Aranjuez – The Sumpners Again

February 2, 2020February 17, 2020Uncategorized

Winter Sun Part 3 – Aranjuez to Santa Elena

Thursday 30th

Paul had a particularly long meeting this morning. Very boring for me and also for the boys. I pushed off for a shower – and please – just because I don’t mention it every time, take it as read that we do keep ourselves clean when we are on the road !! Overcast 15C

Eventually the meeting drew to its agonisingly slow close and lunch was on the menu. Time for a trip into Aranjuez – capital of the Las Vegas district of Madrid (cue song!) and a fine upstanding town in its own right. In fact, until 1752, only royalty and the nobility were allowed to dwell in the town.

We stopped at the river just by the campsite, where there is big goose and Muscovy duck enclave. I drifted off to sleep last night listening to them clanking away!

So – to Aranjuez. The Palacio Real – a stunning building – has been, for centuries, the spring residence of the royal family. It almost looks new, to be honest, built in the old style.

Another impressive feature of the town is the Plaza de San Antonio, surrounded by many arches. The large Plaza is also known as “la Mariblanca” – presumably because of the large expanse of compacted white stone that it sits on? The church of San Antonio de Padua sits at the top of the square.

Aranjuez – pronounced Arran-hweth – is also famous for its many gardens, which were built in the style of Versailles. We chose one – the Jardin del Principe – in which to take the boys for a stroll. Unfortunately, no dogs allowed. Bill immediately showed his opinion in a really quite embarrassing manner, which involved collection and a bag for that purpose. Ya git me?

He did it pretty much slap bang in the middle of these gates!

This being Spain, one of the main features of the town is the Plaza de Toros – the bull ring. I was quite curious as to how the Spanish people feel about bull-fighting these days. Research shows that it is a political hot potato and also that there is a generational split, with the older population defending it as a cultural and historic part of the Spanish way of life and the younger generation who feel that it’s time to call it a day. I’m with the youth. This statement perfectly sums it up for me ““It is the 21st century and unthinkable that a spectacle where someone mistreats and kills an animal is officially a cultural event,” said Chesús Yuste, spokesperson for the Parliamentary Association in Defense of Animals (APDDA). “The time for bullfighting has passed.” “

It was soon time for Paul to go back to work – although he had been taking calls all the time we had been out and about. So I and the boys made ourselves comfy, them for a snooze and me to blog. And so we continued until around 7:15.

We had popped in to the on-site restaurant to enquire about a meal earlier and they were happy to serve us outside with the boys, so dinner out tonight.

It was as all a bit of a palaver as they (bless them!) insisted on setting up a table especially for us. We ordered drinks and then the menu arrived. Oddly, we both fancied the same thing. I doubt it’s very traditional Spanish – although they can’t possibly eat Paella every day, surely? It was Chorizo, bacon, egg, and chips! And it was bloody lovely! Served with an excellent mixed salad. Top grub!

Friday 31st

A day I hoped would never come. The day we leave the EU. I have friends who are very pro leaving and I have friends that are very anti leaving and I’m glad we have found a way not to let Brexit affect our friendships. But – for me – today is a very sad day. I hope those that are glad enjoy their celebrations and allow those of us who did not want to leave to be sad without rubbing our noses in it. Que sera sera.

Our lunchtime visit today was the town of Chinchōn – pronounced “Cheenchon“. Chinchon is famous for its Plaza Mayor, surrounded by buildings with wooden balconies. As we edged our way through the narrow twisty streets of this hilltop town, we hoped it would be worth it. And indeed it was. There are bars and restaurants all round the circular plaza and they looked very tempting. We parked next to another guy in the centre of the “square” and all seemed fine and then suddenly, out popped a policeman, with his pad. We apologised in English and he let us off. No parking there. Phew. I managed to bash off a couple of pics though.

As we were leaving we saw a sign for the Laguna de Don Juan. I quickly looked it up and it seemed like the perfect place to give the boys a good run off lead.

We turned off the main road, following the sign posts, onto a dodgy looking track – full of potholes. Progress was slow but we eventually arrived at the viewing point. I guess you could say it was much like Farlington marsh?

The first thing we saw was a couple of those big raptors – not sure which kind, but big. And impossible to photograph. How do those BBC guys do it?Wait for hours I guess.

The boys had a really nice game of chase and we took a few photos and then popped them, panting and watered, back in the car for the journey home to the campsite.

We took a quick detour on the way home, lured by the price of gazoile. At just under a pound for a litre, it was the cheapest we’d yet seen.

When we arrived back at the site, it was evident that more people had arrived – presumably for the weekend? But we had a lovely solitary spot with loads of vacant pitches all around us. Until now. Loads of empty spots and what had happened? Someone had sited themselves immediately next door. Why do people do that?

Paul returned to his work while I did a bit of tidying up in preparation for the off tomorrow morning.

Then it was the weekend!!! No more work for a couple of days – although in reality I sure there will be some. In celebration we decide to take the boys out on the bikes. We had spotted an area we could cycle to and then let them off the lead to cycle alongside us.

Starting off was a bit iffy. What with Bill breaking his leg and preparations for the move, we had pretty much not managed to do any cycling with them since they were very small in the lovely Forest of Dean. But they eventually got it and we rode happily to the spot where we felt it would be OK to let them off. They loved it! Haring up and down and chasing and fighting. You could see the joy on their faces – and probably on ours too. Lets hope this is the first of many?

The evening brought supper and stowing stuff in their proper places and a bit of telly too. We have started re-watching Sharpe, which we are thoroughly enjoying and are just plunging in to The Stranger, a new Netflix series. Pastures new and an earlyish start await us tomorrow. Outside the EU……….

Sat 1st Feb

Since our next destination was a relatively short drive, we set off a little later than usual at about 08:40. Our route to the motorway took us straight through town, which was interesting! Driving slowly along the cobbled streets round the Plaza attracted quite a queue of traffic behind us. It was overcast and around 12C as we set off.

Our route took us past many classic windmills and there seems to be a Quixotic flavour to the area, with lots of cartoons of the famous Don and his sidekick.

We made our first stop at around 10:00 – just a quick coffee stop, as the boys didn’t seem interested in rousing themselves from their slumbers. It may be whimsical, but as you drive along, you quite often see a Spanish Bull, by the side of the road. We are not really sure why they are there, but they are quite attractive and leave you in no doubt that you are in Spain.

The A4 or Autovia del Sûr enters the Despeñaperros National Park via a series of dramatic viaducts and tunnels. We loved it – even though we were in low clouds which marred the view a little.

Pretty soon we saw the turn off for Santa Elena, home of our campsite Camping Despenaperros – for the next three nights. In the instructions provided to help you find the campsite, it warns you that access is tricky. And by gum it is!!! Challenging for anyone except the cool-as-a-cucumber Mr Sumpner. He took it nice and slow and triumphed again.

We checked in and were allocated our pitch, so off we went, promising to return with our passports at 1 pm.

The pitch was pretty level but we had more fun with the flipping electricity again. It wasn’t too long though, before but we had power, thanks to the persistent and patient Sumps.

Note that the water taps are very low to the ground, making it rather difficult to fill the water barrel. It was done more easily at the facilities block but renders null the convenience of having a tap in each pitch.

The site is in a wood overlooking olive groves and is very quiet indeed with lots of birds to watch. We think we are going to like it here.

I popped back with the passports at the agreed time and had a very long wait. Senor had computer troubles. Quite a queue had built up by the time we got sorted!

We had a spot of lunch and then went out exploring. Reader – I know you will find this a little hard to comprehend, but we had not had the foresight to provision ourselves for a trip into such a wilderness! Please don’t panic or contact the Red Cross, we WILL be OK, although our meals may have an unusual composition! Not that there is anything wrong with sardines in tomato sauce and Ambrosia creamed rice? We thought we’d try and find some odds and ends at a supermarket, just in case.

I digress. As if we had not had enough of driving, we went for a drive in the park. Paul wanted to seek out the old, pre-Autopista road through the park, which we soon found and were very swiftly rewarded with some stunning views.

We stopped at a viewpoint and climbed up to the top of the lookout to get pictures of the “Los Órganos Natural Monument”, which is a rock shaped – they say – like a giant church organ. Wind and rain have eroded the cliffs, resulting in spectacular scenery, with the appearance of giant vertical pipes.

As we stood there and marvelled, a (I think it can only have been) shot rang out. All the raptors (which we think were Griffon Vultures) were actually nestling and possibly nesting in the nooks and crannies in the cliffs took flight! What an amazing sight. And they had just settled when another shot came and they were spooked again. As ever, our pics just don’t do it justice.

The road we had chosen led us back – by chance I’d say – to Santa Elena and our van, where we all had a jolly nice siesta. And found the supermarket – closed.

After our siesta and a cuppa, it was ablutions all round – including a quick haircut for Mr S and then we went out in search of dinner. On the way out of town we spotted this! We think it’s a nightclub, maybe? Couldn’t resist the pic!

We dined at Restaurante Asadore Navas de Talosa in La Carolina, the next town up the valley. And very nice it was too. we had a delicious starter of some potato, onion, cheese and egg with green peppers. Yes – that’s right. Green peppers – and they were actually not bad. Those who know me well know that I abhor and detest peppers of all colours. But these hardly tasted like peppers at all! We had eaten most of it before I thought to take a pic but here are the remains!

This was followed by a pork steak in a roquefort sauce for me and a kind of chicken/ham/cheese escalope for Pablo. We ate well for around £20 per head including drinks and coffee, and then returned to the van, ready for bed.

PS – I said it was quiet – I hadn’t allowed for a house party who were playing their music VERY LOUDLY INDEED until gone midnight. It didn’t stop us falling asleep very quickly!

Miles travelled: Day 130 / Cumulative 1315

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January 30, 2020February 17, 2020Uncategorized

Winter Sun Part 2 – Bordeaux to Aranjuez

Monday 27th January

Moving day. We were up and at it and tip-toeing around so as not to disturb other campers. We left the site at just gone 08:00.. Good preparation pays off!

Today we shall mostly be seeing trees, as we will be passing through the vast Forest of Landes which, at 3900 sq miles, is the largest man-made forest in Western Europe. To put it into perspective, our own New Forest is a mere 219 sq miles. It is huge!

Two hours of trees on a very straight road can be a little tedious, so we had a quiz. Each round had 7 questions and a boiled sweet was awarded each time we scored 7/7. Reader – the excitement was almost unbearable!

It was 13C and a fairly dull day. and then, just after 10:00.we got our first glimpse of the Pyrenees. More excitement. We last saw them back in 2011, when we holidayed there and saw a stage of the Tour de France.

We passed into Spain at around 10:45 and then it was time for our first stop, near San Sebastián. We immediately noticed that the Autservicios look somehow a little more tired than those in France. The roads are – so far – not as good either. Just two lanes mostly.

But the service station gave me my first challenge of the day. I can cope with just about any situation in France, but my Spanish is very limited. I ordered two coffees with milk to take away – and got them!!! Chuffed with that small victory.

We noticed that all the road signs were in Basque and all the place names too. It’s an interesting and quite mysterious language being a “language isolate” which is to say it has no roots in any other European language currently spoken. Visually, it is language with lots of x-es and zeds. I’ve never actually heard it spoken.

I’ve saved you the bother – this is a light-hearted video which illustrates just how different it is:

For the next couple of hours we drove through what I’d describe as the Spanish equivalent of Dartmoor. It started off quite scenically, with elegant bridges spanning ravines and gorges and lots of tunnels both short and long. But it soon became quite desolate plains-type country. And pretty wet and windy too. Scarily so if you’re me!! It was a bit of a white knuckle ride for me and my over-active imagination! I wondered whether we were on those plains in Spain where the rain mainly stays?

We stopped again for a leg stretch and a not very appetising roll at about 13:45 and then arrived at our destination – Camping Fuentes Blancos – in Burgos.

This is probably the most open of the “open all year” sites we have encountered, with a chap clearly on duty in reception, a shop and even a little restaurant. Quite a few units arrived after us.

Burgos is the ancient capital of Castile and the site is located on the banks of the River Arlanza – although sadly you can’t see it from the site.

We had arrived about 3pm and it was all a bit muddy. The pitches were on grass so we drove round for a while until we found a spot to our liking. The site looks much like a campsite in Winter, really, despite all the itinerants like us!

Before we finally pitched, Paul used his home-made European test-lead.

We had a choice of four electric connectors and the first one lit up two lights – meaning it wasn’t earthed. That’s apparently A BAD THING and potentially dangerous – normally the earth is there to protect electrical stuff. Or something ….

Anyway – no harm done, the next he tried was fine. We soon had the van warm and cosy and Paul was very quickly working away while I wrote most of this. Dinner was Spaggy Bog left over from yesterday. Paul worked all evening while I watched some telly.

We are sited next to a couple of tents. Rather them than me in this weather! Clearly they couldn’t sleep as – while we were dozing off that night – they were talking very loudly and animatedly. I woke up at 12:30 and they we’re still at it. I made a mental note to learn the Spanish for “please be quiet” – or similar. I must ask my friend Begoña for an apt colloquial phrase! Buenas noches a todos.

Miles travelled: Day 270 / Cumulative 1005

Tuesday 28th

Another rest day – another lie in. For some. Well – one. Yes! Me!! It was me!! Paul, bless him, got up very quietly and got his nose to the grindstone straight away while I slumbered. I eventually arose and had breakfast. Suitably restored, I managed a little light blogging.

Eventually, Paul having worked for a good five hours , broke off for an extended lunch break. We drove into Burgos with the express intention of a visit to Burgos Cathedral – especially as it has a UNESCO World Heritage status.

Immediately we clapped eyes on it we could see why. I had looked on line and thought it looked big but – in real life – it is pretty amazing. Building commeneced in 1221, following the French Gothic style. We couldn’t go inside because of our canine encumbrance (we wouldn’t be without them!) so walked round the perimeter. The Cathedral’s full name is long and richly deserved. It is the Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos. Oh yes.

We saw our old friend the pélérin (pilgrim) again or – as we are in Spain, the peregrino. We would be parting company with him from today as his next stop is León to the West and we are heading South tomorrow.

There was an accordion player in one of the Archways – playing Jingle Bells! I suppose it’s actually about a sleigh ride and yet – in our culture – inextricably linked with Christmas, so seemed a bit out of place.

We drove up to the top of the hill, where there was a viewpoint. I had a chat with DIL2B while Paul walked the boys and then we stopped at the viewpoint for a pretty good overview of the town.

We popped into our Mercadona supermarket (or rather I did) to get some fresh bread and some fruit for another late lunch and then back to the van, where Paul went back to work and I prepared lunch.

He worked on until around 8 and then we both agreed we were still too full for supper so he had cheese and biscuits and I had a banarnie sarnie. Haven’t had one for years and just fancied it. It was yummers.

We watched the end of the movie we had started a couple of (k)nights ago. The King – the story of Henry Vs ascent to the throne and Agincourt. Very realistic (one imagines) battle scene. Accounts of the battle say the five thousand longbowmen, each loosing fifteen arrows a minute, let fly a total of seventy five thousand arrows in one minute: an arrow storm that was said to have blocked out the light of the sun. It was a pretty good movie.

As we had driven in to town yesterday, we had admired the streetlights, which look like they are encased within some sort of transparent gloop. Very attractive we thought.

My quick review of the site. is that we probably did not see it at its best but it’s a useful stopping point. The facilities are good (seats and loo-roll) They are very clean and warm, too. There is a handy shop for basics but also big Mercadona in town. We did not try the restaurant as it was not dog friendly. In normal circumstances we’d probably be happy to leave them in their crates in the car, so that we could dine without them, but because they are spending quite a lot of time in them as we travel, it just does not seem fair to bung them in there, just for our convenience.

29th Jan

Heading South today. We were off just after 8 – as usual. It was grey and overcast and 8C as we left Burgos.

The Spanish interior is big, red and scrubby. Not sure it’s quite what we expected? I kept thinking about how Sharpe and his men would have found it. Especially in summer. I imagine it’s baking hot, with very little shade or cover.

As we drove along, some guy overtook us, waving at us and flashing his lights at us. We’ve heard horror stories of people pulling over and then getting robbed, so we drove on. You can see how people get caught out. It does feel a bit weird ignoring it, but was probably just that he was happy to see us because we are English!Might be a different story on Friday?

We pulled off for 2nd breakfast just before 10, near Milagro. Paul checked the van over (nothing untoward) and walked the boys while I went to fetch the refreshments. I’ve noticed already how much cheaper it is than in France.

We saw a couple of big birds of prey. One flew right over us, talons out. Really impressive. I though Golden Eagle but Paul thought Condor. We’ll never know – but either is possible round these parts.

As we continued our journey further South, we glimpsed some snow on some of the mountain tops. Happy to see it but happier still not to be in it!! Although one hears that the Spanish have it sorted and soon have the snow-ploughs out. We spotted a couple of areas where they shepherd you off the motorway if snow strikes.

It was as at his point that we experienced what we now call “a Gabby Garmin detour”. We were cruising happily along the road when she told us to leave at the next exit. Taken by surprise we obeyed, although I was quickly checking with our other navigation system, Via Michelin, which allows you to specify that you are towing.

Gabby was playing tricks, as she often does. She gets you off a main road, onto a lesser road and then – a little further on – returns you to the same road you were hitherto travelling. For no apparent reason!

This detour was along a quite twisty minor road with a narrow bridge. Luckily, no-one else was around and we were soon back on the Autopista. Fortunately, Micky Michelin saved us going down what was little more than a track by suggesting a different route to that which Gabby had suggested – although we would definitely have balked at taking it. See pics below!

Very soon, we were on the outskirts of Madrid and the traffic started hotting up. I am such a wuss. And I read and retain too much. I’d read a few articles about how crazy it was (although surely nothing could be worse than Palermo!). My heart was in my mouth as we journeyed through the city. The Motorway plunges straight through the heart of Madrid and it’s pretty confusing. And it seems that white van man (or le hombre de la furgoneta blanca!) also lives in Spain! But good old Paul! He is such a trooper. Cool, calm and collected, he powered through – although we did have both navigation systems running in tandem, just in case Gabby started any of her monkey business!

Pretty soon we were seeing signs for Aranjuez and then for our stopover for the next three nights – Camping International of Aranjuez. It was brighter, with hints of blue sky as we pitched up and the temperature was in the mid to high teens. Lovely. It’s the first time since we came away that we haven’t had the heating on, although it’ll probably go on tonight.

We needed some chicken so we popped to Mercadona and got a bit lost in what looked like a failed commercial centre project of some sort. Lots of half-built and abandoned buildings, complete with massive car park, all laid out but overgrown and cordoned off. There was a large hotel, which did seem to be open and and a large Casino again open, but half the lights on the frontage out. It all looked very sad indeed – presumably a victim of the big Spanish Depression? It looked about the right age.

Hi from our well travelled boys! Ted L and Bill R

Miles travelled: Day 180 / Cumulative 1185

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