Ontur, Albacete

Last night's stop turned out to be a good one. The vans continued to arrive until late, but the night passed peacefully. This morning whilst John carried out his breakfast ritual of omelette making, Angela strolled out. In the swelling of the high tide a lone cormorant dived beneath the waves in search of some early morning substance. Amongst the nearby bushes, a flash of tartan, a stoop, and a quick one two before returning to a van nearby. Let's hope it was just a wee. Best watch your step. The most popular spots to overnight were situated on the cliff edge. Beneath them little terra firms. The constant battering of the Mediterranean sea causing some serious erosion. With a few hours driving ahead of us, we were keen to move away from the coast and into the hills where the road cut across the open plains high above sea level. As mile after mile of yet more parched thirsty landscape passed by the road began to climb until we found ourselves 950 metres above sea level. Marge would probably complained about this drive, but Margery constantly battered by strong wind continued with determination.

Now in the town of Ontur, a sleepy wild west type of place where tumbleweed blows along dusty streets and locals stop their conversations, chew on cigarettes that droop from the corner of their mouths and stare, at us! 

There were strangers in town. Just us and a Spanish van on the aire at the moment. We are now only 850 metres above sea level, and as the wind is very persistent we have decided to sleep downstairs in the van tonight.

Should be interesting, and hopefully warmer as the temperature up here on to of the hills is expected to drop to 6c tonight. Snuggle up with us Margery if you're chilly.

Peniscola, Valencia & Murcia

Our last morning at camping Barcelona so we made sure we took full use of the facilities before leaving. In the ladies showers a French lady nodded at Angela, so she nodded back, with that the lady promptly ran into a shower cubicle, creeping out a few minutes later. Most peculiar.Today is a national holiday in Spain, as it is in England, and even though we left fairly early this morning, it wasn't earlier enough to avoid the traffic. It seemed as though most of the residents of Barcelona were leaving the city. So our journey of three hours along congested roads and tunnels that cut through the mountains took considerably longer.

Tired, we were disappointed that the spot we'd chosen for tonight's stopover just didn't do it for us, so we moved on, fortunately finding a Lidl store open which really was a stroke of luck as we were running low on fruit. We then headed towards Peniscola, the drive taking us past acres of olive and almond trees, the earth below them dry and arrid. Everywhere is busy, and selfishly we can't wait until the Easter break is over. Just past Peniscola we spotted vans parked amongst a green area above the rocks. Margery, get amongst them. The area was the Sierra Irta National Park. Amongst the bushes in all the available spaces were vans. Yes, we would have liked to been in one of those on the seaward side, but Angela spotted one opposite with a sea view and at last we were settled for the evening. Margery is far too precious to be exposed to salt spray from the incoming tide that we can hear tumbling the pebbles as it washes over the beach beneath the heavily eroded rocks.

The view along the coast towards Peniscola is beautiful, and as the setting sun slowly coloured the sky the castle, (as featured on the film El Cid) now floodlit, looked even more stunning.

Some days don't go as planned, and today has been one of them. On a positive note, we managed to find a supermarket open on a bank holiday and now we are sat in a beautiful spot. It's now just past nine and the vans are still arriving. Thank goodness we arrived earlier and secured Margery her own little VIP area.

Matero, Barcelona (Day 4)

'This year we're off to sunny Spain'. Well not yesterday. The day started with a thunderstorm and ended with a another. But this morning all was calm, and normal service had resumed. Wall to wall sunshine. We were up at seven once again, to be organized and ready for the coach into Barcelona, complete with our Bromptons bicycles.

It was going to be an interesting day as we would have to take the metro and then the funicular railway up Montjuic. Fortunately the coach dropped us within a five minute walk of the railway station. We of course went to the wrong station first and ended having to ask for assistance from a station official and then a police officer.

Talking of policemen or women, let us digress for a minute. Why, when we're in England do we have hardly any police on the streets. In Europe their is a visible police presence everywhere, and it makes a difference. It's a no brainer. Back to our day. Once at the station, asking for assistance to purchase tickets we bordered a train, only to realise we needed to hop off a few stops on to then change onto the funicular railway.

All went smoothly and we arrived at the top of Montjuic. Yes at the top. The route we were going to cycle, Carretera De Les Aigues was further down the mountain. So we began our descent down a serious of paths and steps, which isn't easy with a bicycle. Eventually on the right path we cycled around the mountain, the path a little sketchy for our small sixteen inch bicycle wheels.

The views though were amazing. We could see the whole of Barcelona, and right down the coast.The hi-light being able to see the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's cathedral.

This evening we are very tired. A final walk around the campsite, stopping to talk with an Englishman with a 110 Landrover, before winding in Margery's awning.

Tomorrow we will leave Camping Barcelona and drive further south. Not sure where yet, but hopefully somewhere quiet. As in England it is school holidays in Europe. And if there's one thing that annoys John it's noisy kids in his hearing aids, especially those with footballs. The German man in front of us tops the kids though. He shouts all the time through the window to his wife who rarely leaves the motorhome, whilst his kids are outside pouring hot water on the ants as instructed by their father. Always something to entertain and shock on a campsite.

The campsite pet farm

Mataro, Barcelona (Day 3)

We were awoken around seven this morning by a thunderstorm. Thanks! Yesterday's visit to Barcelona had been a long day, and really taken it out of us. Sometimes we forget we're not as young as we were. With no need to rush, as the rain wasn't due to ease until around lunchtime we decided to take a shower, hand wash a few items and sit it out whilst the only black clouds tumbled around the sky overhead. As the weather settled, we packed some lunch and caught the free bus from the campsite that takes you into the centre of Mataro.

We didn't want to walk too much, as tomorrow we are returning to Barcelona to cycle the Carretera De Les Aigues on our Bromptons. To reach it we will need to take the train and the funicular railway. Mataro was quiet, the shops closed until five after siesta. We didn't mind. We walked some of the town trail, until we'd had enough and decided to stop for afternoon refreshment. This evening you would never guess the day had started with such awful weather. Keen to take advantage of the hand washing sinks Angela washed a few more items, now hung out to dry near to John as he cooks on our grill.

The washing should have a very pleasant aroma indeed. An early night tonight. Tomorrow will be a big, probably stressful day as we negotiate the Spanish railway system. One thing we know is, if you need help, just ask.

Mataro, Barcelona (day 2)

Up this morning with the lark, keen to be ready for the coach to take us into Barcelona this morning. We were excited to see the Sagrada Familia, the cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi. Arriving in the city we dived straight into a cafe for coffee and camomile tea whilst we got our bearings and made a plan for the day. First stop the house Gaudi lived in for twenty years.

As expected it was popular with tourists all wanting 'that photograph'. We crossed over the road away from them to take ours. And then onto the Sagrada Familia, the first sight of it is breathtaking, and the detail mind blowing. Unfortunately all visitors tickets are sold out for the next 4 days.

The cathedral is due to be completed next year, one hundred and forty four years since the first stone was laid. It is astonishing to think the architectural plans Gaudi drew up were so detailed it could continue to be built after his death. We felt sad that he would never see the end result of his work. Ironically, today on the BBC news it's reported that Pope Francis has taken the first steps to beatify Gaudi, whom will eventually become a saint. Today has been tiring. Our feet and legs ache from so much walking, and we were glad to step back onto the coach to return to the campsite. We were even more thankful we'd booked a table in the campsite restaurant.

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The meal was delicious, but Angela's not sure if John likes his seafood looking at him. The paella he normally eats in Europe is frozen. The weather is looking a little inclement for tomorrow, so we stopped at the campsite reception to cancel our seat on tomorrow's coach back into the city, re-booking it for Thursday. To be honest we are so tired from today's trip, another full on day tomorrow would just have been too much.