Palace and Monastery San Lorenzo

Sunny from the start so had a lazy morning and a long chat with our English neighbour. As we chatted  some storks flew over quite low harassing a huge eagle, but I could not get to a camera before they had gone. Shame.

We took the van to the nearby royal residence at El Escorial for the afternoon. A massive combination of royal palace, basilica, monastery and art collection around a simple garden. Rosemary failed the security  scan (scissors in handbag!) and I forgot my ID, so we got in as one and half pensioners eventually.

Not a particularly attractive place but Philip II was a devout Catholic and lived as humble a life as you can and still be king of Spain. This was also the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition (and nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!). No photos allowed and not many multilingual displays, so a bit tedious.

We arrived back on site to watch the Spanish weekenders arriving. Why does it take them so long to choose a pitch. It's eating outside weather now - so it's chicken tonite.

Valley of the Fallen

We have travelled about 30miles only today and are staying at a huge site (we are pitch 1318) near the royal residence of El Escorial. It's also about 1hr by bus from the centre of Madrid.

We stopped en route at the Valley of the Fallen, which is a monument for all those who died in the Spanish civil war. There is an underground basilica bigger than St Peters in Rome built into solid rock by prisoners of war. It has General Franco's tomb and 50,000 Spaniards, from both sides, who died in the conflict between 1936 and 1939. The site is up in the mountains and the huge granite cross is visible for many miles around.

It's been a warm sunny day but there still snow on the nearby mountains and the temperature soon drops when the sun goes down. There is a busy holiday weekend coming up so we will probably stay here till next Monday. Every thing on site including 3 swimming pools!

Segovia's Alcazar

We returned to town again and went straight to the Alcazar a 15th century palace built on the site of the original Roman fort. It sits on a promontory at the end of town like the prowe of a ship and looks like a fairy tale castle. We did the tour, nice presentation, took some photos and had another nice lunch just off the main plaza. We are eating the biggest meals at the best time (lunch), walking and skipping dinner.
Rosemary bought a small piece of the local cake, Ponche de Segovia, which we had for tea later. We walked back down to the aquaduct and I went up the steps to get a closer look from the top whilst Rosemary ordered some coffee.

It was quite a nice day today, sunny but a bit cool. Still see snow on the mountains not far away. It rained this evening but we are leaving here tomorrow.

View from the top

Looking back from Segovia towards the mountains where the water for the aquaduct originates. Built in 1st century AD by the Romans and in use until the last century to supply water to the town. No mortar was used to construct the 168 arches that make up this part of the 16km aquaduct. It's a really impressive feat of enginering.

Segovia

We had a lazy start to allow the temperature to warm up a bit. Then a quick look over the road in the new Segovia suburb, shops, cinema and sports complex. Caught the bus into old Segovia and splashed out on the local gastro speciality of roast suckling pig. 

Walked the big lunch off by touring the cathedral and going to find the Alcazar at the other end of town. Rosemary purchased a little  souvenir from a local artist and we had a coffee before walking back to the famous Roman viaduct. 

Passed by the recently restored wall and through the Jewish quarter and main shopping street. Picked up some English guides from the travel bureau and caught the bus back to site. Segovia is an attractive place and worth another day tomorrow but with a simple lunch!

South to Segovia

It is Sunday morning, we wished our neighbours from Bagworth a smooth crossing home and drove south to Segovia. It was grey most of the way and then rained, on and off, for most of the evening after we arrived. It took 5 hours for the 240 miles of almost deserted  autovia and we had 3 short stops for coffee and snacks/tapas. The campsite El Aquaduct is on the edge of town and a short €1 bus journey to all of the historic buildings and sites. But that's for tomorrow - we watched a John Depp  DVD tonight. Segovia is in the foothills of the central mountain range and it's cold! We have a great view of the snowy mountain range from our pitch.

Rosemary contented after lunch

Last day in Noja

We will be leaving in the morning to put some miles in towards Madrid. (Sunday is usually very quiet on the roads). So we walked along the top of the dunes to find a restaurant for lunch and then walked back along the beach. Rabas, dish of the day, glass of wine and coffee - €23 for two. Good sunny day today, but some heavy showers are in the forecast for the next few days

Saturday Lunch

Menu del dia in a local bar we stopped at after walking along beach.

Middle day at Noja

We are just here for three days so this is middle day. Took the van out to get some diesel (€1.21/l) and fish (skate, dorado and anchovies). Had some tapas and a drink in the square at lunch time. Grey afternoon with a cool breeze.  There is a m'home from Leicestershire a couple of rows from us. They are on their way home after 12 weeks in La Manga. Not been a good winter for weather apparently, 10 degs cooler than normal - must be all this global warming!
Prepping and cooking the three types of fish for supper was challenging, but Rosemary triumphed as usual. They were excellent and very fresh. Plenty of the fresh anchovies, which tasted similar to sardines, are left to fight another day!

Playa Joel beach

The beautiful beach adjacent to the campsite.

First full day in Spain

After a grey start the sun burnt its way through and we have had a nice warm sunny day. I had a quick paddle in the bay and wet my trousers.
We walked into Noja to do a little shopping. Nothing seems to have changed. It's still a sleepy resort out of season and it's still a drag up the hill to the Lupa stores.
It's steak (from home) on the Jamie grill, with a bottle of prize winning Spanish wine (2.5 euro!) and some pimento de padron, as the sun goes down on our first day away. Happy days!

The Wake

Sea Day

Nice crossing, sunny and slight to moderate sea. Watched the sun on the waves and caught sight of some dolphins alongside for a few minutes. Disembarked on schedule and arrived at Playa Joel around 7:00pm,  it was raining by 9:00pm!

Boarded

Had a good journey down via the A3 and were sent to the white van man line for boarding. We met Mark and Christina for lunch in Harpenden en route, which was a nice way to break the journey. Our cabin was 5428 on starboard side so we had a good view passing of the Isle of Wight  again, brought back happy memories of a Christmas cruise! Retired early after dinner and a half bottle of wine.

Ready to Go

Nearly packed, just a few things tomorrow morning and then we are off to Portsmouth for the evening ferry to Santander. We are going via Harpenden to meet Mark to have lunch and to give him his birthday present.

Weather looks good for an uneventful crossing to Spain although the UK weather is better than northern Spain at the moment. We will go to the Playa Joel site at Noja again for the first few days, to acclimatise, before heading south to the Madrid region for some cultural visits to the old towns of Segovia, Toledo, Aranjuez and of course Madrid itself.