Saturday, July 11, 2009
Summer Holiday 2009
Forgot to post a blog entry about our Summer Holiday, noticed it when reviewing my Blogger profile!
In July 2009 we traveled in our motorhome through Europe from Glasgow, Scotland to Malaga, Spain. We seemed to have brought rain with us throughout the journey with the rain cloud eventually disappearing in Madrid! Along the journey we decided to spend a day in the Somme battlefields, Normandy beaches and journey through the Ossau valley in the Pyrenees.
We followed the Circuit of Remembrance (somme-battlefields.com). The very first thing we saw was the Lochnager Crater which was awe inspiring - even after seeing aerial photographs of this, nothing could have prepared us for seeing a crater of this magnitude. The rest of the route was quite somber and sorry, a horrific feeling when crossing the frontlines which were signposted and realising how little they moved at so much cost. One memorial we saw was for a body found in 1998 making us wonder how many more are undiscovered and under our feet.
Somme Battlefield Photos on Flickr
After this we headed west for the beaches in Normandy. The first stop was at Pegasus Bridge where I went around the museum, I found this very interesting. Along with the gliders they also highlighted the use of Bailey bridges - including a Christmas Card from Adolf Hitler indicating his interest in this technology. From here we travelled west along the seafront to each of Sword, Gold, Juno and Omaha beaches and finally Pointe du Hoc. We didn't visit Utah beach and the surrounding area due to time constraints.
Normandy Photos on Flickr
We then spent a day heading toward the Pyrenees. I had plotted a route through the Ossau Valley and since this was close to Lourdes we thought we'd drive through the town to see what it was like - we were very surprised at the cheesy tacky shops littering the town, quite distasteful and cheapening. I'm sure the caverns are spectacular, but the rest of Lourdes most definitely isn't. Here was our first sight of Lourdes on Google Streetview. We didn't bother to stop (or take photos) and carried on to the start of the D918 cross valley drive.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, it was a little cloudy so the visibility was poorer than we hoped, but the views were still spectacular! We stopped at a campsite in Gourette, a ski resort with cliffs towering above us an three sides. Overnight the cloud slowly lowered engulfing us. I opened the window before we went to bed to have a look outside with my torch, I couldn't see a thing. Then Louise mentioned the thought of something from a horror film of someone jumping out of the cloud and through the window. Needless to say, I shut the window and we didn't go out again until morning...
Thankfully the next morning was a lot clearer for the drive through the Ossau valley toward the Spanish border. This was a high climb and was a very clear and sunny day. Spectacular views from the border post were to be found. We stopped at the border for lunch where I had the interesting experience of walking across the border from Spain into France for a loaf of bread. I didn't have my passport with me either which could have been interesting if the post was active. "I walked all the way to France to get this loaf of bread" I said to Louise on return!
The Pyrenees, D918 and Ossau Valley Photos on Flickr
After this we decided to head straight for Malaga, we were planning an extra day in the Pyrenees but decided to surprise Louise's Mum and Dad by arriving a day early. It takes just over a day to drive from the Pyrenees to Malaga so we stopped for the night near Valdepenas, the following morning we drove around Valdepenas on the lookout for some cheap wine, this town seemed really depressing and we didn't find anywhere to buy wine either. We decided to continue on and a few hours later we arrived at Louise's Mum and Dad's house only to find they weren't in! Imagine after driving 2000 miles to discover they were out... luckily we had a key so we could get in and crack open some wine.
During this trip we did some more work to our own house in Olvera and spent time relaxing. I read George Orwell's 1984 which I found fascinating.
All the photos I took from this holiday can be found on Flickr:
July 2009 Roadtrip through Europe on Flickr
In July 2009 we traveled in our motorhome through Europe from Glasgow, Scotland to Malaga, Spain. We seemed to have brought rain with us throughout the journey with the rain cloud eventually disappearing in Madrid! Along the journey we decided to spend a day in the Somme battlefields, Normandy beaches and journey through the Ossau valley in the Pyrenees.
We followed the Circuit of Remembrance (somme-battlefields.com). The very first thing we saw was the Lochnager Crater which was awe inspiring - even after seeing aerial photographs of this, nothing could have prepared us for seeing a crater of this magnitude. The rest of the route was quite somber and sorry, a horrific feeling when crossing the frontlines which were signposted and realising how little they moved at so much cost. One memorial we saw was for a body found in 1998 making us wonder how many more are undiscovered and under our feet.
Somme Battlefield Photos on Flickr
After this we headed west for the beaches in Normandy. The first stop was at Pegasus Bridge where I went around the museum, I found this very interesting. Along with the gliders they also highlighted the use of Bailey bridges - including a Christmas Card from Adolf Hitler indicating his interest in this technology. From here we travelled west along the seafront to each of Sword, Gold, Juno and Omaha beaches and finally Pointe du Hoc. We didn't visit Utah beach and the surrounding area due to time constraints.
Normandy Photos on Flickr
We then spent a day heading toward the Pyrenees. I had plotted a route through the Ossau Valley and since this was close to Lourdes we thought we'd drive through the town to see what it was like - we were very surprised at the cheesy tacky shops littering the town, quite distasteful and cheapening. I'm sure the caverns are spectacular, but the rest of Lourdes most definitely isn't. Here was our first sight of Lourdes on Google Streetview. We didn't bother to stop (or take photos) and carried on to the start of the D918 cross valley drive.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, it was a little cloudy so the visibility was poorer than we hoped, but the views were still spectacular! We stopped at a campsite in Gourette, a ski resort with cliffs towering above us an three sides. Overnight the cloud slowly lowered engulfing us. I opened the window before we went to bed to have a look outside with my torch, I couldn't see a thing. Then Louise mentioned the thought of something from a horror film of someone jumping out of the cloud and through the window. Needless to say, I shut the window and we didn't go out again until morning...
Thankfully the next morning was a lot clearer for the drive through the Ossau valley toward the Spanish border. This was a high climb and was a very clear and sunny day. Spectacular views from the border post were to be found. We stopped at the border for lunch where I had the interesting experience of walking across the border from Spain into France for a loaf of bread. I didn't have my passport with me either which could have been interesting if the post was active. "I walked all the way to France to get this loaf of bread" I said to Louise on return!
The Pyrenees, D918 and Ossau Valley Photos on Flickr
After this we decided to head straight for Malaga, we were planning an extra day in the Pyrenees but decided to surprise Louise's Mum and Dad by arriving a day early. It takes just over a day to drive from the Pyrenees to Malaga so we stopped for the night near Valdepenas, the following morning we drove around Valdepenas on the lookout for some cheap wine, this town seemed really depressing and we didn't find anywhere to buy wine either. We decided to continue on and a few hours later we arrived at Louise's Mum and Dad's house only to find they weren't in! Imagine after driving 2000 miles to discover they were out... luckily we had a key so we could get in and crack open some wine.
During this trip we did some more work to our own house in Olvera and spent time relaxing. I read George Orwell's 1984 which I found fascinating.
All the photos I took from this holiday can be found on Flickr:
July 2009 Roadtrip through Europe on Flickr
Labels: camping, europe, holiday, spain
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Alhambra
The Alhambra (viewed from the Generalife)
During our holiday we decided to visit the Alhambra which is only an hour and a half journey away from where we were staying. Rather than drive to Granada we thought we'd use the trains and were absolutely stunned at the experience. We arrived at a somewhat "rustic" train station in Antequera where the crossing across the tracks was a couple of railway sleepers with some tarmac ontop... The train pulled into the station and we initially thought we were in the first class carriage (by British standards) as there was enough leg room for me to stretch my legs out, the seat had plenty of width, had headrest protectors and the carriage was air conditioned. This train cost Louise and I the whopping figure of €6.30 each - for an 90 minute journey!! On the way back we were on a slightly better train which was a larger tilting train, with even more leg room and a reclining seat - a mere €7!! They had vending machines on this train where I bought a bottle of water for €0.60 and a packet of Oreo biscuits for €0.80! Unbelievable!! I have no idea what the "Alta" line (Spain's newest high speed network) is like if this is what their normal network is...
Anyway, back to the point. We've wanted to visit the Alhambra for a while so we prebooked our tickets (essential as they only let so many in each session) and left Bruno (our Boxer dog) at Louise's Mum and Dad's so we didn't have to worry about him and could spend longer there. We arrived at the station in Granada at 11.30 in the morning and our tickets for the Alhambra were for 14.00 so we had plenty of time to get there. We walked and eventually got to where we wanted (Plaza Neuva - a small square in the old town of Granada called Albaycin) which had lot's of bars so we stopped by for lunch. We only found out the day before, but Granada has kept the tradition of free tapas - i.e. every time you order a drink, they will bring out free food!! We bought some tapas anyway and along with the freebies were pretty stuffed for our steep (on foot) ascent toward the Alhambra. We discovered later on there are buses up the mile long hill for a euro each which we should have taken!! The queues at the entrance were enormous, but thanks to the fact we'd booked our tickets we could go straight to the front and collect them; afterwards we joined an even longer queue to enter the complex. Presumably this queue was so long because it was just opening for the afternoon.
We visited the Generalife gardens first and walked around the palaces there before walking to our pre booked entrance time to the Palacio Nazaries (they give you a predetermined time to enter these palaces to stop everyone walking around at once). After this we walked around the Carlos Palace and around an Art Gallery there (free for EU passport holders). We then walked around the Alcazaba before calling it a day; I think we only covered about half the Alhambra and could easily do it again. We bought a souvenir booklet which will certainly help on our next visit! I noticed a few people had radios which gave audio information depending on the area they were in which was a good idea and can presumably be hired at the ticket desk. Also the Alhambra was "bluetooth enabled" unfortunately I didn't know what this did as neither of us had a mobile with us which has bluetooth...
Palaces in the Generalife Gardens
We walked back down the hill to Plaza Neuva and since our train back was after 8 we decided to find a restaurant in Albaycin which was open (unusual since it was only six, but we tried anyway). We should have stuck with the tapas bar we were in earlier, but we found an open restaurant and had an "acceptable" meal. We got a taxi back to the station before waiting for our train.
Well worth the trip!! Highly recommended. The Alhambra was absolutely stunning and we discovered a little more about Granada which we didn't know, we'll definitely return!
All my photos have been added to flickr!
Alhambra Flickr! Set
Thursday, July 24, 2008
On Holiday
I've not blogged in a while, with many different projects going on I just haven't found the time; Louise and I are on holiday at the moment in Andalucia where we drove down through Europe in our converted LDV camper van. We stopped for two nights in France on the way down to Spain and we booked into a campsite in the Pyrennees (Camping Ariztigain, Sumbilla); this campsite was absolutely stunning! A huge steep hill on the way up provided a small challenge for our diesel engine - first gear only - but worth it! The staff were very friendly and we discovered that one of the members of staff used to live in Edinburgh!! We only stayed for a night however since we wanted to visit Pamplona.
The next day we travelled the 90KM to Pamplona arriving mid afternoon in a much busier and more "butlins" style campsite called Camping Ezcaba. Not quite as nice as Ariztigain and the staff were a little ignorant to us because we were British (despite us speaking to them in Spanish - perhaps they were Basque or Castillian...). This campsite was only 5KM outside Pamplona so gave us an ideal jumping off point for visiting the historic city. In Pamplona we walked the "Encierro" or more commonly known as the bull run and we admired much of the architecture! The bull holding barriers were still in place from the San Fermin fiesta 2 weeks before. A very picturesque and enjoyable visit!
The following day we decided to crack on with our journey and get to our destination in the Mountains of Malaga that evening, we arrived after a 11 hour drive on one of the hottest days so far this year... The number of cars stopped at the side of the road was unbelievable - presumably with over heating problems. Thankfully, we arrived without a problem!
We've had a few relaxing days here and we visited a mountain top town called Comares where I took a few photos and read about the moorish history of this town.
Today we're off to Olvera to do a little bit of work on our house there.
I've uploaded the photos I've taken so far onto my Flickr! and put them into different sets within a collection.
Check them out below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjw/collections/72157606338658289/
Labels: aboutme, camping, holiday
Friday, May 09, 2008
Cashel May 2008 - a set on Flickr
I haven't posted in a very long time, too many projects going on at the moment and not even enough time during my work day to make a post :)
One of the projects my wife and I have been working on is converting an LDV panel van into a camper, we started this last year and did the bulk of the work almost straight away. However, it's an on going project where over weekends I'll potter away fitting shelves, cutting holes in the side of the van or doing something... We decided to take it out for a test camp last weekend near Loch Lomond. Louise was recommended a campsite called Cashel run by the Forestry Commission and we booked it for the May holiday weekend.
We were lucky enough to have some good weather - though it did rain quite hard on the Sunday! For the most part we just spent the weekend relaxing or going on short walks with our dog. Thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend this peaceful site for anyone! It also got me photographing again after a long period of taking progress pictures of the campervan conversion it was great to get out and take pictures of the countryside!!
We arrived on the Friday night and left the site on Monday morning, on the way back we decided to stop off at Balmaha which at 11.30 was very busy! The car park was overflowing so we decided instead to travel to Balloch. This had more parking so we were able to park up and walk around. I think we left at around 2pm and were amazed at the amount of traffic queued back on the A82 waiting to visit the Shores of Loch Lomond! Glad we got out when we could.
A great little trip, helped us decide where to build cupboards and their contents in the van and also test out all the functions which worked fine!
I've uploaded my photos to Flickr!
Cashel May 2008 - a set on Flickr
One of the projects my wife and I have been working on is converting an LDV panel van into a camper, we started this last year and did the bulk of the work almost straight away. However, it's an on going project where over weekends I'll potter away fitting shelves, cutting holes in the side of the van or doing something... We decided to take it out for a test camp last weekend near Loch Lomond. Louise was recommended a campsite called Cashel run by the Forestry Commission and we booked it for the May holiday weekend.
We were lucky enough to have some good weather - though it did rain quite hard on the Sunday! For the most part we just spent the weekend relaxing or going on short walks with our dog. Thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend this peaceful site for anyone! It also got me photographing again after a long period of taking progress pictures of the campervan conversion it was great to get out and take pictures of the countryside!!
We arrived on the Friday night and left the site on Monday morning, on the way back we decided to stop off at Balmaha which at 11.30 was very busy! The car park was overflowing so we decided instead to travel to Balloch. This had more parking so we were able to park up and walk around. I think we left at around 2pm and were amazed at the amount of traffic queued back on the A82 waiting to visit the Shores of Loch Lomond! Glad we got out when we could.
A great little trip, helped us decide where to build cupboards and their contents in the van and also test out all the functions which worked fine!
I've uploaded my photos to Flickr!
Cashel May 2008 - a set on Flickr
Labels: aboutme, camping, holiday
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