Monday, January 08, 2007
Friday 4th January – Carcassonne, France
Determined to get into France we got up very early to leave the campsite. We surprised ourselves by being ready to go after an hour of being up, but alas the campsite gates were not due to be opened for another hour – ho hum. Anyway we left the campsite at 7.55 – so not bad. We had another long day on the road and arrived in our French campsite at 4pm. The drive through was lovely and we watched the rising sun. We were treated to the views of many castles and fortresses scattered around the countryside and at one point even saw some flamingos in the water.
We went through the French border virtually without stopping and found ourselves in a different country with signs we could understand (as we know a little French!).
Sunday we went to Carcassonne, a restored walled city. This was really fantastic and it was all in very good condition. The place looks like it should belong in a fairytale with many turrets and ramparts. We walked over the drawbridge and Jon made the boys imagine they were coming to defeat the city and see how far they could jump across the drawbridge. After this we walked between the inner and outer wall and circumvented the city, the boys had a great time and on the whole it all looked pretty safe so they were allowed a free reign.
We then went into the city proper, first of all you are greeted with the usual touristy shops. I am sure they are put there just to give parents a hard time, they are a nightmare for anybody with small children who have to pick everything up and whirl it, bounce it or wave it around in a non too gentle fashion. Of course it is difficult to keep 30 little fingers and thumbs out of all the delightfully interesting pots and baskets and inevitably I end up shouting and physically dragging them away from the shops before they can damage anything, accompanied by many disapproving stares. Jon has this particularly annoying habit of when we are in a shop, a market or anywhere else designed to give parents a headache, he is nowhere to be seen or has wandered off further down the aisle and there I am with the 30 fingers trying to keep them all under control whilst simultaneously try and answer their rapid fire questions and point out things of interest. Jon will then appear at the end of the fiasco and calmly take one of the children as we walk out of the danger zone.
We wondered around the city a bit more and found it to be a lovely place and it would be a great place to stay, there are 2 hotels and a youth hostel there. It is definitely a place of fairytales and knights.
On the drive back to the caravan we stopped at an old ruined castle we had spotted previously. We announced to the boys we were going on an adventure to be answered with much moaning and protesting. They were pacified with the opportunity to walk up a mountain (a hill to you and me!) We rambled up to the old castle and walked through it. Max declared this was a good kind of adventure after all. After this we tried to find a route to walk up the mountain, we had to walk on a track around it quite a bit first. We managed to go quite far up, although the terrain was pretty hard going with many spiky bushes, lots of rocks and stones and not much of a path – well no path really. I carried Jory most of the way up the hill as I finally gave in to his cries of “ow they keep spiking me!” and Jon carried Cadan. When we reached the top we were dismayed we could not go down the other side but had to retrace our steps. At this point the sun was getting pretty low and Jon and I were a bit worried we may not make it back to the car before it got dark so we trundled back down this precarious hill, sorry mountain, and practically ran down the track to the car. Max did declare that he would like to walk up another mountain but only if it didn’t have any spikes on it.
Wednesday 3rd January – Calatyud, Spain
We left Portugal early and spent 10 hours on the road to get as far through Spain as we could. We got about 200 km west of Madrid and arrived at our next campsite at 8pm so sited the caravan in the dark. During the day we had travelled through some terrific scenery and again were amazed at the rich variety and abundance of birds. We saw a flock of Griffon Vultures, a Red Kite, Buzzards, Kestrels, Storks and many more I couldn’t identify. We were truly exhausted when we arrived that we decided to stay for 2 nights instead of the 1 as originally intended.
The next morning we were greeted with terrific views over the surrounding countryside. The sun started to shine and the wind died down and we spent a relaxing day mooching around. Max was quite keen to walk up a mountain but alas we could not accommodate him, as there seemed to be fences everywhere blocking our path. We did end up walking in an olive grove and had a good meander. We bumped into the farmer who didn’t seem to mind us walking about so we carried on. It wasn’t a great walk by any standards but it got us outside, it was peaceful, the views were great and the walk was gently scented by lavender.
New Years Day – Evora, Portugal
New Years Eve went with a bang in Evora, with many fireworks and lots of singing and shouting. We on the other hand were trying to sleep! OK, OK, we may be travelling Europe and be minus all the responsibilities we used to have but we still have 3 small children who wish to be up at the crack of dawn! So no we didn’t attempt to stay up until midnight to drink in the new year, although as luck would have it we were kindly woken by fire crackers being let off not more than 50 feet away from the caravan, so we were awake for the new year after all.
The following day we went to a park in Evora, it was surprisingly big, quiet and tranquil… until we arrived. Most of it was within the town walls and you could walk along the top admiring the views and the blooming cacti that were abundant. There was also a large play park to entertain the kids as well as peacocks and some old ruins. A hot chocolate later, this is becoming a habit and we meandered back through the cobbled streets.
Didn’t do much else for the other days but we are back to Spain tomorrow in a determined effort to get back across Spain to the east coast and make our way to France.
Once we get to France we are not too sure of our route but we have a couple of options to investigate. Watch this space…
Saturday 30th December – Lisbon, Portugal
We set off to Lisbon, prepared for another tiring and stressful day touring a big city. We crossed over the 25th of April bridge which is one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. Whilst driving over it, it reminded us of the golden gate bridge in San Francisco. We drove through the city to the “Praca do Comercio” where to our surprise we were allowed to park for free for the whole day. As with all capital cities Lisbon had many fantastic monuments and statues. The Christmas decorations were on a grand scale and were truly impressive. The Christmas tree was absolutely massive and was at least 100 metres tall. In another square one of the large monuments had Christmas lights in the shape of a bell draped over it. Down one of the pedestrian strips there were large angels twice as big as any man. I’m sure if we had stayed around to see them lit up they would have been truly impressive.
After crossing the street the boys automatically struck up the complaints of tired legs and “when can we go back to the car?” Unperturbed by their ailments we pressed on up the largest hill to the castle at the top. We had a good wander around all the walls, climbing up and down some obscenely steep and precarious steps and along the battlements. But fun was had by all as well as some playacting. On the way back down the hill, the complaints mysteriously restarted, we stopped off for some hot chocolate, then made our way home.
We were pleasantly surprised by how unlike a capital city Lisbon was, the traffic was light the air seemed clean and there was a freshness about the city that was really enjoyable.
Thursday 28th December – Evora, Portugal
We arrived in Evora yesterday and this afternoon we decided to have a drive to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings, we started driving through Evora, which is a medieval walled town with much of the walls still intact. We drove through some extremely narrow streets, in some cases only a few inches to spare between the car and the buildings. We found somewhere to park right next to the Roman ruins called “the Diana temple”.
We started to amble along the alleyways and streets that make up Evora. It is a lovely town with cobbled streets and charming buildings. We stumbled across a museum of carriages with free entrance so we had a good look around, Max was quite interested and the only person to be told off for touching the exhibits was Jon. We carried on walking around and found ourselves serenaded by music. Classical music was being piped through speakers all around the town, it really made the place atmospheric.
We came across an art exhibition in a church showing clay models of the nativity in modern day settings. So Baby Jesus with his family on the beach etc. Despite our best efforts Max seems to be quite devout and loves anything to do with Jesus. So he was even more pleased when we came across a life-size nativity scene in front of another church. Part of our walk took us past a small printing shop where Jon stopped to tell the boys how it all worked, the man in charge invited us in to have a closer look but as he spoke no English we could not gain any more information. Later we all enjoyed Roasted chestnuts, a first for all of us and then made our way home.
Evora is a truly lovely town and we recommend it to anyone.
Sunday 17th December – Olhao, Algarve, Portugal
So arrived in Portugal and having learned from previous experience we left the caravan at the entrance and drove around the campsite looking for a good spot. There weren’t any! All the sunny spots had already gone, mainly to large RV’s parked haphazardly All the large pitches had also gone. We eventually managed to squeeze ourselves onto a pitch but alas it was not big enough for us to erect the awning. Never mind we would cope! We discovered the next day that the site never got so much as one single ray of sun throughout the entire day and therefore it was also pretty cold.
We did not reckon much about this site, however it had one fantastic feature, the play park was really good and entertained our boys for hours on end. Yes I am afraid we have relaxed into this way of life and are quite happy to have the boys out of our sight for hours at a time without supervision. This is mainly down to Max. Despite being noisy and generally destructive he has a keen sense of right and wrong and also in self preservation that also extends to his brothers. He also particularly enjoys being in charge. Therefore most mornings we set them off walking to the play park, all three walking hand in hand, don’t get carried away it is only 1 minute walk, we are not that irresponsible you know!
On the second day, when Jon went to collect the boys from the play park he was accosted by a lady called Rita. She wanted to tell Jon what lovely boys we had, especially Max who made sure they all crossed the road properly to go to the toilet and looked after his brothers. Rita is married to a Swedish man called Kent (this is probably spelt wrong) who gave us some maps and good advice on travelling to Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Scandinavian countries are the places I have been most exited about visiting and Kent fired us up again.
Wednesday 20th December
Off to entertain the boys at Zoo marine. It was blooming freezing and we needed jumpers, coats and gloves. Of course we made sure that Zoo marine was actively involved in conservation etc before we visited, duly satisfied we set off to watch animals perform silly things to entertain people. So, aquarium, Manatee, two tiger sharks, lunch, birds of prey, seals acting out part of Peter Pan, a ride on some fairground attractions, dolphins, a 4D cinema about conservation, parrot show and then home. All for 15 Euros, which we thought was pretty good.
Thursday 21st December – Ria Formosa nature park, Algarve, Portugal
Next to the campsite there happens to be a natural park, Ria Formosa, so we decided to take a walk. It took literally 5 minutes to walk to the entrance of the park and the boys were complaining that they had walked a long way and when would they be able to go back to the caraban, as Jory calls it. In the park there are some kennels for Portugese water dogs. The owner spoke very good English and told us the history of the dogs and what her dogs do today. The dogs themselves were very friendly and the children enjoyed playing with them. Their hair was thick and curly and according to the lady they didn’t moult. They were truly lovely dogs and Jon and I have decided that when we settle down again we will have one…..
Much to the boy’s consternation we carried on walking and to our surprise came within 10 feet of a Griffon Vulture. The vulture was standing on top of an aviary eyeing us suspiciously but did not fly away, instead held his ground. Bearing in mind that we were walking in a natural park do you think we packed:
a) the binoculars (a recent purchase in Gibraltar) or
b) the camera (also a recent purchase in Gibraltar) or
c) none of the above?
Correct C) none of the above. What a fantastic picture we could have had of the Vulture.
Friday 22nd December – Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
We decided to visit the Ostrich Farm at Tavira today. The information in the booklet we had picked up at the local Tourist information was scant in the extreme. We drove around for a while on a wild Ostrich chase looking for the tourist information in Tavira. However, we ended up driving out by the salt pans, damn where were those binoculars again? There were lots of wild campers here, and what a beautiful place to do it. We spied a british camper and pulled in to ask them if they knew where the Ostrich Farm was. They informed us that the farm had closed 2 years ago and that the booklet we had was notorious in having out of date information. They also informed us about an interesting camera that we should visit if we had an hour to spare.
We eventually managed to locate this camera that was housed in a disused water tower. Through the use of mirrors that were projected down onto a 2 meter diameter disc we could see 360 degrees of the city as it was moving about today. Therefore from our vantage point we could see cars driving over the bridges etc. We were given a history lesson of the town, which if we could have listened properly instead of telling the children to “be quiet” or “don’t touch that”, “don’t kick that”, “you will sit over there if you touch that again”, would have been quite interesting.
On the way back to town we stumbled across some Moorish castle remains. You were able to climb to dizzying heights on stone steps open on one side. When we went up or down these steps it was one child at a time holding onto both of their hands as we descended very slowly, especially with Cadan who has to be the most accident prone child around. You would never be able to do this in the UK! After this we had a leisurely walk around the town that was most pleasant with cobbled streets and small shops. The square was open and modern with a tranquil river running along side it.
Chrismas Day – Olhao, Argarve, Portugal
We decided at the beginning of the trip to not haul Christmas decorations around Europe for a year, but obviously we wanted to make the caravan look a little Christmassy, so for the past week the boys and I concentrated our efforts on making stars, angels, snowmen, bells, snowflakes and paper chains. We also made a big paper Christmas tree to hang on the door with glitter balls and other decorations.
On the day the boys had their Christmas pressies hidden around the caravan spread out through the day. OK they did not get lots of toys, but they had chocolate, drawing materials, a car and a dvd each but this was all they needed, they had a great time and enjoyed the presents they were given. There were no questions about where are the toys or why didn’t we have a such and such. They were happy with what they got.
Christmas dinner was minus brussel sprouts and mince pies, but none the less was festive. I had a bit of a shock when preparing the chicken (the turkeys were all too large to fit in the oven), I had not been expecting to have to cut off the head and the feet. Jon was a little worried that I would lose a few digits especially as I was doing it with my eyes closed! It was a reminder on how much Britain camouflages the reality of the meat source in our supermarkets. In the Spanish and Portuguese shops little is left to the imagination with skinned rabbits and lambs, with heads etc still intact and small piglets all on display. The boys amazed me further, instead of being repulsed or upset, they were simply curious about it and had many questions. Anyway I digress. So a full festive roast later and we had a traditional Portuguese Christmas cake. We had a Christmas day walk with the usual chorus of complaining and then watched one of the new DVD’s, supper was followed by Christmas pud and custard (mainly due to the lack of any Cornish clotted cream!)
Tuesday 12th December – Tangiers, Morrocco
We were up nice and early to catch the fast ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers, only 35 minutes, the sea was a little rough! After reading a travel guide where they had not chosen a guide and wished they had, we decided to follow their advice. For 70 Euros for the family we were promised a car tour, a trip to the medina (Old Tangiers) a ride on a camel and a visit to the market and an authentic Moroccan meal.
So after being marched through the dock (with Cadan walking headlong into a signpost!), we piled into an old Mercedes taxi with the driver and the guide in front. Our guide had many animated Arabic conversations on his mobile, in between these conversations he was quick to point out places of interest with comments such as “that is the Spanish Embassy”, “that is the kings summer residence” and “that is the catholic cemetery”, all this as we drove past at about 30 mph.
We stopped for our camel ride whereupon the children were seized by our guides and the camel handlers and plonked on top of a camel. They then led the camel on a five minute walk around what could only be described as a car park and then after a photo we all piled back in the car. We were then taken to a beauty spot at the most northern part of Africa where on the right is the Mediterranean and on the left is the Atlantic, we oohed and ahhed and piled back in the car. We were then taken to a spot overlooking the main square. The square was quite fascinating to watch with all the different types of dress and general goings on. In the 15 minutes that we were observing we saw a man taken away by the police, some men trying to remove a lamp post that had been completely knocked over and was lying in the road, the peasant farmers from the hill with their colourful ponchos and straw hats bringing things to sell in the market and all the other different types of dress worn by the different groups. We also heard the Islamic call to prayer. All of this was interesting and what a wonderful bit of home education!
We were then passed to our guide’s brother-in-law, who was to conduct the walking tour. This was what we expected from Morocco, narrow winding streets with a market that seems a little chaotic, noisy and smelly. The fruit and vegetables looked fresh and inviting and our 2nd guide was quick to point out that they were all grown without chemicals. We were taken through some more winding streets past shops selling traditional clothes, carpets and wooden ornaments. Our guide took us to a restaurant where he left us in the hands of the waiter and were served a delicious Moroccan meal.
After our meal we were taken to another market where there were stalls upon stalls of olives, it was a bombardment of colour and if any of us actually liked olives, we would have been unable to resist. The spice stalls were also a wonderful array of colour and aroma, however, we were unable to savour all the different sensations as we were marched through this market as quick as we had been marched through the rest.
We were taken to a shop whereupon we were given a little demo about spices and oils, basically it was a sales demo. I did succumb and bought some spices and a cube of musk. The guide realising we had not bought much joined in the sales patter but to no avail. We were then taken through some more streets and into a carpet shop where we were shown many fine carpets, which were admittedly lovely but we did not want one, we had just spent 2 months de-cluttering our lives we did not want to then go and purchase more clutter even if they were very nice, we simply did not need a carpet, a rug or a mat! So we spent an embarrassing ½ and hour trying to explain we simply did not want one. After the seller said “I will embarrass you no longer” he then proceeded to bring out carpets “for the children”. A further 10 minutes passed before he realised his attempts were futile and we were released back to our guide.
After this we were marched to a dress shop where again they tried to convince us we needed to buy silk pyjamas for the boys or I should have a dress or Jon should have a caftan. When it seemed we would not buy any of these we were taken to the trinket shop across the street, where Jon and I were really just worried the boys were going to break something. Having disappointed our guide yet again we were informed we needed to head back to the dock to catch our boat and were marched there at a faster pace then before, although I didn’t think this could be possible, and at several points I had to carry Jory and run to catch up. We of course arrived at the dock at least ½ hour early and sat around waiting for the ferry. Throughout all this walking we were dogged by a street seller trying to sell us some drums, for the boys, demonstrating what a wonderful loud noise they made, as if that would entice us to buy them. You have to give these people their due they don’t give up easily. Being a typical brit and not wanting to offend, even though I was practically running carrying Jory and dragging Cadan along beside me, I kept smiling and shaking my head saying “No thank you”.
The Ferry back was even rougher than before and I had a couple of very dodgy moments, Max also started to look ill. Just when I thought I could hold back no longer we were coming into port.
On reflection we thought we might enjoy Tangiers without the guide and without the children. It seemed to be one very fast day moving quickly from one thing to the next with little time to stop and savour. Of course the main purpose of the guide was to get us to buy from the shops whereupon he would earn commission, but we simply were not interested. It is impossible to judge a country from one city and we have been told the hills and the surrounding countryside is very beautiful.
We spent the next couple of days recovering from our trip to Morocco and then packed up and drove to Cordoba for a 2 night stay, neither of us being able to remember why we chose to drive North in order to drive South again! Tomorrow we are off to Portugal.
Sunday 10th December – Fuengirola, Spain
Jory’s 3rd birthday. Racked with guilt that Jory is our only child that has not had a big party for their 3rd birthday, we attempted to make his birthday special. For a few days before his birthday the older two boys were making birthday cards and colouring in the letters for Happy Birthday and the number 3 which we hung about the awning. In the morning we started with a treasure hunt for his presents, some wrapped in drawings as I forgot to buy any wrapping paper. All the boys then went swimming, whilst I slaved away blowing up balloons and making party food, they were really pleased with the result and couldn’t wait to tuck in. We brought out the cake (shop bought I’m afraid) and walked off all the calories along the beach and then rounded off the day by watching his new DVD Ice Age 2.
The following day we went to the Aquarium in Fuengirola, nothing to recommend it over and above any other Sealife Aquarium, but one of those things you have to do to entertain the children. It was a most pleasant afternoon and we timed the entrance well by arriving in time to see most of the exhibits being fed.
After leaving the Aquarium we took a stroll along the small marina, whereupon Cadan managed to fall over and crack his head, blood and all and then get lost, all in the space of 10 minutes. We would not expect anything less from our middle son who was blissfully unaware that he was indeed lost and had no clue as to our whereabouts and really couldn’t see what the fuss was all about. It gives me a sense of foreboding for our trip to Morocco tomorrow!
Tuesday 5th December – Marbella & Gibraltar, Spain
We set off for a two hour drive to our next campsite near Marbella. Supremely confident we would be there in time to pitch, set up and have lunch. This was not to be, we arrived at the campsite in plenty of time at 12.30 but, we stupidly decided to drive with the caravan to look for sites, we ended up going down a road unsuitable for caravans and had to turnaround. The pitches were not great and after unhitching the caravan and leaving it in the main thoroughfare we drove the car to find a suitable pitch. We eventually found one but by the time we were parked and ready to have lunch it was close to 3pm.
So we have spent a few leisurely days going to the beach, which is a very short drive, we would walk if we did not have the snails we take everywhere with us. We have also been taking advantage of their swimming pool.
In between these leisurely days we visited Gibraltar. This is truly a little bit of Britain, in one way the familiarity with the signposts, the buses, the police uniforms, the shops and the language is quietly reassuring, but it is also a bit disappointing. We searched for the 100 ton gun and with our track record we were most surprised to actually find it. Duly impressed by the Victorian engineering ,we had a good climb over it and were then on our way. The cable cars to the top of the rock were not working due to cross winds so we opted for a mini bus tour. The guide was very good and the tour was enjoyable, so we took in the caves, the tunnels and the Barbary Apes. Of course the Apes were the highlight for the boys. It has been estimated that there are 33 miles worth of tunnels built into the rock, including a hospital and room for 30,000 people to seek refuge. The tour that most see is where the tunnels started during the “great siege” in the 1700’s and is just a taster of what lies beyond. Apparently there is a tour available with an army guide to show you the other parts of the tunnels including the hospital.
Saturday 2nd December – Granada, Spain
We left La Manga and travelled a short 3 hours to Las Lomas, a campsite in the hills above Granada. It is a small and pleasant site. We parked on the pitch with very little problem but again drew the crowds. The temperature here was a little cooler but still pleasant. There is a handy little play park close enough for the boys to be let loose whilst we set up.
On the Sunday we rose early to go to the Alhambra, a Moorish Palace built during the Nasrid dynasty 1238 – 1492. There are extensive gardens to explore with oodles of water features. The Palace itself has many fine examples of Spanish-Islamic architecture to admire. Wonderfully carved ceilings, superbly decorated walls, more archways then you could probably count and peaceful pools and fountains, all built with intricate detail. There is no doubt it is a beautiful place, and besides we did finally find some guns for the boys to sit on, Yippee! If you do decide to visit here be prepared to do lots of walking and if you bring young children be prepared to see them cavorting recklessly next to low walls, the only protection from a sheer drop on the other side. Thankfully the other site see-ers were more worried about our children then we were and panic striken faces alerted us to every dangerous situation.
On the Monday we had a delightful picnic next to a river in amongst the hills and then
Jon and I whiled away a couple of hours sat out on the sun baked terrace next to the campsite restaurant drinking rum and cokes whilst admiring the magnificent view of the mountains. The children entertained in the play park were kind enough to leave us alone whilst we contemplated life, the universe and everything. We both agreed it was the best moment of our trip so far. Of course we felt the need to text a few people to inform them of the situation!
Thursday 30th November – La Manga, Spain
We spent two fruitless days trying to locate some canons but we were not successful. One set was used for the film “The Guns of Navarone” were located near a golf course. We of course, walked through the golf course and were subsequently told off! We turned back and after one other wrong turn decided to give up. The next day we decided to follow instructions to go to some guns in Mazzaron but failing to find the route indicated we also gave up and decide to not look for guns any more! The boys of course were most disappointed after being promised some spectacular guns on two occasions and then being disappointed by their parents inability to locate them.
On the final day we decided to drive down the La Manga, the thin strip of land that creates the harbour. This drive was extremely disappointing. You will be pleased to hear that after 3 days of rain this area was largely flooded but was also just one long strip of high-rise apartment blocks obscuring the sea, even though the sea was within a hundred yards of the road on each side. We couldn’t help thinking that in the height of the tourist season this would be the last place you would want to be.
We did however drive up and over a near vertical bridge where we had to use the hill decent button. Jon particularly enjoyed himself. We had some overpriced and disappointing greasy fish and chips from an English shop to round off the morning nicely.
