Week 3 - Laid back and relaxed - still.

Monday 27th October 2014.

Washing and housework day 😠

Tuesday 28th October 2014.

Our next door neighbours Jane and Matt are UK-Australians (An English man and Scottish lady who emigrated to and spent a number of years in Australia) but are now touring Europe while they decide where they want eventually to settle down. They carry a whole heap of DVD’s and I have spent all day copying lots of theirs to our Mede8ter and lots of ours to their computer hard drive. We were invited to theirs for late afternoon tea but stayed so long it was too late to cook when we got back so enjoyed cheese and biscuits in front of the box.

Wednesday 29th October 2014.

Another day another palace! We went back into the mountains today to visit Palacio Real de La Granja de San Ildefonso. The house has a superb tapestry collection, which together with the paintings and sculptures make it a worthwhile visit but for those not normally interested in such things there are extensive gardens filled with strange exotic fountains. The fountains are cast in lead and painted a rather gaudy copper colour but would, I’m sure, look magnificent when in full operation.

Thursday 30th October 2014.

Another day spent copying stuff to the Mede8er today. Sue was so impressed she did some more washing 😳

Friday 31st October 2014.

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We have escaped from the copying today and had a visit to Avila it was a fabulous drive over the mountains not as high as those on the way to Segovia but quite open and exposed. It was quite strange to see signs that indicated there were times when you could not continue without snow chains and in one village we passed through there were two snow plough gritting lorries parked in the petrol station yard. A sight you simply don’t associate with Spain. Still hopefully we will be well south of here before they are used in anger. Avila old town is very pretty with a very well preserved town wall that you can (for a price) walk around and a superb cathedral that is what I always feel cathedrals used be - great cavernous spaces without rows and rows of chairs.

In the nineteen years I have been coming to Spain, except in the big towns and cities we have virtually never paid for parking and only rarely paid more than a token entrance fee to any historic attraction. So far this trip we have paid for parking in every town we have visited and every cathedral, church and castle we have been in has made what is some cases has been a quite high charge, for example to visit the Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos was €9.00 per person (although I got an OAP concession) nearly £15.00 to go to church.

Our Anglo-Ausi neighbours are moving on tomorrow so they came in for a light supper and to say “Gday” it was a very pleasant evening and despite it being All Hallows Eve we were the only ghosts about.

Saturday 1st November 2014.

A day of relaxing, Jane and Matt have moved on today but as we are moving to the same site as them we may well see them again. The population of sun seeker travellers is quite small, indeed we discovered during conversation last night that we have a mutual pal in Chris and his dog Sox who we spent time with at a couple of sites last year including a Christmas and New Year meal in El Rocio.

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We have been for a gentle drive to a local reservoir, part of the Río Guadarrama, which seemed very empty, perhaps it will fill in the winter. While we were out we went shopping and bought some Jamón ibérico. We were a little shocked when we arrived at the check-out and discovered the price; you can read about it on the food page here. While talking food (aren’t you always? - editor) we are having quail for our dinner tonight, you can read a bit about them on the food page as well, just click here.

Tonight is deemed All Hallows Eve here in Spain and the site has filled up during the day and people have been decorating their tents and caravans with skeletons cobwebs etc so I expect it will be a noisy night, luckily we have remembered to get lots of sweets for any kids that come trick or treating.

Sunday 2nd November 2014

It wasn’t that noisy last night although the parties went on quite late and we had only one lot of little ones knocking on the door, although there was around 20 of them and I would think all under the age of five but with an almost equal number of mums and dads keeping an eye out for them.

Its moving day, only around 100 km to the other side of Madrid and Camping Internacional Aranjuez. When we arrived in reception said they were basically full but many units are here for the weekend and leaving. She suggested we squeeze ourselves on somewhere and then find a proper pitch when the site had emptied out a bit. But we found a good sized pitch vacant near enough to the facilities etc, but unfortunately it is only two down from a large group of locals who look set to party for a considerable time to come. Still if Spanish partying upsets you don’t visit Spain or Portugal for that matter, cos it ain’t gonna stop for no Brits.


Last updated Sunday 21st June 2015                                                                                © S W Ghost 2015