Destinations – Page 5 – RV Travels in Europe and North America

May 26, 2025 Vichy FR

I selected Vichy for todays visit because of its association with World War II. Today and historically Vichy was famous as a spa town with hot springs and naturally carbonated water. Unfortunately for about 3 years of WWII it served as the capital of the puppet French government under Nazi Germany. For me that is always what I will remember it for. When the US and British invaded North Africa early in WWII the initial resistance to the landing was not from the Germans or Italians, but from French troops fighting for Vichy.

We both slept well last night (Ton said I slept very well, meaning I snored), so we both woke early (Ton said her early rise was not entirely voluntary but related to how well I slept.) We were underway early and I was hopeful of arriving at the campground in Vichy before the customary 90 to 120 minute lunch. I respect that the French need two hours for lunch, but my one request be that they get together and agree on which two hours. Some campgrounds break noon to two, some 12:30 to 2:30 and some from 1 to 3. We were on track for a 12:30 arrival, but missed by a couple of minutes, and the barrier to the campground was down meaning lunch was on. There were already two other campers waiting, but the good news was this campground only takes a 90 minute lunch from noon, so we had a little less than an hour to wait. So we also had our lunch.

We headed into town around 2:15 and crossed the bridge to the Avenue of the United States. Running parallel to the Avenue of the US was a lovely park full of trees imported from around the world including an iffy looking Sequoia which still dwarfed all of the other trees.

This Sequoia looks like it has seen better days, but it still dwarfed all of the other trees in the park.

We turned onto Avenue Franklin Roosevelt (there are more roads named after Americans in France than in any other country in Europe) to visit the old Spa hotels. The road and the park that were integral to the old spa are getting a major upgrade, so we were dodging construction sites and equipment.

The Opera House is also getting a major upgrade.

The spa concept was a major tourism draw in the 1800’s and up to WWII in Europe. The concept of going to take the waters was touted as both medically beneficial as well as restful. There was a structured routine that included baths in the thermals, prescribed outdoor walks, healthful meals, and evening relaxation.

One of the halls containing thermal springs. The taps in the foreground are available to fill containers for free.

This led to quite a large industry with luxury hotels to support it. In Vichy the infrastructure that was built in the 1800’s is still largely in place, including large parks with covered walkways around the outside of them in case of inclement weather. These covered walks are impressive as they are made of cast iron and stretch for quite a distance around the exterior edge of the park. There is a large building in the middle of the park that contains an opera hall and casino for evening entertainment, and luxury hotels along one side of the park housed those that had the money to spend time here.

There are 11 Spa cities still functioning in Europe though they are not as popular as they once were. Vichy was celebrating that it along with the other 10 cities throughout Europe had been declared UNESCO cultural sites.

An advertisement from the era touting the sparkling water from Vichy. It is still for sale today.

Vichy is also know for a kind of candy called Pastilles. This year they are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the invention of Pastilles. We decided that this would be a good gift for friends so we spent the rest of the afternoon searching for Pastilles to take home. After visiting three stores we are now well stocked with this delicacy.

While walking around town we saw many references to Vichy as a spa town, and as a source for Pastilles, but only one mention of its role during WWII. I guess I am not surprised as one story is much more pleasant than the other.

May 24, 2025 Cahors FR

We are going to spend the next few days traveling slowly thru central France. This rugged region is full of river valleys and steep hills. There are over a 1000 castles and ruins in the region, but they tend to be on a smaller scale than the big castles in the Loire Valley and around Paris. It is also one of the least visited parts of France by foreign tourists.

Cahors is located on a U-turn on the Lot river and was originally founded by the Celts. It has been around for a lot of history, but nothing particularly interesting has happened here during history.

This landscape of a river running thru steep hills will be common for the next couple of days.

It was a short drive down from Toulouse, but we left early because today was market day in Cahors and we wanted to arrive while the market was in full swing. We quickly checked in and set up François before walking the 2 kilometers back to town.

The market was going in full force around the Cathedral in town.

As we got closer to town we passed more and more people with baskets of groceries and fresh flowers. The market was quite large and the products on sale were very diverse. The regional specialty is duck and geese with all of the different things you can get from those animals including Foie Gras. We are not big fans of it, but we did get talked into taking a sample and I have to admit it was delicious, though we won’t be buying any.

Near the end of the market with the doors of the Cathedral in the background.

These markets are always a lot of fun. In addition to being a good source of fresh foods that support the local farmers, it is always a big social event. We were really lucky as they were also having a festival celebrating the local bicycle clubs so in addition to the good food there were some other interesting displays as well as live jazz all day. While we were wandering around town at least 4 different jazz bands played. It seems these days jazz is more popular in Europe than in the US.

An interesting statue near the cathedral.

The biggest attraction in Cahors is the Valentre bridge over the Lot. It is a medieval bridge with three towers. Many bridges of this era had towers on them, partially for defense, and partially to collect tolls for their use. These days very few of the towers survive.

The three towers plus our favorite plant.

The bridge was quite a construction project for its age. There is a local story that the architect of the bridge was falling behind so he pledged his soul to the devil if the bridge was completed on time. So the devil intervened and the bridge was completed on time, but the architect reneged on the deal and kept his soul. This caused the devil to put a curse on his family. To honor this story a small statue of the devil is located high up on one of the towers.

One of the towers with the stairs leading to the tower.

While Ton was shooting pictures I was doing my normal gazing at people and things when a very dapper French couple in their 80’s asked me to take their picture. I was happy to oblige and they were very grateful. While I was taking their picture Ton had found a very nice place to pose, and she convinced them to pose for her to take their picture. When she showed them the picture they exclaimed Superb which in French sounds even better than English. Unfortunately she used their camera so we don’t have the picture for our use. We passed them several times and they would show us more pictures they had taken. They were a fun and very cute encounter today.

We finished off the day with a wine tasting at the visitors center. We were given five tastings of local wine for free. The region is know for Malbec which is most famously produced in Argentina. Ton has never been a fan of Malbec, but I was hoping French Malbec would change her mind. It didn’t, the reds were too dry for her taste though she did enjoy a Rose from the region.

May 23, 2025 Toulouse FR

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and we had never visited it, though we have driven thru it many times in our comings and goings in France. It is the hub of the French aerospace industry and has the French equivalent of NASA it is not on the tourism path in a big way possibly because it is too far inland for cruise ships to come here on day trips.

Ton did her normal planning for the visit, and I did the navigation. We spent several pleasant hours downtown visiting all of the normal things we go to look at in European cities.

The weather was nice again by the afternoon and there were a lot of people in the streets shopping and enjoying their lunch. Toulouse has several prominent churches and we poked into a couple of them and they were very nice.

The rather austere interior of the Basilica.

The streets were very busy but there was a noticeable absence of guided groups, in fact the only one we saw today was from Lebanon which was a first for us. There was a tourist presence and we heard plenty of American accented English, but it was mostly couples or small groups traveling independently.

Toulouse is famous for its pink tinted buildings, but the light didn’t highlight the pink very well today.

What we did notice was the very high percentage of young people on the streets. Toulouse is home to several universities and the number of students is supposed to be around 100,000. So there was a youthful energy to the town that we really enjoyed. A lot of the American accented English we heard came from younger people rather than middle aged and senior people, which we also enjoyed.

The “New Bridge” which is the oldest bridge in town was originally built in the middle ages. Thomas Jefferson was very interested it and based the design for a bridge over the Potomac on it.

After walking it for a few hours we were surprised that it does not attract more visitors than it does. It is a great walkable downtown with interesting and unique architecture, nice old churches, and good food; all of the things that visitors love. But on the other hand we were glad it didn’t attract thousands of visitors in busses to crowd the center. It is a beautiful city that deserves a visit, and hopefully it will continue to strike the right balance without getting overwhelmed with visitors.

We’re back in France so you have to have a carousel.

May 22, 2025 Toulouse FR

Unexpectedly today was about the drive. The drive from Andorra to Toulouse was only about 180 kilometers but google had it at nearly 3 hours in a car so I had an idea that it might be an interesting 3 hours. We were not in a big hurry to get going because as we reenter France we have to deal with the French lunch. Many campgrounds close for 2 to 3 hours mid-day, the one we were aiming at was closed from noon to 2:30 according to their website.

As we were leaving the urban part of Andorra we saw this in front of us.

We spent about 30 minutes steadily climbing out of the valley we had been in towards the ski resort part of Andorra which is closer to France. The roads were pretty good. After we passed thru the ski-resorts the road began to climb even more. When we first saw the snow in front of us I told Ton we probably wouldn’t get that high but we nearly did.

The expensive tunnel that kept us out of the snow.

We would have climbed up to the snow but we instead opted to take an expensive tunnel that kept us from continuing to climb. We were in the minority as most traffic opted to take a long series of switchbacks over the mountain we drove thru. As we were pulling into the toll booth the light rain we had been driving in was starting to turn into snow flurries so I felt ok with our choice to be wimps.

The Pyrenees on the French side of the pass were quite beautiful.

As soon as we exited the tunnel we entered France, though we did go thru an unmanned border crossing a couple of kilometers later. The drive down was on steep roads with a fair amount of switchbacks, for a few kilometers it was quite foggy which had our speeds down to a crawl. After the fog it rained most of the way down into Toulouse.

Despite the weather and the steep road we were still ahead of our 2:30 arrival so I pulled into a SuperU grocery to allow Ton some recreational shopping. After about 45 minutes we left with a handful of things including some white Asparagus that Ton wants to try her hand at cooking.

We finally arrived at the campground about 3pm only to find that it was still closed. I found a place on the road to park and walked up to the gate to see if I could see anyone. I finally located a maintenance guy who opened the gate and showed us to a spot and told me to go pay at 5pm.

May 21, 2025 Andorra la Vella AN

We had packed up François, and I stuck my head in to tell Ton I was going to disconnect the electricity when she said I read a couple of articles this morning and there are some things to do here. So ten minutes before hitting the road out of Andorra we decided to head into town instead.

Looking down the “Champs Elyse” of Andorra.

Armed with some ideas from a travel blog our initial destination was a street the blogger had labeled as the Champs Elyse of Andorra. It turns out that it is the main shopping street of Andorra, and is lined with high end shops, but surprisingly few restaurants. It had Paris beat for mountains in the background, but the blogger had a pretty vivid imagination to see a resemblance to one of the most famous streets in the world.

Nice sculpture in front of the only church we saw today.

Our next stop was to see a statue that Salvador Dali donated to Andorra. It was located next to the Riu Valira which is the river that runs thru town. As soon as you see the sculpture you know it is a Dali.

The Dali statue next to the Valira River in Andorra.

To tell the truth we spent most of our time today in a LeClerc Hypermarket. This one was different than any we had been in in France, as about 20% of the stock was liquor. Tax free liquor is one of the biggest attractions in Andorra, and this LeClerc was prepared to provide the attraction.

Possibly a building that pre-dates all of the modern shops and apartments that dominate this part of Andorra.

We left the LeClerc with some chocolate souvenirs from Andorra for friends at home. The weather was nearly perfect, and the town was not overcrowded so in the end we were satisfied with our decision to stay on and give Andorra a chance.

The modern buildings that dominate Andorra.

We did watch a video in the tourist information center highlighting the extensive mountain trail system in Andorra. Unfortunately for us those days are coming to a close, but if it is your thing I think there is another side of Andorra that we did not experience.

May 20, 2025 Andorra la Vella AN

We began what is going to be a long trek north back to the Netherlands with a short in distance drive to Andorra, a new country for us. Andorra is one of the mini-countries in Europe with a population of about 87,000. Like Monaco it is a principality though it has two heads of state, the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, it is a long story.

The road into Andorra is a narrow and beautiful mountain road.

The drive was relatively short in distance, but took a little over 3 hours to cover as it was almost all two lane roads instead of the Autovias we have been spoiled with on this trip. the final hour was on a mountainous but well built and maintained road. Our trip was extended a bit because there were three semis delivering large concrete blocks to Andorra and they were frequently down to about 50 kph on the steep grades, by the end there was quite a parade of impatient drivers behind them.

Andorra is well up in the Pyrenees mountains that divide Spain from France.

Andorra is not in Schengen so we were expecting a border crossing and had our documents ready, but when we arrived at the border the Spanish side was unmanned, and the Andorran side was manned but they were not checking every vehicle or any vehicle as near as we could tell, so in the end the documents went unused.

Nice art on the side of a building. The translation is I’ll stay with the art.

What Andorra is really known for is cheap fuel and no sales tax shopping. As soon as you cross the border there are about 8 fuel stations in the first 5 kilometers and two big malls. We took advantage of the fuel to get our second cheapest fuel of the trip at €1.17, another good day for the budget.

François overlooking the capital of Andorra.

We arrived at our campground in the capital of Andorra which is a small town packed into a narrow valley. The mountains above the town are quite striking, but the town didn’t make much of an impression on us. Ton wisely sent me out to take a look at the town, and after a 45 minute trek I returned to tell her that it may be the least charming town I have seen in Europe. She laughed and said that is what she had read. So we settled in to plan our next stop for tomorrow, and a nice home cooked dinner.

May 19, 2025 Tarragona SP

We were up early to see Kit and Stephen off on their trip home. We hope they enjoyed their taste of RV’ing in Europe. It was fun having traveling companions for part of the trip, and is a very different way to see places than just with the two of us.

Since we were up early we decided to get our laundry taken care of. The campground here had nice commercial washers and dryers so it was done with quickly. One thing Ton and I have noticed on this trip is in Spain most of the campgrounds have now invested in commercial washers and dryers which is a big improvement over our first trip thru Spain nearly 7 years ago. Washing clothes is not nearly the chore it was back then.

Ships waiting to enter the port of Tarragona.

The rest of the day was spent giving François a thorough scrub down, and finding a place for all of the food we inherited from Kit and Stephen. It was mid-afternoon before we finished. The afternoon was spent lazing around a much quieter campground as all of the Spanish had returned to work. We had planned an evening walk on the beach, but about 5pm a big thunderstorm was forming inland and it hit in force about 6. By the time it ended Ton was comfortably under the covers so no romantic walk on the Mediterranean tonight.

May 18, 2025 Tarragona SP

Today was Stephen and Kits last day with their motorhome, so our primary goal was to get near Barcelona so they could clean up and pack for their trip home. We left Valencia early and headed up the coast to the campground we had stayed at early in the trip. After a 3 hour drive on a pretty quiet Autovia we arrived at a very full campground. We got two spots together and they began cleaning while Ton and I stayed out of the way.

Our last meal in Spain was a greatest hits of everyones favorite food.

After they finished packing we went out for a farewell to Spain lunch. We enjoyed another great seafood meal and a final pitcher of Sangria. We later sat around and talked until the sun went down.

May 18, 2025 Valencia SP

Today we visited the third largest city in Spain. Valencia didn’t make a big impression on Ton or me during our first visit. It wasn’t bad it just wasn’t that memorable. So for me at least it felt like a first visit as I could only vaguely recall what we had seen here last time. For Ton, she had more complete memories of the town, it just had not made a strong impression on her. Of course, for Stephen and Kit it was their first visit.

The entrance way to the Cathedral, our starting point for the day.

Our campground feels like it is quite a way out of town, so I was surprised when I punched in the city center on google that the ride into town was only about 20 minutes. So the day got off to a good start as we arrived quickly in the Plaza of the Virgins.

The virgins of the Plaza of the Virgins.

We debated whether to join a free tour, but after some thought we decided to tackle the city on our own. So of course we headed off to the Cathedral first. It was impressive of course, but not particularly memorable. We were more impressed with some of the towers we passed in route to the Cathedral.

One of the towers we passed in route to the Cathedral.

We next went to the city hall which is located on a monumental square surrounded by 8 and 9 story buildings. The city hall is an impressive building, but what struck me was that the square was constructed in the 1880’s when most of the city walls were torn down. So the square is relatively new construction which explains why the buildings are a little taller than those that usually surround these major squares.

The main square with its buildings dating from the late 1800’s.

Ton was joking as we walked today that we have a pattern down for visiting cities, first the Cathedral, then the main square, and then the market. So we headed off to the central market.

The interior of the Central Market with the impressive dome in the center.

The market was the highlight of the day. It is quite large, and like Murcia still focuses on selling unprepared food. There was a dizzying array of fish, meat, spices, alcohol, vegetables, and fruit to look at. Ton was in heaven. I tried a Horchata which is a famous drink from Valencia made from almonds. It was better than I expected, and Ton really liked it.

A recipe and the ingredients to make a Horchata.

The next hour was spent going from stall to stall looking at what was on offer. Valencia claims the invention of Paella. In our time we have eaten a great deal of Paella in Spain, and Ton had made it clear that whatever we had for lunch it was not going to be Paella. So while we saw a lot of Paella being produced to take home, we were not tempted.

Different Paellas on sale at the market.

After the market Ton wanted to look at a section of town that is famous for street art. We never quite found the center of it, but did see a few buildings with nice art on them.

The security door for an ice cream shop with a nice painting.

After our quest for street art, we stumbled onto a nice tapas place. Stephens one question to the waitress was did they have Sangria, she replied of course so we sat down. Sangria was Stephens number 1 priority for lunch as he realized we had not had any on the trip and he could not return to the US from Spain without tasting Sangria. It was delicious.

Street art/architecture. This is a house for a cat.

After lunch we were on our way to the Serranos towers, when we noticed a museum that had an interesting courtyard. We poked our head in and a lady informed us that it was free today. The museum was located in a Gothic era convent, so without the art the building was fascinating.

The art was very modern, and some was done digitally which is not something I have experienced before. I found it fascinating and really enjoyed it. I was happy that we had wandered across it in our walk.

Our final stop for the day was at the Serrano Towers which was the old main entrance to the old town when it was walled. Today the various gates from the walls are all that remain as the walls were removed over the years to make for better flow within the city. The Serrano Towers are impressive.

The Serrano Towers, part of the old walled fortifications of Valencia.

Stephen and Kit decided they wanted to climb the tower which is about 200 steps. Ton and I volunteered to watch their packs so they could be unencumbered for their climb. So while they did the climb Ton and I sat in the shade on a nice bench.

After the tower we headed back towards the bus to the campground. While the distance to the bus stop was relatively short, it took a while as there was Gelato to be eaten as well as some last minute gifts to be bought. We finished our day off with another game of Portuguese Rummy.

An archway looking out at a graffiti covered construction site.

I think we did Valencia a disservice after our first visit. After today Ton and I wished we had another day or two to visit so we could continue exploring Valencia. There is more to the city than we realized after our first visit.

May 16, 2025 Valencia SP

We operated on a laid back schedule today. Wake up when we were ready, drive 200 kilometers to Valencia and find a place to settle in for the day. We arrived around 1pm and settled into the campground which is in a national park

Sunset over the National Park near Seville.

After a shared lunch everyone spontaneously declared it would be a good time for a siesta. So after a good siesta that lasted until about 6pm we all reconvened for dinner.

The beach near the campground with Seville and the cranes from the port in the background.

After dinner we walked to the beach to view sunset. The beach was really wide and long, but empty. Stephen had walked down during the siesta and said there were a few people on the beach earlier, but they had all left by the time we got there. All in all a quiet relaxed day that is pretty boring to write about.

May 15, 2025 Murcia SP

Murcia is not on any tourist hot list for Spain. It is a good sized city in an agricultural area, but has a reputation as a place that you go to for business, but not for fun. So we were looking forward to seeing the city.

Murcia is celebrating the 1200th anniversary of its founding this year.

We started at the cathedral as we do in many cities. The cathedral was large and imposing as intended, but not particularly interesting on the outside. We entered and I hesitated because a mass was going on. But the mass occupied a small part of the cathedral, and the rest appeared to be open to visitors. I enjoyed walking thru the cathedral and appreciated it more because the sound of the mass was in the background. It tied the spiritual part of the cathedral to the architectural part in a way I didn’t expect.

The main hall of the Royal Casino of Murcia.

Our next stop was the old casino in the center of the city. It is still known by its original name of Real Casino de Murcia (Royal Casino of Murcia). But it is now a social club whose membership costs €2000 per year. They allow tours of the club and it is an interesting building.

One of the rooms in the casino, we were encouraged to use the furniture as it is not a museum.

There are many rooms and each is decorated differently. The style is classical casino, without the games, so it is not subtle. Each room had a theme and was decorated to reflect that theme.

A vase in the entryway to the casino decorated in a style to match the Alhambra.

After the casino we walked the streets of the town and enjoyed the afternoon ambiance. There were a few fellow tourists around, but most of the people were locals going about their business.

A local Murcia pastry on display in the old town.

When a town center has not been turned into a tourist theater we notice that the makeup of the shops on the streets change. The stores are more geared to meet the needs of the people who live there, so you see shops selling hardware, and vegetables, and electronics. It is a subtle difference but we like the feel better than rows of t-shirt shops, and authentic “name your country/city” goods. For us the stores are more interesting and since we are traveling on longer trips often more useful to us.

The decoration over the street is dried vegetables. Murcia is located in a famous region for vegetables and rice cultivation.

Our lunch was again excellent, the main dish was called a cauldron. It is a local dish of rice and seafood, but prepared quite differently than Paella which is THE Spanish rice and seafood dish. I think I liked the Cauldron better as the spices were more interesting. .

Our last stop for the day was the “Puente de Los Peligros”. The English translation would be “The Dangerous Bridge.” It didn’t look particularly dangerous, but the river walk leading up to it was nice and because there has been a lot of rain in the mountains the color of the water was particularly interesting.

The Dangerous Bridge, not looking particularly dangerous.

The day had started with rain, but for most of the time we had been walking we had clear skies. But as we approached the bridge the skies turned ominous and just as we left the bridge a real downpour began and drove us undercover. At that point we decided to hail a taxi and head back to the campground.

We spent the next couple of hours huddled up in François listening to the rain and in my case sleeping. After the rain let up we had another nice meal prepared by Kit with Tons help. The evening ended with another round of Portuguese rummy before we called it a night.

An interesting interpretation of Icarus from the casino.

Murcia is not a city catering to tourists. It does have some tourist infrastructure but it is not overrun with tourists which is why I think I found it more interesting than some of the more famous cities we have visited in Spain.

May 14, 2025 Murcia SP

A short blog entry to accompany a long drive. Kit and Stephen are coming to the end of their trip so as always happens on these trips the last few days feel like a rush to cover kilometers back to the drop off point. Today we covered a little over 400 kilometers to Murcia. The plan is to go into the town tomorrow and check it out.

The drive went smoothly the only hitch being the aire we had picked for the day was not open when we arrived. It is one of the highest rated places I have ever seen on Park4night, including a 5 star review from today. But, when we arrived it looked empty, a bit forlorn and the gate was locked; a little weird. Luckily Murcia had another well reviewed aire and we shifted there and it is also very nice. We settled in had an excellent Thai meal, a game of Portuguese Rummy and called it a night.

May 13, 2025 Malaga SP

It was a relaxing start to the day. We headed over to the train station about 10am. I had done a recon earlier and discovered how to buy the tickets after many failed attempts, so we were armed with tickets. The aire here while secure is located in a pretty iffy part of town. The good news it was a short walk to the train station. Three stops later we were in the center of the city.

The stained glass decorating the exterior of the market in Malaga. One of our favorites in Spain.

We started out in the market. Ton had a great time walking the aisles in the large market that featured all of the staples; Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Spices. There was a mix of locals shopping for staples, and tourists looking at the locals shopping for staples. Fortunately, this one has not converted to a glorified food hall like many of the markets in Spain we have visited. Ton bought some pickled egg plants that we are looking forward to trying. The lady at the shop even showed her what parts to remove before eating which we wouldn’t have known.

This flat iron building was right outside of the market.

We had visited Malaga on our first trip and it was raining. We enjoyed the visit then, but I remembered the town as not being that crowded with tourists. Unlike that first visit the weather was perfect today, and the crowds were out in force. We suspect there was a cruise ship in town, but we never went down to the waterfront to confirm it.

We visited the Cathedral and the Roman Theater, but a lot of today was spent popping into little shops to buy gifts and souvenirs. A lot of the buildings look like they were built in the 1880’s and 1890’s as they had cast iron frames and pillars that were prominent in those days.

The Cathedral with a long line to enter.

We came across a fancy restaurant, and Ton immediately recognized it as the one we had eaten in on our first visit. It was on Kit’s list of places to eat so lunch was decided. Ton and I split a skillet of Black Seafood Rice, Stephen and Kit tried a variety of Tapas like dishes. Our dish is made with squid ink which gives it its color. It is one of my favorite dishes.

The wall in the restaurant had a wall of famous people. Most of them were famous Spaniards so we had not heard of them, but we did no this fella and his girlfriend at that time. Antonio Banderas began his acting career in Malaga.

After lunch which was on a Spanish time schedule, so we were done with it about 2:30 we did some more shopping. Ton and I wanted to revisit one of the most memorable drinking experiences we have had. There is a Sherry bar in Malaga that has been in business since the 1840’s, it was atmospheric on our first visit so we wanted to see if it was as good as we remembered it. It was more crowded, but once we managed to push our way up to the bar, we got a sherry and a vermouth. They still wrote our tab in chalk on the bar in front of us. It was as good as we remembered it and we took a liter of vermouth back to François for future consumption.

We purchased a liter of the vermouth at the end. They poured directly from the giant wooden cask and hammered a cork into the bottle. You can see the price for a liter written in chalk on the cask.

The sherry place was our last stop for the day. I was concerned that I might have messed up the ticket purchase in the morning for the return trip and my concerns were correct. When our tickets didn’t work I asked an employee if I could correct the problem for the card we had, he asked what I had done, and after I explained it he said follow me and led us to a gate that he unlocked and told us “have a good trip” as he released us into the train station. Another nice gesture that will keep Malaga on my favorite city in Spain list.

May 12, 2025 Cordoba SP

When I think of majestic, in nature I think of the Grand Canyon. If it is man made I think of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. We visited Cordoba a few years ago on our second trip thru Spain and I was blown away by the majesty of the interior of this building originally built as a Mosque, and then converted to a Cathedral after the re-conquest of Spain.

Near the entrance, the columns of arches seeming to stretch off in all directions.

Like the Grand Canyon it is hard to capture the majesty of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba in photos. It is best appreciated in person with all of your senses engaged.

Another view with the columns dominating the view. It gives a different perspective to the space.

The interior space feels more Islamic than Christian with large spaces in the Cathedral just devoted to space filled with columns and arches that encourage you to contemplate. The lighting is mostly natural and it enhances the architecture.

There is beautiful Christian art in the Cathedral, along the outer walls and in the center where the sacristy is placed.

When the Mosque was captured the Christian conquerors made a conscious decision to retain a lot of the Mosque as it stood. In fact when the sacristy was placed in the center of the Cathedral in the 1700’s it was controversial and criticized by senior church leaders for disrupting the flow of the building.

Arabic calligraphy on display inside the Cathedral.

Ton and I were both nervous about revisiting a place that had made such a big impression on us as second visits sometimes reduce the good first impression. In the case of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, we were more impressed. We entered at the opening so the crowd was less at first and we could really enjoy the size and austere grandeur of the place.

This image combines the Islamic and Christian influence of the Mosque-Cathedral.

Unfortunately, we thought we had to get moving towards Granada. From the beginning we had told Kit and Stephen that the Alhambra in Granada was the one place they must see in Spain. Right after they arrived we had them look at available dates to tour the Alhambra, and tomorrow was the only day available.

Kit hiding from a horse on a narrow street in Cordoba.

They had booked with a reputable tour company, but their booking had a funny addendum. It said the time of the tour would not be assigned until 12-48 hours before the scheduled date. They had received an email a few days ago confirming their reservation, but still not specifying their time.

The interior of a courtyard of a private residence opened to the public this week as part of a festival in Cordoba.

We were in the process of packing, an aire had been selected to stay in at Granada, and all of the data had been plugged into GPS devices. Stephen came over and I thought he was going to tell me they were ready to leave. Instead he told me that the travel company had cancelled the tour. What a bummer, we felt sorry for them as it was a place they were excited to see, and we had planned our entire trip around this tour.

A quick meeting was held and options were considered. After looking at the logistics of things it was decided that Malaga would be the alternative to Granada. An Aire was found close to the city center, GPS coordinates were updated and about 1pm we were off for Malaga.

The drive from Cordoba to Malaga featured miles and miles of olive orchards.

May 11, 2025 Cordoba SP

We were up early as we had one of the longest drives we have ever taken in Europe in front of us. We need to be in Granada by May 12 as Kit and Stephen have a tour of the Alhambra scheduled for May 13. It is nearly 800 kilometers from Lisbon to Granada and we need to cover it in two days. Looking at our options Cordoba was the best mid-point but it was not mid-way but 500 kilometers from Lisbon.

Wild flowers at our first pit stop in Portugal.

If you are going to do a too long drive in Europe the best day is Sunday as the semi’s are more or less banned from driving. This means we are the slowest thing on the road in most cases so you can set the cruise control and settle in the right lane and let the other cars zoom past. The drive took over 6 hours and with the additional hour we gained we didn’t park up at Cordoba until after 4 pm.

Cordoba is having a flower festival and the streets and many of the private courtyards are decorated with flowers.

We settled in quickly as we are in the municipal aire in Cordoba which is a new experience for Kit and Stephen. No power, no water, no toilets, just the facilities you carry in your van. We decided that food was in order so we headed into Cordoba to find some. On Sundays a lot of the bars and cafes that serve informal food close down in the evening. We settled on a pizza place across from the famous Cathedral/Mosque which is why we are here and will visit tomorrow.

The gate to the Roman Bridge in Cordoba.

After we finished our meal we strolled down to the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir River. It is another impressive piece of engineering though Stephen and I suspect it has been rebuilt a few times since the Romans.

The long Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir River in Cordoba.

After the bridge Stephen and I were feeling the effects of our drive, so we headed back to the aire for a well deserved rest.

May 10, 2025 Lisbon PO

We headed over to a different part of Lisbon today to check out an area that Ton was very interested in seeing. Belem is located near the mouth of the Tagus River. It is quite distinct from the old town of Lisbon because of its proximity to the Atlantic.

The ferry terminal in Belem with the 25th of April Bridge in the background as well as the Portuguese version of the Cristo Redentor.

We came here to see the sites but also to visit a famous bakery that has the original and best versions of Natal’s which are Tons favorite deserts. The line to get into the bakery was long but we gained entry quickly. Our order went awry and instead of getting Natal’s we got three chocolate cakes. While I was very happy with this chocolate indulgence Ton was disappointed. Luckily our to go order was 6 still warm Natal’s so Ton was ultimately happy.

Stephen Kit and me trying to figure out what had arrived at our table.

On the way to the bakery we had walked by the Mosteiro dos Geronimo. It is an old Monastery that is very impressively large. We would have required tickets in advance to get in so we had to satisfy ourselves with pictures from the nice gardens surrounding the Monastery.

While I was overindulging in chocolate cake, Ton discovered that there was supposed to be a small Thai pavilion in the park nearby. So after we ate we set off to find it. It was dedicated in 2012 to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese-Thai relations.

The pretty little Thai pavilion in Belem.

Our next stop in Belem was at the Belem Tower. It is an old fort that was placed to help guard the mouth of the Tagus River. It is an UNESCO world heritage site and is quite pretty.

We next went to a hip area of Belem full of restaurants and cool stores. We explored for a while and found a really interesting bookstore in a space that had previously been a printing plant for a newspaper.

This library in an old printing plant was really cool.

We went up to a rooftop bar and had a beer before heading out for some more exploring in the district. It was full of really nice street art.

This area is located directly under the 25th of April bridge and is a good example of a repurposed industrial district. We really enjoyed walking thru and looking at the restaurants and small shops.

A beautiful piece of modern art utilizing the traditional blue tiles of Portugal.

When we finished the district we decided to call the day a bit early and head back to the campground to relax. Ton prepared a delicious meal and I snuck in a short nap. We were both glad we had made it to Lisbon.

More street art in the LX Factory district.

May 9, 2025 Lisbon PO

We had skipped Lisbon last time we were in Portugal because it got mixed reviews and the logistics for campers was difficult. We had regretted it since, and with Kit and Stephen along we got a chance to rectify that oversight.

This bridge across the Targa River bears a remarkable resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge. It turns out it was built by the same designer as the Golden Gate Bridge. I lost a bet on which was longer, the Golden Gate is.

I put the Cathedral in for our initial destination and google said it would take over 90 minutes by transit to cover the 15 kilometers. We decided to save time by taking a Bolt ride share to the ferry terminal. We saved time, but would have saved more if I had correctly entered the name of the ferry terminal into the app. When we arrived at a place that clearly was not the ferry terminal and acted confused the Bolt driver looked at what I had put in the app for a destination and saw my mistake. So after a few extra Euros and about 20 extra minutes we arrived at the ferry.

This large square and imposing gate was our entrance to Lisbon.

Our first destination was an Asian Grocery store as Kit really needed fish sauce to keep producing the excellent Thai food we have grown accustomed to eating on this trip. With this mission accomplished we headed up an imposing hill towards the Cathedral and Castle.

While walking to the Asian Market we came across this crazy elevator made of cast iron. It was made by a disciple of Eifel, but we could not figure out the purpose, except for tourism.

It was a beautiful day to visit, the temperatures were perfect and the skies were mostly blue. It was crowded as there were three large cruise ships in town as well as all of the other tourists like us.

This photo was taken from a viewpoint just above the Cathedral. Ton loves street art so this photo of the roofs of Lisbon with some nice street art made her really happy.

Right before we came to the Cathedral there was a nice Church dedicated to one of the patron saints of Lisbon. The interior was very nice, and we went down to the crypts of the church to see the birthplace of Saint Antonio.

A decoration from the Egrejia de San Antonio de Lisbon.

The cathedral was nice, but not as impressive as many of the others we have visited. We continued our climb up the hill with the intent of visiting the castle that dominates the city.

One of the many beautiful and steep streets in Lisbon.

We were about 5 minutes from finishing our quest to reach the castle when a nice restaurant stopped us for the next hour. We had a table on the patio overlooking the street, and we were lucky as there were no smokers on the patio to ruin the experience for us. There was a lot of foot and vehicle traffic on the street including some fairly large busses that barely fit. The drivers really earn their pay.

There were lots of these fake antique cars on the road outside of our restaurant.

Just before we left Stephen informed us we were only 200 meters from the castle, but we would have to climb 200 feet during those 200 meters. It was going to be a good climb.

One of the “hacks” for Lisbon is to buy an all day pass and use Trolley line 28 to go up and down the steep hills around the palace. Unfortunately, this hack is now known by most of the tourists so every time one of the trolleys went by it was absolutely stuffed, and often there were twenty or thirty people waiting at the trolley stops to get on.

We finished the climb after a few minutes and arrived at the gate to the castle/palace. We noticed there was a large crowd milling around the entrance, but few people were entering. There were also security guards checking everyone at the gate. It turns out the ticket office was on strike, so no one could buy tickets. The only ones getting in were the people who had bought tickets on line earlier.

Some of the narrow streets around the castle.

So a little disappointed we poked around the neighborhood for a while, before deciding to make our way back to the ferry. The walk back down the hill was easier on the lungs, but not necessarily on the legs.

There is not as much blue tile art in Lisbon as Porto but it is still prominent.

The ferry was just boarding when we arrived at the terminal. We enjoyed the quick trip across the Targa. The Bolt back to the campground was a lot faster than the misadventure in the morning, though surprisingly not much cheaper. Kit prepared us another nice Thai meal of two of my favorite dishes Dom Yum and Larb. Having climbed a bunch of hills everyone turned in early for the evening.

May 8, 2025 Villa Caparica PO

Today was a long day driving. We moved from Porto to a beach town just south of Lisbon. Lisbon is a difficult place for campers, there are only two campgrounds, one has some of the worst ratings I have seen on Park4night, and the other is located about 20 kilometers from the city. We are at the one far out from the city.

The drive down was about 4 hours on a good Autopista. Before departing Vila Cha we filled up with gas and made a stop at Lidl for groceries. We weren’t on the road until nearly noon, so we arrived at the campground a little late. Our German neighbors came over and gave us a quick briefing on Lisbon and turned over their transit passes that will save us 50 cents when we get to the ferry. We were sitting chatting when the wife came over telling us something in German that had her very excited. I went over and looked at her phone, and learned that the new pope was American. She thought it was funny that we were American in an European campground and the new pope was also American.

Later we walked down to the waterfront which was very interesting. It looks like in the 1990’s someone spent a lot of money trying to develop this area as a beach resort. There were roads to nowhere. Street lights lining the roads to nowhere that have not worked in years, and two large abandoned campgrounds. Someone built a nice boardwalk that is still being used by bicyclists, the boardwalk was lined with buildings intended to be restaurants and tourist shops that are mostly empty, though a couple of restaurants are hanging in. It reminded me of some of the old communist infrastructure we saw in Eastern Europe.

May 7, 2025 Porto PO

Having taken a day of rest to try to shake a virus that had invaded the team, we were ready to return to Porto for the day. No one was in a great hurry to get going so we spent some time chatting with our Danish neighbors and watching the husband work on the brake on his caravan. After a while with a good sense of humor he told us he was going to charge us a Euro entertainment fee if we kept watching so we decided to head into town.

The Dom Luis I Bridge across the Duoro. The upper deck is for trains and pedestrians. The lower bridge below the arch is for cars and pedestrians. The bridge was built by a disciple of Eiffel.

Today our tour was to the non-Porto side of the river. The south bank of the river is called Gaia and it is most famous as the home of the Port Wine Industry of Portugal.

The view of Porto from across the river in Gaia. Most of the river traffic these days is tourist related, short day cruises, hourly cruises and a few week long river cruises. I don’t think I saw a “working” boat all day.

The water front is lined with Port producers and the old warehouses that store the wine. The Port industry was founded in Porto in the early 1700’s by British investors, and a great number of the famous producers have distinctly British sounding names such as Sandemans, Cockburn’s, and Taylors. The British dominated the industry for decades, but eventually Portuguese families began to get involved also.

The tasting room for Sandeman winery, one of the biggest producers in Portugal.

Initially we just strolled along the river enjoying the views and the shopping. One of the other industries that Portugal is famous for is canned Sardines. The Portuguese take this very seriously and canned Sardines are considered a delicacy. Ton and Kit spent quite a bit of time shopping one of the stores while Stephen and I waited outside.

Portugese canned sardines come in cans that are like pieces of art.

It was a busy day on the Gaia side of the river with lots of tourists about. But we went along with the flow and continued down the waterfront. There is a small Mercado on the river that has now been turned into a food hall. We had our lunch there.

Looking across the river at Porto, Ton was heard to comment “You can’t take a bad picture here.”

Coming out of the food hall we decided to revisit a Port winery we had visited on our last trip. We had really enjoyed the Ramos Pinto winery. The Port is tremendous, and Ton loves the turn of the 20th century advertising that decorates the interior. It would be racy today.

Late 1890’s early 1900 advertisement for Ramos Pinto Port. We both love this art as advertisement movement popularized by Toulouse-Latrec.

We were lucky to have the tasting area almost to ourselves. We received an in-depth presentation of the wine from a nice young lady, and then were welcomed to explore the tasting area. and look at the art.

After our tasting we hooked back up with Kit and Stephen and began working our way back to the bridge. By this time a lot of street vendors had set up and Ton and Kit enjoyed window shopping the wares.

Ton disappeared for a while to get a picture of this giant bunny made of recycled materials.

After 3 hours exploring Gaia we crossed the lower deck of the bridge and reentered Porto. The view from the Riverfront in Porto is not as spectacular as from Gaia as the bluffs down to the river in Gaia are not as steep as Porto. That is probably why the Gaia side was the working side of the river and the Porto side was the living side of the river.

I am always amazed how these homes are built into the side of the very steep bluff on the Porto side of the river. These buildings were built without the modern construction crane in the photo.

By the time we had covered the riverfront in Porto we decided it was time to head back to the campground. The last 45 minutes of our walk was all uphill to the metro stop for our ride home. But with frequent stops to look in shop windows we made it easily.

Ton really likes this picture. She thinks it looks more like a painting than a photograph.

We arrived back to the campground just in time for a quick dinner. The days have been really good on this trip, but as soon as the sun drops the temperatures do also. We were having a nice chat when we all realized it was getting quite windy and cold so we turned in for the night.

May 6, 2025 Porto PO

Today was a day of rest. We did not leave the campground. Everyone used today to recharge their batteries and fight viruses. Sometimes a day of rest is what is needed after a lot of traveling.