Tag: Europe

Portugal & Southern Spain – Day 10 Monday 19th May – The beach & Donana National Park ( again!)

Published on by 2jsworldofadventureLeave a comment

As we were only 10 miles from the coast we decided not to leave the area without at least taking a look. So we headed out of town, not by saddling up our horses!!, but in our 4 wheeled chariot, named Nissan!!!! We headed for Matalascanas. This is a purposed built seaside town, very popular with the Spanish. It is built in a compartmentalised fashion. This reminded us a little of Milton Keynes in layout. We found a non-paying parking space and walked to the sea front… a strangely angled concrete structure seemed to be a focal point of some interest….a bus load of Spaniards seemed intent on having their photo taken in front of it….so we did the same….!!!

It was very blowy so we decided not to frequent the beach and instead decided to investigate the town. Every compartment had a roundabout with a left turn into the area. These areas were named hotel, commercial, residential. Each roundabout had a great sculpture on it…

We retraced our steps back to El Rocio. After a little debate on how and which petrol to put in our chariot we succeeded in filling up for €71 ….petrols about the same price as in UK…but we are hybrid so using less. On returning to the hotel we were flabbergasted at what a difference a day makes….we had seen the town as bustling but on a Monday lunch time all the shops were shut. Walking down on to the square there were no horses or carts at all and only 2 of the street restaurants/cafes were open. We selected the one we had, had the rubber frisbee in rather than the one we had, had ham biltong in !!!!! We both went for paella because it would be soft and my gums are suffering from the hard inedible food. I’d stuck to yogurt and a banana for breakfast, so by now I was hungry. The paella arrived with two tiny shell on shrimps, a small strip of calamari, and quite a lot of chunks of meat which could have been goat, horse, cat!!! Who knows….but it was soft and that and the rice were very tasty.

Siesta time, the internet was down so we snoozed. At 4.00 pm we decided to take the car to the Parks Board office…there was no problem with parking as it really was a ghost town. The shops opposite the hotel had finally opened…

Having got to the Parks board office an hour early we had hoped our tickets would be number 1 giving us the first choice of seats on the bus…but alas they were No.7…. Never mind…. We waited out the hour before boarding the bus. We got a good window seat so we were happy. The bus was much bigger than yesterday’s , it was a 30 seater. Lucia gave us a warm welcome and off we went again. This time we saw far more cows grazing, prior to seeing a big herd of deer. We looked around the eucalyptus tree stumps for both rabbits, who evidently have their burrows there, and Linx, who evidently hunt the rabbits there…..but neither wanted to show them selves to us.

We disembarked at the same spot as yesterday. There was a marked difference in the bird species, in that we didn’t see any flamingo, but large flocks of spoonbills. They always make me laugh. We also saw some grebe, a pair of shovelers, a coot with their young and a lot of black/ glossy ibis.

The next stop was the visitors centre. Here we did see more flamingos, even more glossy Ibis and an array of waterfowl.

Before leaving the carpark we viewed the storks nest and thought we could see 3 chicks and the adult.

Our return trip to El Rocio was punctuated with lots of beautiful bird life…but alas the much desired viewing of a Linx eluded us. We thanked both the driver and Lucia for another great drive which concluded back at the Parks boards office at 9.00 pm. We then headed for a restaurant . The receptionist from the hotel had recommended an eatery near where we were and so we decided to give it a go. Wow…they were so helpful and tried with their English and Google translator. They brought us 5 different fish to choose from….the biggest was a sole so we went for that. The owner brought the scales to the table and weighed it and told us it would be €40 ….we gave him the thumbs up sign and off he went to cook it. Some 20 minutes later he returned with it cooked and proceeded to fillet it at the table. It may not have been very aesthetic but it tasted divine. They served it with frites and an onion and cold potato salad…. Wow it was good to finally eat something soft, tasty, delicious and we recognised what it was…. This was the best restaurant in town and really nice people who wanted to be helpful.

After supper we drove back to our hotel, with comfortably full tummies. Another lovely day…tomorrow we move on to Seville

Portugal & Southern Spain trip – Day 8- Saturday 17th May 2025 – Leaving Portugal and travelling back in time to “The Wild West”.

Published on by 2jsworldofadventureLeave a comment

We were packed up and ready to go by 9.56 precisely!! We bid a fond farewell to our lovely apartment and headed out of town to the N125 then took the A20 to the A22. It was strange watching all the place names on the signs with the last name in capitals- Espanha…Spain…that was where we were heading. We didn’t actually realise that we were in Spain until my phone bleeped and we had gained an hour. We also went over a fairly spectacular bridge so we thought this was probably the two countries land boarders……The road also changed names from the A22 to the A49…..So Spain here we are !!!!

We were fascinated by the storks nests at the top of virtually every pylon. We continued on until junction 50 when we turned onto the A483. The roads were all good, dual carriage ways. We suddenly dropped to a two way road and taking the sign to El Rocio we immediately started driving on quite deep sand. ……wow, wow, wow all the white buildings had wooden rails outside for tethering your horse. We found what we thought was the main Square and stopped to ask the way….we were sent in completely the wrong direction… and had to stop and ask again ….we were sent back to where we had come from…..we found a parking one of the much queued for limited spaces ….but we still couldn’t see our hotel. I went in a saddlery shop and the lady took me outside and said 3 doors down….it was a horse only road….so we left the car where it was and walked the short distance. Sure enough there was our hotel….Hospederia El Cazadero Real.
Checking in was a drawn out process, because, although we later found out most the guests were English speaking, the receptionist didn’t speak any English…..anyway after paying the €260 for 3 nights we were shown to our room. I had requested ground floor and had been told it was an inside room, I had asked if it had a window and was told the window had a buildings view…….ummmm If the window had opened, which it didn’t, it was boarded up, it would have looked at the breakfast serving area. There was a small double bed with about a foot of room each side so you had to walk sideways to get into bed. There was a chair at the bottom of the bed then the very bijou bathroom and shower. To be quite honest the shower was bigger than the rest of the bathroom and almost big enough to sleep in….to say we were disappointed was an understatement….weve not had a room this small before and I can assure you we won’t be having one again !!! But C’est la vive……there was a nice communal outside terrace overlooking the lake/ marshlands and the square where horse rides, and horse and cart trips take place.

All along the street there were Spanish dress shops and traditional riding dress shop, lots of leather wear…the flamenco style dresses were magnificent in all vibrant colours.

We decide to take a wander, to lift our spirits after the shock of our room…my dad would call it a Kyle room- very petite but with everything in the right place!!!!…… only trouble was it didn’t have anything in the right place!!! So we took off on foot, walked around to where the horses were and paid €20 each for a 20 minute horse and cart ride. The driver didn’t speak any English and insisted on smacking and playing loud music on his phone…. But we did see the town of El Rocio in a traditional way.

Our driver seemed to know how to ask for a tip, which we refused. We ate a plate of ham, which was a bit like biltong in the square for lunch. We then walked up to the church. Inside it was extremely ornate, very beautiful.

We decided not to siesta but took a rest on our hotels roof terrace. As supper approached we googled the restaurant the receptionist had given us and off we went…..it may have said 6 minutes walk but in that deep sand it seemed far further. We got there at 7.00 pm to be told it didn’t open until 8.00 pm…..so we walked all the way back and settled for a restaurant near our hotel adjacent to the church. It also didn’t open until 8.00 pm so we sat having a Coke Zero whilst watching the beautifully dressed ladies, in traditional Spanish Flamenco dresses, and their husbands in their boater type hats, coming and going to church. The restaurant owner was very kind and although he spoke no English he happily typed into my Google translator and hey presto we had lightly grilled tuna steaks with chips, followed by cake…..

What an amazing place this is…a real living throw back in time, it has refused to be modernised and their traditional way of life strongly lives on….we feel privileged to be here.

Portugal & Souther Spain trip- Thursday 15th May 2025- Day trip to the west coast.

Published on by 2jsworldofadventureLeave a comment

Our usual slow start to the day was greeted with cloudy skies and lots of cooler wind. A definite day for heading inland and exploring…..it was a Jackson mystery tour. John kindly kept me to slightly larger roads having given me the heebie-jeebies a couple of days ago. We set off towards Lagos before turning towards Lisbon. We then took the road to Aljezur a rather quaint village nestled either side of the river.

John then directed me down a much less used road…there were more filled potholes than actual road…

I did wonder where we were off t. We passed a couple of cars coming the other way, a small shrine, a couple of crofts and a few dilapidated buildings before coming to some mudflats. I hesitantly drove on, and on, and on….after all the road was wide enough to do a 12 point turn!!! So I wasn’t going to have to reverse for kms! We caught up with a car in front who was also hesitantly driving. Suddenly we cane on to a newish piece of two lane tar road…wow…the bone rattling stopped. About a km later we turned a corner and wow…wow…wow….the most magnificent bay of pristine white sand…..and a very well layer out carpark and a cafe with viewing deck…..my goodness what a surprise. There was a surf school giving beginners lessons at the far end of the bay and at the end of the where the cafe sat was some black spiky lava like rock….it reminded us of “Hell” on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean.

It was still very windy and because I needed the toilet we decided to have a Coke Zero in the cafe.

On leaving the cafe we noticed the beautiful wild flowers and the information board.

We retraced our tracks down the bone shaker road back on to the main road and headed towards Sagres. John told me to look out for a right turn to some unpronounceable place in about 11 kms time. Sure enough the sign to Carrapateira appeared. This was a much more touristic place and we followed the sign to “ Pontal”. We passed several car parks and continued to climb up a narrow road. At the top lots of cars were parked. There was a magnificent view of a busy beach below with kite surfing amongst many of the activities in offer. We sat in the car, out of the wind and enjoyed our picnic.

We decided not to take the raised walkway down as coming back looked like activities made for the young and fit!!! Having enjoyed our sightseeing we took the road on to Vila Do Bispo. Enjoying the variety of landscapes.

We then took the road back to Luz which we had travelled previously on our return from Sagres.
Prior to setting off in the morning we had quickly gone to the supermarket to buy some fillet steak…..after about 8 days of eating only fish we decided a treat was needed….2 delicious large fillet steaks for €13.60.. We had these with hot new potatoes, beetroot and salad….followed by Portuguese custard tarts……perfect…..in fact a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Portugal & Southern Spain – Sunday 11th May – Exploring Luz

Published on by 2jsworldofadventureLeave a comment

We were awoken by the sound of the bird chorus…….there is a nest full of Swallows right outside our front door, on top of the security camera…hopefully we’ll be able to share a picture with you over the forthcoming days. On opening the electric shutters the bright blue sunny sky showed a promise of a wonderfully warm day. Feeling ready for breakfast we googled the nearest supermarket and off we went in our spacious chariot. It wasn’t difficult to find and now we understand the basic oneway system we are getting around easily.
We found the Baptista Supermarket with its spacious carpark. For the then and now we bought a couple of croissants and a couple of sausage rolls. We also got yogurts, fruit, bread, butter and marmite for future breakfasts and Portuguese rolls, cheese, ham and salami for lunches, water, Coke Zero and a few yum, yums to snack on…all of which came to €52 …. Our much cheaper. preference to eating out for breakfast and lunch and also the reason we get an apartment rather than always having a hotel room…it’s nice to mix and match a bit…

We took our breakfast down to the beach front and sat eating it overlooking a beach volleyball game and a great sea view backdrop.

With breakfast out of the way we took a leisurely stroll along the promenade. We are surprised how quiet it is. There are a few, mostly British holidaymakers around but pleasantly quiet and uncrowded. We stopped at a bar and had a couple of Coke zeros whilst watching the world go by…..there are no chairs for hire on the beach and quite a few people had their own deck chairs…a short term investment we may need to make. Some brave soles were venturing into what was obviously a very chilly sea. A british cycling club embarrassingly came past ringing their bells and telling walkers to “stand aside”……. How rude…..a few dog walkers met up and a few kids were rock pooling…altogether a wonderful way to spend a morning – people watching…

We returned to the apartment and dropped the food off before driving down the hill to the apartments pool area and taking up residency on sunloungers for an hour or two. A late lunch of ham and cheese rolls was had on our balcony overlooking the village and the sea. WhatsApp calls home brought us up to date with family news before a much needed siesta…… we must have been tired as we woke in-time to go for supper!!! I had researched another restaurant on the sea front. But when we got there it was shut…may be because it was a Sunday or because the season is only just beginning. So we wandered back to A Concha. We were greeted like long lost friends and sat, on our request, inside as the evenings we find a little chilly. The kind owner suggested a fish Cataplana – stew, which was absolutely delicious and huge….we followed it with a mousse and gateau.

We are now quite used to the short drive back up the steep winding, narrow road and retired back to our apartment. We watched some Prime TV and had a few camels of “ Five Crowns” before retiring to bed. A great first full day In Luz, Portugal.

Portugal & Spain 2025. – Day 1- On the way….

Published on by 2jsworldofadventureLeave a comment

We left home at 9.00 am Saturday 10th May 2025. I drove John, the two cases and 2 hand luggage’s to the station. Then I returned home parked the car and walked to the station….not because we’re lazy but because we were trying to preserve our energy for the long airport walks.
We took the 9.36 train to Luton…trust us to chose a day when the line was closed from Luton. Disembarking the train a kind member of the platform staff carried my suitcase up the steps because the train had stopped in the only platform without a lift!!. A quick taxi ride for £15 took us up to Luton Airport.
We soon self checked ourselves and our cases in. Then found seats in the departure lounge for the 2.45 hour wait…..We had lunch early and were astounded that 2 burgers with chips was £21… it’s probably 10+ years since we’ve had a Burger King and it will certainly be more than that, if ever, before we have another. No problem boarding the plane and we fortunately had 3 seats to ourselves…

The flight was uneventful and we seemed to be the only plane arriving at Faro airport. We made our way to Avis car hire. Although we had used Holiday Autos to book the car, it was exactly half the price of booking direct with Avis, even though it was a Avis car. Unfortunatly the Ford Kuga we had booked was no longer stocked and we had to take a brand new Nissan Qashqai with only 2900km on the clock……I had to ask the helpful staff how to get into reverse !!!!! Then we were off and on our way…The A22 is a good road and we tanked it along to Lagos and followed the. Signs to Luz….Only then did our instructions fail us and as we drove around the narrow cobbled streets, we had no idea where we were heading for. Eventually we saw an aging couple taking an early evening walk and we stopped and asked them the way. They had very little English and we have no Portuguese……after a lot of hand gestures they stopped talking and I expectantly got into the back of car….where upon we had a delightful 15 minutes of hand gestures from the back seat…what a gem this couple were. We weren’t actually that far from the apartment complex Baka Da Luz. But the streets are mostly one way due to their narrowness. The couple showed us the reception and got out of the car. I gestured I would drive them back but they gave us the thumbs up and set of back up the hill walking…..We thanked them profusely.
On entering the reception we were greeted by the receptionist… who promptly showed us on a map where our apartment was. It was on the 2 nd floor and the furthest away from all the amenities, down a very steep hill. I asked if there was one closer to which I was told “ you booked and economy, this is the economy apartment” ….Well!! Firstly I booked a one bedroom apartment on booking.com and it was £650 it didn’t say anything about “ economy”….. and secondly I’d really have liked to give the receptionist a lesson in “ welcoming behaviour” !!!
Anyway, we drove to our apartment, knowing that we were going to be driving backwards and forwards as there was no way we were walking backwards and forwards up the hill several times a day. The apartment had a lift, so all good there. It is huge, a nice big lounge, dinning room, master bedroom with en-suite including a bath tub and a separate shower bathroom. The kitchen has everything we need. There is also a spiral stairway with two extra bedrooms up there…..ummmm a one bedroomed apartment with seating, dining table and bedrooms for 6 …..hey Ho it suits us fine.

By now it was 7.30 pm and with growling tummies we drove down to the beach front. What a pleasure to find a carpark and a row of restaurants. We selected “A Concha”, as I had read it was good on trip advisor. We ate inside as it was a tad chilly outside. We both choose fish, John had sea bass and I had rare tuna. We had a Coke Zero each and a rather naughty but extremely nice dessert…all for the princely sum of €56 .

Thankfully our earlier guides had given us a good understanding of the village centre and we managed to navigate the one-way system back to our front door with ease. An early night was required as we both felt the tiredness that airports tend to cause…. A great day to the start of our 18 day adventure.