Diary for the period 19 - 28 July

19 July - Zahara de los Atunes

Before we left Seville we decided to do a bit of shopping at the awesome supermarket. So while I did that John went for a haircut - it's incredibly short but he looks amazing!

I wasn't feeling confident about our journey because the engine seemed a bit slack in starting this morning, but we made it in the end.

We were looking for a campsite in Barbate, a midway spot between Cadiz and Gibraltar, so we followed the campsite signs when we got to the town. Only it turns out that the signs were very misleading as they actually took us to the next town. We had a look at the site but had a bad feeling about it, possibly because the signs left us feeling betrayed. We set off back into Barbate and continued far out of town through the national park on a very steep road and eventually came to another town with the original campsites we were looking for. We stopped and had a look but still weren't happy! So back up the hill again and with an hour gone by we landed up back at the very first campsite again!

Later we had our rock shandies and planned our day for tomorrow.

20 July - Zahara de los Atunes

Our run today was abysmal - we walked it! The combination of soft sand, a steep beach and general lethargy was enough to slow us down after just two minutes. So we had a wonderful walk on the beach and then returned for showers and breakfast.

Cadiz was today's destination. The town was unusual in that it is almost an island, being connected to the rest of Spain only by a road. The town obviously hasn't changed much in recent times as there isn't much room to expand.

We had a little difficulty in finding i. There were signs but they didn't seem to lead anywhere. After stopping for refreshments we found it's location and obtained the usual map and info.

We then went for a walk along the end of the town with views over the sea and after going about half way round we headed towards the centre.

There we found the post office, a market and a place for lunch. We couldn't seem to find anything on the menu that excited us and ended up ordering burgers...

We spent quite a while there sipping on our drinks and then went in search of the Torre de Tavira.

At the Torre (the tallest tower in Cadiz) we saw the camera obscura which gave a full circle view of the town and we were given a "guided tour". The tour took 45 minutes and after that we ascended to the roof of the tower for more conventional views of the town.

21 July - Zahara de los Atunes

After a reasonably early start we set off on the bike and were in Gibraltar by around 11am. After the usual i and coffee break stop we went up the rock!

Our first stop was a viewpoint where we saw a group of military parachuters land in the sea. We then made our way further up to St Michaels caves. The caves were really magnificent, better than our previous experience as there wasn't any corny music or coloured water fountains.

The road then lead us to the great siege tunnels - a long tunnel used by the military to defend the rock. It eventually lead to a great viewpoint and then we made our way back out where we watched some of the famous tail-less monkeys playing around and jumping on people's shoulders.

Back down in town we had a pub lunch - me gammon and pineapple and John his usual steak and kidney pie. After lunch we walked down Main Street and did some shopping. In some ways it seemed very muck like Oxford Street or Tottenham Court Road. It did however have shops selling incredibly cheap cigarettes so we stocked up on those. We were having a good day and then we went back to the bike to make our way home only to find that it had been clamped!

That cost us 25 pounds and a great deal of irritation. It turns out that on Wednesday between 2 and 3pm parking is not allowed because of street cleaning. This was clearly displayed on two signs that were not at all visible from where we had parked.

We eventually got home via Tarifa - a very windy place with loads and loads of windmills - eerie!

After a swim in the sea and relaxing in the sun we returned to the van for our evening meal.

22 July - Zahara de los Atunes

We got up early this morning and drove to Tarifa in the hope of catching a ferry to Morocco for the day. At the ticket office we discovered that the ferry had left two hours previously and there were no more that day.

We got some information about the ferries and took it away with us to have a think about staying an extra day and going tomorrow. When we did decide that we would it turned out that there was no ferry on Fridays, so that was the end of our plans for seeing a tiny bit of Africa.

As we were driving through town to find our morning coffee spot, a piece came off the bike! So, after coffee we spent the rest of the morning trying to find out where it could be repaired. In the end we had to forget about having it brazed and bought some glue instead.

We then headed back to camp so that John could glue his bike back together!

Later in the afternoon we strolled down to the beach for a glorious afternoon of sun-tanning and awesome swimming.

23 July - Peligros

It was our longest driving yet today - six hours! We had decided to skip Malaga - the guide books made it sound hideous - and push on to Granada instead.

Our drive started off quite comically with smoke pouring out of the steering wheel, so now we have no brake lights and no horn!

Anyway, we pushed on through to some very deserted landscapes and many steep roads which the car battled through at 20mph!

The van finally made it to just north of Granada! We found out campsite really easily and it's lovely here. The site is nestled amongst olive groves with stunning views of Granada. The only unforgivable drawback is the smell of the campsite's sewerage works right outside.

After setting up camp, which took a long time as getting level was very difficult, we went into town for our evening supplies.

With that done it was directly off to the pool to cool off - it's also very hot here!

Later we had coffee and port overlooking Granada by night.

24 July - Peligros

We set off fairly early this morning into Granada as we'd planed to see the Alhambra. Once there however we discovered we were not early enough as the queues were already ridiculously long so we left immediately. We decided not spend the rest of the day wandering round Granada as everything was closed.

So, back to camp to change into warmer clothes for a trip to Sierra Nevada.

It was a long steep winding road with views of spectacular landscapes - big grey mountains which were very dry and barren.

On reaching the town of Sierra Nevada it seemed like there was a major cycling event going on. We watched for a while at the finish line and then took a ski lift to the top where we watched a bit of the start of the race. We took two ski lifts to the top and the second of those could not be used for going down so it was a very steep walk back to the first ski lift but we got some awesome views and a much needed walk.

Back in town we decided to find lunch but didn't fancy anything. Instead we made our way partly down the mountain and stopped at a roadside restaurant where we had a lovely, but very oily lunch - at 4pm mind you!

After lunch, still on our way down, we stopped to take a photo of one of the huge metal bulls that seem to dot the barren landscapes of Spain.

Back at camp we hurriedly undressed and made our way to the pool to cool off.

25 July - Peligros

We managed to see the Alhambra today!

We set off early again this morning on the bike at speed. The queue was tiny so we were inside before we knew it.

We walked around a bit and then made our way to the Alcazaba - a fortress with a watch-tower from where we saw excellent panoramas of the city and it's surroundings. At the top there was also a large bell which was used to warn the city of dangers.

On arriving at the next sight - the Palacios Nazaries - we were told that we could only enter at 1pm so we had 21/2 hours to kill.

We wandered around some more, saw the palace of Charles V with it's massive circular courtyard and then had a cold drink while we read the book we'd bought about the Alhambra.

1pm arrived and we entered the Palacios Nazaries. All the walls are made of intricately carved stone and where the ceilings aren't stone then it's inlaid wood. Many water features are about as well as beautiful tiles. Because the palace is on a hill you also get to see views from almost every window.

From the palace we made our way to the Generalife - a garden filled with vegetation, avenues and small palaces used by the Moorish kings for relaxation.

After spending a long time walking through the gardens we made our way out, and, avoiding security guards rode the bike down some one way streets and over a pavement so that we didn't have to go through the parking barrier.

After a large lunch (they seem to be unavoidable) we made our way back to camp for a swim.

26 July - Aranjuez

We got up this morning as the alarm went off as we wanted to make an early start.

We wanted to make it to Madrid in one go so we had a very long drive ahead of us - the longest so far in fact!

The car seemed to struggle at first. At times it even felt like we needed a push just to go downhill. The mountains ended somewhere after Jaen and then from there on we had a long flat stretch. After travelling for some hours it was time to stop for lunch, but we hadn't seen a picnic spot yet. We ended up having lunch off the side of the road which really didn't feel right at all.

Sometime after lunch the journey became tedious as the scenery didn't seem to change much at all.

We never saw any signs for the campsite as we came off the freeway so finding it was a little difficult. We made it in the end and set up camp in a very sticky heat.

After showers we went and did our shopping at an awesome French supermarket.

27 July - Aranjuez

We were feeling quite lazy so we decided to sleep in a bit this morning. It wasn't too bad because we were in Madrid by 11am.

After finding the tourist office and obtaining a map we went for a coffee to decide what we were going to do.

Our decision led us to a long walk around the old town of Madrid. We saw a few interesting buildings and plazas. We walked up what seemed to be the main shopping street and browsed.

After wandering for some time we ended up at the Plaza Mayor. We knew it would be expensive because of the setting - a massive square surrounded by beautiful buildings and lined with cafés in the heart of tourist mecca. Anyway, we ordered a few tapas which turned out to be huge portions - we were not impressed and even less so when the bill arrived!

A thunderstorm broke out shortly after lunch so we made our way to an internet cafe where we mailed away while we waited for the rain to subside.

With the rain gone we continued to wander around Madrid and found a bookstore where John did a bit of stocking up. After liquid refreshments we went to check out the bull-ring and then headed back to camp.

28 July - Aranjuez

We left a little later than normally this morning as we had some postcards to write and washing to do.

Driving up towards Toledo was quite impressive - an old town on a hill with an alcazar perched on top. Finding the tourist office was the usual story but once we had our map our sightseeing could begin.

We started off with the alcazar - a huge and imposing fortress in which we had nice views over the town. Inside was a huge museum of swords, guns, toy soldiers, displays of old uniforms and a room which displayed how the fortress was completely destroyed during the civil war in the 1930's.

Then into the heart of the city to the cathedral. it was absolutely massive with over 20 chapels dotted around the walls. Behind the main altar the ceiling is painted with cherubs and fluffy clouds and there was a hole punched in the roof allowing the sun to shine through. But again, extremely lavish and overbearing.

From there we walked through steep alleyways to the Jewish quarter. We wandered through, saw the synagogue and then went in search of lunch.

Lunch was an ice-cream and a cooldrink in a small park - neither of us could face tapas or a large lunch today.

We left Toledo shortly afterwards stopping a distance away for a photograph of the town on the hill.