Southern Europe - Day 26

The Pyrenees.

We drove up into Andorra today and over the Pas de la Casa down into France. Up on top the snow was thick and a few people were skiing but the lifts weren't running and there were no real pistes yet. I guess we're still a little early for the season in these mountains.
The Pyrenees are pretty but I prefer the Alps. Andorra is picturesque enough although perhaps I'd feel a little claustrophobic in Andorra de Velle - the capital - as it is surrounded on all sides by sheer mountains with no view across anywhere to speak of.

We're in France now, still in the Pyrenees, and camped in a little aire. The French really do free camping well.

Cali comment: it's 8.5 degrees outside now and only 6.30pm. It could get pretty chilly tonight! But if it does we'll simply sleep downstairs with the heater on! Cosy!

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Southern Europe - Day 25

Barcelona.

Today we spent the day and evening exploring the city of Barcelona. We took a bus into the city from the campsite - a mere €3 for an hour's ride - and were dumped off in the centre of the city.

From there we hoped on the open topped city touring buses and circumnavigated the city. We jumped off at a few spots around the city for a better look at some sights.

Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia, the basillica designed by Antoni Gaudi. Started at the end of the 19th century it is not due for completion till the middle of this century. The inside was recently finished (it wasn't last time I was here in 2005) and so this time last year was consecrated by the Pope. This is one of the most magnificent and unusual churches I've ever seen. It's the icon of Barcelona and really amazing to look around. We wandered the interior and took the lift 65m up to the top of the completed towers for views across the city. Spectacular.

Next we hopped off the bus at the Park Guell where Gaudi lived. Guell was his main patron and this park one of his most impressive works.

The bus took us all around the city to the Neu Camp (which we couldn't look around as Barce had a home game), the Olympic Stadium and many other sights. We stopped off at the Spanish Village which was built for the 1929 exhibition taking example building styles from all regions of Spain. It's very quiet and there are loads of traders practising their crafts here. We watched a master glass blower making horses and cats and swans with amazing dexterity.

Then it was down to the port and the bottom of La Rambla, the main drag through the city. This was heaving with people, ice cream stands and stalls selling all sorts of Christmas goodies. It had a real vibe to it.

From there we dropped into the gothic quarter and had a wander around the cathedral and grabbed some tapas. Then back to La Rambla for a wander around a huge open air market and then some gofre (waffle with ice cream) and a sit down to watch the world go by.
Finally it was time to get the night bus home for a good sleep.

Barcelona: 8/10.






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Southern Europe - Day 24

A driving day.

We really didn't do anything today other than drive from Valencia to Sitges just outside of Barcelona.

We did take a quick drive around the F1 track in Valencia as we set off which was weird as the F1 track is painted onto the road surface and they stick concrete lumps down to make the normal road lanes - roads which have no markings on them. It's very disorientating.

Cali comment: Silver is a great colour for touring. 4 weeks of hard driving and although no longer shiny it doesn't look filthy as any other colour would my now.
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Southern Europe - Day 22

A cracking day sightseeing Valencia.

We spent today seeing the sights of Valencia. It was a swift 6 mile bike ride into the city on well defined, well maintained bike tracks. This took us straight to the 'Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias' (City of Arts and Sciences). This is a wonderful collection of buildings of quirky design which host a massive IMAX cinema, a science museum and a huge Oceanographic centre.

As we pulled up to the area it was packed with people, roads were closed and a loud speaker announcer was in full flow. Turned out that we'd arrived on the day the Valencia marathon was being run and the finish line was right in the centre of this attraction and the winning athletes were just coming in! Good timing!

We watched a few people cross the line then moved off to the Oceanographic centre where we watched a very impressive dolphin show and then wandered around the huge aquariums there, seeing walrus, seals, penguins, baluga whales, sharks, stingray, moray eels, turtles, jelly fish, sea dragons and all manner of fish. Its quite an amazing set up actually and easy to spend many hours there.

We went from there on further into old Valencia for a look at some of their old buildings. Central Valencia is all high buildings and small alleyways making it easy to get lost but we found our way to most sights we wanted to see. We also had time for a bite to eat in one of the many cafes.

Next we cycled back through the park to the Science Museum. The park is a neat feature of the city. It wends its way through the city like a river, with many bridges crossing it. I wonder if it even used to be a river which has since been drained - something to look up when we get home (unless anyone wants to reply here and let us know?). Its full of green spaces, bike tracks, fountains, orange trees and joggers and is a really pleasant place to stroll, run or ride.

In the Science museum we didn't have much time so it was straight to the top floor and the zero G simulator which wasn't much of a simulator really but did manage to make you disoriented in a similar way. There was also a flight simulator which simulated a visit to and from the International Space Station. That was quite cool although Mrs Blakey had to skip that bit due to being pregnant.

We ran out of daylight and so didn't get time to visit the marina or the F1 track but might do a drive by tomorrow morning on our way to Barcelona.

All in all Valencia was a cool place. We didn't see too much of the city itself as the Arts and Science 'city' takes loads of time - but it's now one of the city's main attractions. Another place I think we'd come back to.

Cali comment: discovered today that the bed will happily sit in the 'up' position with a duvet and 2 pillows still laid out in sleeping position. There is no need to shift them all to the back. This will be very helpful when staying in one place - but is less so for us at the moment as we are moving on nearly every day so need to bring duvets and pillows down to actually put the roof down.
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Southern Europe - Day 22

Costa Blanca.

Quite a change to the Costa del Sol although to be fair we only paid a visit to Benidorm so I'm not sure we got a fair view.

It was a driving day today with the only goal being getting to Valencia before the sun set so we could spend a few hours sitting out in it. That we achieved even with dropping into the most popular Spanish resort of the 70's.

Benidorm is all high rises clustered around a crescent moon bay. The beach is all man made and not brilliant. It is full of retired brown and wrinkly people with big beer bellies. We hardly saw a single young Spanish person there. We ate our sandwiches on the beach and pressed on. Hmmmm.

Bonus for the last two days: 20-25 degree heat and virtually no clouds at all. Its been lovely! Sadly we've spent a fair amount of that time in the van travelling, but it beats rain!

Cali comment: the front windscreen blind goes in really easily if you get out and push it in through the side door. Took us 2 weeks to figure that out! They could do with making it easier and somehow more built in like the other blinds.

Tomorrow: taking the bikes into Valencia for the day. No driving!

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Southern Europe - Day 21

Costa del Sol.

We drove from Estepona to Almeria today all along the Costa del Sol. The place is beautiful where unspoilt and generally pretty smart where the resorts are. We took a stroll around Peurte Banus and loved the marina with its expensive yachts. I guess they do touring like us, just a lot more upmarket and with more champagne. Banus is where I went on my stag weekend and it was good to return and show Mrs Blakey the sights. Well some of them anyway! She agreed it was nicer than Birmingham where she'd had her get away.

We also dropped into Torrequebrada where our neighbours own a place. Very nice resort indeed and we did lunch on the sea front there watching a small left hand point break going off in front of us. Too small to ride even if I had my board.

We liked the Costa del Sol and can see why people come here on holiday.

Cali comment: I sometimes wish the Cali had nicer looking wooden cupboards and curtains. I see some internal finishes on similar priced campers and think they look much cosier. But the Cali is extremely practical. Curtains get dirty and need cleaning and take up lots of space in the van. Whereas the built in Cali blinds simply work really well.

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Southern Europe - Day 20

The day we almost got to Africa.

We've turned north this afternoon after spending most of the day in Gibraltar.

We woke on the outskirts of Cadiz and crossed the huge bridge to check the place out. We totally failed to find parking as the place was rammed so we didn't stay. We did take a mad tour of the cobbled lanes inside the city walls in the van before finding our way out again though. Liked the place and would have liked to have stayed and properly explored it.

Next stop was 80 miles south east - the British colony of Gibraltar. A very interesting place and a bit quirky. All the road signs, the road markings, the traffic lights, even the bins are English, yet they drive on the right which is a bit strange. The place is hugely built up with one local telling us property was really expensive to buy or rent - due to the lack of space.

After a lunch stop on the southern tip looking over Africa in the distance we took the cable car to the top. There we saw the famous "apes" of Gibraltar that are actually a rare breed of tail-less monkey. They're very cool, climbing and jumping on everything including the visitors. Suffice to say before long they decided to jump on us too.

We experienced a cool phenomenon on the top of the rock - the easterly winds brought warm wet air off the Med and sent them straight up the 423m sheer face of the rock where they literally turned to clouds right in front of our faces. I know the theory but to see it in action right there at cloud level was something exceptional.

After exploring the rock and playing with the monkeys for a while we wandered into town. Gibraltar's high street could be any pedestrianised English high street with M&S adjacent to Next and BHS. We stopped for a coffee (sadly no real ale seems to get out there) in a very English pub and chatted to a few locals for a bit.

Definitely Gibraltar is very unusual and somewhere I've never been anywhere like before.

From there we drove onto the Costa del Sol and parked up in a very small, plush shopping centre we found in the dark. We spotted a few motor homes parked there surrounded by uplit palm trees and decided to join them. Getting out and looking around we realised we're about three foot from the beach! We cooked a chili and munched it and then took a wander around the shopping centre not quite sure what to expect.

Wow. This place has its own beach, pool, beach side bars and restaurants but we were the only ones here. It looks like a posh beach hotel complex only it's all free! We found one restaurant which was open and were invited in by the italian owner from Rome who we spent some time drinking a few beers with. No one else was around. What a top place to find for some free camping!

Cali comment for the day: we wish the carpet at the front didn't exist but they'd carried the excellent rubber floor through to the cockpit. As this is supposed to be a camping vehicle, why have carpet up front? We have some mats but it seems silly that we need them.

Tomorrow: Costa del Sol. I suspect it's gonna rain.
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