Day 16/Dia 16 Since my last update it would seem that my comments about the cleaning lady brought about bad karma and I managed to get a serious bout of Spanish/Portuguese tummy! Next two days were spent between my first home, the Motorhome (now named Betsy) and my second home....Trap 2! Sue did all of the running around to the shops and the pharmacy and I just slept and .... well, you get the picture! Anyway, we were running out of Gas but apparently you cant refill English bottles in Portugal any more so we needed to buy a new bottle and an adaptor to fit our UK regulator but nobody in any of the garages selling the gas had ever heard of an adaptor for UK fittings (not much need with so few English in the area) and we were struggling until I mentioned it to the chap in reception on the campsite and he said to leave it with him. After an hour and a load of phone calls he told me that the area salesman for Repsol was coming out to see me the next morning at 11am which he did and worked out what was needed. The next day he was back with a huge bottle of gas (just fitted in the available space!) and an adaptor which he and the reception chap promptly got to installing, disconnecting existing and replacing what was needed ! I couldnt get anywhere near so stood back and watched them work. Gave the 5 euros each tip and they were made up! We were sorted....Cooking on gas! Nice job. Lovely folk the Portuguese! Wednesday night (day 14/Dia 14) we got a taxi into a little town called Caminha where there was a medieval festival and we had a really lovely night. The town itself is lovely, just across the water from Spain so a deep history of conflict and lovely fortifications etc. Nearly all of the town was decked out in medieval style, small streets lined with market stalls, loads of temporary taverns and restaurants all alongside the existing ones and all joining in the party whilst street entertainers and musicians strolled the streets with everything culminating in a procession and horsey/knight riding thingy display ! Well worth the taxi fare ! Next day we were ready to move on, the second cloudy day in a row and we wanted the Sun. So, after a lovely few days at Camping Do Paco we headed South towards a place called Figueira De Foz which had been recommended to us by our neighbours on the site (English couple now living in Murcia). When we left it was a bit sad because we’d had such a lovely time, the reception chap gave a big wave and I’m pretty sure the cleaner wiped away a tear ! We’d made a connection you see, not in the conventional way but a connection all the same ! I think I’m gonna miss her being there when I open the loo door ! LOL So, we went to Figueira De Foz, about 4 hours on the coast roads so we were ready for a nice rest, drove into the town that had been so highly recommended and drove straight out again ! It was like London by the Sea, heaving with people and they were all crammed onto one beach ! Probably best we do our own thing from now on, I think we must be a bit strange but we just like different things to other people !w We decided to let ‘James’ the voice on our Satnav take over and take us to the next campsite to the south, we’d had enough travelling and were just ready to get somewhere and chill. ‘James’ took us to a place nearby but it was extortionately priced so we thought we’d let ‘James take us to the next one asap as it was now about 5pm. According to the Map it was about 10km down the road so just 10 mins travelling at the most. Big mistake ! We didn’t know that ‘James’ had a personality and that he was a moody git. It seems that just because we didn’t like his first recommendation, he decided to take us on a tour of places we didn’t want to go. First he tried sending us down a potholed track and after 5 minutes told us it was 6.5km before we would get to the next road (we were only doing about 5km per hour due to the state of the road, over an ungated railway line, and then, to top it off, a sign appeared saying access was only for Forestry Commission vehicles. So there we were, on a single track road in the middle of the woods and the clouds are getting thicker so it’s a little dark and time is getting on. We could see ourselves camping in the woods and ‘The Deliverance’ came to mind ! After a tricky 5 point turn, we managed to make our way back along the track towards the main road. As we got to the railway track I stopped ‘Betsy’ on the tracks to get Sue to take a picture up the track because it was miles long in a straight line and trees all around. How was I to know it was Sue’s living nightmare to be stuck on a railway crossing !!! I won’t write the words she used but I moved off very quickly ! Oooops!!! ;-P Anyway, we didn’t get hit by a train and we did make the main road. OK, we thought, turn right, get a little bit up the road and don’t turn off down any roads that aren’t main roads, just follow the signs and head for Lleira, which was where the campsite was, right by the beach. 20 minutes later we were further inland and Sue realised that there was another place called Lleira on the map !! Bigger but in land and with no campsites. We thought we’d give ’James’ another chance to take us to the correct place as we were now lost and Sue couldn’t find a place name to pinpoint pour location on the map, it was getting darker and we were tired and Sue had already had a major trauma on the railway tracks !! ‘James’soon became ‘f***ing James’ ! Following the directions we ended up in more single track roads, through country villages where everybody came out to stare at the weirdos in the big vehicle edging past their houses ! A chap on a 1950’s motorbike carrying what looked like a dead dog in his arms was in front and weaving in and out of the potholes. Then it got even worse, ‘f***ing James’ took us to a very narrow little bridge over a canal, in the middle of nowhere. The only things that had ever been over this bridge were a few hand pushed hay carts and the fella on the motorbike! Sue said, we can’t go over that and I said, well we are ‘cause I ain’t turning this thing around here !! Now bearing in mind the panic Sue had already been through on the railway line and the fact we were both very tired after near on 7 hours on the road, the conversation then went…..Sue said: ‘It’s my f***ing life, not yours !’….to which I replied: ‘Well get f***ing out and walk over then!’. She didn’t, she just shut her eyes and I just went for it !! Needless to say it was fine and we lived to tell the tale, and laugh about it afterwards. Eventually we reached civilisation and just when we thought all would be ok, ‘f***ing James’ took us directly to the campsite, except it was down streets that were so narrow the people came out to check their cars and there was no campsite there anyway! ‘f***ing James’ nearly went out of the window! Anyway, we were back amongst the land of the living so we asked directions to a campsite and were pointed to ‘Praia De Lleira’. About 1km down the road. NOT Lleira which is in the middle of nowhere!!!! Finally found the site and camped up. Unbelievable, looked nice from outside, really nice reception and even gave us wristbands. When we went in it was a former car park and still under construction. People had caravans inside small marquee’s ?!?!?!? At least it was somewhere to sleep! Went out for tea and couldn’t believe that we were in a beach resort, huge beach, nice restaurants and even hotels ! What a weird day ! One that we won’t forget in a long time and James has a lot of making up to do! So, after a good night’s sleep, we woke up this morning and decided to leave ‘Campismo Beirut’ and head further south. The weather was still cloudy anyway. Driving along the coast road we were amazed at the beautiful beaches and unspoilt landscapes. Stunning scenery ! We stopped for brunch and to sort out our Portuguese Internet in a beach side town called Nazare which turned out to be a proper resort, beach football with built up stands, bustling promenades and old ladies stood on the streets advertising their rental accommodation/rooms for rent. Surreal as it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. If the weather had been better we would have stayed but it wasn’t so we decided to keep heading south towards Estoril, just outside Lisbon. Campsite (Orbitur Guincho) is actually just up the road in Cascais. Arrived here at about 4pm and set up camp and are now ready to chill for a few days, fitting in a visit to Lisbon in between. So, it’s been an eventful journey, a little stressful and lots of travelling for a couple of days, but all’s ok and we’re enjoying the surprises that the trip is throwing at us, even the railway crossings and the rickety old bridges ! LOL ………It’s my ‘f***ing life !’ ;-) Pictures of the medieval festival, the journey and Campismo Beirut’ but unfortunately none of the railway crossing or the bridge ! No worries !
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 21:30:49 +0000
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