Just in time - by Theo

We made it to France, just in time. If we'd left it a day longer to set off, or stopped overnight en route, we wouldn't have made it. The snow that has been causing such chaos in the UK has moved south and we woke this morning to find the hills around Cathy & Jean's blanketed with thick, white snow. Where they live is so rural, the roads so tiny, there wont be any snowploughs coming to clear the roads. We may have a 4x4 but we wouldn't have got through (and, if it doesn't melt, we won't be getting out). You see, after spending €94 on snow chains for Delilah Delica, I promptly left them in the hall back in Madrid. Boy do I feel stupid!
Anyway, we're very pleased we're here. We may be snowed in, but we've got lots of food, drink and wood for the fire, not to mention great company (and wi fi!) It's also extremely beautiful, and I've really enjoyed the two longs walks with Rosie in the sling and Cocky the dog so that the former could have a nap and the latter a walk. It's so quiet and still, and I've seen not a soul.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. See you when the snow thaws!

observations of Portugal (and Spain)

The Spanish label their railways, so when you drive over a railway line it says which line it is, much in the same way that rivers in the UK (and elsewhere) are labeled. Whether this is for the benefit of lost travelers or train spotters isn't clear. But it´s probably comforting to know that the train passing beneath you is the 10.45 to Madrid. If you're a train spotter, well that knowledge is clearly invaluable.

The Portuguese have lots of rocks. They are everywhere. You wouldn't think they'd need to bother quarrying for stone seeing as it seems to be pretty much the only crop in some of the fields, but there are loads of quarries anyway.

Whoever decides where to put road signs in Portugal seems to take great delight in misleading would be picnickers, as there were a plethora of "picnic-table-under-shady-tree" signs on the way to Porto that lead instead to baking hot service station car parks.

After a schlepp of a drive yesterday, powering (ahem) Sheena up the highest mountain range in Portugal, we are now in the lovely city of Porto. Portugal's second city reminds me equally of Newcastle and Zanzibar, in the way that high, beautiful bridges span the Douro river between castles and cathedrals, while the old town is full of cramped, tiled, slightly decrepid, but nonetheless attractive buildings. There's a heat haze over the city, but with the breeze from the Atlantic it's cool and pleasant. The lower bank - a separate city called Gaia (more parallels with Tyneside) - is full of Port distillers and wholesalers, their signs dominating the bank. We'll probably head there after we've finished rinsing the various wireless networks we've managed to find while Kate samples the best coffee in Europe.

Later note from Kate:



We certainly did sample the the local tipple shortly afterwards. We deliberately chose the Ferreira tour and degustation because of its strong Portugese connections and spent an enjoyable hour in the company of a couple (Argentinian and Brazilian respectively, but currently resident in the UK so with very good English) being taught all about Port wine by the guide, then an even more enjoyable time sampling the different types and vintages, with the conversation becoming more convivial and extravagent with every sip. By the end of it all, we were firm friends with Cecile and Guillermo, so went and enjoyed some "pingos" together (glorious shots of wonderfully smooth-roasted espresso coffee with a drop of milk...Theo had hot chocolate) at a cafe back in Porto itself before parting company with fond regards all round. We then came upon an uproarous student graduation parade, which put the English graduation tradition of hats in the air to shame. Ah, this is indeed a fine city. And that's not just the Port talking.

Soundtracks of our sojourn

As we drive we mostly listen to music on our laptop, the records of which get published on our Last FM profile. However we´ve a few CDs to keep us entertained when the laptop battery dies:

An ace compilation CD, a wedding present from Kate's old gigging & hitch-hiking friend Wigs, featuring Bob Dylan, Midlake, Bright Eyes, Beiruit, Herman Dune and loads more. It's great and many of the tracks (and artists) were new to us.

The Flying Club Cup by Beiruit which I left in the Sheena's stereo - cheers for introducing us to them Anna, as it's become a firm favourite.

Tied to the Mast By The Hinkley Veltones - an awesome wedding present from Steven Marr, one of the band who have been firm favourites of ours. I gave them their very first gig, they asked Kate to manage them, they came on both our radio shows, and they were brilliant supporting Frank Sidebottom the week before they left. It's a really great album and we suggest you get it.

(Rose Kemp also gave us a copy of her brand new album, straight from the studio, which we managed to feed into the Mac before we left. It too is excellent and we suggest you get it when it comes out on One Little Indian Records later this year.)

the road to Salamanca

We took our time leaving Miguel's place in Galkao this morning. Partly because of my usual habit of spending ages having a shower and coating my skin in unguents supposedly guaranteed to keep it young and beautiful. Partly because of a clutch of emails needing pressing and thoughtful replies. And partly because our genial host was keen to chat. About Sheena (he's very keen on getting a camper van himself); about where we should go next on our Spanish tour (he recommended spending the day in Segovia before heading for Salamanca - a rather optimistic suggestion given Sheena's stately pace on the road and our habit of taking long-drawn out lunch breaks and siestas); and his own desire to move to England and what his chances were of getting employment (pretty high given his abilities in renovation and driving - he's already been a building manager and train driver and after seeing his reversing and manouvering skills, I'd say he's the kind of potential bus-driver Bath is crying out for).

But after a stop in Bilbao old town to buy a Spanish dictionary and road atlas and a visit to the Eroski mega supermarket to stock up on supplies, we were on the road towards Burgos. Okay, it was gone one by then and Segovia looked like it was off the menu for the time being. But we had a beautiful drive through the sierra dividing Basque province of Bizkaia and Castilla and eventually made it to a brilliantly quirky campsite at the Paster monument, not far from Miranda.

There we chummed up with two friendly New Zealanders, also on a tour of Europe and currently hot-footing it to Madrid to meet relatives before driving on down to a villa the south of Spain. We spent a most convivial few hours chatting with Andy and Tracy, sharing wine, beer, cake and prunes in eau de vie (which had already caused something of a sensation with Miguel and Beatriz) - thanks in part to chairs and table loaned by a very friendly Spanish guy from the neighbouring chalet.



We've now resolved to get on the road by 0730 tomorrow so we can make it to Salamanca in time to sample some of its famed Saturday nightlife. The fact that the campsite showers can be best described as bracing will probably cut down on the ablutions and help hurry us on our way.

things to check before you leave...

Make sure your portable fridge is switched to "kalt" not "heiss".

We stopped on the road to Biarritz at a reasonably pleasant roadside picnic spot for a lunch of leftovers from the previous day´s outstanding fete feast - so soup, cheese and cold roasted aubergines.

However, as somebody - ie me, Theo - had inadvertently switched the fridge onto heater mode when strapping it in we got a bit of a surprise. Our yoghurts were now very liquid and had to be jettisoned, our pepper practically cooked through, and the half a kilo of comte and brie cheeses somewhat, er, sweaty!

Actually the comte in particular turned out to be rather nice half-melted and so all was not lost. We did have to eat it all rather more quickly than planned and threw away a bit of our brie, but never mind.

At least we didn't have any butter or chocolate in there...