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MAY
After the Picos, we went cross country through Leon y Castille to Aragon
(south of Burgos and north of Madrid) to the Canyon del Rio Lobos (wolf
river canyon). A spectacular and very dramatic place, where we saw vultures
and enormous lizards and very few people. We stayed in the canyon itself
for three nights (our first taste of camping wild); there was a dramatic
thunderstorm on the second night and the temperature dropped - for the
first time in our trip it felt cold. Me and Dom got a bit miserable after
2 days of rain and cold, but the boys were happy in the river in their
waterproofs communing and competing with the cacophony of frogs.
Very soggily,
we headed off to the coast and after an overnight stay at Zaragoza, we
arrived in sunny Sitges just south of Barcelona. Suddenly it became a
truly mediterranean experience and after a lovely sunny week we now can't
imagine cold or rain. It's just how I like it, not too hot but oh so pleasant!!
One good thing about being on a long trip is that it really doesn't matter
if you have a cloudy day or a day when things go a bit wrong or when you
don't do anything much. That is such a nice feeling. I can feel myself
starting to really relax for the first time in a long time! I can't say
the same for Dom as he is commuting into Barcelona daily working away
on his website (not yet up and running)!
Sitges and the campsite just outside, is a bit big for us, lots of facilities
we don't really need, but it has a lovely open air swimming pool which
we usually have to ourselves - i've even been getting in some early morning
lengths! It is fairly quiet here now, but must be hectic in the high season.
Camping is popular in spain and the campsites are big, well equipped and
suprisingly expensive (stretching our limited budget more than we bargained
for). Barcelona is a really great city and the boys loved the living statues
on The Ramblas plus all the animal stalls, Milo is thrilled by the double
decker trains that run into the city from Sitges. All in all, an exciting
city experience for us country bumpkins! And for me, a very different
experience to my previous visits, pre-children!
We have been amazed by Finn and Milo so far on the trip. They seem to thoroughly enjoy everything that comes their way and take all the ups and downs of travelling in their stride with amazingly little complaining. They love the van, and with the awning up and all their bits and pieces around it is very much like home. They seem to need very little to make them happy and, apart from the usual bickering, things are going suprisingly well. It is a real lesson to us in taking each day as it comes and being in the moment.
Our spanish skills are being stretched, and we feel we are starting to get to grips with the language at last- and enjoying it. Just a shame we will probably only be in spain another month or so, before having to get to grips with French again..