Smurfy Semana Cinco: Spain

Central Spain

With Portugal in our rear-view mirror and beautiful planes of cork trees, olive groves and orange plantations we arrive in Toledo, just south of Madrid for two nights in El Grego campsite with the old town on a hill as a backdrop. It was a long stinking hot drive being close to five hours so when we discovered we had a pool as we had lost the coast, relief washed over us.

Once we got over paying 30 euro a night as we were back in Spain (Portugal camping was a lot more value for money) we settled in for the night with a quick and easy bowl of 2 minute noodles (the best I have ever tasted - there is something about camping that makes all food taste great - the fresh air perhaps?).

In the morning the temperatures soared close to 40 degrees so we walked into town in the hottest hour of course and wandered the old streets to the highest point to marvel at the Cathedral. We passed a few Synagogues and I insisted we had reached the Cathedral at every turn as all I wanted to do was sit down in the shade and drink Sangria. We finally came across the square with two looming towers of different designs and also found all the tourists. It was Sunday but no one was in the Cathedral but standing under any possible shade - one guy was even standing in the shade of a sign post! After no explanation from the tourist office and a booklet in Spanish on the festival for Toledo we hung around with the masses wondering why they were going to have a firework display in broad daylight? The questions went unanswered but it was a loud and slightly frightening display at 1pm. What sounded like machine guns, canons and grenades shaking the ground we stood on and echoing off the ancient cathedral square walls we were dazzled to say the least.

In need of a stiff drink after the display that felt like it had taken years off one's life we found a nice cafe in a quiet square and proceeded to drink the afternoon away with a jarra of Sangria and more of the lovely Spanish omelet we have come to love. The rest of our time in medieval sword making city of Toledo was spent lounging around the pool (the first we have had to pay for!) with the town dotted in the background. Tom finished our day with our first beef steak (bull or cow? no one will ever know) some much needed iron for some.

We left Toledo in the shadow of Madrid early the next day and settled in for the day with some paid for WiFi (I know our standards are slipping) for some email updates, entry writing and some much needed R&R - holiday is hard work! Later that day we hopped on the bus and then metro to station Sol, which is the centre of Madrid - it had the feel of Piccadilly Circus in London. We walked through Plaza Major and gazed up at the wondrous symmetrical colourful buildings before walking on to La Latina district for a night of tapas. We passed through three eateries and weren't disappointed. Patatas & Heuf was first on the menu - as all the locals were ordering it. It was a plate of potatoes fried to look almost chippy packet style but had a bit of flesh to them with jambon sprinkled over top with a fried egg for good measure. Very tasty but not so good on the tum! We also had a small beer which came with olives and butter beans for free! At the other two places we managed to eat more fried food and finish with Rosé wine and a goat cheese tomato salad before calling it a night.

With a full day to explore Madrid, we tried to pace ourselves to last the distance and had a late and lazy morning before we caught the metro back to Plaza de la Puerta del Sol for more exploring. We fancied a stroll in Parque Del Buen Retiro followed by a late lunch of patatas omelette with a cold beer watching the boats on the Estanque until the sun started the drop in the sky. We passed the El Angel Caido statue - a rare sculpture of the devil before passing through Caixa Forum with a hanging garden. A wonderful modern architectural addition. Hmm yes.

The Plan was to see Flamenco dancing, but our energy levels were so low even after cake and coffee in the Plaza Major overlooking all the people. So we called it a night and welcomed Smurfy's bed.

The following day we hit the road for another five hour drive across central Spain in search of the sea. The warm Mediterranean is what we were seeking and we weren't disappointed. We had planned to join Nat and her partner Marcus at their villa near Alicante called Daya Veija. We arrived a day early and camped right on the beach front at a reasonably priced campsite, the one down the road was charging 58 euro for a piece of dirt? Hotels are cheaper than that! However I expect it had all the bells and whistles to go with the price tag just not for us. We parked up on our sandy pitch and enjoyed being back near the sea. That night it poured down, we had to close smurfy's lid as water was making it's way in. By morning we had thunder and lightening and a lot of unhappy campers trying to clean up their underwater camping city. Plastic covers came over their TVs (never understood why you would need it camping!) the calm was all short lived as soon as Tom ran off for a storm swim and I finished my nails the rain started again and it felt like we were in the middle of a mini flood - which passed right beneath smurfy's girth heading down to the sea. While smurfy remained dry we watched our fellow campers dig trenches around their tents to encourage the water away. It was our first rain of the trip and it was dramatic! We drove away with only a very wet foot mat which was lucky.

We arrived at Nat & Marcus's villa early evening after a brief supermarket shop and a lovely swim on the beach as the sun had come out and not a cloud in sight. After the beach and with no showers to wash the salt away we gave each other a bottled water shower behind smurfy, now we knew we had turned gypsy.

Nat & Marcus put on a lovely tapa style dinner and we supplied the Mojitos and beer followed by a good game of 500, couple on couple. They put up a good fight but in the end we came through on top! Not bad since Tom was just learning again!

The next day after sleeping in a normal bed with a normal temperature and black out shutters we enjoyed a cooked breakfast by Marcus before we headed to the beach for a spot or two of swimming and a few fun rounds of pat a ball with dives into the sand. We enjoyed a late dinner in the nearby town at a lucky find tapa bar where the waiter helped us by choosing a little of everything. We did however find out Marcus wasn't a great fan of seafood! More for us! A few sangria's and a moonlight stroll took us to the white concrete couches which were scattered across the rocks which looked so enticing that we manage to dodge the incoming waves and rock pools and had a few quiet moments watching the water with the moonlight sprinkled across it. The Alicante area was the first place we had started to spot a few GB number plates and a lot more British tourists, the beaches were amazing so you can see why.

We hit the road early and said our goodbyes as the others were off back to reality in London and us? …more beaches and to explore the east coast of Spain why of course!

G