Spain - Santander to Alicante

We started our trip to Spain in the New Forest in England! We planned an overnight stop prior to boarding the ferry and this gave us the benefit almost a days exploring prior to a 17:00 ferry. In our meanderings we came across some “hairy cows” – there are actually 3 – if you look closely one is hiding behind a tree.

We were not far from Beaulieu which is an enormous car museum. Cramming what should have been a day trip into 2 hours was a challenge. The displays were varied from Penny Farthings being chased by “Rossers”, to a display of many of the Top Gear antics that had not gone “quite as well as expected” 

to an area dedicated to James Bond. This Aston Martin entered the Guinness book of records when it completed 7 consecutive rolls when Bond had to avoid the prone figure of Vesper in Casino Royale. (The car was a right off but it was certainly solid enough to enable Bond to walk away.)

We then got on our next cruise from Portsmouth to Santander. As this is 24 hours it is treated as a cruise rather than a ferry (well in my books). We attended a talk on what we might see and after lunch spotted these two Fin whales and several striped dolphins. The latter really showed off with many leaping right out of the water.

We had not been to Santander before. Its coastline is spectacular and attracted boats of all shapes and sizes.

After setting up the ‘van we went for a walk up to the local lighthouse (the furthest one on the earlier picture). The end of day light was perfect – just a shame that all that wonderful ground was open to the public rather than being dedicated to golf!

We went for a walk around the nearby Palacio de la Magdalena (on the headland in the above photo). There were seals, penguins and displays on the way up. While the view down the path to the earlier lighthouse reminded us that we had strolled away all of the evening and that we were already melding with the Spaniards way of life and would not be having dinner before 9:00.

We were joined on this trip by our good friends from Sydney Jo and Graham Slip. During our journey to Madrid Graham found our lunch spot in Palencia. The town is part of the large Canal de Castilla which was used to transport wheat but is now mainly used for irrigation.

The Santa Iglesia Catedral in the centre of town had a wonderfully ornate stone entrance.

  as well as a magnificent organ.

We set up the ‘van at El Escorial where we stayed a couple of years ago. We set of for Madrid and made our way to the Plaza Mayor for a long lunch.

We sat down at 14:00 and after several bottles of wine (Helen just kept ordering) and great food,  could still be found at 17:00 waiting for Jo to get the apricots out of the potent liqueur (Grappa at 40 - 60%!) that our very professional and funny waiter had presented us with at the end of the meal.

After that introduction to Madrid all we were really good for was an open top bus tour. This was a lot of fun and we saw many of the sites that we visited in 2010 (see Sept 2010 blog). One notable addition was the railway station.

We booked to repeat a highlight from our last visit – namely a meal at Casino Madrid (where Royal Canberra has reciprocal rights). It is a sensational old building in the centre of town which impressed Jo and Graham as much as it had us during our last visit.

We also succumbed to the roof top restaurant degustation (or tastings as the menu described it). Although this was a repeat experience none of the 22 courses were the same as last time. We did however enjoy the perfect service of the same waiter as well as the ambience and rooftop views of the surrounding building’s sculptures. This really is RCGC’s best kept secret.

This trip we made time to visit El Escorial. The winter palace is here and was founded by Paul II (1527 – 1598). It is huge with many discrete themes in addition to paintings including; construction models and tools used during construction, a Parthenon with huge casks for all the royal families (there is space for the current King), a garden with numerous clipped hedges and a hall for playing and education the children including sophisticated sun dials, a library and an enormous basilica. Unfortunately no internal photography was allowed but this at least gives an appreciation of the size.

After all that activity we travelled to Javea (just North of Alicante) to spend a few days chilling out with some old Dubai friends John and Maureen Bowen. This enable Jo and Graham to test their ‘van knowledge at the caravan site while we were away which they did with aplomb. The area is very scenic and 24°C was "just perfect" for Helen.

We spent some time exploring the area with our local guides. The town is overlooked by old windmills that have been refurbished by some of the unemployed. They have done a good job.

The view from J & M’s balcony is brilliant and as with many mountains changes constantly over the course of the day.

We also visited Denia which is a town to the North with a large harbour which hosts the Ibiza ferry. It is a large beast of a ship which remarkably drove at almost full speed into the harbour generating an enormous wake. It certainly left many small (and more attractive) boats bouncing around.

However, none of this phased the girls.

Our last night with J&B started with an aperitif on the balcony with J & G joining in the fun. We then went into town (the XC90 7 seats was useful) and had a great Thai meal.

On our return (close to midnight) we were fortunate to see their “Queen of the night” in full bloom. This remarkable flower only opens for one night and then dies. There were only 3 flowers on the plant and an earlier dying bloom is to one side.

We had a great time with J & B and it was good to catch up with all there news as well as have some down time. They have retired in a beautiful area and this is definitely a slot for a future visit (after a reciprocal visit to Canberra has occurred!!).