Well I just blew in from the Windy City...
Friday, July 7
Aire, La Marina, El Saler, Valencia Well, we did plug Bill and May for all their advice and tips. Then nice Geordie lads Robbie and Mark came over with cake and before we knew where we were it was midnight, we'd polished off the best part of two litres of cheap red wine and had learned the importance of putting corks under your windscreen wipers (prevents the rubber from melting on the window) and found out where the release plug is on the waste water tank (behind a panel... impossible to remove). We'd also made some new friends and decided that Robbie's portable aircon unit in his van was, like garlic bread or acoustic disco, the future! Nevertheless, despite Bill suggesting that we weren't going anywhere after such a heavy night, we packed up on Friday morning and set off with a full water tank and an empty loo in search of a wild camping spot. Try as we might, there was nothing that fitted the bill. We looked at Denia and had lunch on the outskirts to the north of the town, finding a back alley leading to the beach where we had lunch but didn't feel confident enough to stay for the night. Then we toured the coast to the south of Cullera, which was nice but motorhome-unfriendly. Eventually, we headed all the way to the outskirts of Valencia, probably more than 80 miles from where we'd started in the day, and found a cheap and cheerful aire at El Saler, a beach village just south of the city. With great bus and cycle links into the city itself, the village is the perfect place to stay if you want to visit Valencia, and we did. On the Saturday morning, we caught the bus into the city, having first helped three young women take a selfie. Chatting to them on the bus, it turned out they were all students at a residential Spanish language college. The English woman, Candice Taylor, was a circus acrobat (you don't meet many of them on the bus, do you), was utterly charming and had decided to learn Spanish for a couple of weeks in between engagements back in Britain. Many of her co-performers are Spanish and she thought it would be helpful if she could speak to them in their own language. She was on her way to Madrid to catch a plane to the Amalfi coast where she was going for a holiday. She was doing all this while travelling by herself. Kids today, eh? The bus dropped us in the centre of Valencia and we consulted the map and headed off to explore what we discovered was a terrific city, boasting some amazing architecture and a plethora of churches in the old town. On the outskirts, in the green belt which protects the eastern edge of the city, a science park features some of the most amazing buildings in Europe. Candice and her friends explained that the planning regulations are a little looser in this part of Spain and virtually anything goes. We made a pledge to return on Monday and have a good look around this part of the city. Before that, we had a day at the beach on Sunday and found it to be expansive, clean, well populated and windy, at least in the afternoon. Candice and her friends explained the windy conditions were linked to the full moon and once this had waned early in the week the wind would drop. Who knew? Mind you, they could have told us the lightning that crackled on Saturday night was "God playing with the light switch" and we would have believed them. A circus performer, eh? What about that! Monday, July 10 Aire, El Saler A full-on day in Valencia. We left the aire at about 11.20 on our bikes and followed the cycle path as much as we could before we came to a major road. We took a track off to the left and, after encountering a swarm of dragonflies, decided to take our chance on the road into the city. Safely in, we parked our bikes by the science centre and bought tickets for the IMAX cinema and the Oceanografic aquarium, the biggest in Europe. Tragically, we told the ticket seller we were pensioners in order to save about €7 and she didn't bat an eyelid. People will be giving up their seats for us on the bus next! Before visiting the aquarium, we gazed in awe at the buildings that make up this part of Valencia. The science museum, in particular, looks like it's wandered in off the set of a CGI-heavy futuristic movie while the sculptures outside trod a fine line between art and engineering. Oceanografic, sadly, was a little disappointing. We didn't get to see a dolphin display but did see them being fed and 'coached' by their trainers. All the fish looked well cared for but the bigger attractions, like the walruses, the sea lions and the Beluga whale just looked bored or worse. Information panels explained how the centre takes great care to vary their routines and habitats and invests in ambitious research projects all over the world but it was hard to be convinced the place was any better than a zoo. The Imax experience was better - we saw a 45-minute documentary on the American national park system. Cycling back, we followed the path this time. It took us right along the paseo directly to the campsite. How did we miss it? As a reward for an exhausting day, we went into the village for dinner and got distracted by the locals at a bar cheering Rafa Nadal on in his defeat to Gilles Muller. We ended up staying there for fried fish and mussels before dragging ourselves back to the van. We took the pledge to make tomorrow a dry day. Saturday, July 15 Camping Coll Vert, Pinedo Fast forward to Saturday and we've been at this campsite since Tuesday having discovered it in a hunt for somewhere to do our laundry. We looked first at two sites very close to the aire but they were disappointing and expensive. A little further along we found a lovely site that was still on the ACSI list and was charging €17 until July 15. We moved without further ado, although as we were in the van anyway we thought we'd do a little shopping en route and got hopelessly lost in Valencia. Eventually, after circling the city, we found what we were looking for, bought a few provisions and two new beach chairs and checked into our current home. On Wednesday, we had a day at the beach near the site while on Thursday we took the bus back into Valencia to look for a bank and have a closer look at the lovely river gardens stretching north away from the arts and science park (cue more pictures of amazing buildings etc.). Friday was another slobby day at the beach considering our options. We've been in Valencia for more than a week now, mainly because the sites here are so good for beaches and getting into the city (€1.50 each way on the bus; half an hour by bike). We would stay longer if ACSI allowed but the fees here go up to €25 after tonight so we're going to have a meal in the campsite bar and then head north on a long trek to Tarragona, bringing us closer to France. Sunday, July 16 Area 340, Roda de Bara, Tarragona We headed north again, taking the toll road the 144 miles from Valencia to the far side of Tarragona where we'd spotted a newish aire charging €15 a night for a pitch and electricity. Not bad for the back end of July. It was a good three-hour trek that cost us €28.50 in tolls but it was worth it. I slept in the middle hour as Jane took over the wheel for her first driving stint of the tour and as she sang along to George Michael, I dozed, waking up as we headed around Tarragona. Area 340 sounds like it should be full of aliens and, of course, it is - when we arrived there were 30-40 vans there of all nationalities, although we were the only British. Clean, tidy and well positioned about 200m from a lovely beach, it had what it took to make us stick around for a few days, so we did. On the Sunday, we had a walk along the beach and the paseo to the next village and came back via the surfers chiringuito which was playing rockabilly music from the 1980s. Perfect! The following day, we cycled to Mercadona for supplies and then had the afternoon on the beach, heading back there after dinner for a few beers and more rock and roll. Tuesday was more of the same but we broke it up with a long cycle ride into the port of Roda de Bara and then some snorkelling in the afternoon. Try as we might, though, to get an extra day out of this lovely beach town, we've just about exhausted it and on Wednesday we're heading to Tossa, to check out hotels for our mini break in October and to put another 100 miles behind us on our way to France. Wednesday, July 19 Camping Can Marti, Tossa de Mar Another long haul - about 110 miles - brought us to the lovely Costa Brava resort of Tossa. We've only popped in to have a look at a hotel where we're planning a few days with family in October but we thought we'd have a night on the nearest campsite and revive a few memories of a great holiday we had here about five or six years ago. The campsite itself looks like someone's holding a rock festival in the next field and all the hippies have pitched up around the trees before heading off to see the Edgar Broughton Band. Space is at a premium and the only decent spot we could find was next to a Spanish clan who seem to do nothing more than sit around a cluster of tables eating, drinking and consoling little babies. Nevertheless, it's okay and so handy for the town that we popped in on Wednesday night to have a closer look at the hotel and see if we could find a few of the haunts we remembered from our last visit. Happily, they were there. The German bar was still going strong, as was the wonderful Hotel Diana where we enjoyed a bottle of wine on its upper terrace and watched the town promenade along the paseo in the floodlit shade of the wonderfully preserved clifftop castle. We also found a new bar - La Gamba - run by Belgian Fred. With old movie posters and promo shots of legendary rock bands on the wall, it's the perfect place to listen to Fred's soundtrack of Neil Young wigouts, 60s psychedelia and Iggy Pop's FunHouse. I loved it, Jane hated every last note but bravefully endured it for the sake of a Belgian triple and a nice English IPA. At €15 for four halves, they were the most expensive drinks we've had so far. After wine in the Diana, we realised we hadn't had any dinner so we popped into a fastfood joint and had what we agreed was the best kebab we'd ever had. When we got back to the van at around 11.30 the Spanish gang were still at it next door but, thankfully, the drink had the desired effect and drowned out their post-midnight revelry. It was 10am before we finally woke up. On the Thursday, Jane wandered off into town to look in the shops while I blogged and decamped, ready for a mid-afternoon drive to Leucate in France, just another 100 or so miles and two hours away. Spain, you've been great but it's time to meet some of our other European cousins. Some images of Tossa: the pitch at Can Marti, church in the central place, posters in La Gamba and the floodlit fortress by the beach
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Candice and Jane discuss meteorology on the bus to Valencia
Above and below, some images of Valencia, a city of churches, festivals, crazy Australian trees and a bustling central market
Above, some views of the arts and science centre in Valencia. Below, exhibits at the Oceanografic aquarium; the stunning opera house
Below, some images of our third day in Valencia, including the piazza in front of the cathedral, traditional statuary, the big wheel, the 'Gulliver' kids play area and some interesting drainage ducts underneath a footbridge. Bottom, the marina at Roda de Bara near Tarragona
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