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Simon & Jackie’s Spain & Portugal Pilgrimage 2023 Read more
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  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSpain & Portugal Pilgrimage
    Day 35

    Day 35 - Whilst Southern Europe Burns

    July 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We got up at 8.30am to drizzle and a chilly 18 degrees temperature. After a quick mug of coffee, we walked down the steep wooded path to our local beach. It was just a pile of rocks tumbling into the sea.

    We returned to camp and our car, then headed back towards San Juan De Gaztelugatxe, the monastery on an island connected by a walled pathway & featured in the TV series, Game of Thrones. En route we took the opportunity to stop at Lidl in Gerniko-Lumo, where we purchased 18 bottles of favourite €1.19 white wine, 12 bottles of red, 2 packs of pate, salami, Jaffa cakes & more world cheese.

    We then stopped at the cafeteria of the Eroski supermarket next door for a coffee & a pintxo. Jackie had ham and fried courgette on bread, whilst I had Spanish omelette.

    After refueling with 95 for the last time, we then continued to San Juan De Gaztelugatxe, which was chaotic. It seemed so many people had the same idea as us. Now we had to pay, what only a month ago was free, €3 for the car park, only to then discover that tours to the monastery were completely sold out. We were advised to check the website at 3pm, which was in 2.5 hours time. Utterly brilliant!

    The ticket lady did however suggest we follow a path to get a good view of the monastery. We and many others walked the suggested path & took the opportunity to take a few photos. Jackie revealed she was more happy doing this than the actual tour. The sad thing was we could have taken this same path for the views on our previous visit.

    It was nearly a 90 minute drive back to our campsite which was grey and damp. This was only after a little incident where our car was wheel spinning without any traction up the slippery steep car park & I had a car right up my arse. Luckily the car behind had the good sense to reverse back allowing me to do the same & get a good run up at the slippery slope.

    We spent the afternoon hopping in and out of the tent as we had several short showers. Jackie also played zap tennis with the numerous flies and bugs that decided they wanted to shelter from the rain. She would have given Marketa Vondrousova (topical sporting reference) a good run for her money! I caught up with my Find Penguin blogs.

    That evening we had more of the same pasta & salad & wine, whilst I scanned the v of the Bay of Biscay in front of us with my binoculars looking for marine life and vessels. This caused a young Swiss couple to stop and chat & we gave them the benefit of our recommendations & experiences in Northern Spain, as they were just starting out on their 3 week trip.

    Song of the Day : Still Raining, Still Dreaming by Jimi Hendrix.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSpain & Portugal Pilgrimage
    Day 36

    Day 36 - Perfect Sunday

    July 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We woke up at 8.30am to another gloomy grey morning. We had a coffee, showered & Jackie suggested we walk into Lekeitio for a pintxos brunch.

    The 2 mile walk was a breeze as it was mainly downhill, the biggest threat were the hordes of Lycra clad cyclists racing down the hill behind us. We even passed one cocky git cycling up the hill eating snacks with no hands on his handlebars.

    The tide was out so we took the opportunity to totter out with the tons of others on the extremely slippery walkway to the island known as Garraitz (San Nikolas). We climbed approximately 10 steps onto the island, noticed that the waves were crashing over walkway & tottered back as quickly as we could.

    Back at the harbour front of Lekeitio we discovered there was what appeared to be quite a significant political rally taking place by a party called 23 Egingo Dugu. Speeches which were being televised were being made to quite a enthusiastic audience outside the enormous gothic church, officially known as the Basilica Assumption of Santa Maria of Lekeitio.

    We continued on to the harbour front looking for a suitable bar/cafe to stop for refreshments, but they were all too busy. We ended up returning to the gothic Basilica & a cafe/bar in it’s shadow. It was perfect. We had had a couple of beers and a couple of creative Pintxos each. A beer and a Pintxos together cost just the princely sum of €4.

    We probably would have stayed for more but when the political rally ended, we were suddenly inundated with people looking for any available table and chair. And the pintxos were quickly hoovered up. The Spanish don’t seem to bothered by invading other people’s personal space. At one point, I had a child’s leg actually pressed against mine whilst she watched something on her brother’s phone .

    Luckily for us, the sun came out and we walked back to Karraspio Beach. There were no groups of teenagers, just Spaniards and tourists enjoying the afternoon sun. The waves were ideal for surfing & I actually showed everyone how it was done after catching the perfect wave & body surfing almost all the way back to the shore.

    At 3pm local time we started to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon. It seemed incredible that no one else on the beach appeared interested in the tennis. Around 6pm with Carlos Alcaraz 2 sets to 1 up we walked the 1.5 miles up the mountain road back to our campsite. We treated ourselves to a couple of cold beers in the campsite bar, whilst we watched the conclusion to the tennis final on my large iPad. Bizarrely, the the campsite television was showing some sort of wall tennis at the same time.

    Jackie cooked up sausages & salad for our dinner.

    Song of the Day : Perfect Sunday by The Damned.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSpain & Portugal Pilgrimage
    Day 37

    Day 37 - Sad to be our Final Full Day

    July 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We woke up to our final full day in Spain, which felt quite sad. Not helped when I missed out an opportunity to work this coming weekend.

    After coffees and showers we lugged all our usual beach equipment down the hill to the beach for one final time. We did our best to make the most of our final rays of sunshine & our final lunch in the beach taverna - a mixed salad, gorgeous ham and cheese croquettes & supplemented with a couple sausages left over from the previous night.

    At 6pm we said a sad farewell to Lekeitio and it’s beach & lugged all our gear the 1.5 miles back up the hill. We treated ourselves to a beer at the top.

    That evening Jackie made bacon butties, then we packed up what we could. Whilst doing so we were approached by a couple of Dutch lesbians who we had said hello to previously. They were keen to know about our travels and the UK after Brexit. They were able to confirm that the Tour de France had actually passed along the road immediately outside our campsite. If only we could turn back time!

    We finished the evening with our final bottle of wine on Spanish soil looking out to sea & reminiscing on our trip.

    Song of the Day : Sad Song by Oasis.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSpain & Portugal Pilgrimage
    Day 38

    Day 38 - Fin Whale Blowhole Spout Show

    July 18, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    During the night Jackie hit me hard several times because I was allegedly snoring too loudly. This caused an argument & a disturbed night’s sleep. The alarm went off at 7am.

    I got up, made 2 mugs of coffee, then we sprang into action. The sleeping bags, airbeds and even the tent were all expertly folded & fitted in their respective bags. Our packing and loading of the car went like clockwork & we managed to find time for a shower & breakfast - coffee & Choco pains.

    Just after 10am we rolled out of Endai Campsite. It was the best campsite we have ever stayed at especially the individual grassy terraced pitches, the friendly staff & the on site cafe & shop. One amusing, but probably accurate online review described the campsite as being like ‘grandma’s garden’, I guess it was the hydrangeas. We definitely hope to return in the not too distant future.

    An hour and a half later, we arrived at Bilbao Ferry Terminal & quickly boarded Brittany Ferries Galicia ferry. It probably had something to do with the fact there were only 260 passengers on this crossing when the ferry has a passenger capacity of 1,015. We dumped our bags in our Cabin 7125 & took to the upper deck as we sailed out of the harbour.

    Sadly it was a too windy and overcast to justify sitting outside all afternoon, so less than an hour later we were back in our cabin making & eating pate baguettes from the mountain of food and wine we brought on board with us.

    I then came over all weary & retired to my bunk bed for a siesta, whilst Jackie bought some expensive Clarins ‘bargains’ in the duty free shop.

    We didn’t drag ourselves out of our cabin until 7.15pm & then kicked ourselves that we were missing out on a beautiful sunny evening in the middle of the Bay of Biscay. Almost straight away we bumped into the very same Orca Watcher, so I took the opportunity to ask if we had missed anything. I was relieved that we hadn’t, but he said that we may see whales in about an hour’s time, when the sea gets shallower. We sat back with a glass of wine and waited. He was wrong……….it was an hour and 20 minutes later.

    Granted they were quite a long way away, but we were treated to a show of 8 metre high spouts of sea water at the back of the boat for about 15 minutes. I took some cracking photos as can be seen below.

    Mr Orca Watcher informed us that the spouts were from a pod of Fin Whales, the world’s 2nd largest species of whale measuring up to 28 metres in length.

    It was a nice end to the evening.

    Song of the Day : Like Clockwork by The Boomtown Rats.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSpain & Portugal Pilgrimage
    Day 39

    Day 39 - Staring At the Sea

    July 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We both slept like babies, then at 9.30am we went to the restaurant for our much anticipated full English breakfast. It consisted of 2 small sausages, a pile of streaky bacon, baked beans, a hash brown, half a tomato, toast & a puddle of scrambled egg. It tasted better than it looked, but probably didn’t justify the cost of €11 each with a coffee.

    After breakfast we fined Brittany Ferries for their overpriced breakfast by dousing ourselves with expensive perfume and aftershave testers, then rubbing handfuls of Clarins most expensive revitalising creams into our faces.

    We then took to the top deck and sat in plastic chairs staring out to sea. Mr Orca Watcher stated that dolphins had been spotted earlier that morning. We stayed out all day, but didn’t see a thing. Occasionally I saw able to listen to the cricket when I got a 4G signal on my phone.

    As we approached Portsmouth Harbour we passed a large cruise ship, Regal Princess, heading out on a trip around the UK. The disembarkation was another straightforward affair, although Border Force did question me as to why I had been out to Ghana, which led to me divulging that I was an ex-copper and I was currently working at Manston. They soon let us through after that revelation.

    We then raced back to Haywards Heath just in time to pick up a takeaway curry that Jackie had set her heart on.

    Note: Apart from the breakfast, we were both super impressed with our Brittany Ferries crossing to and back from Bilbao, however we could imagine it could be a very different experience if the Ferry was up to maximum capacity and full of children.

    Song of the Day : Celebrate by An Emotional Fish.    Read more

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