Processions, Prehistory and Publicity

So, blog 39 and I've almost managed to keep it just under the fortnight since the last one, which should mean a bit less than the 1,000+ photos I went through last time to chose the best!

Here we are then, Wednesday 24th April, and Easter all done and dusted. I'll get the weather bit out of the way early doors, it very much looks like the best weather was over with you guys in the UK (feel free to be smug!). We did pick up a few nice days in the end, but as I write this, we are doors closed and almost heating on as we have a "high" of about 11 today although thankfully this mornings rain has done one for the time being at least (edit by the time I'm posting this, it is no longer factually accurate!).

The last blog post saw us in our final spot by the coast in Spain near Isla Christina where we spent 3 nights at a nice pay Aire. I say nice, it had a great spot and was very well laid out, but at €10 a night, with showers €1 each (for timed 5 minutes of tepid at best water) plus cold water wash up only, it did feel a bit like a high price. That said, it's not every day you have all sorts of birds flying over your head as you have your morning cuppa!

The following day Saturday 13th April was a lovely sunny day so we decided to have a good long walk down to the town, then the beach for a picnic. It was about 9 miles in all, so a reasonable effort. The town was quite sweet, but of most interest was the Chinese supermarkets that Spain seems to be littered with - we would describe these as an EBay shop on speed! What they don't stock, doesn't exist! I think we counted at least 6 in this small town. It was good though as meant we could finally get a few bits and bobs we'd not found in supermarkets (new shower drying sponge, foil tape, new notebooks for Jase plus some BBQ skewers) all for the princely sum of about €4!

Onto the beach and we noticed all sorts of people in the sea - some had wetsuits on and others were just ankle deep but they all seemed to be raking at the sand and picking up something. On closer inspection, and with a bit of help from a couple of young lads we worked out they were collecting cockles etc - the technique was anything from dragging your feet through the sand and spotting your catch through to using some kind of rake attached to a sieving basket. They seemed to be getting a reasonable haul between then, so I guess it was supper for free!

Sunday 14th April and time to leave Spain and roll towards Portugal. We were very close to the border and our first task was to register the vehicle and a debit card at the toll booth. Portugal has a different system of tolls and it seems you set this up and they debit for what you use. We had no intention of using the toll roads (all the main motorways) but had seen warning stories of people getting hit for fines if they didn't register, so we did what we hope was the right thing. Once that was done we headed back to the minor roads and towards our planned overnight stop in Mertola. On the way we saw signs for some megalith stones and thought we'd have a quick look. Not the best idea as it turned out - the road turned very quickly to loose gravel, which on the way down was tricky, and on the way back up saw us temporarily stuck! Luckily Jase's rallying background and driving skills got us through at the second time of asking, and there was no real danger of being stuck without a phone signal or not a soul for miles........!

On arrival in Mertola we had a bit of trouble locating the right access point to the unofficial Aire, but eventually worked it out and parked up by the side of the river. What we hadn't expected was to gain an hour on crossing into Portugal - in a weird way it was nice to be back on UK time for a bit. The town of Mertola was fascinating - really interesting clash of cultures between the Moorish, Islamic style and the more modern day Catholic approach. We were able to wander around some Islamic ruins as well as the castle and church museum all for free.

After a cooling drink we waited in town for the Palm Sunday procession, which although we couldn't understand the lingo (Portuguese sounds like high speed Russian) it was strangely moving to see.

The town was also covered with trees complete with crocheted jumpers - I'm yet to find out why this is though!

Monday morning after a good overnight stop, we woke to find workmen all around! Seems there is some sort of work being done to the unofficial Aire - not sure what, but luckily we weren't in the way so were able to roll away as planned after breakfast (unlike some of our neighbours who'd had a ruder awakening!).

Our first stop was to the town's washing machines which we'd spotted on the way in. We pulled in, emptied the washing bag, including what we were wearing, and were just about to add the money when a local told us they were out of order.....! Nightmare! Cue a despondent pack up and hasty re-plan! The washing wasn't desperate, but when you make your mind up it needs doing, it's surprising how quickly it becomes a real pain!

Anyway, Jase had spotted a possibility at nearby Beja. We duly headed there and the Intermarche, but they had no sight of any facilities. Luckily we spotted a newer one at the next supermarket down. However, it only had 3 machines and we'd just been beaten to it by a family who'd seemingly emptied their lives and suitcases into these 3 machines! Luckily they are only short cycles, so Jase was dispatched to stand guard for the 30 minutes while I tried the local supermarket. 5 minutes later and I was back out - way too expensive for us. Instead I walked further up the road to the Lidl which was more on the money (thankfully).

An hour or so later we had our clean washing and fridge full again. The next problem is getting the stuff dried (the same family had obviously commandeered the 2 tumbles as well!). We headed onto Park4Night and found a nice picnic spot just up the road by a reservoir in Oriola. It was a lovely quiet spot and fairly discrete place to get the washing dried.

The afternoon was fairly sunny so we decided to stay overnight - our only company being the birds - 3 new spots for us:

Skylark

Stonechat

Great Grey Shrike.

Tuesday morning and an earlier start (the extra hour has to help somewhere!) and we headed to the town of Evora. Again we found the free Aire fairly easily and parked up. We met a lovely lady called Lorna in the next door van, and she kindly pointed the way to town. It was a scorching day, so first stop was coffees and custard tarts in the town square followed by a wander around. The buildings here are amazing, from churches through Roman Pillars and fantastic aqueduct which runs through half of the town.

It's a really bustling place too with more tourists than we've seen since Seville. After we'd finished exploring we enjoyed a lovely cold beer/cider.

Wednesday morning and probably due to the fact I purchased 4 summer dresses yesterday, the weather was well and truly back in winter mode! It was freezing and pouring down. We decided to stay put for the day - mainly as we had everything we needed and were safely on tarmac. We did manage to venture out to the local Lidl for some bread and spent a lovely afternoon chatting with Lorna, swapping stories of our various travels over the years (If you are reading Lorna, thanks again for the tarts & I hope the phone battery isn't too far away now!).

Thursday and despite still heavy grey skies we decided it was time to move on. Our initial stone was at an amazing stone circle at Guadalupe, followed by a further single standing stone all dating from 10,000 years ago.

This area is also covered in cork trees - the area is famous for it and produces more than 50% of the global market. Of this, 70% goes into producing the wine stoppers we all know, but with this changing more to screw top, they are diversifying further and the wide range of products now is amazing - anything from place mats, footwear, pencil cases and even some was used as the insulation of choice in the thermal shields installed inside vehicles sent to the space station! Harvesting is a closely regulated process - the peeling can only be done once every 9-12 years and the trees are marked with a number relating to the last time it was harvested.

Further on in a town called Valverde (no relation to the Spanish world road champion as far as we know), there is an incredible burial chamber - again dating more than 10,000 years old. Just an amazing sight.

Our lunch stop was outside the drawbridge of Estremoz Castle.

Just after lunch, the weather had started to turn for the worst so we headed to a free Aire near Castelo de Vide - this one was beside another reservoir, although our initial stop (in the thunder and lightening) was on tarmac. We parked up and hoped our Easter wouldn't be a total wash out.
Good Friday morning and things were looking decidedly wet weather wise - we didn't only have Easter proceedings and weather to contend with, the Portuguese were also staging a fuel strike meaning most petrol stations were already out of supplies. Additionally, as a result of the bus crash in Madeira, they were also holding a 3 days of mourning.

After looking at our various options, we decided our best bet was to stay put for a few days and hope the fuel situation settled down. The forecast had been better for the weekend, and in the event, the sun came out Friday afternoon and we headed nearer the reservoir for a lovely beachside spot.

We ended up spending all weekend there - the views were amazing, and we did 3 lovely walks all around the area.

The area is also a breeding ground for Storks, and we were lucky enough to spot these small chicks getting their lunch.

In the end we didn't leave that spot until Tuesday (yesterday). The forecast continues to be dodgy for the next few days so we decided to head back into Spain and Caceres. We arrived there (after losing that previous hour again!) around lunch time yesterday. It was cold and wet, but determined to make the best of it, we headed into the town for a good wander around. After trying our best we had to admit defeat and head inside for a lunch stop & warm up. We chose to go for the menu of the day at €15 for 3 courses including a drink - great value. Our starter was a plate of the local Iberico ham & cheese, and the local dish Migos which is essentially paprika laced breadcrumbs with chorizo & garlic and a poached egg on top - yum!

For mains Jase had the Pork stew and I went for Huevos Rotos (Stirred Eggs) - turned out to be 2 perfectly poached eggs on top of sliced potatoes and I more lovely berico ham - stunning too. I picked a couple of local deserts - rice pud and chocolate gateaux - classy! A thoroughly nice meal though and a lovely treat.

By this time the rain had cleared away and we were able to have a nice wander around the old town which has apparently been used in Game of Thrones filming - you can see why!

And so to today, Wednesday 24th April - this morning was very wet again so we had a lazy morning, and rolled away via Lidl for a big shop. We've now got a lovely cheeky spot beside the railway at Rio Tajo disused station. Its a bit spooky but also pretty cool. Trains about every hour but they don't go very fast luckily, although they do toot and wave!

My other piece of news is that in addition to this blog, I've also had a short article published on a website click here if you want to have a look. or https://go-van.com/the-tale-of-jexit/ in case the link doesn't work!

The plan from here is to head further up through the Extremadura area - this is a foodies paradise as in addition to the Iberico Ham produced locally, plus cheese, they also produce a lot of Paprika. We hope to visit La Vera in the next day or so to find out more. We had hoped to get back towards the coast at Vigo but the weather isn't looking so good in that direction. We may head due north from here and hit that bit of coast instead.

Anyway, til next time, stay safe all

J&J xx