Detox dinner, salmon, rice & veg
Wild Camp 8: Almedia
A quiet spot with a picnic area and toilets outside the village walls, inside the village wall a maze of quaint streets with locals shops, a bar, a post office a church, registry office and museum. It reached 34 degrees today so we sit outside in the evening as it got cooler and play Yahtzee. The following morning we get up early to walk around the village again before we leave for the next stop. We wander through the perfectly kept gardens and spot some birds nests opposite the fire station. We watch as the swallows fly back and forth to the nests with food for their young. As we are leaving the village we notice some old fire engines and a VW in the fire station so Jac asks to go in and look. The firemen let him wander around taking photos whilst they make coffee, we shout abregado (thank you) and head off for Spain.
Heading back into Spain
Wild Camp 9: Salamanca
We arrive at the next spot 100 miles east of Almedia across the Spanish border. We are unimpressed with the location and our gut feeling is to move on. If this trip has taught us anything it's that's if you have a gut feeling it's usually right and you should follow it. With this in mind, we decided to have some lunch, walk the dog and head off.
Our next destination, Madrid, is 150 another miles east. We travel through vast spreads of farmland and sometimes what seems like desert. There isn't another car for miles and the only sign of life are the ten or twenty birds of prey circling high above the dry, dusty terrain. Occasionally there is a abandoned building that has been taken over by stalks, now housing their huge nests on the highest points. These birds are so tall, with long spindly yellow legs and a wing span that must exceed two meters, we are fascinated and it's something you definitely have to see to appreciate. We eventually reach civilisation again and stop for supplies before checking into the campsite.
The following day we intended to go to Madrid, we don't make it as we stayed up until 2am watching Breaking Bad. We do not leave the campsite all day, instead we do our washing and clean the camper van before taking a siesta in the afternoon. We head down to the bar to watch the football (England v Uragay). 100 Egyptian children turn up, part of a football academy, they are playing in a tournament in Madrid. A group of them appear after dinner and feed Oscar their desserts, yoghurt, his favourite, although when they started balancing yoghurt pots on his head as hats he sulks under the table. England lose against Uragay and Jac isn't best pleased. Kayleigh manages to refrain from making those stupid female World Cup related comments like 'there's always next time babe' and we head to bed.
Arriving in Madrid
The following morning we are up and packed away early ready to leave the campsite by 9. We FaceTime Alfie and Sophie before school and head into the city. We park at Atocho train station which is beautiful and grand. We spend all day walking around Madrid and see some of the most extrodinary buildings including the Museo Nacional Del Prado, Casa De America, Palacio De Cibeles Centrocentro and the Puerta De Alcala. Between visiting these amazing landmarks we spent our time staring at pictures of burgers and mayonnaise adverts and decided to stop tourturing ourselves and go for lunch (detox out the window). As soon we got to the restaurant we both fell straight off the wagon, we ordered a club sandwich (probably the best we've ever tasted) and fries to share. Oh and a bottle of water each for good measure. We shared a chocolate milkshake for afters and both waddled away feeling guiltyfor breaking the detox.
A street performer with Kayleigh
Everywhere we looked there was something going on, people in Disney costumes, street performers and huge groups of 'lookie lookie' men selling the usual, bags, belts and sunglasses.
This man poured an endless pot of tea
It was getting late and we still had an 85 mile drive ahead of us so decided to head to the last point if interest and then make our way back to the camper. We walked to the Palacio Real which is Spain's equivalent of Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful with a huge queue of tourists at the gates wiating to go in, we strolled around the grounds for a while whilst Oscar jumper in and out of a water fountain before collapsing on the floor and deciding it was time for a quick nap.
Walking around a busy city all day obviously takes it's toll
After an amazing day we reluctantly paid the 20€ that our parking ticket demanded we owed before heading off for our next spot.
Wild Camp 10: Ucles
A sleepy spot with an impressive monastery high up on a hill overlooking the village. The wild camp spot is next to a large barn with a cemetery to the front and side, the book certainly didn't mention that but we decided to stay all the same. We walked along a river and made our way up what felt like a thousand steps to the monastery and enjoyed the view of the village. Keen to make a super early start in the morning we watched one episode of Breaking Bad and got an early night. The alarm was set for 5 AM and Oscar had been asleep for hours already.
Wild Camp 10; Ucles
Barcelona bound!! We both get up as soon as we hear the alarm excited to get to Barcelona. Another camper has arrived in the night so we quietly pack up and head off. We fill up with fuel and are on the road by 6. The sat nav says we will arrive by 1PM. Eleven hours and 500 miles later we arrive in Barcelona. The majority of the drive was on motorways, the occasional dual carriageway and three toll roads totalling 40€. We check into the campsite for one night (19€), do our laundry and take Oscar to the beach, but not before we have passed the shop for an ice cream. Both shattered from the long drive we flake on the sofa and manage four episodes of Breaking Bad before going to bed. The airport is busy and there are planes taking off every few minutes so neither of us sleep particularly well.
Arriving in Barcelona
The following morning we are heading into the city, I ask the receptionist for directions to a car park without height restrictions, she tells us not to drive into Barcelona as the crime rate is high and thieves are targeting camper vans and mobile homes. This worries us and we decided to drive in and take a look around before we decide what to do. We stumble across a large hotel with a high level car park with CCTV. We pack as much as we possibly can into the safe and head out to explore. We walked up and down busy streets for what felt like forever and didnt find anything remotely touristy, the map we had wasn't helping so we went to a cafe with wifi and checked google maps. Still no such luck, failing miserably we set off in search of Camp Nou, Barcelona's football ground. It's pretty spectacular so we spend a while wandering around and taking photos. Feeling satisfied that we have seen something in Barcelona we head back to the van and set off for our next spot.
Wild Camp 11: Vic 1 (Gurb)
70 miles north of Barcelona along the Mediterranean coast, a quiet spot just off the motorway outside a motorhome dealership. We decided to stop here as there are a couple of minor things that need replacing in the camper. We need a new waste water tank as our has split and spits out filthy dishwater whenever we use it. We were the only people at this wild camp although there were two lorries parked just around the corner so we feel safe to stay. Monday morning we were up early and at the motorhome dealership with our list of repairs, it came as no surprise and just our luck that today was in fact a national holiday therefore it was closed. This has happened on many occasions since we started our travels. Frustrated we walked Oscar around the neighbourhood and spent hours chatting about our travel plans and where else we would like to go.
Wild Camp 12: Vic 2
Two miles down the road from Wild Camp 11, Vic 1. This wild camp was situated in a green area and was part of a large sports complex. It had shaded pitches, drinking water (100 litres 2€) and electricity (3 hours 5€). We decided to spend the night here and try the campervan repair place again the next day. We fell asleep in the sun after lunch and when we woke up there was a German couple parked next to us. We spent the majority of the evening chatting to them, they are en route home from a round the world trip, we were fascinated by their stories.
Next stop, the south of France...
Crossing the French border
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