Day 309 – Friday 11th January 2019
Another sunny day, a little chilly in the breeze but beautiful nonetheless. As it’s our last full day in Portugal after lunch we went on a ride in the countryside on Zippy.
Ended up at a lovely deserted beach, Praia de Figueira
Day 310 – Saturday 12th January 2019
Another sunny day, up early and off to Spain.
In theory the route to Isla Cristina in Spain is fairly easy; just motor along the N125 for a couple of hours. Doris however sent us on a detour into the Algarve hills.
Getting back on route along the IC1 a question leapt into my mind… How bad does a Portuguese road have to be before they resurface it? The answer, if the IC1 is anything to go by, is very fuckin’ bad indeed.
They grow a lot of oranges in Portugal; they sell them dirt cheap at the side of the road.
Camping Playa Taray gets a fair write up on most review sights but it’s not a patch on the site at Luz. I fear we’ve been spoilt rotten for the last 10 weeks.
We’ve had a few worries about Cfor; what will he think when he looks out the door and the little world he has become used to over the past 10 weeks has all changed?
At first he was a little wary but he ventured out soon enough and it wasn’t long before the little swine was off about the site.
At Luz we were so far from the road we let him out at night. He loved it. Here however we are less than 50m from 2 main roads so he’s under curfew. He will not be happy.
Day 311 – Sunday 13th January 2019
A sunny morning if a little cold in the shade.
We are here by Isla Cristina because I want to find places where we can spend part of next winter. This winter we had nearly 3 months in Luz and I’d like a little more variety next winter.
Isla Cristina is the first of many places we’re looking at. Why Isla Cristina? Because if sounded good and the campsite got good reviews, ‘under new ownership and improving!’
Well the campsite still has a lot of improving to do. The toilet block is okay but the pitches are just dirt.
As for the free wifi, it’s useless. Can’t even load up the Guardian on it let alone watch a program on Netflix. It’d be far better for them to get a fibre connection, some good aerials and charge a couple of euros a day for a decent connection.
Having said all that there are a dozen or so smart German vans and caravans clearly dug-in for the winter.
The town of Isla Cristina isn’t any great shakes either. It’s an ordinary provincial working town and like a lot of working towns in Southern Europe it has suffered hard times.
The tourist development along this part of the coast is 7km away at a purpose built place called Islantilla. It’s a bit quiet at this time of year but it has a smart shopping area with plenty of restaurants and a great sandy beach.
We won’t be spending any of next winter in Isla Cristina.
Day 312 – Monday 14th January 2019
Another sunny day but it was properly cold riding Zippy early this morning. After we had packed up we drove to Camping Villsom in Seville. The campsite is alright, toilets and showers are a little dated but clean. Cracking wifi speeds though.
After a quick lunch we hopped on the bus into town and were dropped off by the impressive Plaza de España.
Seville’s number 2 tourist attraction done we set off to find Seville’s Hardrock Café so Julie could add a tee shirt to her collection.
One sight I wanted to see was the Setas de Sevilla, the Mushrooms of Seville. Supposedly the largest wooden structure in the world.
Day 313 – Tuesday 15th January 2019
An overcast start to the day. Into Seville for lunch. I’d Googled vegetarian tapas and had come up with a place called Alameda Rock that was highly recommended. Alameda is not a tourist area and was a bit of a yomp from the town centre. It turned out to be closed as they were moving premises. Apparently it was on their Facebook page but in Spanish. Brilliant.
Starving and to avoid a mutiny from Julie we sat down at a café in Plaza Alameda and had some top nosh.
After lunch I started to sneeze which was probably due to the chilli in the Patatas Bravas sauce; it didn’t stop until about 10pm.
Day 314 – Wednesday 16th January 2019
Thin cloud cover this morning so it was a little chilly. I wrapped up warm so I didn’t start sneezing again and we took the bus into Seville for a nose about.
Behind the cathedral we stumbled across the Santa Cruz district which is the old part of town. Full of narrow alleyways nowadays it’s mainly boutique hotels and tapas bars.
Day 315 – Thursday 17th January 2019
Yet another overcast morning. Richard Ayoade said this place was the frying pan of Europe but I’m not so sure. A lazy morning before getting the bus into town for lunch.
Fried aubergines with honey, tortilla, patatas bravas, pig cheeks in sauce, calamari, a couple of cold beers & a glass of wine. Tasty stuff and when you consider it cost less than the price of admission to the cathedral a complete bargain.
Tomorrow we move on to El Rocio, cowboy town.