Category: Spain

Scottish, and Spanish, sunshine!

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Admittedly not all of my weeks after leaving the campsite were beautifully sunny, but the majority of the time I was still blessed with amazing weather, so I was very lucky. Part of my route planning was trying to visit as many National Trust for Scotland properties as I could. There are so many in the areas around Aberdeen, so I could do the interiors of properties on the less sunny days.

Fyvie Castle visit was on a bit of a grey day, the exterior reflected this, looking very somber. Like many Scottish castles, there are a number of towers that have been added to over the years, which gives them this very distinctive look.

Most of the castles I visited you joined a tour, rather than it being a self guided visit, and while I often prefer to be alone, usually as I need more time to look at the textiles than everyone else 😉 the tour guide was really interesting and knowledgeable, and really made the place come alive.

Even though it looks fairly modern from the outside, and the beautiful plaster ceilings are reproduction, rather than original Jacobean, it has a long history. Charles 1st spent time there as a young boy, and Charles 3rd, our current king, had his 70th birthday party there.

There were some great textile treasures there. I have seen so many different interpretations of this embroidered jacket, there is an original one in the V and A museum in London, known as the Layton Jacket, after its owner. This one belonged to the daughter of James 1st of England, Elizabeth of Bohemia, so dates from the same period.

There was also a gorgeous, and very pristine, whitework bedspread featuring the Scottish thistle, no provenance, but I would imagine a member of the family.

On a more modern note there were a set of co-ordinating needlepoint cushions in one of the lounges which all used the same colourway, and which were so pretty.

There was so much needlepoint on my tours of the castles and houses, and while it is so time consuming, I am really tempted to make a cushion at some point. I gave up needlepoint for cross stitch when my children were small, due to time constraints, but am tempted to try it again!

The following day the sunshine was restored so I went to Pitmedden Garden, not only a very good example of different types of planned gardens, but also home to some very interesting sundials. The gardens date from the late 1600s, when the ‘new’ technology of sundials was very popular, and reflects both the historic layout of the parterre gardens, and more modern interpretations featuring less structured planting.

It was a very beautiful and relaxing place to spend the afternoon. I am now back in Spain, so have been enjoying the autumn sunshine here. It is a very nice 22 degrees today, I have replanted all my pots so that I have some colour on the terrace, and am back to my favourite way of spending the early evenings. The sunsets have been so gorgeous this week, such pink skies, and I have been lighting my candles and enjoying a glass or two of wine and a good book.

I have just updated the reading journal that I started when I retired, and I have read 354 books in the last 4 and a bit years, that equates to 88.5 a year, or 1.7 a week, although I read far faster in Spain than I do anywhere else. I just love it, and have so many happy hours of reading on the terrace planned for the next few months.

I will be going on a few day trips with my Mum, but the next few months are all about relaxing, crafting and writing, as well as some cycling. It is lovely to be back, especially after 6 months away. This is the longest that I have spent away from the house since I bought it 19 years ago, and I really appreciate having this lovely place to live. I am looking forward to next year so much, being back in Lotte the caravan, and Katy, but it is lovely to have my own bathroom, and my sewing machine!

Hope you are all having a lovely life, see you next time, and thanks for visiting.

Semana Santa – part two

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Our second glorious fiesta was on Good Friday, in the town of Lorca. We have visited Lorca twice before, once to see the goldwork museums there, and once for the fiesta.

This time we had seats, in a fabulous position near the start of the parade. This fiesta is one of the most amazing celebrations I have ever seen. Not only are there all of the stunning icons, but also floats with Ceasar, Cleopatra, various other Roman and Egyptian nobles, a Byzantine queen and the Pope!

The scale of this is hard to take in, and also includes chariots, incredible horse displays and groups of the iconic Semana Santa headdresses. It takes three hours to pass and just gets better and better.

This year, we had time for a good wander round before everything started, and a close up look at the floats.

They are even more incredible when you consider some are carried for three hours, on the shoulders of both men and women, particularly women for the icons of the Virgen Mary.

The costumes are just mind blowing, from the opulence of Cleopatra, to the detail of her companions. The embroidery on the charioteer’s cloaks, details different parts of the Bible story.

It is all just magical, and a testament to the many hours of work by the very talented embroiderers who made this possible, some of whom we met on our first visit. 

Life here in Scotland continues to be very good. We have been busy getting the campsite to look its best after the long

Meanwhile I hope you are all having as much fun as I am, and thanks for visiting. 

Semana Santa – part one

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Being a Catholic country, Spain celebrates Semana Santa, or Holy Week, in the most wonderful ways. I have shown you some of the fiestas before, however this year I got to visit a new one.

Palm Sunday is celebrated very uniquely in the nearby city of Elche, with a procession of palm sculptures.  The palms are wrapped in bags for month beforehand, to bleach the fronds, then woven into the most incredible tall sculptures.

Some are abstract patterns, some represent scenes from the Bible, but all are detailed, taking around two weeks to make.

The slow procession is accompanied by bands, and an icon of Jesus, around the centre of the city, before finishing in the cathedral. 

A wonderful morning, and well worth seeing, the sheer dedication of the weavers is incredible. 

There are of course many magnificent gold work banners to accompany the parade.

Hope you are all having a lovely time whatever you are doing, and thanks as always for visiting.

Exploring Andalucía

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On my return to Spain in October I had two trips to Andalucía in the first two weeks, firstly to visit my brother Ben, and sister-in-law Amanda, at their cave house in Galera. I have been to visit once before, three years ago when I first retired, but they have done a lot to the house since, literally creating new rooms at the back of the cave. Their dining room is now just about completed, and they have some steps up to the first floor, which is still a work in progress. The first two pictures below show some of the other cave houses in the town.

The town is so beautiful, with its houses snaking up the ravines of the valley. There are so many cave houses here, due to the rock being soft enough to dig into, and so many different varieties of house to admire. This visit the mirador, or look out point, had been completed, so Ben drove us up the winding tracks to the start of the path. Such amazing views, like looking at a living map of the centre of the town, and the stunning mountains and cloud formations all around.

We had a visit to the nearby town of Huescar, for the weekly market. This is still a very traditional area of Spain, although there are quite a lot of people of different nationalities in Galera who have bought cave houses, the surrounding towns are very much rural Spain, with tiny traditional shops, and most of the weekly shopping done at the market. It is a gorgeous place.

There was one area, next to a wool shop that I was very good and didn’t go into 😉 that was decorated, both with a crochet sunshade, and a painted wall, celebrating local women in different occupations.

Lots of lovely food, and one of my brother’s famous bbqs, as well as drinks at the bar and hotel, and we were back to La Marina, four hours on the coach for a week at home before our next trip.

Jerez and Cadiz have been on my wishlist for a long time, to complete my exploration of the southern cities of Spain. This time we went on an organised coach trip, which meant another ten hours there, through the gorgeous Sierra Neveda, to Jerez where we were based for the three nights. The hotel Dona Blanca was beautiful, and situated right in the middle of Jerez.

We spent the first day visiting Jerez on our own, while the rest of the group went to Seville, as we had been there a few years ago. It was quite wet, but luckily we were able to see most of the things that we wanted to see.

It has such grace as a city, very small, but famous for the production of sherry. I loved the old tiled adverts that were still on many of the buildings. We did end our day sipping sherry at that gorgeous bar that you can see in the photos in the middle of the top row above, while people watching in the main square.

I have never seen as many candles surrounding an icon as the one in the cathedral, and there was some exceptional goldwork as well.

Another notable aspect was the number of speciality shops for sweets and biscuits, this one had the best autumn themed display.

The Alcazar, the Moorish fort with added 17th century palace, was beautiful. The original mosque has been restored, and it is a brilliant blend of the different cultures that have lived in the city. There was an olive press there that must have been at least thirty feet long, it was incredible.

One of my favourite things was the display of fiesta posters in the palace, such wonderful examples of the development of graphic design and art.

Sadly the second day, the trip to Cadiz, was very, very wet. We weren’t able to do much sightseeing, as the rain was torrential, but we did see the cathedral, a beautiful chapel, and have a lovely tapas at the market, which has now become a food hall.

We didn’t realise at the time, but this was the edge of the terrible Storm Dana, which killed so many people in our region of Valencia. While we were in Cadiz, the centre of Jerez flooded, and on our return the city centre was closed. We cut the trip short the next day, due to flooding and more storm warnings, and came straight back rather than visit a mountain village as intended. We were very, very lucky as our area avoided severe damage, and were able to help with fundraising efforts through our local charities when we got back.

I would love to return to Cadiz one day. I am already provisionally planning a return to Spain in Katy, and possibly to Portugal as well, inspired by so many You Tube and Instagram accounts that I follow that are there now. I loved the previous trip I did, and have collected so many more pins on my Google map of places to visit. It won’t be this year though but 2026 is looking promising!

For now though I will concentrate on this year’s adventures, but it doesn’t hurt to plan, it is half the fun if not more, and I have spent some of this week doing the final planning for the next two months. Hopefully there will be one more blog post before I can share that, as I need to show you all of the things I spent the rest of my three months in Spain doing. It was a lovely quiet time, and there was actual crafting going on, a miracle!

Until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Yarn witchcraft

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For many, many years I have been trying to learn to crochet. I have been taught by some of the best people I know, including my lovely daughter, Ellen, who is a superb crocheter, and watched You Tube videos, read books, and done everything I can to get it to sink in. I have had some limited success with double crochet, and after Ellen was here in January managed to make some flowers for bunting, but I didn’t really understand what I was doing, or what it should look like.

However, the crafting gods have been very kind, and worked their magic, or witchcraft, as one friend recently commented on Instagram, and it has finally sunk in. I can do all this wonderful stuff, chaining, treble crochet, making incredible things out of wool. It has all clicked in my little brain and I am so happy!!!

I started with finishing off some little rosebuds that I had made with Ellen. I have a pattern for these from a book I’ve owned for many years, and found following the written and instructions and the diagram relatively easy.

So I thought that I would give granny squares a go, as I have wanted to make them for years. I found a simple pattern and followed a video on You Tube, not sure which one now as I didn’t save it, and ta da, there they were!

I’m not sure what I will use these for, so just did six. I may put them together as a little pouch when I get back in October. I have a black crochet style handbag that I love so thought that I’d try and find something I could use to make another more colourful version.

The first thing I tried was the Flower Hexagon from Emma C Makes. I have been following her for a while on Instagram and she has just released this tutorial. Although I loved doing it, in some variegated perle that I bought here in Spain and with a 2mm hook, it is still a little big for what I wanted. It finished to about 4 inches across so I will probably use it for a coaster in Katy.

The next two pieces were also from Emma C Makes, a small hexagon, which was really quick to do, and very pretty, and a tiny granny square, both made out of perle with a 2mm hook.

I have decided to go with the squares as they will be easier to make a bag with. I have lots of perle in different colours, and think I need about 40 for each side as they are 1 inch across. It is a perfect vanlife project as it takes up so little room!

There is a long tradition of crochet here in Spain, and they sell lots of wonderful perle to do it with. I will possibly do some bigger projects with wool as well, but you know how I love making small things!

Recently there have been some great public crochet projects here, we always have lovely sunshades as the lace days we visit, and the towns have had collaborative Christmas trees as well. We went to our local town, San Fulgencio, the other week to see the beautiful crochet sunflowers they have installed by the town square. They look so gorgeous, especially next to the outlines of the palm trees.

I have also finished two little animals from Julie again at Little Cotton Rabbits, using the textured dress and the dungarees patterns as well. The mouse is for a new family member expected this month, and the fox for my friend Sue’s first grandchild. Meet Fenella Fox and Miranda Mouse, my 31st and 32nd of Julie’s wonderful animal patterns.

I love the little flowers on her headband and shoes, I think they are from the New York trimmings I bought last year.

I have also finished a project bag for use in Katy, this was a re-make using a van applique that I made into a cushion but it got very faded and damaged so I repurposed it. I love the van fabric that I have had in my stash for years.

It has been a quiet few weeks here, mainly crafting, beach and pool, but we have had one trip out to the nearby city of Elda, in the mountains, for their Moors and Christians parade. It was a wonderful spectacle as always, with some of the most elaborate costumes I have seen. I love the attention to detail so that the back always looks as spectacular as the front. We saw the Moorish part of the parade, so the costumes were especially flamboyant.

The crowd were also dressed in gorgeous embroidered waistcoats, trousers and leather boots.

I am leaving in a couple of days to be reunited with Katy, so my next post will be coming to you from a campsite somewhere in the south of England, Wi-Fi dependant of course. I am on the road for three months, and have the most wonderful adventures planned so am very excited! Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Cordoba, palaces and patios

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Cordoba is famous for many things, the mosque of course, but also for its many patios, decorated with potted plants. They hold a patio festival each year, in May, where you can wander round and see all of the displays in bloom, but there were still many around when we visited in November. I think this was a perfect time for a visit, as it was not too hot, or too crowded as it can be during the festivals.

We spent a lot of time, as always, just wandering looking at the gorgeous architecture.

As with architecture designed for use in hot countries, the enclosed patio is an all important feature. As I mentioned in my posts about Morocco, the interior patio functions as a cool space to enjoy water features, and as a garden. We tend to think of a patio as an outside space, a bit of the garden in the UK, usually just paved, but in Cordoba the patio is an art form, with its own unique architecture and decoration.

One of the many palaces we visited was the Palacio Viana, famous for having 11 patios of different sizes, from the grand entertaining space, to small quiet ones full of beautiful blooms and little fountains or wells. In addition to the patios, you can also tour the house, no pictures allowed, but it was a wonderful insight into the life of the wealthy family who owned the palace.

We also visited the Alcazar, or palace of the Christian Monarchs, not only a palace filled with mosaics that have been excavated locally, but also the wonderful gardens that Spain is famous for, complete with a statue of Isabel and Ferdinand meeting with Christopher Columbus.

Many of the palaces are now museums, and we had a very enjoyable last afternoon in the art museum. The paintings were full of such amazing detail, I love the way that the artists can represent the drape of textiles, and the light on buildings in these paintings, such talent!

It was there we discovered a brilliant artist who we had never heard of before, Julio Romero de Torres, who has a whole museum dedicated to his art. There were no photos allowed, but I found these two on Google.

He was born, and worked, in Cordoba, painting mainly women in the 1920s and his work is stunning it its detail. I love the sense of life in Cordoba that you get from his work. The painting on the left, La Fuensanta, was once on the Spanish 100 peseta note.

We also visited a small museum devoted to Arab culture, which was the place that inspired me to choose Morocco as my destination for this winter. It was full of the most beautiful artwork, and as you know from my posts about Morocco, it is one of my favourite decorative forms.

There was a stunning flower display in the small courtyard water feature as well.

There was also a quick visit to the Jewish museum nearby, housed in another beautiful patio house and lovingly restored, with a very informative exhibition about Jewish life in Cordoba. This included some gorgeous goldwork on dresses, similar to that we had seen on the painting in the art museum.

As always there were amazing doors, but what struck me about Cordoba was how heavy and defensive they looked, all were solid wood, many were studded and looked very much like the sort of thing that was built to withstand invasion, rather than the more decorative ones that are in other cities.

A wonderful city, and I am so glad we made it, a year after the original trip was planned. We have just booked another trip for this autumn, to visit the last of the great cities of the south, Jerez and Cadiz, so I am very much looking forward to that.

There is less than a week now until I return to the UK, so my next post will be my last from here, and will be a quick catch up on all my crafting, with some very exciting, in personal crafting terms, things to show you! Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Life in the slow lane

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I am now on day four of my trip back, day two of driving in France, and am loving it. The few days I was back in La Marina were busy with seeing friends, celebrating Mum’s birthday, and getting the van ready for the return trip.

Katy has some new crafting decorations, completed this time in Spain.  It is getting to the stage that she is more a mobile craft display than anything else!

We had a macrame workshop before Christmas at the sewing group, and I was inspired by a post on Instagram to make this little hanging tray. I am so pleased with how this has turned out.

Ellen also helped me to make a crochet flower garland, and it looks beautiful. She did most of the complex ones, but I am still very pleased with my efforts. 

I have been really enjoying the driving  it takes me a while to get back into it after 3 months away, and as I have been doing mainly motorways so far, it has been Katy and I tootling along in the slow lane, admiring the castles along the way. The last two days have been especially exciting at we have had views of the Pyrenees. 

I can’t believe how much my confidence has grown doing this journey to and from Spain, it has been so good for my driving skills. I often miss turns, or am not sure about motorway junctions but I have learnt to just stay calm.

The first stop was at the La Brisa Aire in Peniscola.  The original plan was to visit the castle there, but traffic jams meant that I arrived very late. Apologies I can’t put in links to the site while using the app to write this post, but found this on Park4Night and it was €9.50 a night.

I did have a lovely lunch stop off though, at a nature reserve near Valencia. 

The village of El Palmar is built around a series of little canals, and the villagers used to use these little barges for fishing. There are still lots of the the thatched houses along the banks of the lake.

Now the main trade is tourism with lots of people coming for boat trips, or lunch at the many restaurants and bars along the canal.

A shorter drive the next day took me to just outside Tarragona, to a lovely stretch of beach called Torrembada. I had a very peaceful night in this pine tree aire, at Area 340. This one was more expensive at €16, but it was right next to the beach.

I also met a cute cat at Reception, and got a great idea for more van decorations.  I have been collecting stones, so now just need to get painting!

After the excitement of crossing the border, I ended up in the very cute little village of Port Vendres, at an aire just the other side of the port. This one was €8 a night.

It was beautiful weather, so I had a wander round and a cheeky vin blanc to celebrate my successful border crossing.  You may remember that Katy was only allowed to stay in Spain for 6 months, so we had to leave by the 24th April !

After a very windy drive today, which was definitely all in the slow lane, I have been able to come to somewhere I have wanted to visit for about 20 years, the cité at Carcassonne! Ever since I started re- enactment I have wanted to come here, and it was amazing. 

Even though I have seen so many photos if the walls, I wasn’t expecting there to be so much inside them. This next photo is from Wikipedia,  in the absence of a personal drone 😀

The medieval cité is now quite touristy, with lots of bars, cafes and gift shops, but it gives you a real sense of what it was like in the 1300s.

The views from the ramparts were amazing, luckily it was a clear day, with wonderful views of the Pyrenees.

I now have the luxury of a hotel for the night, with WiFi, so am taking advantage of it to do this post. Tomorrow is starting the non motorway part of the trip, up through the Dordogne, which I am so looking forward to.

I have another week in France before my tunnel crossing and am looking forward to more tootling through the French countryside.  There may well be some more châteaux coming soon!

Meanwhile have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting 😊

Cordoba – architectural harmony

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Our trip to Cordoba had been long awaited. Mum had been briefly years ago, as part of a coach trip including other cities. We had planned to go back last year, however, life intervened. After visiting Seville some years ago, and Granada again a couple of years ago, I really wanted to go and see this third, very Islamic inspired city.

We stayed in a very well located little apartment, La Casa del Rio, part of a traditional courtyard house, just near the Roman Bridge, within walking distance of the old part of the city. They had a very clever little kitchenette in the cupboard and plenty of space for four people as the sofa turned into a double bed.

The views on the first night were stunning. This was a trip that we put together ourselves, so we went by train from Alicante, and arrived about 6pm. Train travel in Spain can often be a little longer as we had to go north to Madrid to get the train for Cordoba.

The first day was beautiful and we went straight over the bridge, past the defensive tower, over to the square just below the cathedral.

Cordoba is such a beautiful place, and as always with Spanish cities there were amazing doorways, and a little glimpse into the Bishop’s Palace.

I think the doors of the mosque / cathedral are possibly my favourite of any building yet. They are amazing.

The real joy for me was seeing how the original structure of the mosque has been incorporated into the cathedral. The arches that form the original part of the mosque are so iconic, this is another national heritage site so I have seen this image many times before. When you first enter you see these amazing, yet quite simple red and white arches that seem to just go off endlessly in the distance, like some kind of hall of mirrors in stone.

The original mosque was built in 785, and was a very small section, which is now in the centre of the building. Later developments as the Muslim population grew led to expansion, including this stunning ceiling, and the highly decorated doors around the mihrab, the alcove that shows the direction of Mecca. The decoration here is just breath-taking.

Further on is where the original part of the cathedral was first added, and you can see how clearly the lines of the arches have been used as the basis for the design. This then becomes an area with the classic Gothic cathedral architecture on the ceiling.

Towards the centre of the cathedral is the specifically Catholic part, added in the early 1500s, and this has been blended with the original pillars to form a unique religious space.

All around are places where the Islamic and the Catholic come together, such as this wonderful painting, on top of a zelige tiled plinth.

As well, there are the more traditional Catholic artworks.

The plaster work is all of different ages, from the original works, to the Royal Chapel in the second photo, finished in 1371, which used the Mudejar style of decoration.

Outside the main mosque the courtyard has the original minaret, now a bell tower, or giralda.

Tucked away on one side is a display of masons’ marks, some in Arabic, that have been copied by the teams that look after the building.

I loved this, as I said in my Burgos post, I always wonder who built these places, so it was brilliant to see this evidence, and imagine them making these marks throughout the centuries.

It really is one of the most wonderful places that I have ever been to, although there were lots of visitors it didn’t feel crowded, there is so much space to wander and to reflect on all of the changes this building, and this country has seen.

We spent a further two days in Cordoba so will be back next time with more beauty. The city has a very unique character and it was so nice to just wander around all the small streets. There was also plenty of my favourite tapas!

I am having a lovely time here in Marsden. I have been working on my writing and Frankie has been helping. She’s sitting watching me type now, I think she might be checking my punctuation!

Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Katy’s adventures in La Marina

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I had already planned lots of places that I wanted to visit, mostly with Mum, in the two months that I was at home. Like me, Mum loves walking and the beach, and we were able to explore some new places, as well as revisiting old favourites. The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were lucky that we had stunning blue skies and sunshine all through November and December.

La Marina is situated between the mountains and the coast, and is an area with lots of wildlife sanctuaries, and hiking areas. Although there are sandy beaches, my favourite parts of the coast are the rocky ones.

The first walk we did was along the coastal path from La Zenia to Cabo Roig. This very easy walking path goes underneath the cliffs, with gorgeous views. At the end of the 3/4 hour walk there is the harbour at Cabo Roig, with bars and restaurants for a quick coffee before setting back.

After our trip to Cordoba we went back to one of my Mum’s favourite spots, the coastal path below the cliffs and the lighthouse at Santa Pola. This is a beautiful stretch of rocky coast which is very popular with campervans. I went back later on just for the afternoon when Mum was busy, and sat parked up in Katy listening to the sea and reading, bliss!

We also visited one of the area’s reservoirs. Although desalination plants are our main source of water, due to the lack of rain, we do have some very beautiful reservoirs. Unfortunately we couldn’t find our way down to the hiking area, that ended up being the off road experience that I mentioned earlier! At least the drive round was great and there are lots of viewpoints with parking and picnic benches.

I also did a couple of trips out on my own, one to the local bird reserves, El Hondo, that I have cycled to before. This time I went right to the other side, and parked up at the interpretation centre. There are walkways through all the different parts of the reserve from here. We have so many types of birds that nest here, and I was lucky enough to see a baby flamingo.

Many flocks of flamingos live on our salinas, or salt lakes. The lakes have been here since Roman times and are still in production. The salt is exported for use on roads across Northern Europe and Russia. The one nearest Torrevieja has a beautiful pink colour in the sunlight. It is a gorgeous place for a peaceful walk on a sunny day.

The nearby town of Rojales is famous for its cave houses, which have been turned into artist’s workshops and galleries. Once a month they have an arts and craft fair, and in the summer there is live music every Sunday in an outdoor stage area.

There is a little museum area inside one house showing how the original inhabitants lived. We haven’t been for fifteen years and it was great to see so many more of the caves have been restored, with gorgeous floor paintings.

There is also an eighteenth century windmill just outside the town, very similar to those I saw at Conseugra on my journey home. This has been restored and events are held there sometimes.

Also in the mountains above Rojales, there is a country park. El Recorral is actually a water management scheme, designed to capture water from the mountains and stop it flooding the salinas, but rather than just build storage tanks they have created these beautiful wildlife ponds and a sculpture trail. We don’t often get rain, but when we do it can be very heavy and cause flooding so this is a great solution. There are lots of picnic and bbq areas, as well as hiking trails and playgrounds.

I went again with Ellen when she was visiting and we managed to find the caves further up in the park. I don’t think these were every occupied, but they do have stunning views of the mountains across the plain.

One of our Sunday excursions was to visit a monastery set in the mountains behind Murcia. This is the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta, and dates from the 1600s.

There must at some point have also been an Islamic building here, judging by this architecture, but sadly it was in disrepair and there was no further information. We had a picnic in the grounds and then a walk in the mountains.

We also went on a couple of trips without Katy, one my favourite things in Spain is the fiestas, and on the feast of St Nicholas, on the 6th Dec, there was a parade of the Moors and Christians. These are some of my favourite events, they take place all over Spain and celebrate the reconquest, when Isabella and Ferdinand took back control of southern Spain from the Muslim settlers.

The parade was a wonderful hour and a half of proud armies in wonderful costume, interspersed with marching bands. The work that goes into these outfits is amazing, usually each village in the area will have its own association. There are many museums where you can see the costumes close up and they are well worth a visit if you come across them.

The lights, and the giant nativity were also very pretty, and we had a great wander around the city. This was one of the many excellent coach trips, the advantage of these for fiestas is that you get a local pick up and don’t have to worry about parking or traffic!

I hope that you have enjoyed this little overview of what there is to do in the area, it is a fantastic region for all sorts of outdoor activities, with mountain climbing, trekking and cycling being very popular, as well as all of the water related sports.

This will be the last of my travel posts for now, I will post about Cordoba as soon as I can but have so many pictures to sort, and not that much time before I leave again, so will wait to tell you all about that fantastic city. I am off now to do more unicorn fettling, the final bits of attaching heads and putting on clothes await, and then I can show them to you in the next post.

Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Amazing Avila

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My very last stop was a short drive from Segovia, along very quiet country roads and through the city itself, not quite as challenging as Segovia, to my park up just outside the city. On the map below it is just to the left of Madrid, partly covered by my little pin! It is at the foot of the mountains, so in a gorgeous location.

I had booked the park up online, before I left Spain. It was a fantastic location, as you can see from the pictures below, with great facilities including shower and toilets, as well as the usual water and waste, and cost 12 euros.

The second photo is taken from the city walls looking back, the park up is just behind the trees, and helpfully next to the police station. There is also a very large car park next to it with seemingly no restrictions on overnight stays, though I didn’t see any campervans using that.

I was so excited to go and explore, I had seen some pictures of Avila beforehand but was not prepared for the scale of the city walls.

They are incredible, and are the reason that the town is a World, and National, Heritage site. The walls date from the 13th century and run for 2516 metres, enclosing the old town. There are 87 turrets and 9 gates, some of which are accessible to cars. Some of the buildings within the old town form part of the walls, such as the Bishop’s Palace.

The area of Avila within the walls contains so many beautiful palaces, most of which are now hotels, and the cathedral. There are a number of different building styles within the old town, and some newer areas such as the town square, where the flower market was being held.

I also got the chance to visit the church dedicated to St Theresa of Avila. In my medieval re-enactment role I portray an early Carmelite nun. The order was reformed by St Theresa in the mid 1400s, so it was great to visit her birthplace. I love the fact that someone has put a flower in her hand.

I left early the next morning, heading over the mountains, and past reservoirs, with some brilliant Top Gear challenge roads winding down the other side. I was heading for a park up which is below a castle and set of windmills, at Consuegra.

I had decided that if I was making good time I would just stop there for lunch, which I did. This park up is being enhanced with a toilet block, and I think it would be brilliant in the summer as it has picnic tables and great views.

As I was doing really well for time, and really enjoying the driving I decided to head for home, as it was only 3 and a half hours away, with a couple of rest stops for petrol and coffee. A brilliant drive with many more windmills on the horizon, then down the A31 motorway, which has castles along it every through miles, and I was back home by 6pm, much to the surprise of my mother, who wasn’t expecting me for three more days.

Here Katy, having a well earned rest the next day, although we did go on lots more little adventures over the next two months, which I will tell you about in the next post.

I still can’t quite believe that I did it, when I look at the overall route that I drove, with all my little park ups.

This doesn’t even show the first or last parts as I couldn’t fit them on, but is most of it. I forgot to check how many miles I did but think it was about 1800. A lot of people on the van life forums ask what it costs, so thought that might be helpful for others to itemise it. In total I spent £250 on petrol, £90 on the Shuttle and £158 on campsites, park ups and tolls, a total of £498 for 17 nights on the road. I could have done it more cheaply without the campsites, which came to £65, but really appreciated the luxury of showers every once in a while 😉

The charges that I paid for aires also included electric in most cases, although it was not available at every space. I didn’t use that at all as I just charge up my portable power banks when driving. If you like roughing it a little, this is a great way to see Europe, the driving alone was so interesting, mostly in a good way :-), and I can’t wait for the return trip at the end of April.

I am spending the time when I’m not blogging, writing and researching my novel, and frantically trying to finish two knitted unicorns. I have been having trouble with the horns but think I’ve sorted it now. They will hopefully be finished in time for the crafting post next week.

Until next time have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.