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Free Camos sat-dome!

Andy — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:14:26 +0000

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And all the roads we have to walk along are winding

CandA Kubicki — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:21:00 +0000

There are positive and negative aspects to walking and hiking in much of southern Europe; on the positive side we are getting used to not worrying about trespassing, in most countries we have had the freedom to roam and with the hunting season now over, we no longer have to worry about being mistaken for a Wild Boar. However, it is often impossible to find a map in a suitable scale for walking and we are often reliant on way-marked paths and tracks.

We are now in the wealthier and more populated part of Portugal, north of the river Tejo and staying on an idyllic site near Tomar; we are the only campers and we can breakfast in the sun with the site’s donkeys, horse and sheep, called Olivia, for company. The site owners are from the Netherlands and the UK and understand that we northern Europeans like to get out for a walk; they have produced directions for three local walks and have managed to get hold of the military maps for the area from the Geological Museum in Lisbon.

The walking is mainly on un-made roads and tracks, the routes wind through Eucalyptus plantations, Olive trees, small fields of vines and along streams, occasionally crossing tarmac roads and taking us into a village for a cafe stop. The Almond blossom is following us north and the Mimosa trees are in full bloom, underneath the Eucalyptus both pink and white heather are flowering. After the rain the streams are gushing and we enjoyed the chance to paddle across one stream to continue the route, drying our feet in the sun.

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… how to bend not break the rules

CandA Kubicki — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:54:00 +0000

The long-term campers we meet are generally courteous and friendly and will share their experiences of different camp sites in Spain. If they have chosen a site for 6 months, they are, not surprisingly, most enthusiastic about that site; the atmosphere of these sites is like that of a small village, with lots of activities and social occasions to take part in. Arriving for just a couple of nights we can feel like incomers who don’t know the rules. Fortunately, there is usually someone that wants to help you feel at home, explaining how things work on a particular site; where you take your rubbish, which shower is the best, where to swop books, how to get hot water for washing up and all the other necessary parts of camp site life.

At the site near Marbella a friendly couple from Nuneaton took on this role; they have been staying on the site every winter for seven years and certainly know the ropes; we first met them when Anthony was plugging in our electric cable and they wandered over to tell us that no one locks the box where all the cables are plugged in to the mains, as this makes re-setting the power easier when it trips, and it always does.

We drove out to the Parque Natural Sierra de las Nieves, just inland from Marbella. This is a beautiful mountainous and tranquil area, where it is difficult to believe only a few kilometres away cars are jammed in a long queue for the Centro Comercial parking, now the January sales have started. We walked around the picturesque village of Ojen whose central square was lively with a small market, pretty fountains and bustling cafes and along paths through various pines, juniper and gorse up to a spectacular viewpoint for a colourful view of the green hills, the white village and the blue sea.

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If you want a better place to live in spread the words today

CandA Kubicki — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:34:00 +0000

Torre del Mar is a pleasant enough resort, with 3 kms of promenade as well as the usual cafes and inevitable Oriental Bazaar; it is also lively enough to have an Indian restaurant for our monthly meal out. Buses run from here into Malaga and we caught a packed one full of Christmas shopper. We had a good day looking around this energetic Spanish city, had a marvellous lunch in a cosy veggie cafe, explored the Alcazabar laid out over the hillside and admired the extravagant Christmas decorations. We love walking in the countryside and hills, but we do also get a buzz from vibrant city life.

The campsite at Torre del Mar is typical; the other campers are mainly retired, mainly northern European and are staying here for six months. It is a novelty to meet some younger people and we feel especially lucky when we meet someone who is on the same wave length as us. This week we met a young couple who are ten months in to their own gap year and we enjoyed sharing experiences and stories with them.

You might think that being on a long holiday and so far from home would encourage people to be more accepting of others; they do say that travel broadens the mind. However, it has to be said that we have met the people with small-minded views you meet anywhere; their prejudices seem even more difficult to grasp when we are all visitors in another country. The man who expressed genuine distaste when we said we came from Manchester and considered Reading a big step up from that fine north west city was one example. Another was the couple from Preston, whose first question when we told them we had moved from Preston to Salford was, ‘aren’t there just as many of those Asians in Salford?’, then went on to add, ‘it’s really rough in Salford, isn’t it?’ We made an effort to politely demonstrate that there is another way of seeing things, but you quickly realise these are neighbours you will only talk to about the weather.

By way of balance, Mike and Doreen, the retired couple we met in the French Alps will remain an inspiration to us, they were open-minded, keen to explore new places and friendly. We hope we will be like them when we reach our 70s.

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Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?

CandA Kubicki — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:02:00 +0000

The camp site at Bolnuevo is a large and highly organised camp site and makes us wonder why we left the comfort and ambience of Fortuna. The site is mostly long-term campers who come to the same pitch every year and has regular social activities; Sardine and Sangria evenings, bingo, a Christmas fair etc. We can see that the sense of community would be appealing, but the site is a bit of a car park and our Blue Bus sticks out as much as our youthfulness does (honest!)

It is pleasant to walk around the site at night and admire the Christmas decorations on many of the vans; climbing santa clauses, coloured lights, glowing Christmas trees are all here. It’s just like being in Salford.

We are approaching two Spanish public holidays; the 6 December is Constitution Day and the 8 December is Feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Catholics celebrate the conception of the Virgin Mary, as a woman free from all sin. In Spain this is generally a time of fiestas.

The library at the site in Bolnuevo is one of those examples of too much bureaucracy: many camp sites have a few shelves of books to swop; you leave what you have read and take away a new Catherine Cookson, Ken Follett or whatever is available. This library is run by a Swiss camper and has shelves full of books in every European language. Each book has a number and the Librarian has a lap top to record borrowing. We won’t be on the site long enough to finish the book we borrowed, but we left two new ones in exchange, along with a false name.

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