April 21st 2010 – April 23nd 2010

Kathleen has a solution to the tea bag problem. A message to Phillippa and she has arranged for the tea bags to be collected from our house and delivered to Joan and Bryan, who will courier them across Europe, to deliver them to us when we meet up in France. Operation tea bag is now in progress.



Liguerre de Cinca (Huesca) – Liguerre de Cinca – ASCI2010-1622


We travel through Rioja wine country en route to the next site which is beside a man made lake (which is a reservoir) in the hills north east of Huesca.


As we approach, we think we may have made a big mistake, as we are heading steadily towards mountains which are covered in snow half way down their slopes. But when we arrive at the site it is positively stifling hot.

There are not many people here, it is obviously early in the season, one German van, and two Dutch vans (yes, those Dutch do get everywhere).

The surrounding countryside is beautiful, and there is hardly a sound except the birds.

There is a scenic walk to the village, along the lake, we sampled a little of it this afternoon after we arrived and plan to do the whole thing (3Km each way) tomorrow, provided we are not snowed in.

It does not snow so, we make the walk. It is beautiful and so peaceful, a bit like walking in the lake district but with more trees, and less people (we see no one). The village (Liguerre de Cinca) is very well restored, but deserted, we see one woman and three cats. Even the bar is closed, which is not much of a welcome when you have walked 3Km to get there!

In the afternoon, the Irish couple who we met briefly at Pamplona arrived, they must be following us.


I joked a few days ago about them getting the bus back from Pamplona. It turned out that what happened was, they got the bus into Pamplona. Had a bit explore, and then had themselves a meal with wine etc, followed by a few more drinks, missed the last bus back. So they decided to walk, setting off at 22:00, when it was pitch black. They had a few adventures getting lost in the dark, at one stage they even encountered a couple of Spanish policemen. When they explained in their pigeon Spanish that they were having difficulty finding their way back to the campsite, they said they could not help them. Anyway, they made it eventually, and are none the worse for the experience, as always, these things are funny after the event!


We have overnight rain, not heavy, and gone by morning, but enough to soak our chairs, Kathleen decides to dry them using an item of clothing from the dirty washing bag, it just happens to be one of my shirts.


We get an early start, about 09:30, because we have quite a long drive today (300km), along mostly single carriageway roads. The Tomtom does the navigating, all goes well except around Lerida, where they have built or I should say are in the process of building, a whole new motorway and ring road, which are not in our Tomtom, map. It just so happens Kathleen is driving at that point so she gets a couple of wrong turns, and some tight turning around manoeuvres in a housing estate, as well as a trip through Lerida Centre, complete with suicidal pedestrians.


We stop at just outside a place called Flix for lunch, at a well kept picnic place beside the River Ebro. There is even a supermarket just across the road, where Kathleen is able to buy a bottle of Larios Gin, just to get into the Spanish spirit so to speak. We arrive at Alcossebre at about 16:00.


Playa Tropicana – Alcossebre (Castellon) – ACSI2010-1559


First impressions are that this was a good choice, It is quite a large site, the sort of place where people spend the winter.

It is just about on the beach, you can hear the waves on the beach from our van, and everything seems to be in good order. It so happens that the pitch we choose is in the German quarter, and we have German and Belgian neighbours. We later find there is an English quarter, but we opt to stay where we are.


We have a quick explore before our evening meal, and manage a seven mile cycle along the coast, we do not find the church so that is a task for tomorrow.