Goodbye to some friends, and hello to others!

We were all up at just after 6:00am in order to pack up Louis and leave the apartment that we've enjoyed over the last week. We had to get Helen and Tony to Malaga airport for their 10:45am flight back to England.

On the road by 7:30am, and it was almost a two hour drive to do the 115 kms (71 miles), but we did stop to fill the fuel tank along the way.

Living life on the edge!

The Caminito del Rey is a path that was built along a cliff face and gorge high above the Guadalhorce River in order for workers to maintain a hydro dam water channel that ran through the gorge. The original path began construction in 1901, and was completed in 1905.

The original path was constructed of concrete and rested on steel rails supported by bars built into the rock face. It deteriorated over the years and there were a lot of sections where part or all of the concrete top had collapsed. By the 1990's, the result was that large open-air gaps were bridged only by narrow steel beams. 

Really looking forward to this!

Yesterday, we drove about 38 kms (24 miles) north to the city of Osuna (pop 17,800). It had been recommended by our AirBnb host as a daytrip. We did some research on the internet, but it didn't appear to offer much of anything special. Still, we headed on up there to wander around.

We got there around lunchtime and parked at a grocery store on the outskirts of town. In Spain, the majority of stores are still closed on Sundays. So parking at a grocery store for a few hours is no problem at all.

Another great day in Spain!

We relaxed for the morning, and did some computer work. We didn't have a good signal when we arrived here, but the other day they installed some better wi-fi, and now it's working great! While I was doing the blog write up, Ruth walked with Helen and Tony to the grocery store in town. While there, they found out that last night was the big carnival celebration parade in this little town of 1,400 people.

So we made plans to go to the central plaza at 6:00pm to take part in the celebration!

The cave houses of Setenil...amazing!

Definitely better weather yesterday. Not a drop of rain, although there were still lots of clouds coming and going. We packed a lunch and left around 10:30am headed for the town of Setenil de las Bodegas only about 37 kms (23 miles) away.

And we had bypassed the town of Olvera the day before, so the plan was to stop in on our way home if we had time. But, there is just so much to see!

The magical town of Zahara...in the rain!

Not the greatest weather yesterday, but there's too much to see in this area so we're not going to waste any of it sitting inside waiting for blue skies that may or may not come.

So yesterday, we drove over to the mountainside town of Zahara de la Sierra to do some exploring, and despite the weather we are really glad that we did!

Spain Never a Dull Moment on your Trip!

Discover the most enchanting Spanish cruises for their gentle pace and tropical year-round weather. Taking a river cruise is a great way to get a feel for the natural beauty and rich culture of Spain, amidst the unique chance to discover Andalusia. Seville from a different, privileged perspective on board, river cruising along the River Guadalquivir. Also, enjoy the River Guadiana, Spanish-Portuguese border on the coastal bay of Cadiz meets other travellers in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

Smoke in the air

We first noticed it the day before we visited the Cathedral in Seville. A little bit of a haze in the sky. It was worse the next day, and then yesterday it was actually quite bad. We think it's smoke from forest fires, and yet we can't find very much info on the news.

Yesterday was a badly needed day of rest. Although, you know us...we can't sit still for very long. In the morning, Tony went out with the girls for a walk around the town while I caught up on some computer work.

Everything went according to plan...and then some!

Wow...busy day yesterday. Sorry, this is going to be a long blog post! But, entirely worth it because you get to see what we saw.

We had a lot to accomplish. First, I wanted to go buy a new smart phone. Then, we were going to meet Helen and Tony where we would all tour the fantastic Seville Cathedral, then back to Louis the motorhome in order to head to the outskirts of town to do a big grocery shop, then a two hour drive to a small town in the mountains to an AirBnb accommodation where we will spend the next week.

Let's see how smoothly that all goes...

Shopping and exploring in Seville

We're not big on shopping.

While I don't mind shopping online, and we don't mind shopping for groceries, going shopping for anything else is not our idea of fun. But, we need a new smart phone, and to have to buy one while in Spain is a bit of a pain.

So in between exploring, if we came across a store that sold cell phones, Tony and I went inside.

Phone problems!

Yesterday, we drove across the Portugal border back into Spain. I hadn't mentioned it previously, but I've been having problems with the iPhone. This is an older model 4s that our son had donated to us when he upgraded.

It's been suiting our travel needs just fine until we arrived in Barcelona January 2nd and I tried it out with a local Spanish SIM card. At the time, I had to mess with some settings, and got it working. And when we crossed into Portugal, it worked fine there too for several days...until one day last week when it simply wouldn't connect to the internet, and then it wouldn't even receive a signal.

In the market for new luggage...

We're tossing around the idea of getting some new travel gear, and one of the websites we're looking at  is www.eaglecreek.com. Our old wheeled backpacks are still doing fine, but they're looking a little worse for wear. Also, new materials and new designs have made the new wheeled backpacks even lighter and more durable than what was available five years ago.

Given that we're doing more flying on discount airlines here in Europe, we need to be able to stay below their weight and size limits to avoid paying extra.

A much better day!

We didn't have a long drive planned, so before we hit the road we decided to search out the rocky coastline that we originally came to the Albufeira area for. Helen and Tony had checked their photos from when we were here ten years ago, and we managed to find the road that led down to the beach where the trail was.

The beach is called Praia dos Aveiros, and it's just a tiny beach, but it leads to the path taking you to a larger beach to the east.

Not one of our better days...

It was pretty much 10:30am by the time we left Salema Eco Camp and headed east. We had made a rough plan to drive as far as Albufeira. Not for the touristy town itself, but for the rocky cliffs that we remembered exploring when we were all here ten years ago.

But apparently our memories aren't very good!

Portugal's rocky Atlantic coast...

We took Louis for a drive yesterday to explore the Atlantic coast a little bit north of here. It's in the natural park area that takes up much of the south west coast of Portugal, so there are a lot of areas to hike and we were looking for a decent walk.

First, we stopped for fuel and put in just enough to get us back into Spain. Portugal fuel is about 10% more expensive. Ruth and Helen ran into the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, while Tony and I parked Louis across the road.

The seaside town of Salema, Portugal

It didn't turn out to be quite as nice as what they were calling for, but still a decent day and we did see some sunshine and blue sky, with temperatures of around 18C (65F). But it was a little bit windy too. Still, a nice day to go out exploring, so we walked down to the seaside town of Salema.

This is the second blog post today...if you missed it, you can see a tour of our friends Glen and Steve's motorhome here...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2017/02/showing-you-another-european-motorhome.html

Showing you another European motorhome

There are a lot of differences between European motorhomes and American motorhomes.

Last month we showed you a short tour of what we're driving over here. Yesterday, our friends Glen and Steve opened their doors for us to be able to show you their motorhome. Instead of taking a bunch of pictures, I figured we'd do a couple of video clips.

We're taking a vacation!

We had to get to Faro airport by 9:30am or so to pick up Helen and Tony. We had been parked for the night only a half an hour away, so we planned to leave around 8:30am. But we had a lot of rain again overnight, and we were parked in an area that got quite soft when it was wet.

We were a little worried about getting out okay!

The campgrounds are busy!

Only about an hour's drive yesterday as we slowly headed down a mountain road towards Portugal's Algarve coast. We wanted to be somewhere close to Faro because we're picking up Ruth's cousin Helen and her husband Tony from Faro airport this morning.

We had a couple of campgrounds to check out in the hopes that they had decent bungalow accommodations available for Helen and Tony. Unlike last April when they visited us with Sherman in San Diego, we don't have room for them here to stay in Louis with us.

Well, at least we got out for a walk...

Woke up yesterday morning and it wasn't raining any longer. We had heard it on and off over night, and this was just a little break because they were calling for it to continue after lunch.

We took the chance of heading out for a walk and into the village of Ameixial, and ended up not getting too wet!

The interesting town of Mertola, Portugal

Well, we're working on a very weak cellular internet 2G signal, but at least we have internet. Sort of. But, it's working...so let's see how this goes.

We packed up yesterday morning, ready to move a little further south towards Faro. We pick up Helen and Tony at the airport there on Tuesday morning.

Made arrangements with Glen and Steve to meet them at the little village of Ameixial where there was supposed to be two different free RV parking areas...both with free electrical hookups.

Exploring a bit, and time to carry on...

We woke up to sunshine, but we knew it wouldn't last. The forecast is for more rain on and off through the weekend, so when we saw the sunshine we figured we should go out for a walk and check out the area some more.

So we set out to go see the old mine. And then sure enough, the clouds moved in again...

Here's where we are parked up....

Thought we'd show you a little more about the space we're parked in right now. It's really just a car park at a small municipal beach in town. But because this is low season, the town allows RV'ers to park for free at the car park. But the way the car park is designed, it almost looks like a campground!

And a half a kilometer away there is an RV "service station" as they are sometimes called here. It has a fresh water supply, a toilet cassette dump, and an electrical outlet if you should need it. It's all automated for a charge of €2.

Travel Money Companies in the UK and How They Work

Recently in the UK (as well as in Australia) has been yet another addition to the global online financial industry. The recent addition was the travel money company. Travel money companies are sensational because they offer another way for consumers within the UK to get the desired amount of currency that they need available to them when they are traveling.

What travel money companies essentially allow UK citizens to do is to purchase multiple currencies on a single pre-paid debit card with the most competitive currency rates. Consider the recommendations below about how to take advantage of this new service and why it will end up being an essential consideration for you each and every time you travel from the UK to an exotic international locale.

Hello Portugal!

A bit of a longer drive for us yesterday. We had originally planned on doing it over two days, but decided to go meet up with Glen and Steve a day earlier than planned because the weather forecast for Friday through Sunday isn't looking great, and they told us it's a really nice spot and we wanted to enjoy it with some sunshine.

So we said goodbye to Bonnie and Dave, with the hopes of bumping into them again along the way.

A stash of 1,700 year old coins

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Seville is a great place to spend your birthday, and we had a great time exploring and celebrating.

Once again, the weather helped out a lot. It's been perfect here in Seville, although we did get a little shower go through late yesterday afternoon.

Seville, day two...The Alcazar

Arguably the top attraction in Seville is The Alcazar (The Royal Palace). We knew there would be a lineup, and we knew it would be pricey...but we wanted to go. And, my Dad had visited The Alcazar back in 1954 and we had several photos that we wanted to try and replicate.

So, we headed over that way. We got there just after 11:30am, and stared at the lineup. Yikes. I hadn't expected that much of a lineup. In fact, it almost scared us off because we hate waiting in line with all the tourists.

Wow...impressed with Seville, Spain!

We packed up and left the campground yesterday morning just before 10:00am. It had rained a little bit overnight, but the skies were clearing and it was looking to be a nice day. Got the holding tanks emptied, and the fresh water tank filled, and we were on our way.

Heading for the city of Seville. I have to admit, I had done very little research on Seville. Most people have obviously heard of both Barcelona and Madrid, and of course we knew of Seville, but I think it flies under the radar compared to the other two. We are impressed with Seville!

Bicycle ride to Sanlucar

When Louis's owners were getting him ready for us, they asked if we wanted the bicycles. They explained that they're old, and not in the best of shape...but we figured we might use them so we said yes. Well yesterday, we used them for the first time. The campground we're staying at is located right on a cycling path that runs between the towns of Rota and Sanlucar.

We're only about 7 kms from Sanlucar, so we took the bikes off the rack and got them ready.

No wonder people can't find the place!

Yesterday, we drove from Cadiz to Chipiona...only about 56 kms (35 miles) up the coast, but we had to drive inland in order to do it. That's okay, because we got to drive across the new La Pepa bridge. I say new, but it actually opened in September of 2015.

Other than the bridge, it was an uneventful drive. Until we went to find our campground. Then it was a little more interesting!

Our own private band concert...

It rained on and off most of the day yesterday, but that didn't stop us from doing more exploring. Besides, the things we wanted to see were mostly indoors anyhow. And Ruth has a raincoat with her and there's a couple of little travel umbrellas in the motorhome.

So a little bit of water didn't bother us too much.

Lots to see in Cadiz, Spain!

Yesterday morning we moved from our beach camping spot near Roche to the ancient port city of Cadiz (pop 124,000).

Along the way, we stopped in at a huge Carrefour grocery store and did some stocking up. They had some good specials on, including some "buy one at regular price, get the second at 70% off" deals. These are especially worthwhile when they apply to the already cheap booze!

What does it cost to RV in Spain for a month?

Well, we had a kind of a relaxing day yesterday so we'll mix our daily post together with our expenses for the month of January.

If we have proven one thing, it's that doing a motorhome exchange is a very economical way of exploring another country.

Almost beach camping...

Went for a walk around the town of Conil de la Frontera before heading out. Glen and Steve are staying there another night, while we scout out on ahead to see if there's a better spot for us.

Not much to see in the town of Conil, even though it's been settled for a long time. There's a couple of old houses from the 15th century, and a tower that's been there since the 12th century.

Back to the beach!

We took our time leaving the campground yesterday morning. Filled the fresh water tank, emptied the toilet cassette, paid the bill, and we were on our way just before noon.

First stop was to get fuel...filled up with 63 liters (16.6 gallons) of diesel at €1.169 per liter (about $4.90 USD per gallon, or $1.68 CAD per liter). So we've spent €123 ($178 CAD, $133 USD) on fuel and we've done 1,116 kms (692miles) so far in three weeks. Not bad.

Then, it was off to the beach. We had been in touch with friends Glen and Steve and they had themselves parked up beside a tidal river in the town of Conil de la Frontera...steps from the Atlantic Ocean.

63 years later...

One of the reasons we're in this area is because of my father's pictures. He had done a trip to Europe way back in 1954 (he would have been about 26 years old at the time) and he took a lot of slide photographs. Ruth had scanned all of those photos, and we have a file from the ones he took in Spain.

We're trying to find some of those locations to see if we can replicate the spot he stood to take those photos.

We found one of them yesterday, at the roadside village of La Barca de Vejer!

Our second Spanish campground

It had rained a lot Thursday night, and it was supposed to continue on and off for most of the day Friday. We were due for laundry and showers, and our battery was getting low as well. So I did some online research and found a campground in a forest near the town of Vejer de la Frontera.

Many of the campgrounds along the coast are quite expensive, and you're packed in like sardines. Not our style, and we won't spend more than €20 ($29 CAD, $22 USD) per night including electricity.

Back to the top of The Rock

We set out at around 10am yesterday morning, walking back across the border to Gibraltar. It's not that big of a place, and yet even after two full days of exploring there was still more that we wanted to do.

The main goal yesterday was to walk The Mediterranean Steps...a 1.5 km (1 mile) long hiking trail on the steep side of The Rock. It's a short enough hike...but it still took us an hour to do it!

Day trip to beautiful Ronda, Spain

We had originally planned on taking the motorhomes up to the mountaintop city of Ronda (pop 35,000) but that was last week when they had an oddball snowstorm up there  so we never made it. But, we thought we might be able to head there on our way back through towards the end of February.

Instead, I saw that there is a train that goes from Algeciras to Ronda and the reports said that the train journey itself is quite scenic.

Tunnels, monkeys, and caves...too much to see in Gibraltar!

We went back to Gibraltar again yesterday. We were a little later leaving than we originally planned because we've decided to do a day trip on the train to the mountain town of Ronda, and it's taking some planning.

So while Ruth and I went back to Gibraltar, friends Glen and Steve went into La Linea to find out the best way to catch the train to Ronda, which we will be doing tomorrow morning.

Day trip to Gibraltar

We left Casares fairly early Monday morning, and it wasn't a long drive. However, we were also looking for somewhere to recharge the SIM card for our internet, so we stopped at a big Dia grocery store on the outskirts of La Linea.

La Linea is the town located on the border with Gibraltar.

The Griffon Vultures of Casares, Spain

Yesterday morning we waked into the town of Casares. It's about a kilometer and a half from where we were parked with Louis the motorhome. I recorded our tracking to see just how much we would walk around town.

Including the walk there and back, we did 8.4 kms (5.2 miles) in three hours!

Great exercise, and beautiful views!

Finished up our two nights at the campground. So yesterday morning we got Louis's tanks emptied and filled his fresh water. Also had showers ourselves. And we're taking off with a brand new fully charged battery. So, we're all happy campers!

Friends Glen and Steve headed off down to Gibraltar, and we headed inland to the mountain town of Casares. We'll meet up with them there on Monday.

Beautiful walk on the coast, and a new battery!

Woke up to a beautiful blue sky sunny day here on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain.

Our battery was scheduled to show up between 11 and 12, so we knew we had to be back for that. But then we received a phone call from them asking if it was okay of they didn't show up until around 4:00pm. Sure, that was actually better so we didn't have to hang around.

Our first Spanish campground...

Lots to tell you about today. The big news around here of course was that cold weather front that went through southern Spain. They had predicted it well in advance, and the forecasts actually turned out to be fairly accurate. It's the reason we headed down to the coast earlier than we originally planned.

We heard the rain on the roof Wednesday night, and when we woke up Thursday morning there was snow in the hills behind us!

Not warm enough!

We specifically came down to the coast because of a cold front coming through southern Spain. Well it's cold down on the coast too, but not as cold as it is where we were inland!

The huge empty lot where we are parked for two nights becomes a temporary market on Wednesdays. We heard them getting set up before we even got out of bed!

Spain isn't Canada

Of course every country is unique.  Food, culture, scenery, prices, and languages. There’s something so special about each one.

One thing I find interesting about Spain is how old it is. Of course, every country on earth is old, but the culture is so old. Canada still retains a taste of the wild, of being a new country brought out of timber and mountains by settlers.

Back at the coast to meet up with good friends!

It's certainly warmer down here at the coast, but we feel like we're not really in Spain any more! At this time of year there are more British people here than Spanish people! And most of the signage at the local businesses is in English.

So yesterday we drove down from the hills to the coast. We weren't originally planning on coming down here yet, but there's a cold front coming through and even here at the coast it's going to be a chilly high of 10C (50F) and overcast.

We cant get enough of this town. I think we could live there!

The reason we hung around another day at Doña Mencía was because we had seen a marked trail that went up into the park behind the village of Zuheros.

So Ruth packed us a lunch, and we drove Louis over to the trailhead at the base of the town.

5 mile hike to a 9th century castle

Before we left Ubeda, there was one thing we wanted to do. And that was to visit the Sinagoga Del Agua. (Synagogue of the Water).

We like history and this one included some Jewish history, with quite a fascinating story. Back in 2007, a property developer had bought a series of buildings in the historic center of Ubeda, and was going to develop them into apartments, shops, and parking.