaurant itself isn’t much to look at (in fact it’s more like a portacabin) but we recognised the same staff from at least two years ago and they have much improved English but were also patient when we tried to speak a little Spanish.

Whilst the restaurant may not be much to look at, the views over the port are great, but perhaps would be even better on a hot sunny day!

The Spaniards never shy away from a good party and Los Carnivales is one of the best-know carnivals in Spain. The whole city takes part in the carnival for a full 2 weeks each year and on the opening Saturday, everyone wears fancy dress.

Fortunately for us we were visiting on a Sunday, via a coach trip organised by Camping La Roselada. At 10 Euros each, much better than fighting our way in the car.

The carnival has it’s origins in the Middle Ages and according to the Catholics the name comes from carne- levare, meaning “to remove meat” (mandatory requirement for the Christians during every Friday of the Lent). The pagan origin is of a celebration where meat is offered to god Baal (carna-baal) in a festival where everything was possible.

The old town was a sea of people and straight away, it was clear our idea of a nice meal was just not going to happen. In the end we made some sandwiches from provisions we bought from a local supermarket. Washed down with some Cruz Campo.

Lots of add-hoc entertainment takes place throughout the day in the Old Town whilst later on, on the main road through the modern section, a several hour street parade commences around 5:00pm. I say that very loosely as this is Spain and it started nowhere close to 5:00pm.

A selection of photographs follow:

Just for the record. I have no pictures to post for Saturday but it was a chilly day for chilling and perfect for a nice hot chilli in the afternoon! A walk into town and a couple of beers at a city centre bar followed by the England Wales rugby match in the campsite restaurant.

A good result for England and an even better result at Threshfield where Wharfedale secured a 5-point victory with a comprehensive win over Huddersfield (43-5). Thank goodness for Twitter.

Well, what can I say. It’s become colder as the week has progressed with highs around double figures but temperatures overnight just slightly above freezing.

In fact it has been way too cold to get the bikes out so all in all, the first week has been a very lazy one.

The weather isn’t affecting business at all – Camping Rosaleda is pretty much a sell-out with many of the non hardstanding pitches now occupied. Ours is on the left in the picture below, just up from the Hymer motorhome.

We’ve managed a few lunchtime BBQs, attended some “communal” meals (the BBQ meats and buffet was the stand-out one so far) and even took part in the English quiz on Wednesday evening.

It must be Friday today because it’s Fish n Chips night!

The first week we have burnt through 100 units of electricity at a cost of 38 Euros and most of a Safefill tank. We managed to find a nearby garage where we were able to replenish the LPG.

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Today (Friday) was a sunny day – nice and warm in the direct sunshine – but still a real cold edge to the wind. We went for a walk along the cliff path just west of Conil and took some nice aerial pictures from the Drone.

If you want to see the real super resolution of the pictures, click on an Image. They take a while to load but the quality and stability of the photos taken in flight is fantastic.

The drive from Caceres to Conil de la Frontera took around 6 hours, stopping early for fuel and then a lunch break near to Jerez.

The roads were quiet and we managed to negotiate Seville without any wrong turns this year. Some very foggy areas in Extremadura but this all cleared up before lunch.

Arriving at Camping La Rosaleda at 3:00pm, we received a very warm welcome from reception and Esta in particular. Our favoured pitch, 142, which had been reserved two years prior, was waiting for us, complete with French camper van…

Mo was despatched back to reception to request their eviction. Actually they themselves  had been bounced from their reserved pitch for 24 hours and we were treat to the benefits of a motorhome versus caravan. Within five minutes they had relocated to yet another pitch and the Hymer even had it’s own self levelling feet!

Meanwhile, it took us until after lunch the following day to have everything setup.

Friday night was “Burger Night” at the campsite restaurant, with the giant wood burning stove and patio heaters put to full use.

A walk into Conil de la Frontera on Saturday followed by a leasurely BBQ which took most of the late afternoon and early evening.

On the way back, the site can be seen from the road and whilst there are some available spaces, all the large plots and hard standings are a sellout.

The weather until today has been beautiful sunshine during the day (shorts and t-shirt) but very cold at night with temperatures below 5 degrees.

Today (Sunday) we have experienced rain but this is expected to clear up before the end of the day. The perfect opportunuty to catch up with the blog