Grey Spain and into sunny Spain

Vitoria-Gastiez - Wednesday 26th March

It was a very grey day with just a little bit of drizzle. I'm afraid that the photos show how grey it was.

We used the services before we left and I found a sign by the water tap which referred to the Peka Association. I looked it up and discovered it is a group of Spanish people who use recreational vehicles. They say they defend the freedom to choose. They were founded in 2017. We have a similar organisation in the UK called CAMpRA, which were founded in 2021. They ask people to contact their local councils to see if they will provide something similar. I wrote to one of our local councillors on Hayling Island, who didn’t even have the decency to reply to me. 

We seemed to be climbing up for ever. I checked the altitude and we were at 3200 feet. I think we were in part of the Cantabrian Mountains. 

Our stop over was in Vitoria-Gastiez, the capital of the Basque Region. It was a section of a large car park and I had booked it. The trouble was finding the entrance!  We found it at the third attempt!  There was a market in the large car park but it was 99.9% clothes and all the same clothes!  

We took a tram into the city but it was grey and a bit drizzly. We had a coffee then walked around a bit. Richard’s knee was playing him up so we couldn’t walk too far. From what we saw it is a lovely city and is on our list to come back to

The city was founded in 1180 by the Navarrese King Sancho VI, who conquered the small hill village of Gasteiz and decided to call it New Victoria.  Now it holds the Basque Automomous Communities House of Parliament, the headquarters of the Government and the Prime Minister’s official residence. 

In the medieval quarter, the Gothic-style Santa María Cathedral features a sculpted facade and towering columns. 

The Church of San Miguel has a large, baroque altarpiece and houses a statue of the White Virgin, the city’s patron saint.

The 17th-century Plaza de la Virgen Blanca has a monument to the 1813 Battle of Vitoria. 

The Plaza de España is a neoclassical building that forms a perfect square measuring 61 metres on each side.  Its construction began on October 17th 1781, the 600th anniversary of the founding of Vitoria, and was completed In December 1791.

These three photos are here because I like them!

On the tram back, Rio made a friend, a Spanish girl who kept calling him cute!!

There is a laundrette just across the car park, we weren’t desperate for clean clothes but it made sense to do some washing while we had the chance.  It looked all shut up but as Richard pushed the door the whole place sprang into action!

Parked in the outskirts of a city and the internet was dire, we couldn’t watch the TV, not that it mattered!

94 miles

Vitoria-Gasteiz - Searchforsites

Milady Beach, Biarritz - Thursday 27th March

I can now tell you a story!  A week ago, when Rio had to go to the vet, I asked the vet if she could give him a European Pet Passport.  She did, but I wasn’t happy, I thought something wasn’t right with it.  I put some photos on a Facebook group and, yes, it was wrong.  The vet had used the date of Rio’s rabies injection that he had done in the UK back in January and then scanned his microchip and put the date of the 20th.  This is wrong for the passport.  The scan date should precede or be on the same day as the rabies jab.  I asked all sorts of questions on Facebook and eventually found a vet in Vitoria-Gasteiz, who could speak English.  Rio’s appointment was for today.  He had a medical examination and then another rabies jab.  The vaccine is not a live one so it doesn’t matter if dogs have more than one.  Rio is now a Portuguese citizen, or should that be citidog or dogizen!  He is also registered on the Portuguese database.  The Animal Health Certificate that, since Brexit, we have to use, can cost anything from £99 to over £200!  The passport cost us £76 in total.  As we are going to France in May we have already saved ourselves money.  The rabies jab lasts for three years so we will need to get another needle stuck into Rio in 2028.

We left Vitoria-Gasteiz in the drizzle.  Our time there really had been grey.  The road up into France was the AP-1 which took us right through, I believe, the Basque Mountains.  And I mean through!  We went through 22 tunnels!  The second one was the Isiskitza Tunnel which, at 3.7 km, is the seventh longest tunnel in Spain.  I started to write the names of the tunnels down but they all had Basque names with lots of “z’s” and “g’s” in, and I just couldn’t remember the spelling!

When we drove down to Spain four weeks ago, the weather was good in France, but it changed for the worse when we crossed the border.  The same happened today, but in reverse.  We crossed the border into sunshine!!

Our stops for the next seven days are CampingCar Park sites.  You have to belong to the organisation and can then book a site in advance online.  They nearly all have electricity as well as the usual services.  Tonight’s was in Biarritz.  You don’t get much room but we were on an end so had bushes on one side.

It was a very short walk to the beach, it was so lovely to be walking in the sunshine.  Rio had a wonderful time, running and sniffing around.  We found a cafe and had a beer. It was the first time in four weeks that we had sat out and had a drink.  The beach is called Milady Beach named after Lady Mary Caroline Bruce, the wife of the Marquis of Ailesbury, who was affectionately nicknamed "Milady" by the people of Biarritz and whose villa, "Marbella," is near the beach.

This is Ilbarritz Castle. It was built between 1895 and 1897 by Gustave Huguenin (an architect from Biarritz) for Baron Albert de l'Espée.

90 miles

Milady, Biarritz - the link is for Searchforsites but we booked with CampingCar Park.

Biscarrosse Plage Le Vivier - Friday 28th March

Our first night with electricity for five nights. Being off grid for that long has worked well. We have a power bank as I have sleep apnoea and use a CPAP machine every night. We’ve been charging the bank up on 12v as we have been driving along. I think I could go two nights without charging. The hairdryer won’t work on the power bank - I’ve got a travel one at home that would draw less watts, so will add that to the list!

We headed north to our next stop. Last nights was a pretty grotty but the beach so wonderful - let’s see if we can get both a good site and a good beach!

Just 98 miles today. The first two thirds were motorway then it was onto two lane roads and through a couple of towns. Good old Google did it again and took us the shortest way, but it was left, right, left and zillions of roundabouts!  We finally came out on a main road and, lo and behold, the lorry we had originally been following swept passed us!!  Thanks Google. 

We found our stop over - well you couldn’t really call it a stop over or an aire. It was a site (but without any toilets, showers etc.) in amongst the pine trees. You could see the pitches,155 of them, as each one had a white electricity bollard. It was one of the nicest places we have been to. I would say that there were probably only about 15 vans on site, but it is probably very different in the summer.  We weren’t quite level so Richard went to get the levelling wedges out, but they weren’t there!  We worked it out that we must have driven off them in Costa Nova and left them there!  Another thing for the check list. 

Through the trees we could see the sand dunes. Forest AND beach - what more could one ask for. Rio was in his element nosing around the forest then he found the sand dunes and, the icing on the cake, the sea. Bless him he was just so excited. I think it was the best walk he had ever had. 

When we got back we actually sat out for a bit for only the second time in four weeks. An intruder had crept into the van while we were sitting out. There was a pretty wagtail panicking as it couldn’t get out. I opened a window and it gratefully flew out. Thank goodness it didn’t leave a mess. 

98 miles

Biscarrosse Plage Le Vivier - the link is for Searchforsites but we booked with CampingCar Park.

Port, storks and two lovely buildings

Peso da Regua - Sunday March 23rd

We left our little oasis, that's really how it felt. Istas Garden is a great place to stop and the owners and staff are very helpful and welcoming.

We left Porto calling into a supermarket first. Google wanted to take us through the middle of Porto so I worked out a very convoluted route which took us a very long way round but I don’t think Richard noticed, but he would have if we had gone through Porto!  

Our journey took us through the mountains (and under), the scenery was stunning with lots and lots of small white villages. The mountainsides were all terraced for wine and, more likely, port. 

The road we were on was the A4 which is known as one of the most dangerous motorways in the country, particularly the descent from Campo to Valongo. Many improvements are being projected by the government in this respect.  We went into a tunnel which seemed to go on forever, in fact it was 3.5 miles long.  There were also lots of viaducts, some of which stretched a long way.  It was started in May 2009 and opened in May 2016.  

The road has a lot of lorry runaway tracks, some of which go up and up!

Our stop for the night was Peso da Regua where we really did wild camp beside the Douro river. 

We took Rio for a walk along the river bank keeping him firmly on the lead as the river was running extremely fast. 

A really lovely spot, one to definitely go back to.

99 miles 

Peso da Regua - Park4night

Area Montamarta, Zamora - Monday March 24th

We were due to cross from Portugal into Spain today.  We had enjoyed our miles on the Portuguese A4 but, oh dear, as soon as we were across the border the road changed from a super straight dual carriageway to a two-way road with a very poor surface.

As well as putting our watches forward an hour onto Spanish time we were able to put the dashcam back up.  Dashcams are not allowed in Portugal - goodness only knows why!

We had had a good, dry drive up to the Spanish border but I think we caught up with the weather front as we started getting some showers, though nothing as serious as we had in Porto.  I kept looking at the weather forecast and was in no doubt that we were travelling with the weather front.

Our stop for the night was in a small village called Montamarta, where there is an Aire which has been made by the local council.  It is on the edge of a children’s play area, an outdoor swimming pool and a basketball court, and has about 6 motorhome spots. There is fresh water and facilities for grey and black water.  We were the only ones for an hour or so until we were joined by a German van.  It looks over the Esla Reservoir which, even with all the rain, is looking very low.

We looked right over the hermitage of the Virgen del Castillo. The Hieronymite friars founded the Monastery of Santa María in 1404, but In 1534 the monks requested that the monastery be moved to the city of Zamora due to the unhealthiness of the place,

Montamarta is popularly known as the "town of the storks", due to its countless nesting sites.  The storks come every year attracted by the wetland of the Esla reservoir and the proximity of the Villafáfila lagoons. However we only saw one and it was too far away to photograph!

148 miles

Area Montmarta, Zamora - Park4night

Santa María del Campo - Tuesday 25th March

We left under a blue sky 😁 though it did cloud over but it did NOT rain.

We called in to the Carrefour in Valladolid.  I only wanted a few things but the store

was huge and it took ages to find everything.

We continued on our way and passed the lovely Castillo de Simancas, which is

near Valladolid.  It was built between 1467-1480 by the Enríquez family.

We arrived at our stop-over or I really should call it an Aire.  It is absolutely

amazing.  There are 8 concrete pitches - all level, fresh water, grey water and

toilet emptying.  It is next to a swimming pool, which is closed just now, and is

all fenced in except for the gate which was a long way from us.  We let Rio run

around and he just loved it, he even found a couple of birds to chase!

The town of Santa Maria del Campo, takes its name from the large church which

sits high on a hillock.  It was originally built in the 12th century and called Saint

Maria of the Perch!  The church was rebuilt in 1440.

We were joined by another couple of vans later in the afternoon - I thought we were going to have the whole place to ourselves. 

133 miles 

Santa Maria del Campo - Park4night

Rio and Rain

Istas Garden, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto - Thursday March 20th

I had a dreadful night! It was so windy, I was really quite worried. Richard tried to reassure me that we wouldn’t blow over but Kiwi was rocking around so much, I wasn’t too sure he was right! I played on my iPad until about 3am when I finally fell asleep with exhaustion. When I woke up all was calm.

Rio went for a quick walk on the beach before we set off.

Costa Nova is known for it’s coloured houses so we had a quick stop to take some photos, they really are lovely.

It was then a quick supermarket stop then we were off. We only had a short hop today to Porto. We couldn’t check in our site until 2pm so stopped by a lake (actually it was an overgrown pond) for lunch.

 

We realised that Rio wasn’t well. He seemed to be very lethargic, rather floppy and with a hot dry nose. He had been eating something on the beach in the morning and I was worried he might have been poisoned. I googled ‘vet near me’ which happened to be a 24 hour vet hospital. I took him in and there was a vet at reception who whisked him away. I was called in and told that he had been eating faeces! There was still some in his mouth 🤢 The vet then did an xray and bloods. The bloods were fine but the xray showed that his stomach was full of sand which was making him feel unwell. He was given some medicine to take and we allowed to leave. The vet and receptionist spoke very good English so we were very lucky. They were such lovely people.

We carried on our journey into Porto and found our site. It’s a very strange place, basically its built in someone’s garden in a very built up area. It’s really lovely with 10 individual pitches. There is a heated salt water pool, a kitchen to share and a very nice barbecue area. Even the washing machine and tumble drier are free.

After check in we were given a glass of wine as a welcome and invited to a wine tasting at 5pm, which, of course, we duly attended.

After a dry and quite pleasant day, the rain started around 6pm and is set in for a couple of days - just the time we were in Porto.

69 miles
Istas Garden - Search4sites


Istas Garden, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto - Friday March 21st

Oh boy did it rain in the night. We were parked under a palm tree and the rain was weighing down the fronds which were tapping on the roof right above our heads!! Chinese water torture!

Rio was back to normal today. It seemed that his medication had done its job. I had been really worried that whatever he had been eating on the beach the day before might have been toxic.

We went into Porto to meet my third cousin - we share the same great, great, grandfather. Kathy and her husband, Michal, moved to Porto from Vancouver three years ago. We discovered each other through Ancestry and have communicated for about four or five years now. We went to Vancouver in 2022 but she was in Portugal. She went to London last year but we were in New Zealand, but we finally made it today.

The weather couldn’t really have been much worse! We met in the pouring rain and walked to a cable car which took us down to the waterfront where the Port warehouses are. It looked very attractive but the rain really spoilt it. We stopped for a coffee then wandered up to the Don Luis I bridge. The bridge is a double deck metal arch bridge that spans the river Douro. When it was opened in October 1886, its 172 metres (564 feet) span was the longest of its type in the world.

 

Moored up along the river wall were quite a few strange looking boats. These are Rabelo boats which used to transport port wine from the Douro Valley to the cellars of Porto. Native to the Douro region, they don’t exist in any other place in the world.

We walked over the lower deck of the bridge and then took the Funicular dos Guindais to the upper part of Porto. The funicular was first opened in 1881 but in 1883 there was a serious accident which occurred when a loose car crashed into the lower platform of the Dom Luís I Bridge. Despite the dramatic nature of the incident, there were no fatalities. Though the company intended to reopen the funicular after the accident, the adverse conditions following the financial crisis of 1891 prevented this. The present funicular was opened in 2004 which I was very grateful for as the trek to the upper town looked steep!

We walked back to Kathy and Michal’s flat and spent a really lovely afternoon chatting, drinking wine (and beer) and eating some local cheeses and other foods. We should have been sightseeing but the rain had put paid to that!

We got another Uber back to the site and hunkered down.

Will the weather be any better tomorrow for a “second” day of sightseeing?


Istas Garden, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto - Saturday March 22nd

Er, guess what? It rained again! I know - it’s getting boring, isn’t it? But, as the phrase of the moment says, it is what it is.

We had a very chatty Uber driver to take us into Porto. He obviously wanted to practice his English, but he was pretty much fluent. He also spoke French and Spanish.

We met Kathy and Michal for breakfast then jumped on a hop on hop off bus. We went up top but only because it had windows and a roll back roof - which was firmly shut! There was a commentary but Kathy’s was much better and it also meant that we didn’t have to listen to the awful music!

On public transport in many European countries dogs have to be in a pet carrier to be allowed on buses, trains or trams. Fortunately Rio is small enough and light enough to go in one.

Can you see Rio in his pet carrier?  

We got off at the Farolim de Felgueiras (lighthouse) and watched the waves crash over the breakwater. It was very impressive. The first photo is Kathy’s, who is a photographer and the other is mine!

We found a nice cafe where we had Portuguese tapas. I’m not very adventurous with food but really enjoyed Kathy’s and the waiter’s choices.

Back on the bus to where we started then to a little supermarket. As we were walking there we could hear drums banging so were intrigued to see what it was all about. Well I still don’t know what it was all about but Kathy said it was something to do with the Socialist Party. Yes, there were drums but then there were two rather weird looking dummies dancing around - very random!

We said goodbye to Kathy, Michal had left us after breakfast, and headed back to Kiwi where we spent a quiet evening.

We really enjoyed our time in Porto, it was just such a shame about the weather. I’ve now met a second cousin (in Boston) and a third cousin (in Porto) and have really enjoyed their company. We look forward to another visit to Porto in the coming years.