Over the winter I had, weeks and weeks and weeks to plan this trip. But just last night I decided I needed new shoes. We left home about 13:00hrs and our first port of call was the Sketchers shop up at the Boulevard.
We then headed down the A1 towards Dublin picking up the M50, finally the N11 to Arklow.
Arklow was just to be an overnight stop as we had allowed ourselves two days to get to Rosslare.
It turned out to be a great find, quiet, friendly, shopping near by and a swimming pool. Also nice walks and some wildlife of the winged, feather variety.
Lorraine had preprepared a stew at home, so tea was easy to make and went down very well.
Arklow
Arklow
That was Monday, today we had a leisurely start and a nice drive down to the Coral Gables campsite at Rosslare. Literally 6 mins drive from the port. We had reconnoitred this place out back in February so we knew where we were going. We chose it because it was close to the port and we could do all services before boarding the Salamanca heading to Bilbao in Spain. This ferry-crossing was with Brittany Ferries
Our first real trip with Dorothy, I guess teething problems are to be expected. The step at the side door decided not to work. I tried the fuse and some connections plugs and hey presto! It was working again.
Day 3
We were up early this morning @ 5:30hrs and drove down to the ferry.
On the way we noticed a number of vans parked up outside the supermarket in Rosslare also some in a small car park we knew about down at the port. This car park-at the port has a barrier which was up this morning, but it was definitely down when we had a look in February. This would have been a cheaper option but we would not have been able to do the services the night before.
The ship is quite modern and fresh. We have an inside cabin. The beds seem comfortable and it has a great shower.
We are positioned right up at the bow door and will most likely be one of the first to drive off the ship. Sitting here writing this, that thought terrifies me. What if I go wrong? What if everyone follows me. Oh dear!
Just had a short talk from a marine biologist about whales. She is onboard with “Orca” to survey them during crossings. Apparently the bay of Biscay is home to 1/3 of the worlds whale population. I say whales but its whales and dolphins.
The boat has lots of organised activities, table quiz, live music and lots for the kids to do.
The ferry doesn't feel overly busy, plenty of room and choice of where to sit.
Bill, Brittany Ferry
Our Cabin
Bill, Brittany Ferry
On Board Entertainment
Bilbao
Loads of things go through your mind as you get ready to disembark. Will the van start after the fridge being on for 27 hours without solar? I am at the front, will I know where to go, will people follow me. As it happens God answered our prayers and a line of motor bikes were let go first.
It was relatively straight forward, except my phone wouldn’t connect with the van and I had no map display. Turns out the van doesn’t like Surf Shark. We took one wrong turn and a nice lady attendant got us back on the right track. Boy was I glad when we arrived at the Bilbao Hostel Aire. John recognised it because I had seen it on google maps.
We quickly got a pitch, I say quickly but to be honest we faffed about quite a bit deciding where to go. The girl on reception was very friendly and helpful. She drew on the map the Tram line and the buss number we should look for.
When we got sorted, we walked down to the Hospital and caught the tram to the Old Town region of the city. We where hungry and opted for something familiar, McDonalds. Had a wander round and just soaked in the atmosphere, before heading back.
We went up to the hostel common room as they had good wifi. Really strange being among so many teenagers. But good at the same time.
Next morning up to the hostel for breakfast and a warm shower, all included in the price.
John went to try and get some groceries and then we headed down to the Hospital again to catch the tram. We had decided that we wanted to see the Guggenheim museum and go up the Bilbao Funicular.
We managed both and also some time to soak up the lovely sun rays and general atmosphere.
Wish we had a stem counter because the wee legs were tired at this point, so much so that instead of walking up the hill we got the 58 bus.
Bilbao Old Town
McDonalds @ Bilbao
Bilbao Hostel Aire
Burgos
We left Bilbao Hostel and headed out of one city into another. We found a park for Burgos on park4night. It was a lovely drive and we turned off “avoid toll roads” on google maps. John had purchased a toll tag called Bip&go. So driving up to the first toll station was a bit of a stressful moment. But Bip&go beeped and the barrier raised, worked like a trouper. Same thing at the next toll station, but all worked well.
When we arrived at the parkup we couldn’t believe how busy it was. Vans parked up everywhere. If this was back home, we would have probably passed on by, but we stuck it out and after a few attempts we settled on a spot. Not glamorous but did the job.
We agreed that we should get going before the sun got really hot, but that didn’t really happen!
We had a lovely shower and got covered up with sun cream and with the help of Google maps walked towards the city centre.
We enjoyed a nice walk along the side of the river. There must have been some kind of sponsored bike ride on. I have never seen so many bikes in one place. Crossing the road was risky, even though it was a zebra crossing. We also stumbled across an outdoor market and spent some time looking at the various stalls. The temperature got up to 30 degrees at one point.
Finished with the market we continued on our way towards the city, in search of Catedral de Santa María de Burgos.
This is one of the starting points for the Camino way, we spotted a number of the famous shell way markers.
We spotted a sight seeing train and bought two tickets. Our time slot was 15:30. The train stopped at the top of a very steep hill. A fantastic place to get a pano of the city. However it was not as good as the top of a double decker bus. Bit of a disappointment, but for 13 euros it was ok!
We spotted some statues on a bridge which we spotted from the train and a big statue of El Cid.
We then had the long walk back to the van. However a quick search on google maps (a pizza place near me now open) found a brilliant Tele Pizza! After some really sketchy communication we managed to order a Pepperoni and a Hawaiian Pizza. It gave us the chance to have a rest and recharge the batteries before the walk home, in the heat. Boy was it warm! 25 degrees
All in all we had a lovely day in Burgos, if a some what tiring day. The parkup was free as were all the services.
Today Monday, was an admin day. We found a laundry and Lidl within ten mins walk from the van. Also did all services before heading to Leon.
Leon
The drive to Leon was very straight forward, And good old google maps to us right to our park up. At 5 euro/24hrs you just can’t beat that. We were just across the road Fram a large shopping centre Leon Plaza. Good supermarket, C&A, and Toilets. Didn’t do much that night but planned what we were doing the following day.
Leon, has a number of very impressive buildings. The first one we visited was the old convent but its currently being used as a 5 star hotel.
Leon is a part of the Camino way and there are various markers, statues and eating places, dotted around the city.
It was about a 35 min walk to the city centre. We spotted a tourist train and decided to give the legs a wee rest for 1/2 hour. It was worth while in that we could see all the places to visit. By the time we departed the train, it was now siesta time, no wonder in this heat, about 25 deg. We had lunch at a nice we e place called “Pan & world. Pulled pork sandwich and some BBQ chicken wings.
At 4 o’clock, the cathedral was open, so we paid our 12 euro and went inside.. Very impressive, the largest collection of stained glass in the world. We also saw a building designed by the famous Spanish designer Gaudi.
John spotted a Vodafone shop, as he wanted to get a Spanish sim, unfortunately you also need a passport. So not today!
We retraced our steps but found a nicer path back to the van through the park. It was interesting to watch a number of locals playing French Boules. Just a little further on we watched some guys playing a new game to us. He was throwing heavy domed stones that would knock over a skittle if you get it right, not sure what the name of the game is.
Back to the van and beans & toast for dinner, all we had energy for. The heat just zaps your energy.
The plan for the following day was to get up, head back to the Vodafone shop, armed with a passport this time and get a “pay as you go sim” for the van wifi. Getting it working is a whole other story!!!
We had breakfast in a very hip Cafe, which was lovely. Then we headed back to the van. John bought a sun hat in an outdoor shop.
We were able to do all our services before we left heading for Astorga.
