On the road again - Algarve

Monday 25 February

So the day has finally come to leave our winter retreat, Casa Perro Con Pan in Riogordo. It is with certain regret that we leave all the friends we have made over our four months, we will miss them/you all. We have been so grateful to all the residents of Riogordo for the kindness we have been shown and for making our time and our family and visitors so enjoyable and welcome. We will miss you all. We would also like to thank Carole and Richard the owners of the house for allowing us to stay for the 4 months. We have loved the house and fantastic terrace.

The time at the house was very important to us and we didn’t realise how tired and exhausted from all the retirement preparations we were. It is fair to say the house and the village have worked their magic and we have now recovered and really excited about moving on.

We had a slow exit from the house this was mainly due to the dinner party Mike and Viv invited us to and the excessive amount of alcohol consumed. Best left there really! But by 11.30 we were on our way and we said goodbye to the house and to Riogordo. 

Only a short drive today to get ourselves back into the swing of things, about 180k. We stopped on the way for coffee at a road side cafe. We ended up at an Aire we fancied in the Aires book some 15k before Seville. It was in a Campervan and Caravan Dealers sales area and was secure at night. It was fun looking around some of the large campervans and they had a shop selling all the usual gumph.

Whilst walking around the vans we came across a lovely couple John and Trudy who very kindly invited us back in the evening for a chat. It turns out that have been on the road for 17 years and have never looked back. They really were an inspirational couple who had ventured all over Europe. In the summer they lived in a caravan in Scotland and in the winter they set off in their camper. We could have talked to them all night.

Tuesday 26 February

We set off about 09.30 having said goodbye to John and Trudy. The idea was to go to Seville. Kev had asked the girl at reception where the best place to park was in Seville and she had advised the railway station had a large car park. We put the address in the TomTom and set off.

Seville is quite a large city and much bigger than we expected. By the time we got near the centre by the railway station it was heaving with traffic and we were beginning to wish we hadn't bothered to come in. Eventually, we made it to the railway station and by mistake went in to the short stay side of the car park. A quick sort out of the ticket (no cost) and we went out and around to the other side only to find you couldn’t get a fag paper between cars and with ‘Campy’ we didn’t stand a chance. By now we had had enough and set the TomTom to get us out of the city. We did look for street parking on the way but it was hopeless. 

We then went to see a small town called Niebla some 70k from Seville. This was an extraordinary place. Firstly, it had several stork nests on anything tall. Electric pylon’s seemed to be favorite. We had to stop and take a photo. We went across the Roman bridge that was destroyed in the civil war but has been rebuilt. It spans the River Tinto, so called because of all the minerals that flow down it. Onward we went to the town. Niebla has a Medieval castle that we couldn’t resist going round. So after lunch we set off. The castle is hugely impressive and the walls including the four gates are still intact. Inside there is one of the best forts we have seen. Most impressive of all was the two story ‘Dungeons’ complete with all the torture equipment. The amount of equipment they had to do their dastardly deed seemed never ending. Quite frankly it was all a bit much to take in made you feel a bit queasy thinking about it. Goodness only knows what the young schoolchildren (6 years old) leaving the fort made of it all. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Is it real Peter? We think so.....!!

The rest of the castle was very interesting and in reasonable condition for its age. We walked up on to the ramparts and looked over the side at Campy...Ah! There were other displays to see including the bedrooms and Armoir etc. But nothing like ‘The Dungeon’. 

After we left the castle we had a quick walk along the river to the look at the bridge and then returned to the van setting off another town, Huelva. Huelva was another town that was impossible to stop in really busy and hectic streets. We wanted to look at where Christopher Columbus sailed from but it was impossible to park. We did see an area of Victorian design houses that were built to house British mining workers. It did look a bit odd to see them in the middle of the town but there they are and resplendent with it.

Moving on, we ended up just over the border into Portugal at Castro Marim on a free Aire. Castro Marim is another ancient town with a not only a fort going back to Roman Times but a large Fortress t’boot. The latter we were not allowed to go around as it is undergoing repairs but we did venture up the hill to the fort and enjoyed the walk around. There was a small photographic exhibition in the church which was lovely and  the views from the top of the keep were worth the effort. We liked the town which had lots of small bars and restaurants and shops. 

The Bridge from Spain to Portugal

The Fortress

Church in the Castle

The Castle

Wednesday 27 February

Our first stop today took us to Faro, we nearly bypassed it but at the last minute decided to go take a look. We were very glad we did. We made our way down to the centre of the town and into a large free car park called St. Fransisco. At the bottom of the car park next to the waterside were the camper vans. Lots of them all free parking/camping. Portugal really are helpful to campers and seem to be much more relaxed and tolerant of them. We parked up and had a good look around the old quarter. It is elegant and interesting but unfortunately, quite a few shops were empty and the area had clearly seen more affluent times. 

We got back to Campy at about 11.45 and decided it was too soon for lunch and headed off again. We stopped for lunch at Albufeira in a small free car park. We did try to get nearer the the center of the town but again we were beaten, this time by the narrow streets. We did have a good drive around the area but decided it was not for us and after lunch we motored on. 

Next we went to Lagos to look at the Aire. We found it no problem but were surprised to find it full. The site holds 25 vans and each of the spaces were full, 8 of them were British plated vans! So instead we decided to carry on to Cabo de Sao Vicente which in a way completes quite a milestone for us. It is the point where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and is the furthest point southwest of Portugal. It also means we have completed our journey along the length of the Med. Typically, when we arrived a squall raced in from the north and we had to wait for it to pass before we could go explore the lighthouse. The area is quite isolated and we did debate whether to free camp on the lighthouse car park. In the end we decided we would go down the road and pay the money for a proper site and a shower. It turned out to be quite a nice shower, very empty of campers but situated in a pine forrest. We liked it. Not bad for €11 and croissants ordered for breakfast.

Time to go

So the time has come for us to leave our winter retreat and make our way back to the UK. We have had a great time here in Riogordo and we are really going to miss the wonderful people that have made or visit so enjoyable. We would especially like to thank Sue & Mick, Viv & Mike, Maggie & Nigel, Sue & Bob and Maiju & Aki. What a great bunch of people you are. Thursday evenings will never be the same again and we will miss the quiz night, but not losing so dismally.....

We have really enjoyed our time at Casa Perro Con Pan and we will miss the house that has been our home for 4 months. We have some very happy memories of our visitors especially the time we had over Christmas with Bill and Josie & Paul.

We are now on our way to Portugal where we have never been to before and we are looking forward to the change in scenery. We have lots to look forward to and the blog will be up and running with a vengeance. 

Carol and Warwick's visit

Tues 19 Feb

Another busy week has gone by and we have enjoyed the company of Carol and Warwick for 4 days. The week started very well with Kevin having a proper haircut from the barber in Riogordo, she did a great job and all for only 5€. 

Carol and Warwick arrived on the 14th having spent the first few days of their holiday with Warwick’s brother and wife in Orgiva. They arrived on a lovely warm day, we had lunch and the afternoon  on the terrace chatting and catching up. After dinner we went to the quiz and were lucky enough to have Viv join our team and we came second - our best result so far. 

Fri 15th, The day started very well with Warwick spotting a pair of Hoopoe. Warwick recognised them immediately from books but this was the first time to see them for real. Carol had a very painful, bruised foot and wrist from a fall in Granada so we had a gentle stroll round Comares today. It was another lovely hot day and we followed the trail around the village. We were accompanied for much of it by a dog which we have found to be quite normal on many of the walks we have done over the last few months. The dog hung around whilst we had our picnic lunch, Kevin finally gave in and gave it a crisp which it refused to eat. Too fussy to be a stray then. Later, after dinner, we had a lovely evening looking at photos of Sophia, new Granddaughter of C&W, their trip to Venice and some of our travels. 

Sat 16th, a hot cloudless day today, so a trip to El Torcal. The area was fascinating and we saw Griffon vultures endlessly soaring on thermals. They were magnificent. Carol coped with the walk very well considering it’s so uneven and rocky. 

Sun 17th We walked some of the Ruta de los tajos in the morning taking the binocs for bird watching. It’s a long uphill walk behind the house with the reward of spectacular views all the way. After an hour we stopped for a breather and then headed back down for a well earned coffee. During the afternoon we drove around lake Vinuela, stopping for a late lunch and then drove back to Riogordo through Perianna. The weather had changed from a sunny warm morning to a cool, breezy afternoon.  

Mon 18th C&W flew home today on quite an early flight which involved setting the alarm for 06.45. Not a time we would normally choose to wake!

Caz and Peter.....

Friday 25 January

Burns night photos

Monday 28 Jan 

We collected Caroline and Peter from the airport today. The Monarch plane may well have been elderly (the ashtrays hinted at it’s age) but it got our friends to Malaga 15 minutes early - they had to wait for us to arrive. Most unexpected!

They settled in and handed over their gifts of the Sunday Times, Gordon’s gin and proper biscuits, all very welcome. The afternoon was spent chatting on the terrace enjoying the sunshine. 

Tuesday 29 Jan

A lovely sunny morning and we all headed out for an walk behind the house up the Magiaza hill. Quite a steep climb rewarded with great views. This walk is well known to our previous visitors, Sam, Jo, Paul and Bill. What a treat to get back to the terrace at the end of the walk and collapse onto the sun loungers with a cold beer. 

Wednesday 30 Jan

Another hot day and an introductory walk into the village for C & P. We all checked emails in the bar and had lunch there too. Nice to meet Viv and Mike in there and for them to meet C & P. We did a little food shopping on the way back to the house and spent some more time on the terrace. We must point out here that we were all truly sorry to hear of all the cold weather and snow in the UK but tried not to let that spoil our enjoyment of our Kindles, sunshine and sun-loungers.

Thursday 31 Jan

 A lovely day for a drive around the area to some small villages and Vinuela. We stopped at Los Romanes to admire the views and browsed round the small market there. Caroline brought socks for a euro, she suffers with cold feet. Poor Peter. Within a couple of days she was borrowing Petra’s mending kit to sew up holes in them! Lunch was at Hotel Vinuela sitting outside with a fantastic view of the lake. Great chips. We had afternoon tea at Periana, not as grand as it sounds - we took a flask.

In the evening we walked down to the village for quiz night. It was fearsome difficult except  for the medical terminology round (Petra and Peter) and the Friends and Neighbours round (Caroline saved the day with this one). We didn’t come last this week and had a lot of fun, laughs and drinks. The walk back was so easy and Caroline ran up the hill.

Friday 1 Feb

Today we ventured up to El Torcal. It was the perfect day for it, sunny and not too windy. Kevin didn’t lose his sunglasses over the edge of the viewpoint today. We watched the film in the visitor centre - as always very informative but getting repetitive for frequent visitors.  We had a picnic lunch in Campy walked along the route verde. Such a fantastic walk, the rock formations are truly captivating. We saw one goat, 3 cows and no Griffin vultures. Oh well, maybe next time. 

Back in Riogordo we were in for a very windy night, a little bit more of the terrace roofing (kindling) blown down and shutters rattling in the wind. 

Saturday 2 February

A busy morning in Riogordo today. We went to Viv and Mike’s for coffee and a guided tour of the house for Caroline and Peter. We picked some tangerines from their tree and were introduced to on-line jigsaws, amazing, if only we had internet access at the house. Maybe not, nothing would ever get done by Petra. We visited the village museum and learnt about olive oil production. It’s a wonderful place in a very old house, rooms furnished and stuffed full of possessions from a century ago. There was quite a lot of noise and singing coming from the downstairs kitchen area and we discovered they were the local thespians having a break from rehearsals for a comedy they are performing at the museum later this month. They obviously recognised Peter and invited us to join them for wine and olives. They explained that we should go back to the museum on the 23rd when there will be a real donkey in there harnessed to the old olive press. Not to be missed! We had a quick internet session in the bar and Peter sampled the calamari tapas. 

Sunday 3 February
Happy birthday, Linda x

A drive to Vinuela today for lunch with Celia, Maggie, Nigel, Sue, Bob, Mike and Viv. A lovely afternoon with the unexpected bonus of celebrating the birth of Mike’s grandson that morning. We had a great time, lovely food and lively company.

Monday 4 Feb

A trip to Malaga on the bus today. We got the 09.00 bus to enable us to have lots of time there. This meant getting  up at 7.00, quite a shock for us all, it was still dark and cold outside.The bus was on time today and got us there for 10.00. We headed straight to the market and purchased various croissants (second breakfast). We walked along the marina area, looked at boats and shops (new pair of super sunglasses for Caroline) and stopped for a coffee break. Perfect coffee. From here we walked to the cathedral area. By now we were ready for a sit down and lunch. We had a magnificent feast in the sunshine serenaded by a singer playing a 5 stringed guitar. Kev enjoyed him so much he gave him some money. Or maybe that was to make him go away? We had a little walk around the shopping area and C & P purchased little gifts for the kids at home. On the way back to the bus station we stopped at the bodega to sample some of Malaga’s best. 

Tues 5 Feb

A lovely hot day today so we stayed at the house for a lazy day around the and terrace. We ventured out around 20.30 to Tantos in the village for that very Spanish dinner of Pizza. We did have a good meal and the red wine was lovely. 

Weds 6 Feb

We drove along the coast road today to Nerja and then inland to the pretty white village, Frigiliana. We arrived in Frigiliana just before 1400 and parked up to have lunch before exploring the village. We found that we had parked opposite the school and the children were being let out at this time. Whilst eating lunch we were very entertained by the goings-on. The road was supervised by the local Bobby who obviously knew everyone in the village. Cars, bikes and mothers would stop and have conversations with him and where they held up the traffic behind it just waited patiently for the conversation to end. He did control the traffic some of the time and even made a motorcyclist move off the disabled bay and onto the pavement. Interestingly, this chap was collecting his son from school. He even had a child’s helmet for him and sat him on the petrol tank of the bike to take him home. We thought the village was lovely although quite steep in places. Obviously no cars could get around the old part of the village. There were lovely views from the top. 

Credit to Peter for the picture

Peter's Pic

Thurs 7 Feb

Another sunny day today and we went for a walk, not too arduous though today. Last chance for topping up the tan today for C and P. 

Fri 8 Feb

We rather sadly took our friends to the airport today for their trip back to East Midlands airport and the onward journey to the home of great beer and marmite, Burton upon Trent. 

The 10 days has flown by as time always does when you are enjoying life and not working.  We started most days with breakfast on the terrace, generally not before 1000 unless we had to go out earlier. The late start is chiefly due the the shutters making the rooms so dark that we didn’t wake before 0830 most days. Added to that we had late dinners and a full complement of alcohol which always commenced with a gin and tonic at around 5pm. We didn’t bother with TV and had played many games - Scrabble, trivial pursuit, millionaire, and card games. We have been playing ‘take two’ with Caroline for the last 20 years. A great game and makes us all very happy! We tried over and over to become ‘virtual millionaires’ with no luck, we even got to a stage where the DVD seemed to try to help us by repeating questions from previous rounds.  We watched a couple of films on the laptop, Megamind and Tintin. The latter got top marks from everyone. Music - we had a very interesting and entertaining time with the IPods introducing each other to different artists and genres. One evening was spent playing a favorite track each, in turn. 

Caroline quickly took on the role of laundress, no one can iron and fold like her. Peter was responsible for getting everything on and off the washing line. Also washing up (no dishwasher here at Casa perro con pan). Thank you both.