Lagos life

Sad as we were to leave the lovely Puerto Banus apartment, it had to be done. Our plan was to head to Portugal, with a stop on the way in  a rather lovely Hilton hotel. When we booked it, we expected a typical Doubletree standard  hotel, which is always fine. This was way better than expected, great rooms, lovely staff. If you are in the area have a look at hotel weblink and consider staying there. We wish we'd booked more than the one night.

The following day we headed over the border, after topping up with fuel that was getting ever more expensive - thank you Mr Trump. Spanish diesel was still cheaper then Portuguese though. We'd booked an apartment in Lagos for a week and were very much looking forward to exploring the area. We had visited briefly last year to meet up with another Nordhavn 47 owner who was overwintering in the marina there. As we had plenty of time to spare before the check-in, we made a little detour and stopped off at Vila Real de Santo Antonio, just over the border into Portugal.

Wandering around the town we were impressed / confused in equal measure by the sculptures dotted around the place:

This one was kind of advertising the shop behind:

We needed a coffee stop and when in Portugal, you have to go native:

The first of many to come we hoped. 

It was a good stop off, sunny as you can see and we walked around the main square and town area, soaking up the Sunday vibe from the locals and what seemed to be way too many UK visitors as well. There is one huge unappealing motorhome site (basically a gravel car park) that was full to the brim. Popular place to overwinter it seems.

Arriving at the apartment in Lagos was a pleasant surprise. Very comfortable place, excellent car park underneath it, well kitted out too. A short walk from the marina and town centre, comfortable and apart from a chilly kitchen, very cosy. We plan to use it again in future.

The bikes were busy once more, taking us to a lovely beach on the west side of the town:

with some beach art too:

On the way back we stumbled upon a rather special café come bistro kind of place. We cycled to it because it had an excellent on-line set of reviews and they were so right.  A nice outside seating area:

excellent brunch type food (the shakshuka eggs were outstanding), friendly service and good coffee too. Have a look at this Sunrays kitchen weblink to get an idea of what is on offer.  The crew looked suitably happy:

We forced ourselves to another visit later in the week under the mistaken belief that the cycle ride there and back would burn off any calories consumed. 

On Sunday in the town centre we bumped into one of those odd religious processions that seems to feature not only the clergy but local scout / guide equivalents, some strange effigies and any other local group that wants to be represented:

Carrying of the cross was well depicted:

and the town turned out en-masse as per this little video clip:

Bike trips to the east were along a mix of gravel tracks:

and rather nice pathways through the local golf course although avoiding the buggies driven by homicidal golfers was tricky:

By foot, the walk in to town was via the marina:

We liked the town centre and harbour area, spoiled only by the number of stalls advertising tourist boat trips and similar. Still lovely though:

In the spotlessly tidy town centre were a few odd statues once more:

and the regulation sports equipment shop majoring on Cristiano Ronaldo. They are ubiquitous. No idea what they will do when he retires. We happily walked, cycled, ate and drank our way around the area. Loved it and some of the people we chatted to as well. the area seemed to have become a haven for Americans who wanted to take advantage of 10 years in a low tax environment. If we could, we might be tempted too. Brexit prevents that. Great place to live.

"Scum in the sun" - we were allowed into Puerto Banus again

After the serious culture and massive history of Cordoba, we did a strange swap and headed to the money and lifestyle focussed Puerto Banus. We were so fortunate, being able to borrow an apartment there once again that is owned by very kind folks we know from Hythe marina.

Our motorway stop enroute was wildly expensive as you can see:

The total bill being slightly less than that for one flat white from Costa at an M4 service area. 

We happily arrived at the rather lovely apartment after a little discussion with the concierge as someone had used the parking space allocated to our friends. Explaining it to a guy who spoke marginally more English than we speak Spanish was fun, but he offered us another spot in the underground garage. That probably caused other knock on issues during our week there but we were happy.

Wine and nibbles on the balcony celebrated our arrival:

The area just smells of and flaunts money. We mentioned last year how the cars around the marina area were a proper mix of luxury limos and supercars, some with tasteless colour schemes too. Hence the title of this post - we felt like proper "Scum in the sun". For those of you who never watched the Rab C Nesbitt  TV series, we can only say that you've missed out. The first episodes were back in 1990 so getting old now like us, but having lived in Scotland for a while, we found them very amusing.  Scum in the sun - have a look at this video clip link. For non-native English speakers, good luck with the accent and special vocabulary. For the Captain's Bavarian friends - this probably sounds as strange to you as Bayerisch did to me.

Thanks to the orange gentleman's decision to attack Iran, crude oil prices went bananas overnight. We were amazed to see that Spanish fuel prices went up even faster than in the UK.  Overnight, from around 1.28 to 1.58 Euro for diesel, quite a % hike. Naturally the filling stations in Puerto Banus were a tad more expensive than in other areas. 

We'd taken our folding bikes with us and the waterfront paths were the ideal place to use them. They got plenty of use during our week there. We'd never braved Marbella before, thinking that it was a bit like the truly grim Benidorm. However, the owners of the apartment had told us that the old town was well worth a visit, so we did:

Quite a floral display, we did wonder how they watered the plants at the top of the wall.

The old town had a fair smattering of lovely old buildings and lanes, with some rather ornate entrance doors too:

The niche thing  was interesting too:

and here is the actual niche, high up on the building:

When not out on the bikes or walking, we were very happy to use one of the two terraces at the apartment and just enjoy the peace and quiet and the rather good garden view:

Heading to the west from Puerto Banus the bikes took us to the next town along where we sat outside a rather alternative coffee shop:

Roasted does great coffee, and charges well for it too. During the week we sat outside and enjoyed their wares. Sunday was a very different experience. The place was crammed with bright young things, who occupied themselves dancing, being half dressed and making lots of noisy chatter. It really was a "how can I show you that I am better than you / prettier than you / hotter than you" gathering. 

Luckily, being old and wrinkly we were just ignored. The clientele seemed not to be buying coffee, just filling the place up and preening themselves so how profitable the weekend opening is for Roasted is up for debate.

Our week in Puerto Banus was just great. We got some exercise, visited some new places and chilled. Perfect.

The rather wonderful Cordoba

We'd read a bit about Cordoba and knew it must be rather nice as it had a Parador hotel there. We'd booked a couple of nights and were pretty happy to find a rather nice room with a balcony had been allocated:

The weather was nicer than that picture suggests by the way, fine for sitting outside enjoying a very British restorative cup of tea after the drive.  It was another relatively new build hotel but still had the "Parador character".

As it is a little bit out of the city centre, we braved the local bus service and headed downtown. The usual good bus service and low fares were only slightly spoiled by the fact that they did not allow you to tap on with a credit card. It was quite a shock digging out cash for the first time on our trip, all 2.60 Euros for the pair of us.  Rather good value we thought.

The city centre was very typical old Spanish:

although the delivery rider with his big yellow box is a reminder of current fashions. There is one must do thing in Cordoba of course. A visit to the Mosque-Cathedral. Have a look at their website for lots of background on the Mosque that became a Cathedral and has architectural elements from both religions, going back to the 6th centaury. 

Impressive outside:

and stunning inside, both in scale and the detail of the decorations:

with an almost ethereal feel to the arched open spaces:

The areas where the original Muslim style and decoration survive seem so incongruous in a Cathedral: 

but have been beautifully restored. We were most amused by the rather specific project funding displayed for one renovation activity:

We would love to know how / why they costed it to that level of detail and how much it finally cost. The buildings are designated as a UNESCO world heritage site and we saw why as we wandered around:

After a most enjoyable cultural feast, we wandered over another elderly bridge:

and found a surprisingly good restaurant for a small lunch on the other bank. Great service from a waiter who had worked and lived in the UK until Covid with a great sense of humour, good food and rather good coffee too. The only slightly weird bit was the ceiling decoration: 

It was a little bit intimidating but didn't steal any food.

Merida and the Romans

Our thirst for culture and history was suitably slaked during a couple of days in Merida. A UNESCO world heritage city with plenty of Roman remains dotted around the area. The place was founded in 25BC by the Roman emperor as a residence for retired soldiers. Even the drive to the city was pretty spectacular:

The motorway was just like the M27, except it was actually open, not being dug up, pretty empty and had no special speed limits or cones in place. Once we arrived, we walked over an amazing preserved Roman bridge. Built in the first century AD it is the longest bridge left from that era:

Pretty impressive indeed. As you walk around the compact city, you just keep bumping into Roman bits like this:

and this

Quite a place. We decided to join the outdoor eating thing and had a very civilised evening aided by a small glass of red:

The place was well worth visiting. Not just for the Roman remains but for the quirky central area where the modern buildings adjoin the Roman sites. 

Escape to the sun and double Salamancas

The winter just seemed to be one never-ending round of grey gloom and rain. Oh, a gale every three or four days too and a few storms thrown in for good measure as well. Global warming seems more like global wind strength increase to us. Luckily we'd booked an escape from it all, assuming that the timing of the ferry to Spain didn't coincide with another storm.

This time, it didn't. However the M27 heading to Portsmouth ferry terminal was closed for yet another obscure reason. They must be running out of reasons to shut the thing soon. Please! We made a nice detour and tried to re-join the motorway only to find the closure went one junction further than they advertised and the traffic info on line showed. Travelling in the UK is just so much fun.

We'd baked in enough time for such chaos so happily boarded the Brittany ferries ship Salamanca and enjoyed the 30 odd hour sailing to Spain.  Fortunately the Spanish border folks were not using the new EU fingerprint / photo ID system that seems to be causing monster queues for non EU citizens in many airports, so we got through the checks in a sensible time with just a stamp in the passports:

 Where do you go after disembarking the Salamanca? To Salamanca of course.

A pretty quiet and enjoyable drive inland took us to the Parador hotel there. It is unusual in being a new build as opposed to a converted monastery / castle like most of the others. Still impressive though:

sitting up on a hill with views across the river to the amazing cathedral and city centre:

We had a couple of nights there, enjoying typically excellent Parador food and a day walking around the city centre which is stuffed full of impressive buildings like this:

and squares like this one:

As you can see, we also had SUN. A rare treat for us which was very welcome. The storks were no respecters of religion. They nested everywhere high, including this church bell tower:

 

We did wonder if they were deaf or just flew off for a while when the bell was sounded, or if the campanologists stayed away during the time the birds were trying to hatch their young. They seemed well settled. We were too, enjoying the local coffee shops, friendly folks and lovely weather. There was one restaurant that looked less appealing though:

and it was a good thing that Izzy our goddog was not with us:

Kind of a "bring your dog and we will rub it out" message. One shop was way more friendly, offering everything you could possibly want in one small emporium:

We resisted visiting it despite the many treats on offer.

All in all a good place to start a Spanish / Portuguese road trip. Typical Parador hospitality, lovely city and weather, all good.

Then Martin came to stay

We left poor Bella the cat before her owners returned from their cruise to the frozen north. Not because we disliked her or because the anti-histamine tablets had failed to stop the rather nasty reaction the captain has to some cat hairs. No, a way simpler explanation. Ages ago we'd booked to see Al Murray (the Pub Landlord) live on stage in Yeovil.

OK, we know, why Yeovil? Well, it was the only place relatively close to Penarth that was at a non-boating time of year on this tour. We'd seen him live in Cardiff several years ago and were really impressed with his memory and quick wit. You just have to look past the profanities to the underlying humour and his ability to pin-point the ridiculous in almost anything:

The event did not disappoint. In contrast to the "loutish" character of the pub landlord,  he is an Oxford graduate and very smart indeed. Have a listen to some of his World War II podcasts. (No, this time you are not being spoon fed with a link, go and search for them yourself!) 

Once again we'd managed to get things in the diary to be pretty back to back. We drove back from Yeovil, got the boat going again and warmed it up just in time for Martin's arrival. You might remember Martin as half of the Canadian "Martin and Inge" double act. They owned a Nordhavn 47 in the UK which had to be sold when they returned to Canada. Martin was over to spend a few automotive type days with us. After one night on board we headed to Ledbury for lunch, then a wander around the lovely old town, including the pretty church:

We were overnighting in a hotel near Tewksbury. Again, you might ask why. Fair question really. That is because it is pretty close to Eastnor Castle, the place that Land Rover use for off-road vehicle testing and that offers off-road driving days. We'd so enjoyed them that we persuaded Martin to try it out. Here he is doing the "see how easily Defenders climb steps" thing:

A couple of the muddier, steeper rough trail type hills needed a bit of momentum to get up as you can see:

Martin had a busy day, wading through plenty of water, climbing hills and (even scarier) descending some steep slippery ones. The steepest was known as Gearbox hill by the instructors on site as it is used to destruction test gearboxes in prototype cars. Martin also felt how a 30 degree lean to one side seems like way more when you are driving along! He had plenty of tuition on how to assess the tracks, how to set-up the car and just how amazingly capable these things are. He also made it very muddy:

and seemed quite smug about that.

After romping around off road,  the next day was designed to tick one thing off his bucket list. A visit to the Morgan car factory, a tour around the production facilities, quick lunch and then a drive in a Plus 4. That satisfied grin reappeared:

especially as the rain stopped and he was able to have a hood down drive. The Morgan factory guy said that was the first time he had managed to do so in 2026. Unfortunately for Martin the trip had to come to an end after an hour but he returned in style as this little video shows:

Even more upsetting is that Morgan cars are not imported into Canada at the moment - not homologated for the local market. So much temptation. For us as well.

Following another night in the hotel, we took him to Heathrow so he could return home. Only the M4 was shut so we had a nice diversion. Then, Martin didn't get onto the flight he planned as it was full (being a retired Base Training Captain with Cathay Pacific doesn't give him seniority any more on the staff perks flight waitlist.) One downside to being a gentleman of leisure. Sadly the same flight the following day was full too so he spend two nights in an airport hotel on his own - we'd already headed off so were too late to rescue him. The "Cheap Flights" song by Fascinating Aida springs to mind. If you've somehow managed to never hear it, look at youtube link.

We felt bad having abandoned him expecting all to be well.

Back afloat, briefly again, we braved the half-term madness and had a trip into Cardiff to get a few bits. It was manic - wall to wall bored looking kids. Luckily the soft furnishing area in John Lewis isn't where they tend to congregate so we had some respite. In the big shopping centre, the Lego store had quite a display going on. The Welsh dragon was most impressive:

We thought that inside the place we would finally escape from the pesky seagulls who like to poo all over the boat but no, there were even a couple of them, looking as malevolent as always:

We hurried past, just in case. You never know.