Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

har rejst i 11 lande Læs mere

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Jerez 2023 Rejsende
Arrival
1. februar 2023, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
All the arrangements worked well and we arrived at the apartment in time to go out and get milk and bread for morning and went out for dinner later. Jerez is much as it last year but inevitably some of our favourite places are closed and empty, but I'm sure there will others yet be discovered.Læs mere
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Madiera Rejsende
Home tomorrow
13. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Although it's just been a few days, we have really liked madeira and funchal. It's a small and very pleasant city, with good food and wine, and even though its full of tourists and cruise ships, the people seem genuinely pleased and helpful. We would come back again anytime, maybe to try going to another part of the island.Læs mere
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Madiera Rejsende
Half day trip
13. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Today we had booked a half day sightseeing trip with a local company, so they picked us up at 8.15 in a land rover, and then another texan couple from the cruise ship that arrived this morning. After driving out of funchal and through some local villages we went to the top of the tallest cliff on the island. As well as incredible views it also had a glass floored viewing platform jutting out of the top of the cliff, so you can stand out from the cliff and look down through the glass.

After the cliff, a drive up the mountains through the forest on forest tracks (good land rover!) To look down into a secret hidden valley, surrounded by jagged mountains, where the nuns, women and children would be taken to hide from pirates.

Then through more mountain passes and through steep terraces covered in grape vines, vegetables and fruit trees, to end up back at small fishing port to have a drink before heading home.

A really good trip and having seen the tiny mountain roads, one that we would have never attempted on our own.Læs mere
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Thoughts on Madeira
12. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Cruise ships
Virtually every day one or two cruise ships docks in the port. Yesterday one of them was a huge 4500 passenger Carnival line cruise mostly full of Americans. The Blandys wine lodge where we did our tasting tours early evening had taken 800 cruise ship passengers around in the morning. Consequently most mornings the town is full of cruise ship tourists and many of the shops (but not restaurants as the ships are full board) are geared to serving them. And the tourist season lasts all year. Despite this the locals seem to remain friendly, if a little persistent in the sales pitch, and the have retained much local culture.
Weather
As the plane arrived there was a short shower which thankfully had passed by the time we reached the hotel. The afternoon was a mix of cloud and long spells of sunshine. Yesterday was mostly sunny. Throughout the temperature had remained steady between 24 C during the day and about 19C at night . We have been able to swim in the hotel pool in the afternoon and eat outdoors in the evening in short sleeves. Today was again sunny but we took the cable car up to Monte which was covered in low cloud and it drizzled off and on during the 1 hour queue for the toboggan. The joy of descending into the sunshine combined with the exhilaration of the ride was fun. The guide at the wine lodge said that this year the temperature had not exceeded 29C when the rest of Europe was getting 40c.
Tourists
Although nowadays Madeira claims to be suitable for all age groups - with many active experiences hiking in the mountains- the predominant demographic is still geriatric. Most seem to be German, British or Portugese and everyone speaks English. The only Portuguese we get to practice is obrigado/a - thank you, which we have to say a lot as everyone is so kind and helpful.Læs mere
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Up (and down) the mountain
12. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
We had planned to visit the botanic gardens at the top of the mountain, but the entry price was huge so we didn't bother, and went on the church that was founded by the the last emperor of the Austrian empire after the first World war, and who ended up in madiera and whose tomb is still there.

To get back down the mountain, they have wicker carts so they toboggan you down ! It's fun, although the queues were an hour long (there was a cruise ship in), and it started to rain. Afternoon in the sun by the pool.Læs mere
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Market and cable car
12. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Although the central market operates every day, Saturday is the biggest day. We walked all through the fish, fruit, veggies and handicrafts. The fish in particular were interesting, different fish and even the ones we knew like sea bream were huge - deep Atlantic fish I guess. Lots of strange fruit too.

Afterwards we got the cable car up the mountain and into the clouds.Læs mere
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First day contd
11. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After the cathedral we walked back, via the market which we plan to visit in the morning, and spent an hour or two in the sun, and around and in (!!) The pool, before walking back down to a preplanned visit and tasting at Blandy's, the major madiera wine company. It was really interesting and very different to what we know ,

I'm really liking this city. Its quite small, but despite being rather threadbare, it works really well and is very friendly.Læs mere
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First day in Funchal
11. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
This morning we walked down to the ,rather unimpressive, Fort in the city, and all along the sea front. Its not a big city so it doesn't take long to get anywhere. On the way we passed the local remembrance day event and stopped to pay our respects, before continuing up to the main square, a major building on the square is the jesuit Church which we hadn't planned to go in, but in fact the interior is spectacular with paintings and frescoes. Then on to one of the beautiful gardens in the city full of trees, and then to the cathedral. This very plain on the outside but nicely decorated jnsude.Læs mere
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Madiera Rejsende
Arrive in Funchal
10. november 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
All the travel worked really well so we arrived in time to check in to the hotel and walk just down the hill to a cafe looking out over the bay. The food was excellent and we got our first glasses of Madiera. I'm sure there will lots more! The weather has been very warm today, but mostly cloudy with short spells of sunshine.

Funchal was clearly well off in the past, but is now quite run down. Rather like Jerez - very elegant buildings but which are now decaying, or in ruins.Læs mere
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Camino road trip Rejsende
Castro de Barona
22. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Three quarters of an hour drive south of santiago is an iron age settlement right on the coast on a tiny headland near Cape finisterre. It took ages to scramble down the rocky cliff paths but was a magnificent site when we got there. It consists of many round hut bases and walls, separated by paths and deep defensive ditches cut right into the rock, dating from 1st century BC and abandoned in the 1st century AD.

Alba had recommended a restaurant nearby, run by a friend of hers, as all restaurants in Galicia seem to be, and lunch there was wonderful, perfect for our last meal, with scallops and tiny small squid that were out of this world. This is certainly the coast for anyone who loves seafood.Læs mere
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The end of the road . . .
21. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
. . . But not our trip!

In 44 AD St James (santiago) was martyred in Palestine. 800 years later a monk found a tomb in the woods in Spain and decided it was the tomb of the saint. It was convenient- he could help them in their battles against the moors. So a cathedral was built and became a centre for pilgrimage. Today thousands of people every year come to worship. Traditionally on foot, donkey or horseback, along several routes, all ending in santiago de compostela. There are long routes starting in France, the pyrenees, or from southern Spain and Portugal, or across Spain from the east or from Madrid. The shortest route is the English route, as English pilgrims arrived by sea at A Coruna, then walk. Even though its the shortest route, its still a long hard walk, and the mountains in the way don't help! Everywhere on our trip we've come across pilgrims walking, singly, in pairs, or in organised parties. We are in awe of them, but it does mean that the city is packed full, even this late in the year.

The legend has it the boat carrying the saints remains sank off the coast near here but all the occupants survived, and were covered with scallop shells, so the scallop is the symbol of the Saint and it is used all along the camino to show the way.Læs mere
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RejsendeWell done on reaching your final stop! Hopefully you can relax for a few days.
21.09.2022Svar
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On to Santiago
20. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Last night we ate out in A Coruna and had a fantastic meal of octopus and zamburinas, small scallops in a garlic and herb sauce. They were wonderful! And for lunch today more octopus (its the speciality around here) and clams, and sardines and peppers on toast.

Then on to Santiago de Compostela, which is our last stop.Læs mere
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A coruna
19. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
For breakfast this morning we went out to have churros and chocolate in a place recommended by Alba, who said it was the best in coruna. It was better than the usual ones, but still not as good as the freshly made churros we get in Jerez. After that a wander around - the city has a nice friendly feel to it, and we liked it a lot. The main square is very open and surrounded by arcades and cafes. Later we found a statue of a woman who led the townspeople to drive off an attack by the nasty English buccaneer Francis drake.

After watching the funeral on TV, and seeing Andy marching to escort some dignitaries, we had another walk to the fort in the harbour, and on to a small garden in which is a statue of an English soldier who led a rearguard action in the peninsular war against napoleon, to allow the main English army to escape on boats in coruna. A kind of early Dunkirk. He had his head blown off by a cannonball, and is venerated as a saint! The garden was closed of course!Læs mere
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On to A Coruña
18. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
When we woke this morning we were enveloped in thick fog (our hotel room is on the 6th floor) and when we went out at 11.00 it was still chilly. Our last visit in Lugo was to see some Roman mosaics under a shoe shop and although small and dimly lit it was worth seeing.

By the time we arrived in A Coruña the sun was shining and we sat on the beach for a bit, followed by a delicious seafood lunch in a traditional bodega in which were several football fans of the local team anticipating their home match this evening.

We then got the keys to our new apartment and moved in. One of the more stressful and time consuming aspects of this trip has been moving between places, particularly the apartments where you might have to do online check-in, pick up keys and wait for it to be cleaned. In hindsight we should have stayed longer in fewer places - it would have been more relaxing.Læs mere
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RejsendeNice beach! Yes I thought that you had set yourselves a very busy fortnight in terms of layovers.
21.09.2022Svar
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Lugo
17. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
A quiet day today after the exertions of yesterday. A 90 minute drive to Lugo followed by a stroll around the city. It was a big roman settlement and the old part of the city is still surrounded by the roman walls, which are huge, big enough to drive a chariot along the top. There are also tiny bits of roman stuff around but nothing worth bothering about. There are some small mosaics under a shoe shop that we will look at tomorrow.

Lugo is the first place on our trip that is in Galicia, and seeing Galicia was one on the reasons for trip, because of Alba. So we started in cantabria, then asturias, then Leon, and now Galicia. So having been in the basque country, and castille, in our last road trip a few years ago, we have covered all of northern Spain, except for the north of catalonia.Læs mere
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Molinaseca 2
16. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
On the way back from the roman mine we found a winery and bodega right next door to our hotel - it would have been rude not go in! It's harvest time and they gave us a tour showing us the grapes being crushed and the juice going into the fermention vats. This district is Beirzo and grows vines up the mountain sides. Its been mostly ordinary wine for every day drinking, but some producers are now making a wine with much more quality- we've even bought some before now in the UK.

We bought two bottles - don't know what they are like yet!Læs mere
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Las Medulas
16. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
In effect the Romans demolished a complete range of mountains to get the gold, just leaving jagged peaks. With typical roman engineering skills they channeled water from further up the mountains, making 8 different channels over many kilometres. They dug reservoirs at the ends of the channels and dug deep shafts and galleries into the mountain and then filled them with water. When the water pressure was enough, the whole side of the mountain collapsed, and they could pan out the gold. See the diagram that explained it . The jagged peaks that remain are all that's left. And after all that effort they only managed to extract about 600 tonnes of gold.

We took a mountain hike around the base of the mine site, just a 5 km mountain hike in the heat of the day, and felt very virtuous when after a couple of hours we managed it! Then drove up to the top of the nearby mountain to look down on the view of the remains of the mountain range.Læs mere
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Molinaseca
16. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Pleasant surprise- our friend Alba who used to run the tapas bar in wendover is from here and is over visiting her family and so came to our hotel last night for a quick drink before her dad drove her north to A Coruna. As she arrived the heavens opened and we got another huge downpour,. She has also made recommendations about her favourite restaurants and made some reservations. Nice lady!

We are staying in a lovely hotel in the small village of Molinasec which is a popular place for pilgrims to stay over one their way. There are many pilgrims walking as we guiltily drive past.

This morning we climbed all over a really good templar castle built in the 11 -13 c before going out into the mountains to see a spectacular roman gold mining site.Læs mere
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Astorga
15. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After a walk around Leon we packed up and drove to a small town, Astorga. As its a very popular town on the camino de santiago there were many groups walking to it, and many single walkers as well. To get there we had to drive over the mountains again - it must a punishing walk!

Astorga was a roman town on their route to take gold out of galicia, so the modern town is built ontop of the roman town, and many of the artifacts in the museum in Leon were from astorga. The local museum is small and well organised, but is left with bits that leon museum didn't want!Læs mere
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Leon
14. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
The rain had mostly stopped this morning so we walked just a small distance to go into the cathedral. It has a reputation of being the most beautiful in Spain, which we think it is! Founded in the 13th century it is exquisitely carved and decorated, and the top half of all of it is covered in spectacular stained glass, some going back to the 13th century origins. I've never seen so much stained glass in my life, and all of it very beautiful. There are also some frescoes dating from the 14th century, which are excellent, but pale next to the stained glass.

Just along from the cathedral is the basilica of San isidro, which dates in parts to the 11th century, and is built into the roman city walls. It is the resting place of 11 Kings of Leon, and their tombs are in a chamber covered with wonderful frescoed ceilings showing biblical scenes. Sadly most of it is closed for restoration and in any case no photos allowed.

This evening we went to the museum of Leon, which is a modern museum housed in an antique building and covers the history and archaeology of Leon and the province from prehistory to the present day. Like most Spanish museums its well laid out, informative and a joy to walk round.

The weather has been horrible with heavy thundery showers all day, but we have managed to miss them. Its a shame because the centre of Leon looks a really nice place to wander around. Maybe we can have a stroll in the morning before we leave,Læs mere
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RejsendeWe saw the Catacombs of San Sebastian in Rome
21.09.2022Svar
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Weather
14. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Until yesterday we had been really lucky with the weather - hot and sunny - too hot some days with over 30c. Even yesterday morning the rain held off whilst we did our last sightseeing in Oviedo. But as we drove out of town the heavens opened - apparently the tail end of a tropical storm sweeping through (remember the one in Chipiona Natalie?) The motorway over the mountains to Leon is a spectacular road with phenomenal engineering, many tunnels and viaducts and lots of tight bends. It would be a challenging drive normally but in heavy rain and gusty wind it was a nightmare thankfully only an hour and a quarter.
It has continued to rain off and on here in Leon making the sun terrace of our apartment pretty pointless. However we have managed to dodge the showers to do our sightseeing and haven't got really wet. At the moment the sun is trying to shine and the forecast for the rest of the week is better.Læs mere
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Oviedo
13. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Finally we got to see inside the 8th century church, founded I think by the visigoths when they arrived in Spain. It was worth the wait. The interior walls are covered in frescoes, over every inch originally, now with some damage. Strangely they show buildings, with no bible scenes or people.

Then on to the art museum to see a selection of Spanish art including murillo, zubaran, goya and dali.

And a long drive over spectacular mountains, in torrential rain, to get out of asturias and in to Leon.Læs mere
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Oviedo
12. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
This morning we drove up the mountains overlooking Oviedo to go to two 8th century churches. One was closed, but the other was open, and was quite small and plain but with lovely carved pillars. One thing we have got used to is places being closed when they are supposed to open. I don't know the reason but it happens all the time!

So we drove back down the mountain into the city to go another 8th century church, this time with frescos- and it was closed! So we went to see the cathedral instead.Læs mere
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The last cave
11. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
First thing this morning we crossed the river to go to the last cave in our plans. This one was deep and it took 30 mins under ground to get to the paintings. Again they were spectacular, dating from 14000 years ago, but again no photos allowed. My biggest problem was the guide who spoke very rapid Spanish that I couldn't follow and was clearly not interest jn helping with any English. At least the paintings were worth the effort!

Then a drive south to Oviedo where we are staying two nights. A happy bonus was that we went for a walk around when we arrived and found the archaeological museum open.Læs mere
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Driving west
10. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We left santillana del Mar this morning and drove west to comillas. This was a poor town so many of the young men went to make their future in the americas, and when they came back rich they built stunning mansions. There is also an early building designed by gaudi. I find his things grossly over decorated- the outside of thus one is, but the inside is really nice.

Then to lunch in llanes, before turning inland to ribadesella.Læs mere
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Altamira
9. september 2022, Spanien ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
In 1868 a farmer and his daughter discovered the entrance to a cave in the mountains and inside they found the walls and ceilings covered in painting of animals, designs and hand prints. For years nobody believed that they could be old, but finally they established it to between 20,000 and 10,000 years BC. The cave was closed to the public in 1985 to preserve the paintings but they made an exact copy next to it, we went to today.

Even though you know its a copy, it's still spectacular!Læs mere
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