We are now in Gretna Green on the road to Tain to visit Helen’s Mum & Dad for a week. The journey home, stopping in Santander, was good although we got less sleep on the ferry than on the outward crossing. The highway from Salamanca was excellent, mainly on dual carriageway passing through farmland and the Picos mountains. We found a pleasant campsite close to Santander called “Camping Virgen del Mar” that was close to a hermitage of the same name on a small island just off the coast accessible by a footbridge. There was only three units on the campsite which was well situated, and with lots of sunshine we managed to cycle to the city using backroads and then alongside the sandy beaches on a cycleway to the port and city for lunch.
All is well at home with daffodils in bloom and the garden looking very spring-like; I’ve even had to mow the lawn. We did loose some plants in the greenhouse because of the cold weather whilst we were away but fushias and many geraniums survived, even the “Floral Cascade” cuttings I took just before leaving.
We had 10 players for the U3A Mah Jong session on Monday afternoon which proved pretty testing because of the speed which we play and I managed to forget some of the special hands that Helen and I had been practising. Now we have some more “hands” to remember, including one that looks impossible called “misery”…I think it might be a miserable business trying to collect it and I won’t be trying that one for a while!!
The photos are of the Santander beaches, the hermitage at Virgen del Mar and some statues in Santander alongside the quay and cycle path.

Hola, We’ve been on the move again, first to Conil de la Frontera near the coast staying at Camping Roche (mostly in the rain and wind) and got one good day cycling north to Sancti Petri in sight of Cadiz. The area was not busy, has great long beaches and lots of apartments that we’re sure are busy in the summer but pretty dead at the moment. Left with a camper tour of Cadiz in the rain and then onto Seville (a busy campsite: Vilsom Camping). The drive up from the coast was like travelling through Norfolk, pretty flat and lots of farming, mostly arable, going on. We got the bus into the lively city on Saturday and saw lots of things, probably more than we could take in on one day, but included the Alcazar (photo in gardens), Cathedral, Plaza de Espana (photo), Parks and a stroll alongside the main river, Guadalquivir. Initially wet, the day brightened up and we only got rain on the walk back to the campsite from the bus drop. Certainly a city to revisit as there are many great buildings, sights to see and good places to eat and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere. There were many young people demonstrating, singing their way through the streets in a carnival atmosphere but we couldn’t see what it was all about !! The low point for Helen was a Spanish tea which resembled diluted milk.
The we moved on through more rain to Caceres to a nice campsite set on a hill but a little out of town. There is not much in the immediate neighborhood, a football stadium and industrial estate, but the city is a short bus ride away. After another days rain and Mah Jong practise, we had a sunny day in the old city (see photos, including the White Storks on the towers). This is a World Heritage Site and impressive with buildings in the walled part of the city covering the Roman, Goths, Moors and colonial times, up to the present day. We particularly liked the view from the Cathedral belfry(St Maria)as the old quarters stand above the surrounding lands. This is where I got the close-up shot of the Storks. The museums we visited were all described in Spanish but we could make out bits anyway.
So this will be our last post before returning home via Santander. We will stop over in Salamanca and have a day there to explore some more. Adios

Can you spot the Griffin Vulture on its rock ledge nest. I missed the other adult flying in and out as I'd just put the camera away!

Now moved west and up from the southern coast to Los Alcornocales Natural Park at a campsite near Alcala Los Gazules. The park is green !! and known for its cork oak forests and mountains. Previously we’d stayed on the coast and then up through the mountains to Humilladero where we stayed a couple of days and visited a saline lake, “Laguna de Fuente de Piedre” and saw Flamingos and Black-Winged Stilts a pretty close quarters. On route through Alcornocales we passed through the busy village, Ubrique, (felt like a town) with narrow streets and apparently know for its resistance to the Nationalists during the civil war, and along 42 km of winding road with few stopping places as most of it was Z-bends. However, we found a pleasant place for “Bebidas and Comidas” at the Puerto de Galis with a great log fire and rustic atmosphere to enjoy a lunch break and wait for the rain to slacken. We resisted the “Wild Boer” on the menu this time (still haven’t seen a wild boer). We can’t complain about the rain as this is only the second day we’ve had since we left England and tomorrow is predicted cloudy. The terrain is far greener than we had imagined and we’ve seen flowing rivers for a change from the dry river beds along the eastern side. There are many flowers out and new leaves on some of the trees but it is difficult to recognise many of them apart from the obvious Rosemary and Lavender bushes and extensive Cork Oaks around here. Today (Saturday) we went on a walk to a lookout point at the head of a valley next to the campsite: “Sendero Ruta de Los Molinos”, the route of the millers, a site of an ancient Mill in the valley. We saw lots of Griffin Vultures on route and a place on the cliffs where they were nesting. Helen lost her glasses on route, so we returned to see if we could find them only to return and see them smashed by a car on the road 20 metres from our camp. The weather is fine but we've decided to move to the coast south of Cadiz to see what that area is like before going up to Seville. Adios for now...