Forts and Castles

Forts and Castles

Friday 7th We changed our plans yet again today! We needed services and some shopping so drove a kilometre or so to the Intermarche supermarket on the edge of Elvas. Bless them for providing free motorhome services. Having dropped waste and refilled the water tank we then headed for Pingo Doce supermarket next door as we had not had a proper look around this chain before. The original plan was to do all this and then go to the big

Elvas

Elvas

Wednesday morning at Monsaraz was just as misty as the previous few days however today there was also a brisk northerly breeze that blew the mist away well before 10am. Thus we were able to leave Monsaraz in bright sunshine which meant we could enjoy the views as we dropped down from the hill and started north. First job was to empty the waste tanks at the service area at the next village. The water tank was still 3/4 full

Monsaraz and misty mornings

Monsaraz and misty mornings

We had three nights at Mértola which is our comfortable limit without services. We can stretch to four nights but that can get a bit whiffy! The mornings have been very misty until quite late. In fact this morning the mist did not clear until midday. Our route away from Mértola on Monday morning took us across the high viaduct and we stopped at the viewpoint on the far side hoping to get some good views back but even at

Away from the Algarve

Away from the Algarve

On Wednesday morning we were up bright and early (the alarm was set for 7am!) in order to get up, have breakfast and service Bertie in time to be rolling up the road by 08:30. All went perfectly to plan and we paid for our short stay and the power used. We arrived at Carlos Rita’s yard in plenty of time and pulled up in front to wait for them to open up.  As we waited to we spotted Margaret

Back to Faro

Back to Faro

Not a great deal to report for the last two days! You are probably wondering why I am writing a blog post in that case but we are parked in a paid for aire with power to spare (thanks to electric hook up) and some spare time. The next few days may be short of both those resources. We left Sagres on Monday morning and headed back to Lagos via some quite minor roads, dropping down to the seaside at

Across the Algarve

Across the Algarve

We did not visit the castle at Castro Marim in the end. The forecast was not good and on balance we decided it was better to press on to the repair shop at Quelfes near Faro and find out if Pedro could fix our broken door hinge for us. We had been warned that the Algarve would be busy and full of motorhomes. There are certainly a lot at Castro Marim and we had only just crossed the border! So

Cadiz and on to Portugal

Cadiz and on to Portugal

In the end we stayed two nights in Cadiz. That is despite the late night serenade from the Cadiz Brass Band who held a major rehearsal for all 100 players right beside the car park from 9pm to 11pm both nights! We think this zeal is to do with the fact that the Cadiz Carnival is coming up quite soon and they are taking part. To be fair they did make a really good sound albeit quite unlike a UK

Turning North

Turning North

I have let things slide a bit and I am now a few days behind. It has been a busy few days with travelling, sight seeing and catching up with friends. After we left Torremolinos we drove along the coast road (mainly the N340) along the Costa Del Sol. This is a narrow strip of land wedged between the sea and the mountains and most of this section is built up. The beaches looked nice but the main road is

Weird Rocks and Huge Dolmens

Weird Rocks and Huge Dolmens

After much thought and discussion the other night we came up with our master plan! We need another day in Antequera. We also sketched out a plan for the rest of the trip. We know we want to be home around 20th March and that means a ferry crossing around 10th or 11th March (best price determines that nearer the time). This in turn means we want to be in France around the end of February to allow 2 weeks

Antequera

Antequera

We had two nights at Marine del Este and a lovely quiet and WARM day between. It was really nice doing very little in such beautiful surroundings and having nice warm nights too. The car park got quite busy with scuba diving groups during the mornings (from 8am!) but they left mid afternoon. The second night there were six vans parked up including several old British vans with a large number of small children between them. They were a busy