On the Road Again!

Whilst I was whiling away a bit of time before the football, Oldham Athletic at home to Crewe Alexandra, was going to kick off on Sky Sports+, I was looking through the Caravan Club's European Campsites booklet for this year.  When we arrive in Santander on the long ferry from Plymouth, it will be around 1pm. If it takes as long to get out of the ferry port as it did when we arrived in Bilbao, we are looking at an hour after docking, at the earliest, before we hit the road. Bilbao is further to the east on the north coast of Spain, and we arrived early in the morning. So we had a little longer to work our way to the first site we had booked. After two nights on the ferry from Portsmouth, we were ready for a place to decompress for a few days.   Last time we stayed at Caravan Oyambre .  In the Caravan & Motorhome Club's book there are three sites around the same area. I chose this one last time as it was closer to a beach for walks th...

Leisurely breakfast. For €3 each there was no meat but loads of pastries and even the famed Spanish 'Donuts'! Then we packed, paid the bill and set off. We had  gone a few yards when the Scala headset stopped working. A quick stop and restart and reconnect and it was okay for the rest of the day. The plan today was to get to Ávila and our  overnight hotel. I programmed TomTom to go via Burgos and thereby increase the mileage a bit but at least keep us off the autovias that are replacing the N roads everywhere. The N623 takes you from Santander to Burgos through villages and on the Michelin map it is mostly a green lined or scenic route.  It also takes you through the Cantabrian Cordillera. A range of mountains at about 1200 to 1500 metres. Gentle grades and a few hairpins to keep you on your toes. There are three main "puertos" and all are about the 1000m mark. We stopped at the first, the Puerto de El Escudo at 1011m. It was quite chilly up there. Further along we c...

Arrived in Santander at around 1815. Then bobbing about waiting to get on the berth. Lovely and sunny. The beaches full of people enjoying the weather and the sea. LD Lines have been pretty good. Food okay but a little pricey. Bar good. Cabin good.  We were off pretty sharply at about 1850 and into the streets of Santander. TomTom took us along the road parallel with the port. Apparently we had to turn left at a roundabout that didn't actually exist as they have built a huge shopping mall and bunged in an underpass. TomTom maps not updated. Pretty poor, especially as we seem to be subsidising the latest generation owners, who get free maps for life. I wonder if they have this problem. Eventually we found our way to the hotel. The bar is open for a beer and healthy crisps. The hotel San Millán has a fitness centre. Cue loads of Mr Muscles everywhere, and strangely loads of smokers... The car park of the main road is a curious dirt hairpin. Not pleasant fully loaded. We parked and ch...

Had a look at the hotel in Santander and noticed the address was first floor. I have stayed in hotels in Madrid where they are a floor or two in an older block where there are apartments above and below.  Okay when using public transport but I like to have the bike at hand. So I have made another change. The new hotel is traditional from the ground up, has parking and wifi and is only a few pounds a night more that the first. So now only five weeks away....

Had a few minutes at lunch time to have a look a rough idea of where to go to take in a few of the tourist spots. And here it is.  The ferry will dock in Santander around 7pm, so even with the long (sunny?) days it is still a stretch to get far, so I have booked a hotel in the city around a mile from the port. Hardly time for Dora to warm up. That gives us the evening to have a look around and get something to eat. Day 1 - Saturday at sea. Day 2 - At sea arrive Santander.  Overnight hotel. Day 3 - set off for Avila. The walled city is about 230 miles away, and in the months before we go, I'll look for things en route to stop and look at. Day 4 - a short run to Toledo. One of the old Moorish capitals. I stayed here years ago at the Parador, but it is across the gorge from the city and a long trek around. Here I have booked a hotel in the middle. Day 5/6 - Madrid. Two nights here in the centre where we can get to the Prado etc. Day 7 - set off for home.  It's a fair trek so...