Back into Spain - Travelling to the north




Up on a Mirador in the National Parc - They are all standing by a steer drop "I'm not going up there"

 

Caceres (day 184 Spain)

Back in Spain again nice to be on decent roads for a change, it is a good drive to Caceres with some excellent tarmac, we arrived late on the camping aire and was full, so we parked adjacent on the coach park. We set up home and then walked into town up the narrow cobbled streets up to the large square, we spotted the White storks nesting in the church towers then headed for a local tapas bar to watch the bull fighting which is still very popular in this part of Spain. I don’t think we will be going to see a real bull fight it all seems a little one sided, I think the Christians had a better chance in the Roman Coliseum back in the day. Watching it on TV  is  mesmerizing with all the theatre and drama along with lots of blood. Caceres is in the image of a traditional Spanish town with narrow streets and balconied houses with their washing hanging out. Back at the van we met an English couple Bob & Patricia who let us share their connection to the free electric point, so free camping and free electric great, it’s amazing what lights your candle when you have been away for a few months.

Caceres

Caceres Old Town

Parque Nacional de Monfrague (day 186)

After a few days in Caceres we moved on toward Palencia but on the way we decided to stop in the Monfrague National Parc to view the Eagles and Vultures we had been told about, this point in the trip has been one of the highlights of the whole journey the photographs don’t do it justice, it’s the one time you wish you had a better camera or a decent pair of binoculars. As soon as we drove into the area of the national parc we were looking to the sky there were eagles soaring on the thermals everywhere we looked, I’ve never seen anything like it you can literally spend hours just staring up in the sky watching these fascinating birds flying, they make it look so easy, we also viewed them standing on the cliffs warming their wings before flight then they all take off together to go looking for a meal.




 'Twitching'

 

Eagles drying out there wings

They are really Eagles!

Palencia (day 189)

  Today we drove to Palencia we stopped for breakfast in Baños de Montemayor a pretty town with an alpine feel.  In Palencia we eventually found the Aire not before the Satnav took us thru a pedestrianized area first to a lot of head shaking from a bus driver.  The camp spot was very pleasant and we decided to go for a walk into town, we have still not got used to the siesta time where everywhere is shut for four hours “I’m not surprised Spain is almost bankrupt they are never open” Palencia is a typical working town situated along the river Carrion with a little known Cathederal, known for its snails - apparentley!.

Catching up with some old friends in Palencia

Donostia San Sebastian (day 191)

Today is a driving day, we drove 180km and arrived in San Sebastian at about lunchtime after an early start.  As we drove towards SS, we started to descend off the plains, it was a considerable drop down to the coast and felt abit like a roller coaster ride.  The weather improved quite a bit with temps of around 28ᵒ C and glorious sunshine. The camp spot was just behind the University with good parking places and clean facilities, after setting up we went for a walk, well it was siesta time again and we eventually found the beach, the promenade looks a little like an English Victorian seaside town. We walked to the old town which isn’t that old because the English burnt it down around 1813 and it wasn’t lager louts either. San Sebastian has a really relaxed feel about it and while we were there just outside the church we were treated to a demonstration of quality brass instruments.  Over the next couple of days we explored the town, walking along the promenade, chilled on the beach and went to Monte Urgull, where there is a mammoth figure of Christ and the Castillo de la Mota, it is a fair climb, but worth it for the views out to sea and back across the bay to the town.

The statute of Christ - looks like hes holding a cigarette!

Basilica de Santa Maria

Brass band in front of Church

Ol Town with the Monte Urgull in the background

Hondarriba (day 194)

Before heading off into France we decided to do a big shop, as Spain is a lot cheaper than France, so we put the nearest Lidl into the sat nav and drove off with our long shopping list.  After filling our baskets, we arrived at the checkout to “Bonjour”; we had foolishly driven into France to do our shopping, silly us.  Anyway we went back to Spain to visit Hondarriba, a beautiful walled town with a really good Parador, we did enquire about prices for the night, but decided it would really blow our budget. We stayed for lunch and then moved on to an aire at St Jean De Luz, for the night just over the French boarder.



The wall town of Hondarriba