Where's Bertie? He's in a free Aire in the town of Onda. Exact location: 39.9681, -0.27165
Weather: Rain, with some thunder all night on Saturday, then mainly dry on Sunday until mid-afternoon, since when it has not stopped raining. Mid-teens yesterday, but just 10 degrees when out and about this morning.
It was a grey morning yesterday, but at least the rain stopped as we stepped out of the door for our runs. After 27km on Saturday, my legs were complaining a little at the end of yesterday's 11km, which was partially due to having gone faster than was sensible (counter-productive when the session is based on time, not distance). My explorations took me to the next 'urbanización' up the coast, which was a remarkably ugly place.
Back at Bertie, with the promise of more rain to come, it was tempting to stay put. The car park was nice and immediately adjacent were some good and clean public toilets. The argument against was that, if it stayed dry, there wasn't anything to do in the immediate vicinity bar walking up and down the prom, which we'd both done several times already.
So, to Onda was the decision made, a journey of just under 50km. We arrived here to find just one space free in the relatively new Aire, next to another British van.
Our neighbours soon returned from their bike ride and whilst Steve undertook an impressive level of bike cleaning and maintenance (genuinely, it made me resolve to learn a bit on the subject), we had a chat with them. Finally, with the female contingent shivering and with hunger setting in we retreated to our respective vans. A few minutes later the rain started. We did nothing for the rest of the day*.
The rain continued all through the night. The bad news about this is that we awoke today to find that Bertie has sprung a leak. Initially we thought the point of ingress must be around the cable entry gland of the solar panel, but a head-through-skylight investigation has ruled that out. That, unfortunately, means that it's his rear seam, which is rather more significant an issue. He's booked in for his water ingress inspection at the end of next week, and still has 10 months left on his damp warranty.
It's 1430 as I'm typing this (early for a blog post, but we'll not be doing anything else today) and it still hasn't stopped raining. However, we came to Onda to see the place, so we resolved to do a tour of the old town regardless. The decision was helped by the fact that I'd plotted the recommended tour route (with 10 points of interest) as being only 1.3km long (albeit it was that distance again each way to/from the old town).
In waterproof jackets and trousers, off we went. I'll give us full marks for intention, but the weather was such that our efforts were half-hearted. By the time I'd even navigated us to the old town my hands were wet and cold, and my phone was not happy about being operated from inside a wet plastic bag. Thus, instead of reading all the information on the town's website about each point of interest, we quickly read the precis of displayed on multi-lingual boards at each point, then moved on. Our intended trip to the castle was abandoned completely.
Castle
Weather: Rain, with some thunder all night on Saturday, then mainly dry on Sunday until mid-afternoon, since when it has not stopped raining. Mid-teens yesterday, but just 10 degrees when out and about this morning.
It was a grey morning yesterday, but at least the rain stopped as we stepped out of the door for our runs. After 27km on Saturday, my legs were complaining a little at the end of yesterday's 11km, which was partially due to having gone faster than was sensible (counter-productive when the session is based on time, not distance). My explorations took me to the next 'urbanización' up the coast, which was a remarkably ugly place.
Back at Bertie, with the promise of more rain to come, it was tempting to stay put. The car park was nice and immediately adjacent were some good and clean public toilets. The argument against was that, if it stayed dry, there wasn't anything to do in the immediate vicinity bar walking up and down the prom, which we'd both done several times already.
So, to Onda was the decision made, a journey of just under 50km. We arrived here to find just one space free in the relatively new Aire, next to another British van.
Our neighbours soon returned from their bike ride and whilst Steve undertook an impressive level of bike cleaning and maintenance (genuinely, it made me resolve to learn a bit on the subject), we had a chat with them. Finally, with the female contingent shivering and with hunger setting in we retreated to our respective vans. A few minutes later the rain started. We did nothing for the rest of the day*.
The rain continued all through the night. The bad news about this is that we awoke today to find that Bertie has sprung a leak. Initially we thought the point of ingress must be around the cable entry gland of the solar panel, but a head-through-skylight investigation has ruled that out. That, unfortunately, means that it's his rear seam, which is rather more significant an issue. He's booked in for his water ingress inspection at the end of next week, and still has 10 months left on his damp warranty.
It's 1430 as I'm typing this (early for a blog post, but we'll not be doing anything else today) and it still hasn't stopped raining. However, we came to Onda to see the place, so we resolved to do a tour of the old town regardless. The decision was helped by the fact that I'd plotted the recommended tour route (with 10 points of interest) as being only 1.3km long (albeit it was that distance again each way to/from the old town).
In waterproof jackets and trousers, off we went. I'll give us full marks for intention, but the weather was such that our efforts were half-hearted. By the time I'd even navigated us to the old town my hands were wet and cold, and my phone was not happy about being operated from inside a wet plastic bag. Thus, instead of reading all the information on the town's website about each point of interest, we quickly read the precis of displayed on multi-lingual boards at each point, then moved on. Our intended trip to the castle was abandoned completely.
We nearly stepped into a bakery/café on our way back through the town but decided it looked too busy for sitting indoors. We did step into a quiet establishment further up the road, only to find their display cabinets empty bar a couple of sad-looking rolls. We dithered, then went back to the first place, by which time it was relatively quiet. It was a good call: the best coffee we've had yet on this trip (and Spanish coffee is generally good anyway).
We weren't sure if the other customer's stared at us because we're obviously foreign, or because we'd chosen such an odd selection for what they considered to be breakfast, but for us was a cross between elevenses and an early lunch.
The array of goodies on display was so extensive that we couldn't resist sampling another item before we left.
Neither of us was keen on the spinach and egg pie. Really nice pastry, but the filling was too spinachy, and the eggs rubbery. Still managed to finish it, mind.
Having dripped all over their floor and paid the bill (€7.80**), we pulled our horribly-wet jackets back on and made our way out into the rain.
Tomorrow is forecast to be nicer. I do hope that proves to be true!
(*This clearly isn't true. We didn't just lie and stare into space for the rest of the day, but we didn't do anything noteworthy, unless you count watching a whole film. It's rare that I get through a whole film in one day. Dr Sleep, if you're curious as to what it was.
**The exchange rate today is at its highest since the summer of 2015. It was 1.44:1 then; today it's 1.21:1. That made breakfast feel cheaper, but a false feeling, as we paid using cash that we got out of the bank in Feburary 2020, probably at an exchange rate of 1.10:1)
I do like the fact that using your exact location I can see Bertie’s parking place!
ReplyDeleteNow, some more random suggestions. If you’re entering France along the coast, then you before you leave Spain you might want to stop off in Roses – where there’s an aire almost on the beach https://autocaravaningparkroses.com/en From here you could explore the peninsular – Cap de Creus is the end-point of the GR11 (not much there, only a lighthouse and a bar, but they might let you park up). Just outside Cadaque (in Port Ligaty) is Salvador Dali’s house, which has a giant egg on the roof, la la. Continuing north you come to El Port de la Selva. I once got holed up there for three days in a windstorm. A little inland the restored Sant Pere de Rodes is well worth a visit. https://www.elportdelaselva.cat/en/tourism/what-to-visit/sant-pere-de-rodes-monastery/
On the way up, I’ve always enjoyed Girona – the Museum of Art https://museuart.cat/en/home/ has some outstanding material. Right next door is the cathedral – an extraordinary piece of architecture/engineering. The nave is 23 metres in width! And visit the shrine to St Veronica – she is absolutely beautiful and looks like she’s just stepped in from the street.
If you’ve time once in France, you could do worse than travel slightly inland to Villefranche-de-Conflent. (about 40km west of Perpignan). There’s cheap aire there right at the station! https://park4night.com/fr/lieu/7347/parking-camping-car-jour-et-nuit/villefranche-de-conflent-168-garrigue-d%27en-potis/france/pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9es-orientales
From here you can take the very wonderful Le Train Jaune https://www.pyrenees-cerdagne.com/en/le-train-jaune-english If the weather is in yr favour sit on the left-hand side going up for views of the high mountains that form the border massif. And instead of going to the end of the line, get off at Bourg Madame and walk across the border to Puigcerda for lunch. I’d strongly recommend Restaurant Kennedy. It’s only a 20 minute walk or so from Bourg Madame to the centre of Puigcerda.
Have fun!
So many options, so little time! However, we always appreciate your tips and those that we don't follow on this occasion will be noted for the future.
DeleteWe visited Girona in 2016 and liked the place so much that we ended up visiting twice, spending a total of 3 nights in the town car park and one night just outside. The art museum featured in our visit, but not the inside of the cathedral. Next time...
We also spent a night in Roses on that trip, but didn't really see the place, so had it pencilled in for this trip. The problem was that I couldn't find anywhere satisfactory to stay. Thanks to you pointing out the Aire (not sure how I missed it - now I look, it's clearly marked on Park4Night), it's back on the agenda.
When you mentioned an egg on a roof, I thought we must have been to Cadaque, even though I didn't recognise the name. It turns out I was thinking of the Dali museum at Figueres.
In France we have Carcassone on the agenda as our last stop of interest on this trip before we make our way to Belgium. You suggested it to us in 2016, but we didn't see your comment until we'd already passed it by - so, better late than never, we'll finally get there next week.
I'm impressed at your persistence and application in scoffing all that food.
ReplyDeleteWait until you see what we managed to put away today!
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