Malvern, off road driving and some snow then floods, of course

With Anne in tow, we headed up to Malvern and prepared ourselves for a day at Eastnor Castle, doing the Land Rover off road thing again. A particularly good one it was too. An excellent instructor who had amazing product knowledge. We were let loose on some of the advanced trails that had not been used for several weeks. That added to the fun - getting up this hill defeated even the Defender's smart electronics as it was shod with road tyres - half way up there was no real grip at all so it needed some "beans" and a high gear, as per the video:

A good day was had by all, well, apart from the poor Defender which went through the water troughs in an attempt to clean off some of the mud:

Naturally the water didn't reach the mirrors or roof so:

We happily headed back into Malvern and the next morning, despite the forecast of rain, we awoke to this:

The snow continued and the recency of our off-road driving day was handy. Breakfast was at the cafe in the Morgan factory. Again, snowing as per this video:

The crew opted for a little pain au raisin - only it wasn't small at all:

To save her, Anne kindly consumed that tiny sliver of pastry hanging down from the bottom. 

As well as enormous pastry, they did a neat line in flat white pouring:

which tasted as well as it looked so a happy breakfast was enjoyed. We ambled through the shop and heritage area:

before heading off to the local wool shop that had kicked off Anne's knitting / crochet love many years ago when we did the Morgan factory tour. We staggered back out into the snow, laden with handicraft supplies to keep Anne going for a while and then headed to get some provisions to take to the cottage we'd rented on a farm outside Leominster. We arrived to find it a bit chilly, then cold - the heating wasn't working at all and as it was below freezing outside.....The owners, who live in the house next door. were great, getting things sorted quickly. We loved the place though - have a look at Sykes cottages weblink . 

Despite the weather, we headed into Leominster for a wander around, Ludlow too, we always love that place. Anne completed some Xmas shopping - we are too bah humbug for such things of course. The farm area was still nice and snowy and the livestock looked unimpressed:

To balance out the Xmas shopathon, we also had a day of culture. Visiting Berrington House and then Croft Castle. Well, hardly a castle but you get the idea:

The site has a very pretty church (originally 14th) century too:

They had a pretty weird looking clock inside, with eyes that moved in time to the pendulum - it looked a bit menacing as you can see from the video:

Unfortunately, storm Bert disrupted the seeing and doing thing with lots of rain and seriously strong winds on the Saturday so we battened down and stayed inside. Anne turned some of her wool mountain into squares for a blanket, the crew carried on her language studies and the captain kept amused learning about Lithium batteries. Actually learning more than he ever wanted to know but still far from an expert. 

Overnight and into the Sunday morning, Bert really got going and dumped ridiculous amounts of rain onto us. That brought the next challenge. Anne was due to get a train home from Leominster. That proved tricky:

In fact, even getting to the train station was impossible:

as the main A road that we needed was closed. Big time. The little local roads were as bad or worse:

and this was the lane leading from the farm itself:

We had planned lunch out in Leominster before Anne's train departure so no proper food had been laid in. The lovely cottage owners came to the rescue again and delivered a Red Cross food parcel. Having decided that Tina was the flood lady, Anne has now overtaken her to become snow, ice and flood woman. Clearly this weather stuff has nothing to do with us.

The following day, the water levels had subsided a bit and the main road had been pumped clear so we were able to drive to Ledbury and spend a very happy day exploring the shops there. Anne stayed with us as the trains were still all cancelled due to flooding. We enjoyed an excellent lunch in the very old Seven Stars Inn there. They have their own farm and that was reflected in the quality of the food.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and the stay in the cottage was no exception. The car was heavily loaded up, including the person who had been trapped by the floods and all of her Xmas shopping. Instead of heading back to Penarth as planned, we pointed the car into the sun (not nice) and headed to Hythe - so we could take Mrs Toddler to another hospital appointment. We arrived pretty tired (3 hours squinting into the glare - yes it was sunny) and with a very muddy car from the back roads near the cottage that had been flooded. Despite the best efforts of Bert, we'd enjoyed a great break.

Hospitals, teeth and Penarth maintenance time

We had returned to a boat that was pretty grubby. Actually, very grubby. Lots of nice black streaks. Well, we felt bad about the neglect and had a fun day washing off the gunge. We use the word fun rather liberally there. After a day of "fun" we decided that proper fun was in order so we had to visit the favourite local pub for lunch. Have a look at Pilot pub weblink.

The kind of place that from the outside looks like a local "pour beer down your neck" place. Inside is far from posh but it has great staff, a French front of house manager who remembers everyone and everything with humour and a French head chef. The resulting food is, well, rather good. We ended up with plenty of spare meat and a couple of huge bones for Izzy to enjoy in future:

Our freezer seems to be rather busy with things for a dog we don't own. There is a little space left for for us luckily.

After the day of rather nice dining, it was back to work. The RIB was launched, given a run and then we used it to wash off the remaining grubby black streaks on the port side of the hull. It was as amusing as usual, cold soapy water running down the captain's arm when trying to sponge off the higher forward parts of the hull always amuses. The rather lower than Spanish temperatures didn't help either. Still, it was done.

Then it was the turn of the big boat to warm up her engines and electronics. The usual route around the bay followed:

with a little diversion off to the side that you can see when a couple of yachts decided to come out to play as well. The good news was that everything worked well. The bad news was that the water levels were very low and getting back onto our berth was irritating - the copious amounts of weed still evident in the marina grabbed the keel and tried to prevent nice manoeuvres under engine alone.  Shame that the directors of Boatfolk (the marina operator) spent a fortune on ill advised catering / hospitality operations that duly failed and nothing on a nice weed cutting craft for the marina business that generates their real turnover and profits. Now there is no money left of course...

On the social front, we met up with Lorna and also Steve who now has a new puppy to amuse / scratch / occupy / wake train him. Emily is seriously cute, as you can see:

with a lovely sideways "are you really serious" look when needed:

We rounded off the time afloat with several cycle trips in and around the city that were most enjoyable. Then it was time to schlepp along the M4 once more to visit the dentist, to take Mrs Toddler to a hospital appointment and for the captain to have a third attempt at sorting out a much needed root/canal treatment, This time they did manage to numb the offending tooth but at a seriously specialist centre and then do the job. Then we returned and met Anne (better known as Izzy's mum) in Cardiff for a night afloat with us before we headed off to a week or so away. Busy, busy few days

Maintenance news:

After the bay trip, the main engine had a gearbox oil and filter swap. Each time we replace the filter we bemoan the mess it makes and the wild cost of the thing itself. The oil feels like for free in comparison.

Having launched and run the RIB, it was treated to new engine oil, filter and gearbox oil too. Nice fresh stuff to sit in the motors over the rather inactive winter period. The motor was then fitted with a splendid new cover that Mrs Toddler had carefully machined and edged too. It seemed a shame to put the big overall cover in place on top of it. We are no longer worried about folks stealing the RIB. The posh cover is under more threat.

More Spain and the disastrous floods

We were all kind of relaxing into the slow pace of Altea life, morning coffee shop stops (where you could buy three for the price of one in the UK) then the tricky decision of where to pick for a late lunch. So many good options, so few days to try them all out. Stress beyond belief. 

We opted to stagger along the promenade and back up to the beautiful church so that Tina could see it too - when we visited before she was busy enjoying the sun on the terrace of the apartment. Sunbathing is now known as Ronsealing,.based on her skin colour.

Someone had been very artistic /' romantic on the stony beach area:

and the uphill bit was well worth it for the views towards Albir, the nearby town:

Once again, there was a wedding underway at the church:

So poor Tina never got to enjoy the interior of the place - she had to make do with the photos we'd taken on our earlier trip.

Spanish wiring still amazes and scares us in equal measures:

But it seems to work so who are we to criticise.

After an excellent week in the truly lovely apartment, we had to leave. We didn't want to but it had to be done. So, we treated ourselves to breakfast out at the rather good "Differens" cafe ensuring we were stoked up for a drive into the heart of the country. This little guy seemed keen on our breakfast too, and was brave enough to perch on the spare chair at our table:

We topped up with nice cheap diesel, then did the three hour drive to Teruel. This took us around the outskirts of Valencia, one day before the horrendous floods happened. More on that later, we try to be chronological if a bit disorganised and confused in our memories. That we put down to age and gin.

Teruel was quite a place. Have a look at Wikipedia link  for more information on the city that is reckoned to be the least understood and worst connected in Spain. The architecture that gets mentioned in that article was amazing in real life. As an example, a set of steps leading up into the main part of the city had wonderful detailed decoration (not too visible on this poor picture):

and a rather ornate "landing" at the top:

In the main square, there were some most impressive buildings:

and that continued throughout the place:

Sadly, as you can see, there were a few rain showers around so everything looked a bit gloomy and we refuse to tart it up using Photoshop for you. This statue of a bull is famous:

and here is an image borrowed from Wikipedia showing it on a better day weather-wise:

Which makes "El Torico" look very imposing. Only it is pretty tiny really:

Almost insignificant in the square that surrounds it.  We happily wandered around the place enjoying the architecture:

and then did the short drive to the Parador hotel. Again a borrowed image as things were pretty overcast when we arrived and pouring with rain when we left:

The evening meal was special. Being Brits, we struggled to wait until the typically Spanish restaurant opening time. So, we wandered down punctually to find the place in darkness. A few folks in the bar area next door but that was it. A waitress came out and we asked her if the restaurant would open - she told us to wait, went inside, turned on the lights and then came out announcing "it is now". We were then treated to some of the best ham we've had (speciality of the region) and an amazing venison steak. Excellent place.

The next morning it was raining. Hard. No, very hard. The captain selflessly moved the car closer to the entrance door but we still got soaked loading up. We were driving to a Winery - the Vinicola Real which was around three and a half hours away. To begin with we simply followed a truck on the main dual carriageway as he was nicely removing the standing water on the road surface. We had around 50 minutes of torrential rain then as we got further north it dried up and the sun wanted to come and play again. Little did we realise what carnage the rain was causing further south, around Valencia - we were just catching the edge of the rainstorm and that was bad enough.

A couple of very happy nights at the hotel in the winery followed. It was a great find. Lovely staff, amazing setting and we booked a winery tour and tasting too. Oh yes. The tour took us into the cellars (not ideal for Tina who dislikes road tunnels - at one stage the lights went out and she had to grab the arm of the crew until the guide hit the timed light switch again).  The bottles were covered in a storage grey stuff which the guide explained was a fungus that grows there naturally and has a form of penicillin in it. The fur coat helps keep the bottles at a constant temperature and protects the corks from other moulds:

The winery majors on the "200 monks" (200 Monges) wine and they only sell stuff that is suitably aged. Lots of oak barrels were underground too. The tasting was more of a drinking session really, a proper glass full of 3 whites and then 3 reds to sample and enjoy:

The wines were introduced and explained really well following our private tour. The white wines are made with the body of a red wine and are very distinctive. The 200 Monges red and white offerings were outstanding and far from cheap too - you can buy it in the UK:

but most of the production goes to China. Lucky China.

Meanwhile, the results of the DANA rain storms had trashed some areas around Valencia, involving a massive loss of life. We used these roads a day beforehand: 

and the residential areas nearby were horrific:

You could argue that after our two Thames river trips that were aborted due to flooding, we are somewhat fated. Actually no, we reckon it is Tina.  She is the link to all of these and to a Barbados holiday too when it rained in a way they had not seen in years, flooding parts of the hotel and stopping the staff from getting in. Here is the Rockland blog link as a reminder. 

The country declared three days of national mourning for the victims as we reluctantly left the Winery and headed to Santander for the last couple of nights away. Tina (yes, her again) had recommended a hotel near the ferry port that she'd used before. Only she must have been on a different level in the car park - U3 involved using a car lift that was narrow enough to need the wing mirrors folded in and then some tricky manoeuvres around a couple of pillars and the nose of a parked car. The crew was seriously stressed by it all. However, we parked OK in our allotted space and the hotel was good.

We liked Santander a lot, even though it felt strange to see a public air raid shelter in the middle of a nice square:

Someone had a real sense of humour when they named this umbrella shop:

In the lovely weather we wandered around enjoying the buildings and temperature:

conscious of the official period of mourning as per the half mast flag:

The evening was Halloween and there were an amazing number of kids and a few grown ups suitably dressed visiting some shops for treats. Quite an event.

When we booked to be in Santander on November 1st, we hadn't realised that it was a public holiday. It seemed that the locals were in full holiday mode with the beach busy and the cafes in town mobbed. we walked along the harbour area to the lovely beaches, admiring some rather palatial housing on the way:

 

and the energetic game(s) underway on the beach as per this video:

The weather was perfect for our last day in Spain:

however as all the cafe / restaurants were manically busy, we struggled to find a place to have dinner. Luckily, in the little road leading to the hotel we stumbled across a real gem of a place, which had to be frequented for breakfast the next morning before we carefully extricated ourselves from the garage, braved the lift and checked in for the ferry.

In the queue, we were behind an aging Citroen Picasso that was empty - the slightly strange owners had walked back to the terminal building to get some cheap wine. Watching them try to store it in an already full boot was amusing, then they vanished again despite announcements about returning to the cars. The lady had the most severe bob haircut we'd seen. thick hair hanging down like a curtain that swayed as one lump  when she walked. Anyone remember Dougal from the Magic Roundabout? 

Naturally Dougal and her man were nowhere to be seen so we reversed and then  passed them as did everyone else. As we queued to get on board the ship,  Dougal's car was all alone in the marshalling area. They finally returned to what was an empty area and instead of rushing to drive up to the customs posts they walked to find someone to ask what they should do. Annoyingly, they still got onto the ferry before us.

The same ship (Salamanca) offered the same excellent cabins and lounge area and this time, a flat calm Bay of Biscay for the trip back. So much so that we made quick progress:

so much so that the ship slowed right down as we approached the Isle of Wight.

We spotted Dougal once on board as we disembarked but had the "pleasure" of a strange couple in the Club Lounge. They arrived for breakfast dressed in identical clothing. They had a large bag with them which they proceeded to fill. First of all a plastic box appeared which they put 4 plates of salad and meat into. Then they collected three boiled eggs from the buffet and tucked two away. Then some bread rolls, then a handful of the little milk pots and so it continued. They vanished during the day, presumable to unload the spoils and return for the afternoon. armed with an iceberg lettuce. They must have brought that on board with them, The lady proceeded to cut lumps off if it using a pair of scissors. We could not resist picturing the table when they left it to collect more food:

Stealing food - yup, seen that in hotels many times. Bringing your own iceberg lettuce and giving it a haircut at the table with scissors was a new one though. Hopefully a one off.

We were the 4th to last car off the ferry which was less than ideal for Tina who was trying to catch an earlier hovercraft back to the Isle of Wight. Still, the trip had been excellent overall. Most impressed with Brittany Ferries service, Altea, Teruel and the Winery. Hic. Coming back to wall to wall grey clouds for days on end was not nice.