Week 31: Adios Espana, ha sido genial!
- Apr 4, 2022
- 14 min read
Our stops this week:
-4 nights at Lo Monte Camping (Near Pilar de la Horadada)
-1 night at Camping Tauro (Near Benicassim)
-1 night at Camping L’Ampolla (Near L’Ampolla)
-1 night at Camping Car Park d’Elne (Near Perpignan-France)
On Monday morning, operation ‘get mother to Spain’ reached its final stage! Steve and I tried to carefully plan as much as we could, to ensure it would be as stress free and as easy as possible for her. This had included booking Special Assistance. When letting mum know, it was shared in a very supportive and considerate manner ‘I’ve booked you special assistance, I think they’ll put you in a wheelchair, I know you’re not going to be happy but just shut up and go with it’. The English side of the plan seemed to go smoothly with my dad and brother getting mum to the airport on time and sending her off-with picture evidence sent to me- that the ‘package’ had been delivered. About an hour and a half later however, Dad, my brother and I were all texting each other ‘Where is mum? Have you heard from her?’. It had all been going so well, now we’d lost her! After texting and phoning mum with no response, I did feel a little worried. What if she had dropped dead at the airport! Thanks to the Ryanair Special Assistance customer service man, mum was tracked and he confirmed she was on the plane-even being able to tell me she was the first on and sat in her seat. He was very professional and seemed unsure what to say when I apologised for wasting his time and stated that ‘I was not happy, and that I would be discussing the matter with my mum, when she arrived and outlining that she needed to use her phone to let us know where she was!’. When waiting at the Arrivals Lounge, I could see that her plane had landed. I then had a text from Dad saying he just received this from mum ‘On the plane and about to take off’. Ohh, so maybe she did text as she got on the plane, but we didn’t get it…or maybe this has gone very wrong as she has arrived in Spain but for a very short visit and is now heading back to the UK… About 40 minutes later I spoke to mum confirming she was at Alicante airport but still on the plane. They had nobody to transport those booked for Special Assistance off the plane and were trying to find people. Mum had asked to get off, but they wouldn’t let her. Mmm I sensed a subliminal ‘if you hadn’t made me get Special Assistance I’d be off by now!!!’. About an hour and a half later, mum made it to the Departure Lounge. Bear was very excited to see mum, doing a few classic Bear moves-the jumping vertical pirouette and trying to steal her face mask that she was holding. Mum was shattered and we were all very hungry-the ‘use your phone discussion’ would need to wait.
On the way back from the airport, we stopped by the beach in Playa de Mil Palmeras so we could see the sea-even if windy and overcast.
We grabbed a Burger King on the way back from the airport and mum gave Bear a chip...we never feed him chips or our food. Bear was then a bit obsessed with mum, hoping for more!!
We had decided to hire a car for the week, and it was great to be able to ‘zip’ around. We love Gordon and it’s far easier to travel around Spain than the UK with him but there is still a sense of extra caution, because he is our home as well as our transport. Also, there is still a need to plan more with Gordon: does the car park have a height barrier-will Gordon fit, are there spaces with overhang, is it a busy car park etc. (A bug bear with parking in Spain is when they have the metal sunshade structures in place, as they are too low for parking Gordon in!). We thought a car would make it easier for the four (don’t forget Bear!) of us to get around. Plus, Steve is still scarred by the memory of driving around New Zealand with my mum in a motorhome, this was about 18 years ago. We had been trundling around some mountain roads when he looked in the rear-view mirror at my mum, sat in the back of the motorhome, he then looked at me horrified and whispered, ‘your mum has turned green!’.
Our hire can and Bear in central position!
We were staying at Lo Monte campsite in Gordon and mum hired one of the bungalows. We knew of the site, as Steve and I had visited his parents here about 7 years ago when they hired a bungalow for the Winter and we visited for a few days. 7 years ago, we never imagined we would come back, with our very own Gordon and a Bear, for a gap year! That evening we went for a drink, with Sonja and Bob who were also at Lo Monte for a few days. Ohh and when we were at the bungalow, both Steve and I received a number of messages from mum: ‘At the airport’ ‘Special Assistance good and through security’ ‘On plane and waiting to take off’. Ok, messages had been sent but for some reason they had not gone through.
Mum's bungalow-came with somebody to do the washing up!
The entrance to Lo Monte campsite and noticed this hut also on site when the van was being washed (the campsite even had a jet wash) 'Club Senior'...not sure what happens here but didn't sign mum up.
After a good night’s sleep mum was ‘back up and running’…well walking at reasonable speed and about 30% quicker all round. We had a busy day with visiting a market, some food shopping, lunch out, a walk along the Mar Menor and a visit to Cartagena. It was nice to be back in Cartagena without having to visit the Ford garage. We didn’t take mum to visit Antonio. During the afternoon the sun finally shone brightly, thank goodness the weather was better than it has been during the last two weeks. We also managed to pop into a local vet and get Bear’s nails cut-they were getting long but we have never cut them ourselves before and preferred a professional to do this. The vet managed to fit his highness in and didn’t even charge us.
Cartagena
Ohh no…spoke too soon. It rained all night Tuesday and was grey and drizzly on Wednesday morning. We (mum and I) were really lazy and sat on the sofa in the bungalow watching English TV-I haven’t seen any for months. Sonja brought Martha and Maya (their dogs) round to see mum. Bear zoomed around the room like a loon and then couldn’t control the speed or direction of his paws on the laminate floor, falling onto his head. This is not the type of dog Steve envisioned we would have. The campsite had an indoor heated pool with jacuzzi and sauna, it was a really nice facility, so after Sonja and Bob left we headed out the rest of the rain from here. We just had to first wait for the random water aerobics class to finish, which reception stated twice did not take place and then once finally in the water to work out how to get a swim hat; after the ‘handy man’ entered the pool area in his work boots with cement on a trowel-to point at the tiny writing on the ill placed ‘rule sign’ which stated we had to wear swim hats! The solution was for me to put clothes over a wet costume and trapes back to reception again, to purchase the hats. It was very relaxing after this. In the afternoon we visited the shopping centre and headed out for dinner, eating way too much Indian.
During the afternoon I also managed to get my B-12 injection. It was a relief to be able to get this. I need to have one every 3 months and knew I would need to get this whilst away but was not 100% sure this would be possible. I was astonished how easy this was. I bought the B-12 vials in a pharmacy for 2.28 Euros, (this is for a year’s supply) a bargain!!! I showed them my prescription for this, but they really didn’t care, and I could have bought these without this. We then went to a local medical centre, who registered me and said about coming back on the 7th. Both Steve and I were a little miffed as we would not be in the area on the 7th April…but no, they wanted me to come back 7pm that evening to get the injection. To get the injection would cost nothing. How efficient and easy- I was very impressed and it was far less hassle than my usual UK experience. But it seems the Spanish have a different approach… I took my fleece off so they could get to my arm… but it seems over here the injection has to go into my arse!
Thursday, the sun was back. We headed back to Mar Menor for a bike ride. Steve and I had our bikes and Mum hired an electric trike. There are a lot of electric bikes used in Spain and we also see lots of different people on trikes. Without being rude, we thought a trike would be easier for mum-I’m not sure when she last cycled a bike and to put it subtly, she meets the age criteria for a fourth Covid vaccine! I think mum was indignant at this, grumbling ‘of course she could still ride a bike’. Before the bike shop opened mum practised cycling up and down the road on a Brompton. There was lots of improvement, but she had to focus and meet some deep mediative phase before picking both feet off the floor at the same time to cycle. See, this is why we thought a trike would be ideal. We got the trike and mum then practiced on this. The poor Spanish cycle shop owner seemed very worried about his bike and that maybe mum would run him over. The powerful electric and sensitive steering was an interesting combination-mum kept veering to one side at great speed. Anyway, we found a solution, Mum cycled a heavy bike with the electric turned off. We cycled to the salt marshes and saw the flamingos. Mum was very happy-see… she could still ride a bike! During the afternoon the weather warmed up even more and we found some great local beaches with Bear, Steve and mum having a paddle. It was a perfect afternoon.
Trike practice and instruction then on the open road and flamingo spotting.
Unfortunately, Friday came round way too quickly and mum had to head back to the UK. I also meant to say, mum bought with her some planned and unplanned items. People often ask what do we miss from the UK, well for Steve it’s Marks and Spencer’s Percy Pigs. Mum bought 3 packets with her-I’m not allowed to say how many are left... For me, I was joyous with my delivery…a Marks and Sparks bra. Everyone got their reinforcements! But the best and unknown item, was that mum smuggled a pack of Cornish Vintage Cheddar into Spain, I was not expecting this. I’m still deliberating what I will use this for. My latest plan is to make Marmite Mac and Cheese…however, in the meantime I nibbled a small piece of cheese before going to bed on Friday night!! (I wonder what other items people bring in their luggage and what security think the items are, when bags go through the scanners???)
After dropping mum off at Alicante airport and saying goodbye to the hire car, we picked Gordon up to go back on the road. But would you believe it…the bloody Adblue alarm went off again, after about 10 seconds, we realised this was just because we needed to actually top up the Adblue, nothing to do with a sensor issue-thank goodness. It was a long day’s drive, driving for about another 4 hours, until we reached Camping Tauro. The campsite was in a town with houses and flats surrounding the site, quite different to what we are used to. It was a very quiet site and perfect for a one night ‘pull in’. We also took Bear out for a walk and found another lovely beach.
I forgot to mention that before stopping at the campsite, we went to a car wash Steve had read about. It had platforms either side for trucks and motorhomes to be able to clean their roof. Steve was very very excited about this and wanted to ensure he could finally get rid of the Saharan sand from the top of the van and ensure the solar panels were clean.
Van wash
The next morning, we headed off promptly, as we had a long drive and were also hoping to take Bear to the first ever dog aqua park, it looked amazing!
However, after about an hour and half driving, we decided to find a campsite and stop. We were really struggling with the weather conditions. Although there were bright blue skies, it was really gusty, and the van was constantly being pushed from side to side on the road. We were having to go really slowly, and it felt really precarious. Bear was also not happy and kept rattling his crate door and looking highly stressed-I think because the van was being pushed around so much. We stopped at a service area and found a campsite about 10 minutes away. We are glad we did stop, as the campsite and area were really nice. We walked along the sea front into the town and enjoyed the afternoon.
(Also the main picture shows Bear practising wearing his float coat for the Aqua Park)
Sunday, we were ready. We woke early and got back on the road. The weather was far better, but really cold and we were heading to the dog aqua park. We were going to be there for when it opened, so that hopefully we could get another few hours driving in after the visit and cross into France. (I should have said, we have decided to head to Croatia). We parked up and got ready. Humans can’t swim in the pools with the dogs but can support, Steve was going to do this and put his swim shorts and wet suit boots on. The Go-Pro had already been charged. We had Bear’s float coat and doggy bag, as we headed further north, it was much colder and we were worried he might get too cold in the water so could dry him off quickly and keep him warm using this. We trundled along the path to the entrance but couldn’t find anyone, it was all a bit odd. Steve saw a man across the road and went to ask him. He looked oddly at Steve, then laughed and said it wasn’t open until the Summer. Poor Bear, he still never got to go to the Aqua Park! We pushed on and made it to Perpignan. It was quite sad to leave Spain after 8 weeks…and it was really cold!
Also, I don’t feel we had the warmest French welcome, we were only about 15 km into France and going through a toll pay machine, when a policeman signalled for us to pull over to the side of the road. He had ‘clocked’ us queueing the other side of the toll and seemed to be focused on us. I’m not sure why we were stopped but as we pulled-up I also saw him check our headlights, to make sure we had the correct stickers on to change the beam direction. We passed this. He then asked to see our identification-we gave him our passports-which he checked and then sent us on our way. It’s easier and useful to be able to speak enough French to know what he wanted and to make sure we were ok to carry on.
Things we will miss from Spain
-Petrol prices-Some people had asked whether we would carry on travelling after the petrol prices rose. We said yes, as although frustrating, over the cost of the year it would not be a dramatic difference and still cheaper that travelling or running our house in the UK. The Spanish prices were about 1. 43 (Euros) when we arrived in Spain but rose to 1.98. However they quickly fell again and at the moment the Spanish Government have taken 20 cence a litre of the price to help people with mounting costs. We are now getting petrol for about 1.55 a litre. We made sure we filled up before entering France.
-Warm weather
-Cheap beer-beer from the supermarket is cheaper than buying diet coke! A pack of 12 Estrella is a about 5.50 (Euros). I don’t drink but Steve said it would be rude to not buy beer at this price! We don’t see locals really drunk and falling over but we have seen a number of people at 10.30am/11am having a beer with some food. This seems to be before they head off to work or for a break and have been dressed in overalls or work clothing??
Friendly people
Nice beaches
Tortoises
Mountains-the mountains and landscapes have been stunning in places.
Quiet places-many of the places we have been to have been very quiet and towns have been like ghost towns. I take it they get really busy in the Summer, but I like having the place to ourselves.
Nice roads-No Cornish style roads here. The driving is very easy and relaxed in Spain. We often see no one else on the road. If there is a toll road, it is far cheaper than France. Drivers are not ‘pushy’ and the roads are really wide with hardly any pot holes.
Cost of living-campsites are cheaper than the UK, our petrol and shopping are also cheaper. Especially with hearing a lot on the news about the rising UK cost of living, it has been a relief to live fairly cheaply.
Patatas Bravas
Aioli-the best garlic mayonnaise
Relaxed approach-Everything is easier and stress free. We have not found a ‘rush hour’. The driving is easy, nobody is in a rush, the Spanish don’t seem ruled by rules but are respectful.
Dog friendly
Chinese shops-We are not being culturally inappropriate. In Spain, they have shops called China Bizarre or Chinese Shop or Asia Shop or something similar. Inside they sell everything you could ever imagine in every colour and every size at really reasonable prices. For example a whole aisle of plastic boxes-every size you could imagine, an aisle of pet beds-every colour and size available, an aisle of rolling pins-never knew there could be a need for so many different sizes!
Varied shops-In the UK you tend to get lots of chains and the same shops in each town. We see few chain brands here and it’s nice to see different things is different places.
Free car parking-With two hours parking in Oxford being about £6, free parking is particularly fascinating. I don’t think we’ve paid for parking once since being in Spain!!!
Things we will not miss from Spain
Torrential rain and flooded roads-the roads and infrastructure just can’t cope with the rain. I’m assuming but have not looked into this, that Global Warming is having an impact…I’ll do some research.
Dust and Saharan sand
Rubbish-I’ve not spoken about this in the blog but there is a lot of rubbish in Spain. There can be fields with sofas and chairs dumped in them and plastic and paper rubbish strewn about verges and fields. It is really upsetting to see and ‘on the whole’ very different to what we are used to in the UK. With so much in the news about the danger of plastic for the environment and the risk it poses to marine life-it is even more concerning. I’ve tried to find out a little about why this is and to understand and have briefly summarised here. Spain is not a particularly wealthy country. It’s the 16th richest country in Europe. It is also 2.1 times bigger than the UK. Until 1975 it was still under a dictatorship. It is in some ways therefore still a young country and not particularly wealthy. Although it has excellent roads, many of these (in placed a fairly recent infrastructure) have been built through support by EU grants. To put this into context, under Franco it was illegal for anyone to even have a map of Spain! Having communal facilitates such as having rubbish collection would cost a lot in taxes and there is a lot of area to cover. In Spain there tends to be big bins in local areas that all locals take their rubbish to, then these green bins are collected, rather than a rubbish collection system. I may have mentioned in other blog entries for example, that many campsites don’t have bins. You need to take your rubbish to the nearest green bin. At one campsite this was about a 5-10 minute bike ride away. I think therefore some people don’t bother. Also, we have seen some of the big bins emptied and the man used the truck to tip it all out onto the ground, he then took out certain items and just left the rest on the floor-it then blows around. There doesn’t seem to be recycling centres or centralised locations you can take old furniture, paint, garden equipment etc. to. Also, it seems building regulations and health and safety rules are far fewer and less structured than we have in the UK. We have seen a lot of building work and plastic from woods, old brick and pipes etc. are just left.
Barking dogs-it seems there are many in Spain!
Smelly water
Lack of grass-I know it is hot and therefore the grass doesn’t grow but I have missed grass. Bear also likes grass.
Bear enjoying the patch of grass outside Lo Monte campsite!!!
Just sat and read your blog today and yes I can agree on a lot of good things in Spain especially the roads . I felt safe driving there. I am not used to driving abroad but Spains roads are great and emptyish!
I have sat in the ampthitheatre in Cartagena. Had a similar issue with swimming hats! Borrowed Bob's actually! Stayed in a bungalow like you did. Love your Mum's Trike thinking about getting one myself although not so safe over here as you say.
Croatia here you come!
Annie xx
Ohh no what a typo!!! Only if that’s all we needed for a good week😊😊. The issue now is that when you need the loo, you’ll be chuckling thinking of these messages😂🤣😂🤣
I forgot to say about the cycle routes and lanes…will really miss these about Spain!!! It’s so nice to have well marked out and spacious cycle lanes everywhere you go…plus the Spanish drivers don’t try and drive at you or over you-as they do in the UK. such a pleasant change😊
😀What a thoroughly enjoyable read! I loved the stories about your mum and fully appreciate the joys of the reinforcement from UK gifts!!! Sending love as you continue your travels!
Probably my favourite update so far!! I can see the joy of that van wash! Looking forward to the next one