This is a strange place that some people on a campsite told us about. It’s a commercial Aire situated at the port of the town Almerimar which was created some decades ago specifically as a tourist town. We met several people there in their vans who’d been there for months! calling it ‘velcro city’. We just stayed one night but it has a certain attraction. The weather is about 18C in the winter; there are cycle lanes everywhere – for miles along the coast; a nature reserve; loads of restaurants; lots of water sports (if you’re into that), and a swimming pool 10 minutes away in the main town. It could possibly be a place to spend some time over the winter!!!
Author: judycoutinho
Cabo de Gata
Cabo de Gata is Europe’s only desert. It’s a Nature Reserve and people say that this is what the coast of Spain used to be like. Of course it’s a little sanctuary in the corner of the ‘garden’ of Spain, so you have to drive through wall-to-wall ‘plasticos’ before you reach it. But once there, wow it’s beautiful.
We visited a few years ago but it was in late June and it was much too hot, but early May is a good time. Lots of walking routes, temperature low to mid 20s with a lovely breeze. 12 miles the first day, 7 the second and another 12 miles the third. The campsites there are all fairly large but at this time of the year there are not many people and the facilities are good.
Plenty of windmills as it’s a pretty windy place
For our last night we stayed on a camperstop – the car park by the beach of a fishing village, intending to buy some fish in the morning. But they were all much too big for us!!!
Córdoba
The last time we visited Córdoba we discovered it was the day of their White Night when the squares all over Córdoba have flamenco all night. We wandered around all night and it was fantastic.
This time we’d discovered that for the first two weeks of May there is a ‘best patio’ competition, and all over the city people’s private patios are opened up to the public. So of course we had to go.
And then we re-visited the Mezquita – a beautiful mosque dating from 784 AD which has had a cathedral plonked in the middle. But the beauty and magnificence of the building still remains.
Just a quick visit and then off to Cabo de Gata for some walking
Toledo
Toledo is a fascinating place to visit. A completely walled hill top city with windy narrow streets, beautiful stone houses and architecture from various influences. Before the expulsion of 1492 there was a large Jewish population here with ten synagogues. After the Jews departed these were taken over and made into churches. Two have been restored. One is now a museum for Sephardic Jewry and the other is an exquisitely beautiful building with rows of arches. Apart from just wandering around the streets we visited the two old synagogues, the El Greco museum, a tapestry museum and the cathedral. Here are some photos (click on a photo for an enlarged image)
Synagogue
Museum of Sephardic Jewry
El Greco museum
The museum was thought to have been El Greco’s house and some of the rooms have been furnished with furniture from that period in addition there is a large collection of El Greco’s paintings
Tapestry museum
This museum is connected to the cathedral and contains wall coverings and also garments worn by the priests.
Toledo Cathedral
Madrid
We stayed three nights in Madrid mainly to visit the museums.
We re-visited the Reina Sophia to see Picasso’s Guernica and a multitude of other modern artists including Salvador Dali, Georges Braque and Madrid-born Juan Gris. The Prado gave us the Spanish painters – Goya, Velazquez, Ribera and El Greco gets included), and then we went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum for the first time. What a collection! Here are a few photos.
If you are going to visit these galleries and you’re over 65 take your passport as you’ll get in half price.
We stayed in the Osuna campsite which had mixed reviews but we found it absolutely fine and positively leafy.
We got the metro into town very easily.
And of course not to forget the Sunday morning market
Fortunately for us it continued until 3pm .
Segovia
Stayed a couple a nights in Segovia which I definitely recommend for a visit. It has a Roman aquaduct 900m in length built in 50AD. It also has an Alcuzar which looks like a fairy castle (it was rebuilt after a fire) and evidently Walt Disney used as the basis for his castle in Sleeping Beauty.
But apart from all that it’s a lovely place to walk around. Small enough to manage and at this time of the year not crowded with loads of tourists (only a select few).
We wandered around the old Jewish quarter (the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabella) Where they have a permanent exhibition in a Jewish centre.
Stayed overnight on an Aire at the bullring- very pleasant and just a 10 minute walk to the centre
First night in Spain
We arrived in Santander and decided that the one Camperstop in the town would be full up, so drove for 30 minutes to a delightful medieval village called Santillana del Mar. This had a great big Aire on the edge of the village with a few other vans
The village was just five minutes walk and we found a most acceptable restaurant up a little cobbled street, especially for Valerie’s birthday. A €16 menu 3-course meal including a bottle of Rioja ticked all the boxes.
I would definitely recommend it for a night’s stop when coming off the ferry
Varkala – best dosa in town!
It seems to be the case that Dosas are only served at certain times of day – mainly in the morning for breakfast but we found one place in Cochin (Sri Krishna mentioned in a post right at the beginning of the trip) they were only served at lunchtime.
Today we really fancied a dosa for lunch but the Ootupura restaurant only served them up to midday. But the man there told us that if we really wanted a dosa we could get one in a little place a few minutes away in the main road. So we walked in the blazing sun, weak from hunger ( we’d got up very early so we could do yoga on the beach before the sun got hot), and eventually came to a little unprepossessing eating place at the side of the road. And there we had the best dosas either of us had tasted. Freshly prepared especially for us
and the two together cost 96 rupees (just over £1).
I don’t know the name of the place but it’s just further up the hill from the Krishna supermarket on the way up from the temple junction. Here’s a photo.
if you’re in Varkala it’s definitely worth a visit.
Varkala – Spice shop
Just down the road from our hotel is a delightful spice shop with spices from the owner’s spice farm in Munnar. We have stocked up with Masala spices but also have discovered Keralan raw chocolate – It is delicious !!!
But also he has raw cacao and I’ve discovered that it’s very good for you. You can buy cacao nibs back in England and add them to your breakfast. Yum
Varkala – Janardanaswamy temple
Near Varkala beach is the 2000 year old Janardanaswamy temple. When foreign tourists visit you have to wait at the bottom of the stairs while the man at the entrance sets off a fire cracker for each visitor, presumably to give warning of our visit.
The walls around the inner sanctum have hundreds of oil holders which are filled each day and the wicks are lit at 6:30.