A quick hello, as the Internet here is shite. So I have not forgotten you all but for the next month the blog will be a bit hit and miss. No wonder the Internet i free here. The campsite we are on is Mikki’s place to stay, gets a bit confusing with Mikki the owner me being Mikey, Nikki being Nikki, just hope no Pikki’s turn up. The owner Mikki is a artist who paints and does pottery which is everywhere. 

The sun has been doing us proud and we even had a spot of rain one night or it might have been two spots, but it kept the dust down. Since we left England now in our sixth week we have only had two days rain.The bar area is nice and good prices. We had to go there the other evening just for research. I had four beers Nikki three large glasses of wine and it cost us £9. Back home that would of been one round. We are parked next to a Swedish guy who speaks very good English and is into his hot rods, choppers and American cars so have had a few chats with him. He also gave us a lift to a wine shop yesterday because it sold Guinness so I could stock up, better than the crap lager. So 48 cans of Guinness and two boxes of wine later, we know we won’t go thirsty. Nikki’s wine is working out at about 70p a bottle. We may be overloaded going home.  

It’s our last night tonight at camping Albufeira, we have been here for six nights. We then move to Mikki’s a place to stay which is the only place we booked before coming away. We will be there for a whole month. It’s a site which is only about 18 months old so still being developed and only 60 places, a small bar etc. Should be interesting, not too sure what to expect but only one way to find out. Will keep you all posted. 

Yesterday we decided to back into the old town of Albufeira on the bus and treat ourselves to lunch out, just because we have not eaten out yet, got to save the ol euros a long way to go yet. Then we find out it’s a public holiday and the buses are a bit hit and miss. So it’s another walk back to the old town. We aim for the beach again. At the edge of the beach is a escalator which takes you up to the top of the cliff, how cool is that. At the other end of the beach is a lift which does the same, or you can go the normal way and walk up the paths or steps.  

 
After chilling out for a bit, it’s something we’re good at, and watching the fishermen dodging the waves while trying to catch their supper. I also had to keep one eye on the waves to get the photos. The things I have to do for you guys.  

 
Time to eat, there are a few places to eat, and as usual everyone wants your money. Also a lot of places are still closed from the storm and look like they will never open again, it really was that bad. We find a place and are greeted by a guy with a good sense of humour luckily. Now you’re all wondering what we had to eat, we both had piri piri chicken with chips and salad, I had a large beer and Nikki a glass of red wine. The food was excellent and the service. We had a great chat with the waiter who was Spanish and had such a laugh we could have stayed there all afternoon. The bill for the Meal and drinks. €15 that’s £10.53 Bargain. on the way back we called into a super market to get a few bits and stopped at the guy selling oranges on the side of the road. €2.5 for 5 kilo of oranges, that’s 18 oranges for £1.81 another bargain. 

We left the campsite at Evormonte, heading out on the N18 towards Albufeira on the algarve. Decided to avoid the toll roads, not just to save some money but the other roads are more scenic passing through little towns, and even when we passed through Evora the road through the town was all cobbled stone. I thought any minute we would end up down a dead end or a street that only a donkey could fit through but we got through no problem, even though the camper had a good shake up on the cobbles nothing fell off. 

The Portugese roads are as bad as in England and they are doing a lot of improvements, I think on all the ones we wanted to travel on. So we lost about 20 minutes according to our sat nav. But who cares we got a bit of time and we ain’t in no rush to go anywhere. 

We arrived at the campsite at Albufeira, it’s a large campsite, with a bar, restaurant, 3 pools, static caravans, lodges etc. Not the sort of site we would normally go for but it’s cheap enough and peaceful this time of year.lots of trees around for shade and the pineapples are huge. Albufeira was hit by a really big storm on the 1st November this year that’s only a month ago. When I say big storm it was big. Go on you tube and put in Albufeira Storm. They are working so hard to put it all right. We walked from the campsite down to the old town which was hit so bad and you can see where all the damage was done and how hard they are working. Lots of places still closed up. The old town also leads onto the beach, so it was great to see the sea again. 

Just to prove I am a man of my word, I said I would go in and I did. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the water was bloody freezing. The temperature dipped last night to about 5 degrees but it’s warm in the day. The pool is not heated. I know I surf all year round but I have a wetsuit on. Believe me that water was cold. A quick swim then a hot shower and sit in the sun. Sorted, it’s good for you. 

So where did that month go. I can’t believe we have been away for a month already.Our last evening at Caceres we were sat outside having a beer & wine, a bit unusual for us but we thought we would give it a go. It was nice. A motorhome came onto site and it was our friends from Devon who manage the site we spend a lot of time on. They were going to meet us in Portugal for a couple of days and had no idea where we were just pure coincidence they picked that site on there way to Portugal.  We are now in Portugal and the sun is shining and looks like it’s going to shine for a day or two yet. 

  
Ok if are still friends after you seeing that last pic,I will show you some more later. The drive from Caceres to here Evora monte was really nice, decided to avoid the main roads and take the B roads. Again the roads were really quite and winded there way through small little towns and miles of high chaperal countryside and the occasional hill to climb.I was expecting to see some Cowboys and Indians. We were due to go on one site but could not find a good review about it and were told it was not a well looked after site, so Nikki found another on line which was on out route anyway. Run by a Dutch guy and his wife it’s a small site its very clean and tidy. He was telling me all about the trouble he had with planning etc and it took so long to get anything passed. In the reception are some items made from cork as a few miles away is a cork factory. The items in the reception include key rings, bangles, and a cork baseball cap which I really like. And no the hat is not made from the corks from Nikki’s wine bottles. If they were to use her corks it would make a three piece suit. LOL

As you can see we parked in the shade as it was hot….oops sorry must not mention the weather. Ok instead you can have some photos of the site, the pool is not heated but me being me I am going in it later. Nikki is not, she says it’s not the cold water but it will mess her hair up. We will spend a couple of nights here and then move on south to Albufeira that’s the bottom of Portugal, the algarve for those that dont know.  So until then Obrigado.

After a chilled out weekend, we don’t like to rush things. And as I have always said, it’s good to do nothing and then have a rest afterwards. So Nikki’s foot rested up after the weekend and me with itchy feet we caught a bus into Caceres. Really friendly driver spotted the tourist straight away and told us where to get off and where to catch the bus for the return journey. How do they know a stranger in their country before we even try to say something. Only a 15 minute bus ride to the city centre, but that was not what we came to see. That part is all shops and hundreds of people, and Nikki’s only got €20 pocket money to last until we get into Portugal. We wanted to see the old town Caceres so walked down through the park and down some smaller streets. 

The old town is a mixture of  architecture which is a blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern gothic and Italian and the whole of the old town is enclosed by a wall. It’s such a contrast from the old to the new of the new town with tall buildings etc. I know which one I prefer. There were a few tourists about but not too many so most of the time we were just roaming around on our own. There is a lot of shade between the buildings so it stays cool and casts some great shadows on the buildings and makes for interesting pictures I think. Will let you make your mind up on that one. Tomorrow is another chill day and then we hit the road again on Wednesday leaving Spain and entering into Portugal.

We left Hicksville, sorry Salamanca with our shirts still on our back and dodged the tumble weed as we left, only being chased down the road by a couple of rabid dogs. The road to Caceres our next destination was a motorway but hardly any traffic on it. It’s hard to explain that it’s a motorway and sometimes you don’t see another car for a mile or so, a truck in the distance which we pass. The road goes through some mountain passes and you know you’re high when you see the tops of the pylons at your eye level. 

The campsite at Caceres is great, we were told about it by a couple at the last place we were on, it’s terraced and every pitch has its own little private shower room including a toilet, wash basin, mirror, and hair dryer point and a small little stone sink outside for hand washing cloths etc. They said it would be too tight for us to get on the pitches as they found it tight with their 7 mtr camper and the site would probably put us at the top of the site where there is more room.

So we get to reception where we had read reviews about the staff not being very friendly to find a young Spanish lady to book us in. The reviews were right, I explained we were 9 metres long and are the roads tight. No problem she says, she does not drive motorhomes and I think the only thing she would drive is her parents up the wall. She gives us the map of the site and yes we are on the terraces so I drive off to find our pitch. Yes it was a bit tight getting on the pitch but luckily nothing on the pitch opposite so could reverse onto there and drive onto ours. We get set up and then think we really need some shopping so back to happy lady and ask about supermarket, too far too walk so back to camper and drive off to supermarket to stock up as we are staying here for five or six days. It is a great site and some Spanish magpies keep coming round for the bread I throw out for them. 

Nikki’s foot is a bit sore at the moment so we are just chilling in the sun, yes the sun is out for the weekend and then Monday we’re going into the old town of Caceres which is supposed to be really nice. 

A quick update while we have got good internet. So we have now travelled just over one thousand miles. Arriving at a small village called Pedrosillo 10 miles from Salamanca. The drive yesterday was a long one we stopped at a supermarket for some food and another quick stop for fuel further on. All together on the road for five hours, but it got us a lot further south and it’s sunny. The campsite we are on now is a really weird one, basic but with good showers and just off the motorway so easy exit easy entry tomorrow when we move off again. On one side of us we have huge big silos, at the other side across a field is a club with big flashing neon lights at night next to a hostel, opposite the entrance to the campsite is a 24 hr garage used by trucks to re fuel and park up for the night. It all looks a bit Hicksville. We had a walk into the local village and it was like a ghost town and I am sure I heard banjos playing, you know where I’m coming from. 

We are now in Spain and it’s bloody raining. The idea of this trip was to find sunshine. Will I get a refund. Ok up to now we have been really lucky with the weather as it is November. When we left Soustons the temperature had dropped after a very stormy day and night. 

We got on the motorway and headed for Zarautz just west of San sabastian, the roads were quiet as lorrys are not allowed to travel on the motorways on a Sunday unless carrying perishable goods. In the distance we could see mountains with snow on. Another adventure at the toll booth, when approaching them three of them were only 2.5 metres not good when your 3 metres high. And the others all had a HGV symbol and tag logo. So I just drove to one of them and put the hazards on thinking if following traffic saw the hazards on they woul avoid the lane, and they did. Nikki jumped out to pay and nowhere to pay, so press a little button and a voice speaks to you in French. Eventually they realize we are mad Engish and blocking a lane so speak in English and we are on our way again. 

Next it’s the border crossing, only two lanes open and police cars and armed police with balaclavas on standing every were and not missing a thing. I expect us to get pulled over but no we sail right on through. We eventually get to the campsite and are greeted by a loverly senorita who books us in for a couple of days and then shows us to are pitch. And we have a sea view. Great views from the campsite, you will have to believe me on that one. We are staying here  until tomorrow and then moving south. Going for a big drive to get further south and find some of that sunshine we came here for. So that’s us for now, hope you are all well. I do apologise for the lack of photos on these last two posts but if I don’t have a good internet connection I can not load them. As soon as I get a good connection will upload a few photos. Adios amigos.