Scary spiders! We are really here to see one of Spain’s most famous monuments, the Mezquita de Córdoba, the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. If the concept of a Mosque-Cathedral confuses you, it does me, too, but then I am a self-confessed…

Today was a (happily) uneventful drive of 240kms. We had booked a campsite in Villafranca de Córdoba, Camping Albolafia. Our route was largely cross-country and rather unscintillating, though it was better than trudging down a tedious motorway. Most memorable to…

We had overnight rain. The rain was quite light, in that we couldn’t even hear it on the roof of the van. It was, however long-lived, going on from about 02:00 until the so-called morning when a vestige of light…

After five nights (probably one too many) and nearly taking root, we’re leaving Madrigal de la Vera and travelling a modest 175kms or so into Extremadura to Alcuéscar. Francine had had enough of cramped campsites in/near towns and was lusting…

Just outside the entrance to our campsite, Complejo La Mata, is a rocky river, the Garganta de Alardos. There’s not a huge amount of water in it but it is flowing. One of the more appealing aspects for those keen…

We are camped beside a part of one of the routes through to Santiago de Compostela. There are supposedly 200 routes, starting from various places (It says here), seven are popular. I suspect the one by us is one of…

Somehow, in all the messing about with my bicycle mixed in with occasional moments of trying to enjoy a holiday, I seem to have misplaced a set of reading glasses. I’ve got the pouch that should contain them but it’s…

For three days now, the front wheel of my bike has had a flat tyre, though for the middle of those days I hadn’t realised because we were just driving. This sorry episode began as a self inflicted wound caused…

We planned a lunch in one of the restaurants in Madrigal de la Vera. First, however, we needed some shopping. There is a Dia supermarket in Madrigal which is about 1 mile/1.5 km distant. We decided to use Shanks’s Pony…

Today we were leaving Salamanca and heading for Madrigal de la Vera, approximately a 3-hour journey of about 200kms. In between our start and end points lies the Sierra de Gredos, a mountain range which Frodo was going to have…