Dali, Dongle and Calpe

Wednesday 16 October

Petra told a fib today, when Kevin asked what time it is she said it was 5.50am, one hour later it was 8.00am! How can that be?

We had another big driving day today as we wanted to get to Denia some 300km from the Aire we had stayed at last night. It was cold when we got up and by the time we got going we were both cold so Campy’s heater went on. 

Most of the drive was spent on the motorway or dual carriageways. As yesterday the roads were immaculate, mile after mile of perfect unbroken tarmac. Perfect for the driver but sadly lacking on the scenery front. The Spanish love the large shed type buildings that are randomly scattered along the road side. Some are quite modern and good looking but others...well! The other thing is they are indiscriminate about what type of business they put in them. For example, in a really swish block of about six units the first was a bed shop the second was a fruit wholesaler, the third was a children’s toy shop and the fourth sold sheets of laminated board. We had gone passed the block before we could see the others but you get the point. We suspect it is more about getting the space filled rather than what goes into it that matters.

We shot down the coast past Castillio, Sagunto and Valencia and by 12.30 we were on the approach to Denia. We remember Denia from our visit to Alan and June some 30 years ago, it is a busy town and has a big fishing port and shopping center. To be frank we were not that keen to stop. The approach from the north is lined with apartment blocks and small tracks down to the beach. Also, tucked in between gaps in the bamboo roadside hedge were a succession of prostitutes. At first we thought they must be waiting for a lift from a friend but the unusual clothing style sort of gave it away. Anyway it did give us an opportunity to see the traditional style of dress worn in a somewhat different way....!! We did go to one camp site but it was too far out of Denia and looked cramped. So we did what all English people do on these occasions we stopped on the road side and had a brew. 

Two steaming cups of Yorkshires finest later we set off again, this time for Calpe. Another 40 minutes later and we safely tucked up on a brilliant site with great showers, WiFi, washing machine the lot. It is also situated in between an Aldi and a Lidl only 1k from the beach. So here we will stay for at least two days. The rest of the day was spent taking advantage of all the facilities and sitting in the hot sun. 

On this site there are some really big vans, the size of busses really and quite a few are from UK. It turns out the longer you book for on the site the cheaper it is to stay. So people come for the whole winter. It’s a different side to camping that we have not seen before and it is taken very seriously. We don’t think the people are quite a friendly as travelers we have met so far, our neighbour had already been here for 60 days before we arrived. The heat can be so intense that the owners protect the tires and extremities of their vehicles with foil covers to reflect away the heat. Some even put their vans on stands so the wheels are off the ground. Interesting but not for us. We are still the smallest show in town.

Another good day.

Monday 15 October

We woke up early again today 6.30am and we were up and away by 7.15am. We really wanted to put some miles on the clock today and headed off towards Barcelona. We were soon on the toll free motorway and the miles went by. The landscape around this part of Spain is flat industrial and architecturally barren so no need to hang around here.

By 9.00am we were on the outskirts of Barcelona and shot past just to the north although it was busy the journey went well enough and we passed through before we knew it. The Spanish roads are really good and the entire network has recently had a complete make over. Pure tarmac on the roads with no road works scars, a joy to drive really. On some fast bends the have even banked the road on the bends like a race track the max speed limit we have seen in 120kph but we have never seen anyone going that fast most people are content with 100-110kph. Like France, Spain has recently discovered the road traffic island and they put them all over the place. They use them as a speed control more than anything and some really don’t seem to have any purpose at all.

We arrived at our lunch time stop of ‘Cambrils’ a sea side resort at about 12.30pm and parked Campy up in a small tree lined free car park. The resort was amazingly clean and ordered with palm trees, blue skies, sea and a good beach. It also has a harbour. What it didn’t have was visitors and the place had a feeling of deserted winter resort. It gave us a funny uneasy feeling as if there was something wrong. How can it be that the place can be so deserted whilst having all the components of a fantastic resort. Is this what winter in Spain holds for us?

We walked into the shopping area (half closed) and found a phone shop. Great we thought, lets get a dongle. Big mistake....The dongle we bought cost €39 and when we got it back to Campy and tried it, it didn’t work. This is where we remembered about the Spanish lunch break. In Spain they have the siesta, we knew that of course what we had forgotten was that it stretched from 1.30pm to 5pm. We had no choice but to sit it out and wait for the girl who we saw in the local cafe to return. When she did return she had a go at trying to get it to connect but to no avail, there was nothing for it but to get a refund.

Frustrated we set off again, directly into the blazing sunset, blinding Kev. We made a bit of a detour in an attempt to look for fellow campers on a beach but all to no avail and ended up on a fee paying Aire in San Rafel del Riu,near Peniscola. A good quiet clean Aire with a large gate and a flood light. We arrived just as it was getting dark.

Sunday 14 October

Up before light this morning having both had a disturbed sleep due to party going on across the valley and a barking dog, both went on until the early hours. It was dark when we left at 7.45 and neither of us felt like breakfast - tea only. 

Today is a very exciting day as we cross what is edge of the Pyrenees and into Spain and Dali country. The road journey through the Pyrenees was spectacular to say the least. we climbed ever higher and the views were out of this world. Just when we thought we had reached the top we went round another bend and continued up again. The roads snaked their way through the mountain valleys with sheer sides at either side. We never felt 3rd gear. We were quite surprised by the amount of cyclists that we saw on the road We followed the coast/mountain road through Banyuls sur Mer until we came to the border crossing.

The border crossing itself was a non event. The building was there, but now totally abandoned so we drove into Spain unhindered. It was about this point that the upward journey became a downward journey and we slowly weaved our way down an amazingly twisty road until we headed inland towards Figueres. 

The purpose of our journey to Figueres is to visit the Salvador Dali museum, which he created himself before his death in 1989. It was created in the old theatre at Figueres. On arrival we  left Campy on a free parking spot not far from the museum opposite a park, as it was Sunday there was hardly anyone about. The museum’s architecture is bizarre. On one side the terra-cotta coloured wall is decorated with patterns of loaves of bread. There is a turret at on end and it’s crowning glory is a collection of enormous boiled eggs. 

On the other side of the building is a contemporary square containing a statue and a strange terracotta tower with a TV arial at the top and a TV at the bottom. This was a sample of the complexities of his works to come. 

€12 each to go in and we were immediately drawn to the huge  courtyard which contains an american car with an enormous naked woman standing on the bonnet. She was holding 2 chains, one in each hand that went up into the top of the courtyard attached to a boat which was sitting on a pile of tyres. By the front wheel was a coin slot machine which when fed with a Euro would initiate rain on the inside of the car. Funny thing was, we first saw an American lady put her Euro in and the second that she did the church bells rang. This confused us all for a moment. One of the best rooms was the treasure room which contained arguably some of Dali’s best works. We are all aware of his surrealist art but we didn’t realise how fine a hand he had. His ability to paint in miniature was extraordinary to see. 

The museum illustrated to us the enormous variety and adaptability Dali had in  producing his art. Some of it is utterly bizarre. Some of it is rough and ready but when we compared this to the exquisite masterpieces that he produced we forgive him for that. 

The museum is large and on 3 floors and covers all areas of his artistic life. We really enjoyed it. On leaving we had additional tickets to go to the jewels exhibition, around the corner and exhibits incredible pieces of jewelry and precious stones. One of the most impressive was that of a heart shaped piece which was outlined in diamonds and in-filled with rubies. But Dali liked animation and he made the piece move as if pumping blood. Quite extraordinary. 

We returned to Campy at around midday and set off back to the coast for Cadaques, which is where Dali was brought up. More mountain roads, very tight and winding road for about 8km. We climbed very high and had spectacular views down to the town of Roses, over the top of the mountain to Cadaques. More mad cyclists. We arrived about 1.30 and took a stroll around the village which is very picturesque, but windy.

We contemplated staying over night but the parking attendant advised us that it would be €20. Incidentally, that happens to be the exact amount that we didn’t want to pay. We had a quick look at the map and decided to put in some more miles towards Barcelona and stay at a free Aire at Platja d,Aro. It’s a busy resort town, the Aire is Ok, lots of Motorhomes here, perhaps 20. As usual we are the smallest van and the only Brits here. 

Another big day tomorrow, having to navigate our way through Barcelona tomorrow. No neet to stop as we have been here before. Hoping to get further down the coast and past Tarragona tomorrow.