Murcia

A couple of days ago we went on an outing to Murcia with some of the people from the church we attend in Torrevieja. The idea of the trip was to see some of the nativity scenes put on by the local churches. Our "tour guide" was the pastor, Rafael, who has lived in Murcia for many years so we received an expert tour of the city.

The nativity scenes were worth seeing,















as were the Christmas lights,























but the highlight of the trip was a visit to the Plaza Belluga, a massive square in the centre of the city.

For five evenings around Christmas they have performances from professional opera singers. Each performance is quite short, just three or four minutes, and they were all well-known "songs" (if that's what you call them - I'm not much of an opera expert!). The acoustics are amazing and to add to the effect they use the walls of the buildings around the square to project moving images.

I've put together a few pictures and video clips of the evening - as always they don't really do it justice but hopefully you can get a feel of the delight we had watching and listening to these performances in the open air with thousands of others.



There's nothing like a nice bit of culture every now and then!

We did it!

Our plan had always been to have a swim in the sea and a BBQ on the beach on Christmas day. If the weather hadn't been warm enough I think we would still have done it, but....the sun shone and although the sea is obviously a bit colder at this time of year (17° C we were told), the beach was packed with people in various fancy dress costumes, tables, chairs and BBQs!
Here are a few pictures to prove 'we did it'.

We didn't expect to see so many others on the beach Christmas morning, as every other morning we've had it to ourselves.

We did put our shoulders under as well but it wasn't captured on camera!

Although it felt a bit chilly in the sea, we felt warm enough when we came out to stay in our swimming stuff for half an hour while we cooked our starters on the BBQ
The couple on the right are our neighbours, June and Geoff. The couple on the left are their friends who have an apartment in the village. We have had some lovely evenings together and we will miss them all as we move on.

After eating hot dogs and chicken legs on the beach we slowly packed up and returned to the caravan where we spent time contacting various members of the family. We ended the day with a candle lit dinner for two. Who knows how we will spend Christmas next year!

Partido de Calle

Well, despite the weather we did manage to have a very succesful street party on Christmas Eve.

It didn't look promising to start with as the grey skies and occasional light rain meant that many of our neighbours were reluctant to put their noses out of their caravans / motorhomes.

But us Brits are used to forging on with our plans whatever the weather so we started to arrange food and drinks on tables in the street.

As our neighbours looked on at us 'foolhardy' Brits, it took them a while to decide to join in and at one stage Julie said she was going to encourage them to show a bit of "Dunkirk Spirit" until she realised that was a little inappropriate in a street of mainly German residents!

However, we soon realised that their delay was due to cooking/creating some wonderful food for us all to share and eventually everyone from our street joined the party, each contributing something to eat and drink and some of them meeting each other for the first time.

We began with traditional Christmas music but as the afternoon wore on we switched to party songs which resulted in a fair bit of "Dancing in the Street".

Have a go

Having given up art in the 3rd year of senior school, believing I had no talent at all, drawing is always something that has fascinated and intrigued me. I was so pleased when Paul showed signs of being interested in art--with some talent too! I bought him a few books on how to draw etc, but as always teenagers don't necessarily follow through with their parents dreams, and quite right too.

Having dabbled a tiny bit when we've been away on holiday I was really pleased to see the site we are staying on at the moment offering free art classes.

I turned up the first day only to find the teacher was German and so were the rest of the class of twelve. Six was the maximum Barbara (our teacher) wanted to have in a class, but she eventually decided as we were all so enthusiastic she would persevere with twelve.

Being the only English person I also posed a little bit of a problem........(Barbara is fluent in German, Dutch and Spanish, and I think her English is brill, but she doesn't.)

Anyhow, I have gone along each week and learnt a lot of German, but also picked up a few points on how to draw. Some weeks I feel completely out of my depth, but spending time looking at what Barbara is asking me to do and thinking about it I manage to come up with something.

Below are some of my attempts......the reason I am posting this blog is to encourage each of you to have a go....if there has been something you have always wished you could have learnt, it's never too late....just do it!

Julie x

Happy Nochebuena

Today is Nochebuena - a day of celebration - Spanish families get together and prepare a sumptuous meal and celebrate well into the night. Like many other European countries tonight is the bigger celebration and tomorrow everyone just chills out and enjoys a quiet day with the family.


We are having a street party and if it is anything like the one we had on Julie's birthday I will probably need a little "plink, plink, fizz" tomorrow!

Nativity scenes

Well no luck with El Gordo, but then we never got round to buying a ticket which probably didn't help!

We're really enjoying the build-up to Christmas in a different country with a different culture and traditions. The nativity scenes on display are amazing - not just a few figures in a crib but a complete model village. The camp site staff here spent ages building a wonderful nativity scene which is now on display near the entrance. A couple of days ago we went to Torrevieja to see another one that we had heard about. It's in a square outside a church (which is also beautifully decorated) and the detail is quite incredible.

It depicts every scene from the story of Jesus' birth - beginning with the angel Gabriel visiting Mary through to his birth and the events of his early life. I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice but I've tried to include some to show the scale of it and others to show the detail, and one of the church as well.

Red Knickers

At our Spanish lesson yesterday we learnt about "La Navidad en Espana".

The festivities start on the 22nd with "el dia de la loteria" where winning lottery numbers are drawn live on TV from 9 in the morning until midday in a special Christmas Lottery. Although there are lotteries all through the year this one is the biggest, not just in Spain but in the world.

It is very different from the National Lottery at home. Firstly, despite the fact that ticket sales exceed 3 Billion Euros there are only 85,000 different numbers to choose from. But each number is given to 180 different "series" where each ticket costs €200. But as that's too expensive for most people each ticket is then divided into 10 "Decimas" costing €20 each. With me so far?

If you buy a Decima and your 5-digit number is drawn you share that prize with 1,799 other people which sounds like you wouldn't win much but the top prize (El Gordo, "The Big One") pays out €300,000 to each Decima.

On the morning of the 22nd Spain pretty much comes to a halt and the normal noise and chatter is replaced by the sound of children singing... Why? It is one of the strange traditions that each year children from a junior school are invited to "sing" the numbers as they are drawn from two very large spherical cages. In one a ball for each number from 00001 - 85,000 is placed and in the other 1,787 balls representing the prizes. Over the course of the morning prizes and their corresponding numbers are drawn. The tension and excitment lasts all morning and the 1st prize, el gordo, can be drawn at any stage.

It is very much a shared experience as from around mid September onwards, when the first tickets go on sale, clubs, societies, bars, offices and factories choose a number and that number is then purchased by everyone belonging to that organisation. Also, the street sellers in any one town will only have one or two different numbers to sell which is why you often hear about a town winning the lottery as everyone who shares the top prize will be from the same area.

Buying a ticket isn't just about choosing the right number, it's also about wearing the right clothes. Wearing red underwear over the Christmas period is supposed to bring you good luck which explains why the local market stalls have been full of red pants, bras and knickers over the past few weeks. I'll have to have a rummage through my drawers to see what I can find!

Twelve Days of Christmas

OK I know we are not absolutely right with the title but hey!

Well what a turn around in the weather. The same weather system which has you caught up in freezing temperatures and possibly a white Christmas has also come south!

Everyone here can't believe it--we have snow on the hills 10 minutes drive away from us! As Peter drove the car into a garage for its service the engineers were playing snowballs in their lunch break, from a car brought in from the mountains.

We still have nearly 2 more hours of day light than the UK, but it has made it feel more like Christmas.

We were in the mountains the day before the weather changed and joked about the snow-pole markers we saw along the roadside. I've only ever seen them in Germany and Scotland before and I certainly didn't expect to see them here, where we are planning Christmas day on the beach.

Here is a view from Guadalest, a pretty little village in the mountains above a reservoir and dam. Had we left our visit another day we wouldn't have made it....snow on the hairpin bends would have been too dangerous.

And these are the mountains which are now covered in snow!!

Great plans are happening here for the holiday. Our 'street' are having a street party on Christmas eve, some of us are having a BBQ on the beach on Christmas day and some are going to the local restaurant. We will probably all meet up in the restaurant on site late evening as they are putting on some great 60's, 70's and 80's entertainment.

Tonight we are going to a united Carol concert of all the English speaking churches in the area. It should be wonderful....I hope.

5 minutes from us towards Guadamar there is an Iceland which I have kept away from because we are in Spain to experience a different culture and different food. But on Monday we were busy sorting out Christmas cards by email and I had a craving for mince pies and mulled wine, an Ebsworth tradition while writing Christmas cards.....in fact it's just an Ebsworth tradition, you don't need to be doing anything! I couldn't believe it, they even have all English staff. It was like being transported back home. Everything you would expect to find in Iceland's at home was there. The English prices were also on everything, though of course we had to pay a bit more than that....travelling expenses!

I must be honest, Monday was our first day of rain and Iceland did make me a little homesick, but reading the emails we've been receiving from many of you it sounds better to be looking at snow on the hills rather than stuck in the snow on the hill! (Carver Hill).

NEXT DAY!

Last night was superb. There must have been over 500 of us in a very new and welcoming modern church building. There was a brass band and a magnificent choir. Apparently, some of the people there had travelled a long way just to hear this choir sing the Hallejujah chorus and they were right - it was amazing and sent a tingle up our spines. The whole event lasted nearly two hours and gave us a real feeling of Christmas.

Today the sun has come back and we were in T-shirts and shorts again - lovely! Maybe Chritmas Day on the beach is still on the cards!

A weekend apart

We've been quiet over the last week, which doesn't mean we've not been busy.

We started the week listing all the things we wanted to do and see before leaving this part of Spain. We've still got 6 weeks left here, but the time is flying past especially with so many Spanish holidays/fiestas leading up to Christmas and beyond.

We have also made some great friends here and so doing things all together is very pleasant, but finding days that we are all free (due to the extensive programme of activities we are all signed up for) is a bit of a mission. Then there are things like fitting the car in for a service, booking the dog into the vets for his annual vacinations, all the things which, no matter where you are, have to be seen to.

Amidst all this Peter got himself ready to fly back to the UK to visit his mum. It was a little more than a social as she is now no longer happy looking after herself - her brother who she has lived with for five years has been ill for some time and is now in hospital, which has left her on her own. He went back specifically to help her decide and choose a 'retirement home' to live in, which would still allow her to be close to her brother.

Peter had a very successful weekend with his mum, but was pleased to get back to the hotter climate over here rather than the wet, dark, cold weather of Devon.

Let's face it, one of the reasons we are doing this 'gap year' is to sample the climate of southern Europe.

We have met Brits over here who have sold up, or rented their property out, so they can travel all year round, and there we were thinking we were doing something unique!

It is fascinating talking to them though, they spend 3 months here over winter, possibly going home to see family in the UK for Christmas. Then disappear to somewhere like Cyprus for spring, going back to the UK for the summer months in a caravan, only to come back out here the following autumn.

Don't worry.......Peter and I have already decided that we definitely know we will be staying in the UK. This is just a wonderful opportunity which we are making the best of for this year....anyway we may have a wedding to come home for next December!

While Pete was in Devon, people couldn't have been kinder to me here. I was invited over for dinner from the couple opposite us, which started at 2.30 in the afternoon, till gone 8pm. I did pop back and feed the dog and walk him at 5-ish!

As I've already written, there are 14 units in our cul-de-sac, and I was inundated with well-wishers throughout the weekend. In fact the only time I had on my own was when I walked Benji or shut all the blinds and closed the door.

It's not only in our little street that everyone is so friendly. Everywhere you go on site you always get a greeting in some language or another, and there is always a lovely smile to go with it.

I don't know if the Spanish realise how lucky they are in this climate. OK, they haven't got rolling green fields, but to be able to live outside because it's warm enough, does mean there is more social activity between neighbours, whether you are in bricks and mortar or a less permanent dwelling. One of my favourite activities at home is doing the front garden, because you get to see people.

Although the days are longer here than at home it is still dark by 5.30 so we are looking forward to getting the shortest day over with and the days starting to get longer again.

We're still not sure how we are going to spend Christmas Day and New Years Eve. There are lots of different styles of celebration on offer in the local bars and restaurants but we may just do our own thing. Church followed by a picnic on the beach still seems favourite for the 25th.

Tabarca (aka Tabby arca) Island

After the family left us on the 22nd Nov everything seemed a little quiet so we planned a day out.

Tabarca Island was our choice...a pleasant boat trip, on a glass bottomed boat, a walk around the only inhabited island in the Costa Blanca, ( thoughts of Meryl Streep jumping from a balcony were on my mind), lunch on the island and finishing off with another pleasant boat trip back to Santa Pola.

The day got off to a good start with an exhilarating ride in a much smaller boat than we were expecting, a (very) fast launch rather than one of the large catamarans that ply backwards and forwards during the main season.

We knew it was low season so not everything would be open but we weren't expecting it to be as quiet as we found. It felt a bit like one of those unmade streets in a small Mexican town where nothing is happening but could at any minute (except it didn't!)

A one horse town without the horse!

Within minutes of stepping onto the island it was clear that there were a lot of un-neutered male cats. As we ventured further into the streets from the small port area we also came across many kittens. These weren't your normal Spanish, half starved kittens and toms, oh no....these were very fat kittens and toms, well fed from the many fish restaurants on the island.

Fish restaurants a plenty, but very few open on the day we chose to visit!!

It took us all of 10minutes to explore the town,

a square....which again was inhabited by fat cats and kittens but no people,

a couple of even quieter streets and a church which was closed for refurbishment!

There were two restaurants vying for the limited business......

we chose one in the sunshine with a sea view, and guess what....lots of cats!

The owner was very friendly and couldn't be more helpful....seeing our predicament with a small dog who didn't know whether to try and chase the cats or cower from them, he sent his dog to guard us, but he soon gave up as he realised he was heavily outnumbered.

Peter didn't help by ordering sardines from the menu, which were scrumptous, but attracted the entire feline population of Tabarca.

To top it all the pigeons, who were not scared of the cats because the cats were so well fed, came to eat the crumbs of bread from under our feet. Benji ended up sitting on my lap - a quivering wreck unable to contain himself.

After a good but eventful lunch we decided to call it a day and get the earlier ferry back to the mainland without exploring the less inhabited (is that possible?) parts of the island.

Observing the characteristics of the cats and how they engaged with each other we now know where Disney came to get all the ideas for 'The Aristocats'.

It was fascinating watching the tomcat hierarchy in action and trying to spot which cats were related to which among all the cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, sons, daughters, mums and dads (brought back vague memories of a holiday in Cornwall!)

A day to remember for mixed reasons - great boat trip, good lunch, shame about the island!!

Julie's 50th in pictures

I woke up to beautiful flowers on Thursday morning

Lunch at our local bodega/tapas bar - Dave keeping tabs on our wine consumption...!

Rather a lot of barrels to get through as you can see behind us!

A notice on the wall advised us to try 'Grandmother's Herbs' (she's just decanting them!)

.......so we did......

....Delicious......we were given a bottle to bring home....mmmmmmmm

As the meal came to an end we were all more than satisfied with the real experience of Spanish tapas and bodega!

The party continued back at the caravan, with the whole street coming to wish me best wishes....

as the cava flowed!

The party continued into the late evening....

and moved inside the awning...

When everyone had gone it was time to open some pressies......which were more than wonderful.

..beautiful jewellery and an album of special photos..not to mention a host of art equipment as I am learning to draw here in Spain - fantastic.


We then went back to the kids' chalet where the boys and their dad relaxed with a cuddle knowing they had given me the most perfect birthday anyone could ever wish for.


The next night....saw a happy, relaxed Peter with a favourite friend, a pint of beer......

and the beautiful girlies....




and last but not least .....
our happy family!

The whole week was wonderful. It was more than any mother could wish for, so thank you David, Katie, Paul and Rachel, and of course, Peter. I feel so blessed to be loved so much.

And thanks as well to all of you who sent me birthday wishes by email, which also made my week so special.

Thank you all so much.

Julie x

Birthday Week - Part One

This is our first blog entry for a while because we were invaded by the Ebsworth clan for a week of birthdays.

23 years ago we were blessed with a second son - 2 days before Julie's 27th birthday. 23 years later we celebrated Paul's 23rd birthday alongside Julie's half-century in the sunshine of Alicante.

We won't make this a long entry but spread it over a couple of posts, so here goes with the arrival of number one and two sons with their beautiful girlfriends.

We picked them up from the airport mid-morning on Sunday 15th November. It was obvious that they had had precious little sleep the night before, but an Ebsworth welcome awaited them and the beer was flowing with a breakfast of sorts!

The afternoon saw us on the beach followed by a meal in the local taverna and an introduction to paella for some!

Tuesday began with a birthday breakfast for Paul, opening pressies at the caravan then off to the beach for a picnic. When your birthday is in Novenber, having sunshine, not to mention warm sunshine, is an enigma, so you make the most of it.

We spent the best part of 3 hours swimming, digging, playing, eating and drinking. Julie was the allocated driver for the evening so I only had coke!

After leaving the beach we showered and changed and went 'karting'. This is only the second time Julie (I), have been karting and it showed. Paul and David really gave each other a run for their money with Paul (birthday boy) just pipping David to the post! Katie and Peter came a close 3rd/4th while Rachel beat Julie by laps. (We won't say how many!)

From Karting we drove into Guadamar for a drink, again Julie only had coffee!

Then back to the camp site for a Paul supper of croque monsuier, cerveza and a game of cards.

Exit Julie and Peter, while the rest of the family get told off for making too much noise!!!!

Next instalment about Julie's 50th another day!.................

Free Parking

Every day there is a market in at least one of the surrounding towns and villages – we have a list kindly provided by the site. We’ve been to 4 or 5 in Spain so far and every one has been a different experience. Some (and our favourites by far), are the simple food markets with the best of local produce on sale, which is usually very good and extremely good value for money.

Last Tuesday, having not been off site for a few days, we decided to have an outing to a town about 20kms away, a place called Orihuela. We knew Tuesday was market day so chose that day to visit.

As we approached the town we realised this was a big market with police directing the traffic.

Parking was on a large area of rough ground adjacent to the market. It was a free for all with cars waiting at the corners of rows waiting for other cars to leave. We thought we were next in line for a parking spot but as the previous occupants left a car reversed neatly from the other direction into the space we thought was ours. We drove around for quite a while trying to find another space. People were parked everywhere so the available roadways were very narrow.

At one stage we came face to face with a nun driving a Peugeot 105 – we both came to a halt and she made it very clear that we should be reversing out of her way. We disagreed and swapped a series of lively but non-abusive hand signals. By now we had spotted another potential space in the adjacent row so just sat still hoping she would reverse. Instead she just put her foot down and drove past us. How she managed to get past without hitting us I’ll never know – I can only assume it was divine intervention! We had a few similar close shaves and looking at the rest of the cars in the “car park” it was obvious that minor collisions are an every day part of Spanish life as every car had at least one significant scratch or dent. It was with some trepidation that we left our (almost spotless) car amongst this assortment of banger racers.

The market itself was a mixture of food, household items and clothes. As always the food was wonderful, the rest was similar to Wycombe on a Saturday but 5 or 6 times the size. Having bought our fresh produce we couldn’t wait to find the car (which thankfully was unscathed) and return to the peace and quiet of the campsite.

That will be our last visit to a large market for a while - the pine and palm forest at the end of our road is far more beautiful for walking around than any market stalls, be them big or small!

How do you like your pig sir?

We saw a flyer about a local restaurant that was celebrating its 3rd anniversary with a food festival over the weekend with the highlight being the cooking of a whole pig on a traditional open fire barbecue. What's more the entire "gastronomic weekend of pork tasting" was free - all you had to pay for was your drinks.

Sounds good we thought so early yesterday evening we set off on our bikes to find the restaurant which was about 6km away. The pork tasting was supposed to begin at 8.00 but we arrived about an hour early as we wanted to find the restaurant while it was still light. The pig was sizzling away nicely on the open fire and we settled down at a table outside with a drink. By 8.00 the effects of a couple of drinks and the smell of the pig cooking had made us really hungry. Must be ready soon we thought as the owner of the restaurant walked around the pig, prodding it, turning it and re-arranging the fires underneath.

9.00 came and still there was much deliberation about whether the pig was ready to eat or not. By 9.45 all the customers were getting so hungry there was a danger that some of them might hurl themselves on to the still-cooking pig and rip pieces off with their bare hands.

At 10.00 the carving began - hooray! It took a while for the platters of pork to make it round to all the tables but we eventually had our fill and at around 11.00 left to cycle home, full of the joys of free food and cheap alcohol.

I slept soundly but Julie unfortunately didn't. In case you are eating your lunch while you're reading this I will put it as delicately as possible - the speed with which the pork travelled through her digestive system would leave one to doubt whether her body had a chance to extract any nutritional benefit from it.

We're having a quiet day today, probably meat-free.

Spanish Lessons

The site we are staying at offer 2 hours of free Spanish lessons each week. There are different classes depending on how much Spanish you already know. Ours doesn't go much beyond "dos cerveza por favor" so Julie and I signed up for the beginners class.

Twenty-eight of us turned up for the first lesson. We were the only English speakers, the rest were a mixture of Dutch, German and French. Our teacher can speak two languages fluently - Spanish (of course!) and English (her native tongue), a little French, but no Dutch or German.

So, she only speaks to us in Spanish, a language that none of us know! It seems to be working though along with plenty of sign language. Maybe we'll learn a lot faster this way - and maybe one day I won't have to start every Spanish conversation with a hopeful "habla Ingles?".

It Ain't Half Hot Mum!

We have finally set up camp for 3 months on a site just south of Alicante.

It's lovely to know that we won't have to dismantle and move on for a while. We won't be in Portugal before Christmas as we first intended, but then plans are supposed to be broken.

We are staying on the site we picked out for the boys to come and stay with us. It has everything we need to get through the cold, dark winter evenings!!!!

Kidding aside, we are camped amongst some very friendly English, German and Dutch couples, in our own cul-de-sac of 14 caravans and motorhomes. The facilities are outstanding on site and there is a wonderful beach 800 metres away through sand dunes, pine trees and palm trees. (It's the first time I've seen dates growing on the tree.)

There are numerous small cafes and resaurants within walking distance and a very, very good bodega and tapas bar just down the road.

In the village there is a pet shop cum poodle parlour cum vets that can provide everything we need to keep Benji happy, he's even had his first hair cut there today and looks the best we've ever seen him. I dare say tomorrow he will be full of salt and sand again from playing on the beach--oh it's a dogs life!

From scruffy mutt to posh poodle!

We've been here a week and have found a wonderful church about 20kms away in Torrevieja. It's an International Christian Assembly. From what we have experienced so far the preaching is of conference standard, and the worship is similar to our church at home. We think we will be very happy there. We have also visited an Anglican church closer to us, and we will see how things progress there, but it's more traditional than we are used to and prefer the other one.

David, Paul, Rachel and Katie are flying out in 10 days time to spend a week with us and we're really looking forward to seeing them. Absence certainly does make the heart grow fonder!

Postscript to our Barcelona experience

Although it was harrowing at the time, it seems that we actually got off fairly lightly when some people tried to stop us to rob us on the AP7 motorway around Barcelona. Since then we have heard the stories of two couples who were attacked on the same stretch of motorway. The first had a boulder thrown at their car - the idea is that either the noise of the boulder hitting the car or the bump that comes from the caravan running over it cause you to think you have a puncture or something worse. They, like us, had been pre-warned so kept on driving, despite attempts to ram them into the hard shoulder, but ended up with a large dent on the side of their car.

The story of the other couple was even more frightening. A car pulled alongisde them and somebody stuck a screwdriver into one of the caravan tyres. They kept on driving knowing that it would be fatal to stop on the hard shoulder. They pulled in at the next service area but unfortunately it was a quiet one with few facilities and the car that had attacked them followed them in! Despite the fact that one of the caravan tyres was completely flat they decided to return to the motorway and, dragging their caravan behind them, made it to the next service area which was more populated. They stopped in the busiest area possible and managed to change the wheel without any problems, although of course both the wheel and tyre were completely wrecked. They reported the incident to the police and gave them the registration number of the car but of course it was stolen so there was little that could be done.

It's a shame that these incidents mar the reputation of the tourist industry in Spain as we have generally found the Spanish people to be delightful and while staying on Spanish camp sites have felt completely safe. Apprently, around Madrid where they have similar problems, the police have been using decoy cars and caravans to catch the bandits. They might have to try something similar around Barcelona - either that or next time we'll carry a shotgun as well as a camera!

Oranges & Lemons

I have to confess that I really wasn’t looking forward to the time we thought about spending in Spain. I have always adored France and since we bought the caravan and have toured a little bit in the UK I have been pleasantly surprised how lovely good old Blighty is.

Well I’m about to take back whatever negative things I thought about Spain.

I have been amazed at the beauty of the scenery……mountains, plateaus, hills and valleys. I know most things look so much better in the sunshine, and I must admit the warmth certainly does help, but apart from the odd built up coastal resort, which we are keeping away from, what we’ve seen of Spain so far has been outstanding. Where I thought we would only see industrial areas and high rise, there has been acre upon acre of lemon, orange and olive groves, not to mention the odd vineyard. It is so strange to cycle past trees growing oranges and lemons.

You know when it’s an olive grove because there is either grass growing under the trees or green netting has been placed under each tree to catch the olives as they fall.

We even saw a farmer going to town on his horse and cart the other day, and then further on outside a camp site we had gone to look at, there was a shepherd with his sheep slowly moving along the road, letting the sheep graze as they wanted while he watched and waited with his dog.

I know I’m possibly making it sound romantic, but it’s not the ‘romance’ of this life that gets me excited. It’s the no rushing or hurrying. Taking every moment that comes and using it to enjoy it, instead of moving on to the next thing in case it’s better, or more important than now.

For all of us, nothing is more important than now! That’s all we’ve got, so let’s enjoy it.
J x

New Adventures, New Experience!

As we were preparing for this trip, I spent some time reading up on everything I felt was related to travel in France, Spain and Portugal.
Sometime last year I read in a caravanning magazine about problems encountered on the ‘foreign’ motorways by tourists towing caravans.

There were all sorts of frightening stories, from being gassed while you slept in service areas, to highway robbery as you drove along!!!!
Peter calmed me down by insisting that all these things were in a minority, not the norm.
However, I decided to take a few recommended precautions advised by previous travellers. Number 1…..always travel with your camera ready so you can take a photo should you need evidence……………..well this tip paid off big-time today.

We left Castello D’Empuries at 11am this morning to travel south to Villanova, which is about 45km south of Barcelona. It’s not far from a town called Sitges which is in the Costa Dorada. I’ve wanted to visit Sitges since we were here on a family holiday in 2000.

As we drove on the ‘toll free’ bit of the AP7 around Barcelona, we heard a huge thump/thud.. We both exclaimed……’WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT!’

Because of the article I had read, about keeping a camera ready, I had our camera in my hand as we heard the thud. I immediately turned it on, and as I did a silver Audi zoomed past us motioning that we definitely needed to pull in on the hard shoulder, which was very wide at this point.

We both felt extremely calm, even though the thump had un-nerved us, and I held the camera up to the windscreen and started taking photos of the car telling us to pull over.

As they saw the camera they took off at a rate of knots, through the heavy traffic, not to be seen again.
We both feel very ‘looked after’. I would never have considered carrying the camera in my hand had I not read an article saying this was the best course of action.

We both normally panic slightly if/when we hear something wrong while towing. Had we stopped, as the Audi wanted us to, we think this would have been a very different blog tonight…….probably a long story of how we were deceived by some wayward youngsters while driving through Barcelona, with all our money, passports, laptop, mobiles, sat-nav…etc. being stolen. As it is, we have been spared the inconvenience of the disruption that would have been caused and we are able to wend our way further south as planned.

By the way, when we stopped at the site we are on tonight, there wasn’t any sign of problems with our caravan, however we now have a small crack and scratch on our passenger side rear light which was caused by whatever they threw at us as they drove past. It had been, as for-warned, a scam to get us to stop in a difficult place to rob us of our easy pickings, or possibly even worse…..the car and caravan!
We know we are being looked after as we travel.

The nomadic life

I often used to wonder how tribes from Africa, Egypt and the like used to carry all their belongings and set up camp, only to move on after a while. You also read about it in the old testament, 'following the cloud by day and the fire by night'.
Well, we're doing it! I never thought it was the kind of life I would like to live but I love it. In fact I love it so much I would like to rid ourselves of alot of the bagage we are carrying. There's something to be said for just having enough to see you through.
It's taken me 2 months to get used to not having a 'store cupboard'. I have bought a few dried herbs to add to meals and the odd packet of rice and pasta, but mainly I get what we need for one or two days then shop again.
Clothes get put in a bowl to soak overnight before being hung up to dry during the day, and the accommodation gets swept daily! Magic!
I must admit we have brilliant weather on our side which does help tremendously. We also have all the mod-cons us English enjoy....running water, hot and cold, ensuite facilities, a fridge, and somewhere comfortable to sit of an evening, not to mention a proper table and chairs for our meals! Luxury really, if I try to compare to the various tribes around the world.
Yet still for your average Brit to dispense with bricks and mortar, solidity and a purpose in life, I'd choose the caravan any day.

Thank you to all of you who are keeping in touch by email and blogging. It is lovely to receive the news you are sending us, and the requests of prayer.

We have set ourselves up with a web cam....it's built into the computer actually....and where we have Wi-Fi access we are able to communicate for free by Skype phone and web cam. Really usefull for seeing 60 Shelley Road!!!! I must admit though all things seem to be A ok there!

So thank you once again to all of you who have emailed us or left us a message.....keep them coming.
Lots of love
J x

Morgen

This site is quite different to any of the ones we stayed at in France where the season was coming to an end, so most people only stayed for a few nights as they were either on their way home or on their way further south. At this site most of the people look as if they have been here for quite a while. The range of equipment most people have around their caravans/motorhomes is amazing - everything including the kitchen sink. I always thought Julie was territorial on the beach with her use of windbreaks and towels but their use of poles and screening to create intricate designs to make use of every inch of their pitch is a sight to see.

Luckily, as we are learning to do without "stuff", our pitch is simply laid out - caravan, car, awning.

If you are not used to caravanning in Europe you could be forgiven for thinking that you'd entered a shanty town for German and Dutch refugees. We have been surprised at how few other Brits there are around - only two others out of about 300 pitches. We have tried to use our limited Spanish in the local town but on site most people, including the staff, tend to assume that you are Dutch or German (hence the "Morgen" in the title which is the standard greeting) so conversations are often a strange mixture of Spanish, German, Dutch and English.

For some reason I find it easier to make myself understood in Spain than I do in France. I always feel that I should know more French than I do and I am put off by the pronunciation required. In Spain it seems OK to mix some Spanish, a bit of English and some sign language to make yourself understood, so for instance, this morning I booked a table in the restaurant for tomorrow evening by confidently asking to "reserva una mesa para dos para Sabado evening por favor".

We cycled into the old town of Castello D'Empuries yesterday for lunch at a restaurant we'd spotted earlier in the week. Their lunchtime menu offered three courses, each with four options to choose from, plus bottled water, bread and a bottle of wine for 12 Euros each. We thought it must be too good to be true - it wasn't, it was blooming marvellous. I'm beginning to really like Spain!

Skydiving

No, we've not taken up a new hobby but this area is renowned for free-fall parachuting. It's easy to see them after their parachutes have opened - the hard bit is trying to spot them in freefall, so now when we hear the planes go over we see who can spot the bodies descending to earth at great speed. Some of them make star formations which makes them easier to spot. It must be an amazing feeling but not one either of us plan to experience - it's nerve-wracking enough just watching from the ground!

Goodbye France, Hello Spain

Well we're a week further into our tour, and we've moved quite a bit further south.

Firstly let us take you back to the trip from Orcet, Clermont-Ferrand.

Our post arrived from the UK on the Friday afternoon, which we were very pleased with. (Unfortunately there was nothing exciting so it was just like being at home!)

We decided we would stay at Orcet until the Monday so we could go to the English speaking church in CF, which you've already read about.

We left the site at 11am on the Monday morning to join the A75 south. It is a toll free motorway which is unusual in France, but as always it was a beautifully smooth road to drive along. It was smooth on the surface but we weren't prepared for the contours. Wow!.....if you ever get the chance to drive from Clermont, south, take it. The views were superb and the scenery breathtaking. It was quite fortunate we could only do 40mph because it gave us time to take it all in. (40mph by the way was the safest speed to tow in the surroundings.)

We were making our way to Millau, where the world's tallest suspension bridge spans the valley. Logically you would think as our destination included a suspension bridge that we would have realised the contours would also occupy the same terrain! We were just not prepared for the sheer scale of the landscape.







We spent 2 nights in Millau, on a sight which bordered the River Dourbie. In fact our pitch was just opposite the main beach and we had a lot of fun with the dog in the river under the shadow of the suspension bridge.



The town of Millau is also very French, bustling with cafes and markets, brilliant!

The climb out of the town back on to the A 75 is also quite a feat, but when we got to the top we were suprised once again by a huge plateau. You wouldn't have known you had just climbed 500 metres.

We travelled at this altitude for about 150km,and had quite forgotten that we we so high above sea level until we came to the descent towards Montpellier. Again another thrill! 7 kms of 7.5%descent. There were signs all along the way about using 'engine braking' and there were numerous escape lanes should you run into difficulty.

We are now in SPAIN.


We are staying at a campsite called La Laguna, between Castello D'Empuries and Roses in the Gulf De Roses. Yet again we have a wonderful pitch - this time backing onto a lagoon, with the beach 1 minute's walk to the right and the swimming pool 2 minute's walk to the left.

This site does still have everything up and running, and we have had a meal in the restaurant, which was lovely. We think we might stay here for 2 weeks and then make a run down to Alicante for November. We do have Wi-Fi at our pitch here also, so if any of you want to chat we should be able to reply pretty quickly.

A perfect day in the Auvergne

We had a fantastic day on Sunday, our last day in the Auvergne. We got up early to get to the boulangerie before heading off to a church on the west side of Clermont-Ferrand (we were staying on the SE side).

We had found the church listed on a website that gave details of English-speaking churches in France so thought we would give it a try. Not a long journey but we left ourselves plenty of time which was just as well as one of the roads the sat-nav wanted us to take was ‘BARRÉE’ due to a cycle race taking place.

Our baguette and pain au raisins were superb by the way. We ate the pain au raisin on the way to church and the baguette helped to make our picnic later in the day……anyway to get back to church. From the description we thought it might be quite ‘high’. The building was small, quaint, and 18th century. To our surprise as we entered we heard a lot of American accents. We were given a wonderful welcome, several regulars came to talk to us and we discovered that there is a large American ex-pat community in Clermont who work at the Michelin headquarters based there. The service was excellent, led by a Belgian pastor who gave a fantastic sermon that was very relevant to us.

From church we went on to visit “Le Puy de Dôme”, the highest of the range of volcanic hills and mountains in this area. On weekends you are not allowed to drive to the top and have two options: park at a nearby summit car park and walk the remaining 3 Km, ascending 350 metres, to the top, or take the shuttle bus. We went for option one, carrying our picnic rucksack and water for the journey. We noticed that everyone else was wearing proper hiking gear and we were dressed for church, sandals and smarter clothes. We soon concluded that maybe the shuttle bus would be a better option – so we had our picnic about a third of the way up the walking trail, and then went back down to catch the bus.

We were in for a real treat when we got to the top. A 360 degree panoramic view over all the other volcanic craters. They were beautiful, partly because they are covered with vegetation which makes them look like they are adorned in green clothing.

The view really was breathtaking. We spent a while on the summit just taking it all in and watching some hang gliders take off and slowly descend to the bottom.

We’ve not stayed in the Auvergne region before….only driven through on our way to somewhere or another. It is majestic, the people are friendly and the scenery spectacular. We recommend this area to everyone, it’s unique.

We got back to the caravan a little after 4pm where we slowly packed the car and ended the day with a superbly cooked entrecote steak on the BBQ by Peter, dauphinoise potatoes and a green salad prepared by me. Not forgetting our lovely cabernet sauvignon from the ‘cave’!

All in all a perfect day.