Our Trip So Far Part 2

[enodreven]

The journey continues

 

We stayed a few days longer at St Jean de Luz than expected as the weather was really bad with hail stones and wind, we actually ventured to move off towards Spain on Tuesday and turned back at San Sebastian as the hail stones were actually landing and forming piles on the road and the temp dropped to minus 1 while they were falling but give the Spanish their due they actually had gritting lorries out and it was helping to melt the hail albeit it was looking very slippery. So as I said we turned back and booked into the same site.

 

The weather actually turned worse during the next few days and we were hearing reports that the road was blocked by snow between san Sebastian and Burgos also there were reports of lorries involved in accidents along the same road. On Wednesday we ventured out to get some supplies and noticed 2 or 3 lorries with snow on their roof that were coming from Spain so I was really glad we decided to stay where we were and there is a Leclerc supermarket within walking distance of the site so you can obtain everything you need albeit there are no pavements and it is a fast road so a lot of people do drive there for safety?

 

We decided to make a start on Saturday morning as the weather was getting a little better as we hadn’t had any hail for 24 hours albeit just like that blokes law, just as we paid our bill (14 euro/night ACSI Camping Card) and pulled out of the gate the heavens opened and the hail was as bad as ever. Still we couldn’t turn back now we were British so off we went.

 

The hail stopped and it turned to rain just as we turned onto the motorway towards San Sebastian and the Spanish border this part of the road is tolled and it cost 3.10 euro to the border which was paid to the French just after that we paid another toll this time to the Spanish and it was only 2.60 euro, as in France our motorhome is class 2 the same as a medium sized lorry but the Spanish tolls only charge us as class 1 the same as a car and incidentally the same as Dartford QE2 bridge.

 

The main routes around San Sebastian are a little complex and you really do have to watch what you are doing as you can easily take a wrong turning and end up in the city. However that said I can tell you it’s a great place and if you have the time stop for a few days as it really is nice it has 3 parts to it the first is a great modernist shopping area similar to the areas around Oxford street and Regents Street in London while not on the same scale the appearance is similar with the high Victorian type buildings and then there is the old town with is narrow alley/streets and hundreds of Tapas bars and a very nice harbour then the sea front with its beach(s) IT’S A MUST SEE PLACE.

 

You can use Camping Igueldo camp site which is up a very steep hill and while this is a very nice site its really important to take the route the bus takes to get to it as our GPS tried to take us up some very narrow tracks, so I would suggest if you want to find Camping Igueldo then start from the sea front and check the regular bus route to Igueldo which is a village very near the campsite. I would also suggest that as the bus stops right outside the site its probably the best way to see the city and I believe they run quite late into the evening. Enjoy ?

 

We took the route out of San Sebastian toward Vitoria and Burgos which isn’t a bad road especially on a Saturday but I would think that during the week it could get very busy, as we started to leave San sebastian the road starts a gradual climb and it seems you are forever changing between 4th and 5th. The rain was still falling and the visibility was very misty and we started to see the snow on the side of the road as we kept climbing and the snow was getting thicker and the rain was raining harder and the temperature was dropping and we weren’t getting any happier and we were still climbing. We did think about turning back again as at some points the way the rain was hitting the windscreen and with the temperature near freezing we thought it was starting to snow but WE’RE BRITISH so onward and upward. We saw 2 lorries in the ditches to the side of the road which didn’t help the strong upper lip but none the less we soldiered on until we reached Burgos and after that the weather started to clear and the sun came out and no more snow and we reached our campsite at La Cabrera 60km from Madrid in bright sunshine with 16 deg,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camping Pico De La Miel in La Cabrera is a nice site with some spectacular views of the mountains that form a back drop and you can also us the ACSI camping card at 14 euro, . We only stayed for the Saturday night as we couldn’t reach any of the electric points because there was a Dutch rally group staying and the nearest electric point was about 75 metres away, I will purchase a longer lead for future reference as I noticed last year that a lot of sites we have stayed on previously have needed long leads ?.

 

The temperature dropped during the night to minus 1 deg and there was a very heavy frost which had to be scraped off before we left at 8:45 heading for the ring road around Madrid. The roads were empty and with the aid of Autoroute we traversed Madrid with no problems and were off toward Cordoba, actually Granada but the road out of Madrid don’t show Granada so you take to Cordoba route. There are some spectacular views all along these roads that are really not to be missed that include those from San Sebastian as well as the mountains are really something to see and with the snow caps they really look fantastic.

 

We made great time and reached Calahonda with no problems at all EXCEPT FOR ONE, now don’t laugh it was the wrong Calahonda we went to what the GPS showed as Calahonda on the coast just to the left of Motril. Just before we arrived we rang our friends and told them to get the cold beers out as we would be with them in a few minutes well from the directions they gave we could find the actual site so we drove around and then rang them again and it all became clear they weren’t in the right place LoL. As it turned out they were 95 miles in the opposite direction at Playa Calahonda which is the other side of Malaga actually between Malaga and Marbella but coincidentally it was on the same numbered road so off we went 2 hours later we had the cold beers and that is where we are now at Los Jarales campsite in Playa Calahonda and it appears great albeit I would say it is 75% English

 

That’s all for now I will try to keep you informed when I can find a wifi connection

 

Oh by the way I am sure you will be interested the Temp when we arrived was 21 deg and sunny ??

 

Brian & Barb