We’ve done quite a few walking trips (8-ish) in small groups organized by Explore! – up to 16 folks and a leader in each group. Now we’ve been out a couple of times in similar sized groups with the Costa…

I’ve been getting to grips with Spanish painting gear. I tried not to, it has to be said. The internal paint, pure minimalist white, is in pretty good condition and really doesn’t need re-doing. Apart from which, we’ve owned Casa…

After having given our legs a few days to recover from their first and rather strenuous work out with the Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers, we thought we’d try another jaunt that promised to be a little easier. To their credit,…

Our main event during this visit to Spain is to be a 1-week walking tour based in Andalucia. We thought a trial outing up a Spanish mountain might be a good idea, partly to test our legs and partly to…

At the first sensible opportunity, Francine was go up to base camp on the Bernia to comb the edges of the roadside for orchids. Today was that first sensible opportunity so off we set. We parked near the entirely wood-fired…

With a fully sunny day, not just an interlude, I tromped off down to what I regard as the main bit of river flowing through Jalón, in the hope of finding more Spanish dragonflies. Pool #1 produced a cruising Emperor…

I had been hoping that I would see my first Odo of the year in the UK before we left for Spain. However, although there had been reports of sightings from several counties, and not even only the most southern…

There was a highlight of yesterday evening’s slightly stressful approach to Grisel. As we were following Silly Sally Satnav on her route straight through Tarazona, as opposed to making the more sensible left turn, we were delighted to see many…

Some months ago, I’d had difficulty finding ferry crossings to Spain that suited our needs. Even with my 3-month lead time, there were a distressing amount of sailings that seemed to be full. Adjusting our needs slightly, I eventually found…