Campoverde, here we come

Thursday 22nd February 2024

The dreaded alarm woke us at some un-Godly hour; self inflicted of course!!, but we are on a mission.  We are heading back to Campoverde and being Thursday, it is Cribbage day, yes the Crib school is still flourishing and we want to join in, hence the early start.

Fabulous sunrise on route

Under normal circumstances it is just under two hours to get there but being a Monday morning, who knows so we left earlier, allowing extra time for hold ups.   A final clear-up and a check around the gardens for dogs “poos”, and we were off.  

Up to Alicanté the AP7 was fine, we were on schedule but the road around Alicanté was stop go, stop go and our extra time was being whittled away, but eventually the traffic disappeared and we could “put the pedal to the metal” and hopefully we can get some time back .

We pulled into the car park in Campoverde with five minutes to spare and met up with Malcolm and Mary in the car park, phew, not late!!

It was very nice to catch-up with the “originals”, and good to meet a few new players, but more importantly to know the “Campoverde cribbage school” is still thriving thanks to Hazel and Jim, though it was strange to be returning the Lucia’s after several years; but all good.

Calle Acebo,

This visit we have arranged to stay in our old house in Calle Acebo, but wouldn’t be collecting the keys until the afternoon so stayed on at Lucia’s for a “menu del dia”; 3-courses and a drink all for €8 (circa £6.80); slight change though, only one glass of wine not half a bottle!!!

Keys collected and in we went.   It felt strange going back into the “old” place, especially as Lee and Sarah only use it as a holiday home at present and not a lot has changed, yet.  The garden however has matured nicely over the last few years and Christine was really chuffed after all her hard work in the early days of our ownership planting up etc.   The dogs were happy with all the outside steps and pool area to run around and we settled in for a quiet night before we start our rounds of socialising and catching up with everyone tomorrow.

No swimming this time
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Time to recuperate in the sunshine

Tuesday 20th & Wednesday 21st February 2024

Tuesday is a “chill-out” day, glorious wall to wall sunshine, what else can we want??  This weather is also slowing the dogs down; their running, by their own actions are telling us when it is time to STOP!!!!!   They have also avoided taking a dip in the pool though at times they do treat the pool as a drinking hole!   My shorts came out today and Christine sun bathed in her swimming costume 

Lovely clean swimming pool, tempting but too cold!

Watched another film in the evening before heading to bed 

Tuesday, again we woke up to glorious sunshine morning, though a little chilly until the sun gets higher in the sky.  Today we are heading out Moraira, about 30-minutes away, a beach town and somewhere different.

Unusual statue!

En route we found the cheapest fuel station so far, diesel was €1.38 per litre so squeezed in as much as we could.   This looked like a brand new petrol station so we think we got their introductory offer, still no problem, we will take that!!!

View from cafe

Arrived and found a parking spot, plenty about but there seemed a scarcity of ticket machines.   Whilst I sorted the dogs and car Christine went to buy a parking ticket.   Oh dear, what a problem and it took ages not helped by the sunlight straight on it, so following the instructions was a nightmare, still as one would expect, Christine conquered it!!!  We decided I should take “Solo” so we could give the dogs a fairly long walk; but first coffee.

Natural wetlands with fish, and ducks

We found a very busy cafe on the beach promenade but it was full, mainly cyclists; we’ve seen a lot of them today, why aren’t they at work??? No room so we went next door, what a mistake, that’s probably why they were empty, no “English Breakfast Tea”, only “funny ones” to her!!!, so Christine went without, but she did put a brave face on it🥶🥶, and enjoyed some freshly squeezed oranges; not the same I know 😝😝.

Walking along the beach

Though the sun was shining there was a chilled breeze coming off the sea, still we had a good walk and found the council’s dog enclosure in the park so they had “extra” this morning.

With our two hours up we headed back the car and as we were breaking down “Solo” a Good Samaritan came by and offered to help lift it into the car, what a nice friendly man, “not too many of them to the pound these days”.  We were now on our way home, we have to pack as we’re on the move again first thing in the morning.

After we finished with the sun, we packed away the outside furniture; “leave everything as you find it!!”,  packed our bags ready for the off tomorrow, the plan is to be away by 0730hrs🤞🤞🤞

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Business to attend to!

Sunday 18th February 2024

A day of doing nothing, no alcohol, just enjoying the sunshine, and being lazy.

Monday 19th February 2024

We had set an alarm this morning in case we overslept as we have to be in Campoverde today, a two hour drive.  We have set ourselves a number of tasks to achieve before meeting up with friends for lunch.

A quick breakfast and a short brisk walk for the dogs and we’re away, arriving in Campoverde in plenty of time to let TT & R have a good run-around the enclosed excellent dog exercising area provided by the local council, dog bags included!!!

Our first mission was the dentist for me and the Vets for Christine.  Rosie was having a checkup before being “spayed” next week.   The only reason for having her done here is simple, here it is about £300 less than our local vets in Somerset!!!

The dentist was waiting for me, it’s so good to be able to get into a dentist, albeit 2,000kms  away.  Mind you we have been using this dentist for the past 18-years!!!!   When I was “done”, I walked out and took over the dogs as Christine went in for her dental work.  I was now heading to my next mission; visit the optician, I need a new pair of glasses and I had my prescription with me, forward planning or what??

Sue, Helena, Roger and Geoff.

All our tasks went to plan and we headed off to a beach restaurant in El Mojon to meet Helena and Roger together with Sue and Frank.   Our arrival was spot-on, we arrived at the table at the precise time to be greeted by the gang who had only just sat down.

We had a very enjoyable lunch near the beach, in shirt sleeves enjoying the winter sun, 24-degrees😂😂😂😂.  

Frank and I enjoying the sunshine

On leaving the restaurant we made a “nostalgic” visit to the local Mercadona supermarket for food before setting off on our 2-hr return journey; we also took the opportunity to do a fleeting visit to Mary’s for a quick cuppa; see you again next week Mary.  

Now on our way and we were very happy as we had achieved everything we set out to do and more importantly my toothache has gone!!!

Back at the villa we had a snack and settled down to watch something.   We flicked through the menu and by chance came across a quite extraordinary four-part TV series (2021) on Netflix called “You Don’t Know Me”; it was a slow burner but we got engrossed so “binge-watched” the 4 x 1-hour episodes.  It’s about a court case but the background story is the main event, with a twist of course; I’ll say no more!!!

We are both knackered so immediately headed to bed, we have two clear days before heading off again.

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Arrived at Last

Saturday 17th February 2024

Our last leg starts this morning, so after exercising the dogs we had breakfast, a minimal typical continental, still it did the job and was included in the room price!!!!    We headed south but first we had to scrape the car as there was an overnight frost, would you believe it??  Our destination is Martin’s villa in Alcalali, three and a half hours away.

Arrived at Alcalalí, lovely to be back

A good easy drive and with the sun shining, what else could we wish for.   One stop for dogs and coffee and arrived in time for a late snack lunch.

Doggies chilled out after so many miles

Once sorted we were outside getting the sun, after all that was our main objective to come here!!!  Apart from dinner we did nothing, other than empty the car and just lounge about, it was lovely and tomorrow will be another day of doing nothing, giving the car a rest as well!!!

Sunday 18th February 2024

Simple, nothing other than laundry, {6-nights with friends and hotels}, lots of sun and a “dry” day following 6-days of indulging!!!

Ohs enjoying a game of ball
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Over the Top

Friday 16th February 2024

We woke up this morning and it was tipping down, first rain since leaving U.K. but the dogs still had to go out, well done Christine.   Of course this rain changed everything as it was forecasted to continue all day so sadly we changed our minds on our “touristy” things, we will have to come back some time in the future.   Also, and against our better judgment, we decided to have the hotel breakfast; Christine was fuming at the charge for breakfast but with everything closed we had little alternative.   The exorbitant charge would have been acceptable if the breakfast choice was comprehensive, we’ve enjoyed better selections in far lesser hotels at more realistic prices.   Naturally we paid for the surroundings, chandeliers from the ceilings and a spacious area but it would have been perfect, “no moaning” had the quality of what was available also been 5*.   The “only” choice for “hot food”, and I use the term “hot” sarcastically were congealed mushrooms, hard scrambled eggs and what purported to be sausages, sitting on a hot plate that was either not working properly or switched off.   When Christine’s pointed out the fact the the food was cold, all the lady in charges did was go to the three pans, stir the contents and walk off; total disregard towards their guest.   This was a shame as we had, up till then, enjoyed our stay at the 5* “Belfry and Spa Hotel” here in Lourdes.

Lovely comfortable bedroom

Scooter back in the car followed by everything else and still raining, we decided to just get on our way and come back another time.

We cleared the hotel around 1100hrs and headed straight into the foothills of the Pyrenees, a bold decision being winter using a lesser main road but with all this rain we decided to go.

Upside down sign!

Driving along we noticed that nearly every village sign we passed was upside down.  I had noticed this a couple of times on previous days but hadn’t thought anything about it, but today it was consistent, every village we passed through had their entry and exit sign upside down.   What a strange thing we thought so Christine googled this and low and behold these actions are deliberate, they have been taken by the French Farmers, part of their protests against the Brussels bureaucracy and the new regulations that are coming to all farmers across the eu.

Lovely views, bit scary in places though!

After the leaving the foothills we started the climb, still raining.   The tortuous route was very scenic and quite exhilarating, though Christine being on the outside wasn’t too happy, there was a regular call to “slow down”!!!!!   This road, not only being very twisty, it was quite narrow, the sort of road common back in the 50’s before increased traffic called for big roads and duel carriageways, still it was one of the “lesser” routes across the Pyrenees; I was enjoying myself though!!!!   As we climbed with the rain still coming we were parallel with the clouds and at some points above them until everything eventually settled, we were above the snow-line.  No rain, yeah🤣🤣🤣 oh no, it’s been replace by snow😡😡😡 but fortunately the roads had previously been salted so as it snowed the road became slushy.

At least the roads were clear

We eventually reached the top and it had stoped  snowing, the sun was out with a brilliant blue sky and we stopped in the enormous “empty” car park close to several ski-lifts and gave the dogs a run-round.   Rosie was fascinated by the snow but all Tom-Tom wanted was to run after the ball and do his “doings”.   We knew Andorra was a big ski resort but were surprised haw many ski lifts rather were, no doubt a lesser known ski centre but a ski centre all the same and used mainly by the locals.

Snow everywhere, roads slippery!

Once we started our descent three important things happened; the roads on the Spanish side were far better, the snow and rain had stopped and most importantly, it was clear blue skies and very, very sunny; yeah!!!! 

We had pre-booked a hotel in a small village called Burbaguena, a few miles south of Zaragoza, nothing special as it was a quick stop, but reading the reports on trip advisor the consensus was “good value for money” and “excellent” food.   We eventually pulled into this-out-of-the-way place around 1530 and whilst checking in asked if we could have some food, only to be informed the kitchen stops at 1500hrs.   OK, we will eat tonight only to be told, “as we hadn’t booked a meal there was no available table”!!   Right; is there a restaurant around here? No, but we may find somewhere in one of two adjacent small towns, about 10kms away in opposite directions; no help here as he concluded the booking-in process.      To be fair to the chap, he was running around like a headless chicken; the restaurant was very “full, (good sign) and he was the barman, the waiter, the receptionist and clearer-upper.     Disgruntled, we headed back to the car and drove to one of the towns, a small, old walled town, very pretty but couldn’t find a restaurant, either open or closed, but we did find a Carrefour Express open so swallowed hard and bought some cold meats, cheese and bread to eat in the room later.  We also filled up with fuel, “Spanish prices”, 👍.

Back to the hotel I took our overnight stuff and food bag upstairs, whilst Christine headed out with the dogs.  Ver pay conveniently there is a cycle track that looks like a deserted railway line running through the hotel grounds, win, win in that department!!!

Around 1900hrs I popped downstairs to get a bottle when the guy we had had dealings earlier suddenly offered us a table.   We think the back story to this is: as we were heading out earlier and disgruntled, we bumped into a lady coming in the door who was friendly and welcomed us to her establishment.   Now we “think” she is part owner with the guy who previously said “no tables available”, and seeing us unhappy probably asked the question after we had left.   We put two and two together, we accepted his offer for a table tonight!!!

Though this establishment, the sort of place you would drive straight past when looking from the outside, was heaving and apart from us and another English couple, was full of Spanish; good recommendation.

Christine had a very tasty and cooked to perfection Solomillo, and I enjoyed a whole Pulpo, excellent and their wine list seemed to cover everything.  We are so glad we got to eat there, the reports were right, the food was excellent and as one would expect in an out of the way place, affordable.   Our bedroom was a different story. Yes we had a nice balcony and it was a good sized room with two singles, but the drains in the bathroom honked, we decided we would give the shower a miss!!!

This place, it is what it is, a convenient night stop for transiting Spain with good reputation for excellent food, would we use it again??, the jury is out but possibly🤔🤔, it is certainly an ideal place with dogs and a bargain at £43 per night

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Lourdes

Thursday 15th February 2024

No rush this morning as we are only heading to Lourdes; 3.5 hrs away with Peage, 4.5 without, so Peage it was. Christine took the dogs to the park, at 7am, to give them a good walk before we travelled.

They look worn out!

Today the sun was shining, skies were blue and the temperature had risen, all on cue 😁😁😁.  We shared the driving but I was at the wheel as we entered Lourdes.  Neither of us had any idea about the place other than it was a place of pilgrimage for many; not to sure if it will help my knee though!!!  We entered the narrow streets and found our hotel, again a dog friendly one in the centre of town, there was just one fundamental difference.  This was no ordinary hotel, oh no, Christine had booked a 5* Spa Hotel and when we arrived she seemed surprised it was a 5* one; yeah!!!!!   We knew it was up-market the moment we walked into the grand lobby area, no desk just one enormous, highly polished table with comfortable chairs for us to sit in whilst the formal proceedings were taken care of.   We were then shown the facilities; the restaurant, the Gym, the indoor pool, sauna and steam room and not least, the “bank” of jacuzzis before being escorted to our room, with a balcony but no view.  Our view was the street below☹️☹️.

River Gave de Pau

We hadn’t eaten since breakfast and fancied a snack to put us on.  We made the decision not to eat in the hotel so headed out, down the hill towards the fast flowing river, “Gave de Pau”.  It soon became obvious I would struggle so headed back to the car to get the scooter (named Solo) out, and off we went again.   Looking for somewhere to get a snack was a challenge, everywhere was closed for the winter, but eventually we found two places, an ice cream parlour and a cafe, this was our choice and though it wasn’t raining, it was cold so the cafe was the place we entered.   To be fair the ham and cheese panini we had were nice and fresh, so not all bad, though we did wonder if we would find a restaurant to have a meal later this evening, “open” 🤔🤔.

Most hotels on river were closed

Now we were on our way to search for the mythical woodland the receptionist thought would be suitable for the dogs.  Where the mythical woodland was located turned out to be a rather large carpark for a hotel closed for the winter!!!  Anyway it sufficed, the dogs had a good run.   On the way back Christine decided we had taken the wrong turning on our way to the mythical woods and headed up another hill to search for them; she returned rather crestfallen, as I had said, they were a myth!!!

Completely mirrored room, it was stunning!

Back at the hotel we headed to the spa area, giving the gym a wide berth, found the pool and in we went.   The pool was in a rather unusual surrounding, down in the basement of the hotel and to enhance its size, the surrounding  walls and ceiling were all mirrors; interesting.   Next the Jacuzzi, they were just outside on an adjacent patio, two were free so in we hopped, turned the heat up more, and enjoyed a nice long relaxing soak.   Eventually, and after we were wrinkled back inside we went and tried the steam room.  We were not impressed; too big and never got very steamy so headed for the sauna.  Again disappointed, electric and no coals to pour water over so didn’t get enough heat, oh well one can’t have everything, or can we??  Trip advisor will be interesting!!!!

Geoff enjoying the jacuzzi

Back in the room where we had left the dogs we sorted ourselves out and headed off to find a restaurant.  We had looked at the hotel menus but were not impressed with the choices or the 5* pricing that went with it for that matter.

Breakfast room

Having been down the hill earlier when we also scouted for restaurants, but apart from an “African Food” street place, nothing was open so this time we headed up the hill into the town area.   The choice of places was very limited, everything was closed so after walking or in my case, riding up and down all likely streets we found a Chinese open.  Note to self, keep out of Lourdes in the winter, still we did laugh about it all later.    The Chinese, certainly not on our list of places to go was actually very nice and his wine selection was great so not all bad, and they let us take the dogs in.

Sanctuary of our lady of Lourdes

Tomorrow we head “over” the Pyrenees, fingers crossed no snow🤞🤞but first we have to do some of the touristy things and visit the “Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes” made famous by the “Apparitions” that occurred in 1858.   Naturally I was also hoping for a miracle cure!!!!! See the caves and if time allows, get up to the Chateau Fort, high up on the rocky hill overlooking the town

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