Vilanova Park

Back to the coast for the weekend to a big camping cheque site 3km from the beach in the modern pedestrianised town of Vilanova i la Giltru. Hundreds of chalets on this site. Needless to say a lot of Brits are here and we are entrenched in the British/Dutch sector where some people have been for between 4 weeks and six months. Satellite dishes and Coronation street rule! We did the market and beach yesterday on the bus (with nice local sardinas for lunch) and chilled by the pool today (with a token swim). Doing a bit of washing and tidying on Monday before moving on to the Costa Brava via Montserrat (another  monastry) for the start of June.

My EZPC overheated and gave up the ghost after 8 years of service, so Glady(P)S can no longer guide us. May have to get a Tom Tom, or Jose Jose, or whatever they are called over here (or rely on Rosemary). Satelite receiver has not worked since I foolishly re-initialised it to the FreeSat network, which we cannot receive till back in northern France, but it has not been missed. Latest score Spain 1, Technology 0, Mosquitoes 3 - better than Eurovison, hope football team do better.

Pobedela

After 5 nights on the 'all singing and dancing' coastal site we have moved up into the hills behind the Costa Daurada and it could not be more different. The road here goes over a 2000ft pass and we are now on the edge of the small village of Pobelada in a lovely terraced site all on our own. In fact we have not even seen the owner/reception yet! We got stuck in the very narrow streets and overhanging balconies as the preferred route thru the village was being blocked by a builders lorry for several hours. It does say in the guide not recommended or larger outfits.    

Roda de Bara

Arrived at the med coast near Roda de Bara, 50miles south of Barcelona, on Friday afternoon. Visited two monastries at Poblet and Santa Crues on the way, the former still has a few monks in residence but the later was abandoned a century ago and is now being restored to is former glory. We enjoyed the tours (in Catalan unfortunately) and collected the leaflets in English for later!

Its a holiday weekend in Spain and the huge 5* site we are staying on (website) is now full to bursting.

Site is more like a holiday resort with its 1400 person Roman pool area, open air forum that seats 500 for the entertainments and a shopping complex. Even has the Sunday Mail on Sunday morning - so Rosemary is very happy here! Good sandy beach and a nice promenade to next village, in each direction, which will keep us happy till the crowds are gone again on Monday night. The price for pensioners - 12 euros per night.

Rosemary cooked a paella for Sunday lunch, which went down well with a litre of Sangria. Very friendly Dutch neighbours going home tomorrow. Weather is settled, sunny and 25 deg'ish with a gentle breeze off the sea - ideal geriatric weather in fact.

Walked down the coast path to typically Spanish resort of Le Roc de Gaita and had a nice but pricey lunch on a terrace overlooking the sea. Path closed for repairs on the way back, so a hot detour was required - planked out by the pool and had a cool swim to recover.   

Its our 42nd wedding anniversary today, the crowds are all gone so we had a quite relaxing day with a stroll down the beach, siesta and an excellent evening meal in the site restaurant (with 10% discount for pensioners).  

Montblanc

Not THE Mont Blanc of course, but a medieval village with a Cistertian monastery, on our way to the coast. It was a quick run down the A2 with thousands of Athletico Madrid fans going to Barcelona for cup final. Staying a couple of nights here, site overlooks the village with nice views, to see some of the other monastries in the area. Found a bargain 'eat all you can buffet' in the village where you pay 4 euros to go thru a turnstile then eat anything from the cold buffet bar or cook your own meat/sausages etc on mini hotplates. Excellent idea and full of locals too. Walking down to town later when its cooler (cos its 1.5 miles and uphill back) to have a better look around the historic parts.       

Zaragosa

This is nice! A camp site with free Wifi and its sunny at last! Travelled down from Mendigoria (last site) thru the Navarre wine country stopping at Olite the regional wine capital with a fairy tale castle and wine museum to look around. Wine museum good value at 2 euros each and a free bottle of wine! Used the old N road instead of motorway and passed thru some of old spain. Municipal site at Zaragosa is very modern staying for 2 nights and taking the bus to town tomorrow. Cooking veal escolope and mussels tonite!

Took the bus into Zaragosa for site seeing. Very impressive palaces and basillicas by the side of the river Ebro and a generally clean and friendly city to roam around. Menu del Dia is around 10-12 euros with bread and a glass of wine, so not too bad as the euro is getting weaker. Much TV coverage of Spanish austerity measures - it will be UK before long it seems. Well done Gordon!

Navarre

Left San Sebastion on Saturday morning, in more heavy rain, heading south thru the mountains into Navarre region. Drove thru Pamplona (famous for bull running) but did not stop cos it was very busy and nowhere convenvient to park. Then we hit pilgrim trail at a place called Puente de Reina where an ancient bridge crosses the river Arga. Lots of pilgrims looking very bedraggled - what a week to be walking! Stayed 2 nights by the river on a big site but only few tourers around. Weather has inproved a lot but still cool and now rather windy. The walk up to the nearby old hill top village was very interesting, not many people around and seems to be summer holiday retreat. Cooked and ate outside for the first time - till the sun went in!  

Rain in Spain

That about sums up the last 4 days. Low clouds, heavy rain, hail and thunder storms for at least 50% of the time.  Found the MH aire in San Sebastion (in the student area of town) and stayed on it for 2 nights along with 20 assorted nationalities. After another morning of rain it cleared in the afternoon so we took the bus into the old town for a wander round. What a nice resort it is -  if you don't try and drive around.

Superb crescent shaped beach and an interesting old town and harbour area. Walked round the headland and then had lunch at the old fish market, now a nice bar/cafe area and watched the world go by. The forecast is sunny and warmer next week - so let the holiday begin! .

Playa Joel again

After an uneventful crossing from Plymouth to Santander we made our way to Noja where we are staying for about 3 nights. Pleasantly warm and dry for the start of our holiday. Very quiet, no one on the beach and I've been for a paddle already! However, torential rain and a thunder storm overnight, weather forecast for northern Spain is not much better for a few days so will we head for an aire in San Sebastion, which will give us more options if it stays wet.

Ready4off

All packed up and ready to go tomorrow. Leaving at 8:30 for Plymouth to catch the 16:30 ferry to Santander in Northern Spain. Looks like we are in for a few days rain (well its not Green spain for nothing) so may stop in Playa Joel till it clears up. At least it should be warmer than it is here.