Susie’s Report No 51 

Hello to All,

 

Italy November 1st, 2016

 

We arrive back in “Ancona”, and head on down to the Italian and French Rivieras. 

 

So, we are on the road again and passing through “Agata Bolognese”, and then in “Modena”, we pass the Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Maserati factories, quite impressive. I wonder if the workers have any sort of staff discount available, I guess that could only be a pipe dream OR dream on ??

 

The next town we stay at is “Fontanellato”, in the middle of the village there is, as usual, a Castle, complete with a moat, and lots of pigeons.

 

We pass back into France and drive through to Monaco, Nice and the Cote d Azur. After coming through many tunnels, Nigel (g.p.s.) decided to freeze, so we ended up taking a wrong turn and missed the drive through the foreshore at Monaco which would have been quite ‘hairy’ as there is no room for error but we saw it from a different viewpoint, winding back up the roadside.

 

Our next call was to Port Vauban and the Marina at “Antibes”, we wanted to see a friends boat and on leaving we paid our car park fee, put the ticket in, the gate goes up, it then comes down again and slams into our bikes on the back. BLOODY HELL !!!!!  So I jump out and try and lever the arm off the bikes, finally, I was able to, (it was so heavy) so Terry & H.H. shot through. The guy behind us just sat there and watched (amused I think) It could only happen to us, BUT no damage done.

 

We are moving quickly now, and passing through and revisiting some sites. We are now crossing the border from France to Spain, with massive shopping complexes on a grand scale (everything is cheaper here) and we did this on a Saturday morning on a sunny day, traffic jams everywhere. Now it’s the Costa Brava coastline.

 

We return to a favourite campsite at “Benicassim”- Bonterra Park, for a week. I utilise the free exercise classes and we also use our bikes again and have some great walks.

 

Our next stop was “Javea” for much-needed haircuts. Terry won’t sit still long enough for me to do a little trimming, but truly ruley, I don’t do a bad job (just ask him) as long as you don't look too closely…….

 

I love reading the local English paper, there was an article on Running of the Bulls and using Bulls in Festivals. This practice has been banned in certain villages and towns. The reason being is they lock the “bulls” in dark containers, with no food, on release, they attach metal bits to the horns and they ignite them to produce a flame (like a burning candelabra) the Bulls are frantic and run like crazy…….Revenge must be so sweet when they catch somebody…..

 

Another good article was on “Indicating when driving” obviously everyone in Europe thinks this is not necessary, it's an optional extra on one's car, only to be used when you feel like it… It is a serious problem here….. one person’s view was if the ‘Police don’t - why should we’….. Huh????

 

We pass by another large town “Benidorm” this is very favoured by the English and it's like the Gold Coast on Steroids, huge high rises in abundance.

 

On driving through “Cartagena” we manage to avoid a bright yellow line markings machine, unlike our encounter in Greece with the white paint! It would not have been a good look. White on one side, yellow on the other!

 

Back into the “Andalucia” Region and we are in our old territory, “Almeria”, with the white plastic hothouses, “Roquetas de Mar”, with fabulous rides along the foreshore, Palm trees growing in the middle of the beach.

 

Spain is extremely dry looking country, I’m amazed that anything grows in the soil here. But we have had lots of sweet mandarins, oranges and clementines and Spain is the largest producer of Olives in the World.  We learn that Green and Black are the same fruit - they just pick the green earlier, then later the ripened black ones.

 

Moving into the Sierra Nevadas, it's now December 7th, and we are heading to Portugal for Christmas, but in the mean time, we are calling into “Loja” in the “Granada Region to talk to an English lady, Philippa, about a house sitting position in February. 

 

The G.P.S. tells us we will be on unnamed roads and unpaved roads OH NO!!!!!!! We said we would never do this again BUT it surely can’t be THAT bad….we met her and her dogs at the top of the entrance road. It’s skinny and lined with Olive and Almond Trees and the road is rubble. We then had to make a decision to take H.H. down there or walk to the house. So, again we endure scratches and scrapes and me swearing under my breath and slightly seething, trying to smile at her……

 

On arrival the views are stunning.

Philippa lives by herself with 3 dogs, 2 cats, 1 lonely donkey (who’s friend recently died) and she is now trying to source another companion for her (donkey that is), so over cups of coffee, we have a good chat…The animals are terrors, I’ll explain later.

 

Down to southern Spain we go and to the town of “El Ricio” which means “Lady of the Dew”. The place of many Pilgrimages, amazing church’s, houses, shops, all with hitching rails out the front for horses, mules and donkeys.

 

The streets are dirt and sand, it’s just like a western movie set. One expects Clint Eastwood to come sauntering around the next corner. We watched a Sunday parade through the streets, bells chiming, drums and flutes playing, between a quick drag on their cigarettes and sort of back in tune again (it obviously works for them).

 

History time…….?  Just down the road is “Huelva” this is where Christopher Columbus and his courageous crew, were off crossing the ocean to a new continent, this was August 1492.  There are replicas of his 3 vessels moored in the Tinto River.  There is also a milestone in Aviation Spanish history the Ultra hydroplane crossing from Palos de la Frontera to Buenos Aires in 1926.

 

At least we know that we can’t get “scurvy” in Spain and Portugal we have eaten so many oranges, clementines and mandarins, they are delicious and sweet.

 

Skipping along…..and its now December, and were in Portugal to spend Christmas and New Year. We have come back to “Alvor” on the Algarve Coast. The pitch we found was large with lots of sunlight in amongst the trees.

 

The beach at Alvor is one of the best in Europe even by our high standards and great for a walk. 

 

Our Carnac friends, Robin and Sheila, called in to stay a few days, so off came the bikes, on we got and road around the boardwalks and ended up having a traditional Portuguese lunch down by the waterfront courtesy of Robin and Sheila.

This is also where the Sunday markets are held and they have a very small fishing fleet.

 

We have often been walking and riding past and the old timers are sitting there, mending their nets, with stray dogs and cats lounging around with them.

The beach’s here and the huge rocks and cave like structures are stunning. We are happy to be back………

 

It’s Christmas Day and we have fired up our newly bought shoe box size of a B.B.Q (smoked the neighbours out)finally getting it started with Terry waving dramatically with a bit of cardboard doing an interesting “jig”, we think it was a bad batch of coal, anyway……it ended up glowing nicely.

Lunch ……on go the Prawns, excellently yummy……the recipe is…as many prawns as you can eat (lots)  head and tails left on, back tube removed, anchovy fillet placed in the aforementioned, then wrap each prawn in a piece of bacon strip, secure with a toothpick, then grill your little heart out for a couple of minutes. This is all nicely and elegantly washed down with 2 bottles of original “Mateus Rose” -  we then had a rest or a little while later, then on go the marinated Pork Ribs.  Terry had a couple of cold beers and me, my usual Rough Red - all very nice finish, to a very nice day. 

 

Now, as we had such a great success with the Prawns and they were still a good price, on they go again with our trusty little b.b.q.( I pre-warned the neighbours not to leave any washing on the line) for New Year's Eve accompanied by some Satay Chicken skewers a bit later on. We watched the “Sydney”  9 pm fireworks (excellent) but didn’t manage to see midnight in -but what the heck……?!?! We heard the local fireworks in the distance and the dogs howling……

 

The BBQ is becoming quite a habit now, and a great success, its Terry’s birthday, so on it goes again. The next batch of coal is not much better, so now he’s armed with flame throwing stuff (explosive yellow liquid) he throws this on, and boom boom,( it's always a spectacular event) off we go, but prior to this the English Couple on our left side bought over a Birthday Card and well wishes and the Swedish couple on our right (the unfortunate recipients of our smoke) came over with a bottle of Portuguese champers, and some chocolates for Terry, that consumed we opened up another bottle “Cremant” cheap French champagne, and raised our glasses once again to the birthday boy.

And guess what ??????? It was Prawns on the shoebox B.B.Q again for dinner (we have perfected this by now).

 

This part of Portugal is so nice and easy, we end up staying 6 weeks, we were limited to riding as the campsite is on a steep hillside, so lots of walking.  Terry was able to see a Doctor at the local Private Hospital as the dreaded Asthma symptoms were threatening to return, he now manages this with a puffer like inhaler, its worth it…….

 

Before we head off, I decide I have to try to cook a traditional meal of Salted Cod. Now, this is what some people would call a “Why Bother”. The process and the smell is a pain. You have to soak the cod in cold water for 2 days  - change the water twice a day, till the fish softens, then drain it of water. When you walk into the super Mercado the smell Is overwhelming, they have Industrial cutters in some of the shops, its as hard as a board.

You can basically pan fry, or make a casserole type dish with layered potatoes and onions and a sauce. I really would not write home about this dish, but I guess, I just have. This is also called a ‘don’t bother’…  oh well!!!!!!!

 

It's time to move on, it's the end of January so back to Spain it is for our 1st European House sitting. A quick couple of days at a beach to the west at a town called “Carpenteria”. Stunning high cliffs, with big rolling swells of surf, with great walking paths along the top.

 

Some of the boardwalks are missing pieces of wood as there was a rather large storm with  60-70ft of waves over the cliffs.. yikes, I’m glad we didn’t see that. It would have been very scary.

 

It's Australia Day, and it's pouring with rain and cold. We read about the celebrations and the protestors!!!!!!! But don’t get us started on the last bit. All we will say is…Australia is really one of the lucky countries, and I think we should all be thanking our lucky stars, believe us - I think by now we have a pretty good idea, being in Europe. 

 

Back over the border and we  head to Philippa’s, 80 kilometres west of Granada. We arrive and coming down the road is an adventure in its self for H.H. again. Unpaved roads… ouch…. Overhanging branches.. ouch…The house is set in amongst large Olive groves, the road is lined with Almond Trees in blossom and Olive trees and we are 20 km's from the main town of Loja.

 

The menagerie consists of 8 animals each with quirky fabulous personalities.

 

The dogs from left to right are:

 

“Mowgli” the renowned sheep killer who is on death row with the local farmers with 18 “confirmed kills”. He is not allowed off his leash while walking. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth!

 

“TinTin”, a lovely little boy.

 

“Cesca”, a little cute, these two are Rabbit killers and have been known to take off on our watch, for 6 1/2 hrs, we eventually found them chewing on one small Bunny…..

          

The two cats are“Minou”, a tricolour, and a Diabetic, a known sparrow killer.

and “Leyla”, a lovely Himalayan type (very fluffy) and loves to go for walks, also known to kill Bunnies.

         

Outside we have one donkey called “Daisy”, who is a St Andrews Crossbreed and loves Acorns and a walk.

A Ponkey called “Fonzi” a cross between a Donkey and a Shetland pony and one pony,

“Dolly” who is the mother of Fonzi, she bites and kicks, loves her Hay and Straw, could be  pregnant but maybe not, though she eats for two, It’s a long story….all these animals,               have an interesting history, and a long future ahead, thanks to Philippa’s kind heart.

These 3 we called the Poo Machines because there was a lot of it, and I was the “muckerer outa”.

 

We had a fabulous time looking after animals and house, the month went by very quickly. It was sad to say goodbye. Daisy’s heehawing started the days feeding times 8.30am approx and late afternoon at 5.30 ish, she was like clockwork. “Tucker Time” for everyone was very entertaining.

 

It’s the end of February and we now are at “Gibraltar”, parked at the Marina with a huge view of the “Rock” behind us.

We do our tourist bit and walk the town. As its British owned and controlled you have to go through Immigration and customs and of course change Euros for Pounds. Mini England in Spain. It’s an interesting walk as you have to walk over an active runway which is closed when the jets arrive! On leaving, reverse it all and we walk back to H.H. 

Just down from us was the replica of “Victoria”, the only survivor of five ships in Magellan’s fleet that set out to sail around the world in 1519. Magellan didn't make it as he was killed in the Phillipines sadly.

 

 

Tomorrow we are off to purchase our Ferry tickets.  Morocco here we come.

 

Stay with us as we journey, next blog will be  “On the Road to Morocco” starring Susan Hope (not Bob) and Bing Lee (not Crosby) and unfortunately no Dorothy Lamour, just little old H.H. 

 

Love to everyone,  Susie & Terry + H.H.  x x x ,