Globetrotting Crates

 Monday 22nd December day 6 of our Caribbean Christmas, so far we’ve visited Princess Cays, Grand Turk, St Maarten and St Kitts. Princess Cays: Princess Cruises have their own resort there and staff are on hand to provide food and drink. The beach is walkable from the ship’s berth and us OK but the sea was very cold. We were shocked to find that the charge for sun beds was 49$! However somehow the attendant overlooked us and we didn’t pay.  Grand Turk: another cheap day as there is a beach within walking distance of the ship’s berth. It’s very strange to lie on the beach so close to the moored ships, in this case there were 2, ours and a smaller vessel. The sea was lovely and warm today. There were no charges for sun beds either.  Day 4 was a sea day and unlike many ships there was no problem getting a sun bed.  St Maarten: the half Dutch and half French island. The day started off rainy but soon cleared up took a taxi to Maho beach otherwise known as the airport bea...

  Two very excited elves all packed and ready to go! They flew to Miami on 15th December with their humans and stayed in an elf friendly hotel in Fort Lauderdale for 2 nights before joining the Enchanted Princess for a 20 day cruise around the Caribbean. Once aboard they soon got settled in to their cabin (known as state rooms) and made friends with their steward called Lector. They will be playing lots of tricks on him though he doesn’t know it yet.  Later they’ll be sailing to Grand Caymen for the first port of call.

  10th November we made our way to Santander for our final night camping at Virgin del Mar. It rained all night, a dreary end to our marvellous road trip. In addition the campsite’s restaurant was closed and with no other option in the area, we sat listening to the rain, eating our scrambled eggs on toast.  The following morning after 6 weeks and 1800 miles we sadly said goodbye to Spain. The ferry left at midday on the 11th and after a fairly smooth crossing we arrived in Portsmouth the following evening at 8pm. By good fortune we were 4th off the ferry and 20 minutes later we were home!   

  7th November found us back in Toledo for another 2 night stay at Camping El Greco. We ate at the restaurant next to the campsite amazing location with a view of the city (pictured) but a rather dour experience. Jeff had Bambi in mushroom sauce. I had salmon teriyaki (served with couscous).  Glorious sunshine the following day when we  went into the city, but much cooler than the last time we were there in October and far fewer tourists too. 9th November we headed for Palencia and stayed at an Aire - Area de autocaravanas E.S Suances, where we had stayed last year. It’s free, the owner just asks you to buy fuel at his petrol station.  Later in the afternoon we had fun counting storks flying over us on their way to their nests in the city. We saw lots of them roosting on rooftops. The following morning they were back over again headed for their feeding ground. In the evening we walked into Palencia looking for a restaurant. As usual it took ages to find one with a su...

  5th November: And so we said goodbye to Bolnuevo and headed off to Granada which means pomegranate in Spanish. We hadn’t travelled far when we made a stop on the hard shoulder to make an adjustment to one of the water vents. Whoa! I thought, I recognise the Motorhome that just went past us! We gave chase until we were behind it sure enough it was Cliff! Well he must have thought we were determined stalkers and with a quick hasta la vista, swerved off at the next junction towards Murcia. That’s the last we’ve seen of them. Onwards we went, to a campsite close to Granada. The views with the Sierra Nevada in the distance are stunning, but the campsite is a bit rustic to say the least. It has a restaurant but the receptionist said “we don’t recommend it” oh well, omelette for dinner.  The next day we caught the bus to Granada which is 18km away. €3.70 for  two of us. “How much” Mr C said, thinking it was a mistake because it was too cheap! It was a lovely sunny day but so m...

  4th November, our last day in Bolnuevo so we made the most of the fine weather before we headed back up north. We had 13 days of mainly beautiful weather a couple of windy days but luckily no rain in the daytime. We’ve loved our stay, the location is great with the backdrop of the mountains and the beach so close. It is incredibly good value at €19 per night. November 1st is another Spanish public holiday, “All Saints Day” and we didn’t dare risk taking a bus!  We had a birthday this week, Mr C on the 2nd November (birthday boy pictured) and we went for a celebratory lunch which turned out to be mediocre and expensive with surly service thrown in. Cliff and Irene left us on the 2nd too, heading for another nearby campsite. We thought that was the last we would see of them this trip, but there was another unexpected sighting however, you’ll have to read the next instalment to see what happened.