6th to the 11th of August 2024
We had an awesome day with Maree’s X in-laws. Tom and Val really treated us to a great day showing us their local sights. Firstly we visited Tintern Abbey, then off to The Boat Inn pub. The Boat Inn is Maree’s favourite pub and it’s easy to see why. It’s very small with a beautiful river flowing down between hills of green. Next they showed us around Monmouth. Tom and Val have lived in the small town of Monmouth all their lives, listening to them talking about the history they have there was very special. Lastly we went up to a look-out with a spectacular view. The world is full of awesome people and it’s been our privilege to know two more.
Gillie was chasing information on her Mother’s cousin who flew Sunderland’s out of Pembroke Doc during the war. We walked into the Penbroke Heritage centre and Gillie spoke to the first guy, we were buying tickets from about what she was looking for and for the next 2 hours she had volunteers finding her info, calling other experts, etc. Gillie had a blast.
Over 1000 British motorcycles with over 850 on display. 170 different British manufacturers.
22 July 2024
Some the sights of Cambridge. One think I didn’t know is that Cambridge University is actually a 31 colleges that are combined to make the university.
17th July
The IWM is an operational airfield with a list of very very large hangers full of planes. To give you an idea of size the hanger area is about 1.5km long
This is a short piece of dashcam video showing the Eurotunnel process. The French call it Le Shuttel.
8th July 2024
Gill wanted to visit the Menin Gate and my great, great uncle’s grave site. The Menin Gate is totally covered in scaffolding at the moment, So I’v upload a picture off the web below.
At the Menin Gate they have a ceremony every day at 8:00 pm where they play the last post and lay a wreath. The day we were there, my guess was there was somewhere around 500 plus people. They have been doing this every day since 2nd July 1927.
The Menin Gate was packed inside and out with people. I thought I’d upload our video as is.
We took a bus from the campsite into Regensburg train station where Andy and Alina were waiting for us. We all hopped on a train and went 9/10th of the way and then on a bus to get to Kelheim. Kelheim is a beautiful small town about 25km away from Regensburg. We looked around the old town, then took a tourist Toot train up the hill to see a monument. The monument was built by King Ludwig to remember the defeat of Napoleon. Toot train back down to the Danube river for a ferry ride through a rocky gorge to an old monastery that had a small church and a large beer garden in the courtyard.
For dinner we caught up with one of Andy’s friends “Andy calls him the coolest German” and I think he is correct.
The following day, it was Regensburg’s old town, the cathedral, glass museum, etc. Then dinner with a different friend “Paula” …an amazing lady!
An absolute awesome few days, with the greatest of friends.
25th June
Arrived in Grindelwald on the Sunday the 23rd with clouds covering the mountains. There was to be a festival here that was cancelled because of the bad weather. So all the people left and it’s been nice and sunny for the rest of our stay.
First day we took the cable car up Schrekfeld to “first”. 1,950 meters
Second day we took the train up to Jungfraujoch “Top of Europe” 3,454 meters, then the train back down as far as Eigergletsher 2,320 meter for lunch and then final the cable car back down to Grindelwald.
Third day we went over Maennlichen
The lake area is one of the most beautiful spots in France……when it’s now raining. We had two day and got a morning without rain…Say La Vie.
17th June
We wanted to see Montserrat and the Cava region, so we decided to take a guided tour that did both in the same day. It was a really great day….parking at Montserrat is impossible and I done think I should drive while doing a Cava tour.
So we rented a hotel in Barcelona and did the tour on one day and seen the Sagrada Familla on the next day.
11th to 13 June 2024
We went to another flamenco show…and OMG I’m glade we did. The dance style was very different, still very powerful. They said the performers are from a gypsy cave group. The show was in the building built into the side of the mountain, the performance was raw and power. Attitude plus some. Loved it.
The guy on the guitar was extremely good, fingers that really moved. You could feel the sound in the small cave room, no amp but with the stone walls they didn’t need it.
The language of music and dance is universal, especially beautiful, it unites peoples from different cultures and places.
No videoing was allowed so my vid is all stills…So you’ll have to imagine their feet going a million miles an hour.
WOW this place is huge, Alhambra is a fortress palace, Spain’s number one tourist attraction. About 3m people a year visit the place or about 10,000 per day.
8th June
In Cordoba there is a number of great places to visit. The old royal stables where they now have a Spanish riding school, a Roman built bridge with the original gates at either end, the alcazar that is the old royal palace…mostly all that is left is the gardens and a little bit of the original palace, old town with its twisting little alleyways, etc..
But what I really came to see was the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba and I was not disappointed. I think it’s the most amazing structure I’ve ever seen, the architecture, the culture significance, religious significance and just how beautiful it is. The site originally was a Roman Temple, then the Christians built over it a Visigoth church, then the Moors took Cordoba and split it in two for both Christians and Muslims in 711. In 784 it was destroyed and they started work on the mosque and continue building for over 2 centuries and finally completed in 987. Then in 1236 Cordoba was recaptured by a Christian King and he start rebuilding a synagogue in the middle of the mosque, and he never demolished the mosque. So we end up with a cathedral sort of built in the middle of a mosque. Today the site is as significant to both Islamic and Christian faiths. While we were there we saw people from both faiths.
I’ve done two videos, one of the Mosque-Cathedral and another for the rest. Hope you enjoy Cordoba as much as I did.
See if you like my take of music for the cultural mix
4th of June
Ronda is 750 meters above sea level on a high plateau. It’s a natural fortress location. The town has a huge gorge that cuts the town in half. In the 15th century a stone bridge was built joining the town…very pretty place with incredible views.
I also thought I’d do a video on the park where we’re staying, Give you a look at how hard we’re doing it….!
2nd June
We crossed the border into English held Gibraltar today and took the cablecar to the top of the rock of Gibraltar.
Hope you enjoy the video.
Wishing on a postcard, that you were here with me.
30th May
We stayed at a park-up in a huge shopping centre. The ablution were very average but the site was quite and the lady running the place was very helpful and nice. So overall an ok park-up.
The next day we went to see the “Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art”. There one off the bucket list.
26th to 28th May - 3 Days.
We visited a Roman Amphitheatre the Spanish call it “The Italica Amphitheater”. There is also a large area that used to be the Roman town, the buildings are all in ruins, but the floors and their mosaics are still intact. Some very nice tile work.
We also went to the “Setas de Sevilla”, it’s a structure that has 9 columns. A funny looking thing that has a walkway across the top…..great views of the city and area. They say it’s made of wood….but all the real structural bits are steel.
A bit of a bust…3 of the 6 sites were closed…say la vie.
Seville is teaming with lots of tourists, we must be moving into peak period…or it’s just Andalusia the tourist capital.
At the moment, I’m sitting on my camp chair at the back of the van, doing the blog and watching a couple put up a two man tent. Not sure which one will kill the other.
Anyway the main thing today was the Seville Cathedral…a nice cathedral but we’ve now seen lots better… We started the day with a walk along the river, looking at the boats, monuments, etc.
We went to the Real Alcazar and Plaza de Espana
The Alcazar is truly amazing. It was closed up for centuries and that is why it’s in such good condition. They allow 800 people per hour through the entry gate and the volume of people get lost, it’s huge. One of the must do things to see.
24 May
Our last stop in Portugal. The bone church was interesting.
A very beautiful town.
On day 1 we went to:
On day 2 we went to:
19th May 2024
We stayed 2 days at Coimbra and caught up on the washing, etc. On the drive from Coimbra to Lisbon we stopped off at Fatima and went to see the Sanctuary of Lady of Fatima.
The sanctuary is huge, it has an old cathedral and a new church. There is a bitumen section between the two church’s that is 250m x 110m and at some events they fill the space with people. So really there is three including the open air section, the bitumen section is setup with its own platform, big screen, etc.
The story goes that back in 1917 three shepherd children said they saw the Virgin Mary and she told them that they should build a sanctuary. So they did.!
6.3 million people a year visit the spot.
You will also see in some of the pictures that some people crawl on their knees the 170 meters to prove their faith. There were several people doing this when we were there.
This is a google map picture of the place.
11th May 2024
The Portuguese people hold Guimaraes as one of the most important historical cities in Portugal. They say things like this is where Portugal started. It’s a city in northern Portugal and it has lots to offer the traveller. There is a cable car running up to a mountain overlooking the city. On the mountain there is a cris-cross of paths between the huge boulders, a church, a huge Aussie Gum tree and coffee shops. The views are just WOW.
In the city there are lots of well-preserved buildings and narrow streets, a 10th century castle that is in ruins, restored Dukes of Bragança Palace and a 13th century church.
We took the cable car in the morning and walked the city in the afternoon….a very nice time.
Woohoo a free park up!.
10th May 2024
We drove passed Braga last week because it was raining, so we thought we’d return and it’s been well worth it. Braga and the BOM Jesus site are spectacularly beautiful.
There is a funicular that you can take to the top, if you don’t want to walk the 573 steps. The funicular is water driven, they fill the tank under one of the cabins and let the water out of the other. The weight difference drives the system.
OH I’m not sure the music goes wth the video, it was just what I wanted to listen to.
6th to the 8th of May 2024
After a few days of rain the weather cleared up wonderfully for our time in Porto.
We got to spend the time with Maree, Steve, Alex, Tom and Val. How did we get so lucky! Having friends like these.
29th and 30th April 2024
The old town of Salamanca has been UNESCO listed because its so well preserved….just very beautiful.
This small but has some great items.
27 April 2024
Avila is a walled town - the wall goes all the way around. The wall is 2.7km long and you can walk around the top. Dead legs by the time we were done.
The town also has 7 cathedrals but just visited a few.
The park where we stayed
22nd and 23 April 2024.
Wow. What an awesome place. History plus. We had a fabulous time, wandering around the small streets, doing the cathedral, museums, restaurants and coffee shops.
This is a YouTube link that explains Santiago way better than I can..Link
Santiago is also one end of the ‘Camino walk’. The walk starts in Oviedo in northern-eastern Spain and takes pilgrims on a 311km journey from Oviedo to Santiago. Since we’ve landed here in Spain we’ve been noticing lots of backpackers walking the tracks and roadways. There must be 10’s of thousands of them walking. I sat and watched group after group wander into the main square in Santiago, some sang, some screamed and yelled with joy, others just walked in and laid down on the middle of the square and spent time looking at the cathedral. One said he’d been walking for 40 days, another 33 days, etc. A very joyful place.
The walk is also known as the ‘original way’, it is the route that has been in use since at least the 9th century, when Spain was under Moorish control.
23rd April
Went for a walk around the local markets and then had lunch at an amazing restaurant that we’d been recommended..the octopus was to die for.
A museum of historical Spanish items. The museum is connected to a church, so while wandering about the museum you move in and out of the church. Lots to see.
The museum has a triple spiral staircase….very cool to see.
19-04-2024
I thought I’d split the videos into 3. I have 500 pictures taken by my Babe. So the first one is the town and us and the other two are the cathedral and the palace.
13th April 2024
The town is just so beautiful, full of quaint eateries, stone buildings, etc. An awesome day!
10th of April 2024
The weather in England was 11 Deg, raining and fog. Spain was bright blue sky’s with a temperature in the high 20’s.
The Ferry is huge like a cruse ship. The room was very small, but ok for one night.
Monday 8th of April
New decals on the Motorhome. In good Perry style we purchased the transfers last year and didn’t get around to installing them until now. Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Well the ‘Next Life’ Continues.!
We were going to head over to Somerset, however we didn’t realise that there is rail strikes in England. So we thought we’d fill in the day at Windsor….tourists town.
We got some great pictures of the outside of the castle, however there are no photo’s allowed from inside of the castle.
In the chapel there is Queen Elizabeth’s ledger stone on the floor marking her burial place in the royal vault, which everyone lined up to go passed.
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