Month: April 2025

Wednesday it’s April 2025.

Today was designed to be a day of driving and oh boy it didn’t disappoint. The sat nav tried to take us on a newly built dual carriageway but we managed to find the original country road and stayed on it for the whole 86 miles. As my friend Arthur would say it’s not a drive out if you don’t find a few peaks, narrow roads and hairpin bends and today he would have been a happy man.

The road had virtually no traffic on it or villages along the way, although we did drive through two small towns, we stopped at one, Mogadouro and went for a walk around the town. There wasn’t a great deal there but we walked up hill to the old ruined castle from where there were good views.

The scenery was magnificent, we drove through regions with the almond trees in blossom, there were olive groves, small areas of vines, terraced hill sides with fruit trees. Other areas were scrubland but covered in Broom plants covered in white flowers, there were poppies, large bushes of white flowers and other wild flowers that I didn’t recognise.

We weren’t far at any time from the Spanish border and our route was mainly along the River Douro, often dropping hundreds of feet down to it and then climbing up again to gain height. The photos we took couldn’t do the scenery justice and at times the skill to take a panoramic view would have been helpful.

Tuesday 8th April 2025.

Today we drove a relatively short distance to Miranda Do Douro which is a town perched high above the Douro river it is one of the most easterly towns in Portugal, on the opposite bank of the river is Spain.

We are parked on a quiet road (apart from the cobbled surface) against the walls of the town a few metres away from one of the entrance archways.

From the top of the walls I was able to take further photos of our stopover and its magnificent views.

Miranda Do Douro was founded around 1286 and in 1545 it was elevated to city status. In 1762 during the 7 year war with Spain the army of Charles III invaded and a barn with about 500 barrels of gunpowder was hit by cannon fire blowing up the 4 towers of the castle and the surrounding neighbourhoods. Approximately one third of the cities population died approx 400 people. Thankfully now the city is a prosperous place to live.

The Cathedral is an imposing 16th century building , work is currently taking place to restore stonework.

We had a walk around the quiet streets of the town enjoying some of its other buildings and sights.

Of course the afternoon wouldn’t have been complete without a small drink.

Monday 7th/Tuesday 8th April 2025.

It was a relatively easy drive from Leon to Braganca, once on the main dual carriageway I was able to put Homer in cruise control and didn’t need to touch a pedal for 70 miles.

We are parked up below the Citadel of Braganca where there are a series of Free to stay car parks dedicated to motorhomes with free services.

Monday afternoon Michelle and I walked into the town to explore the old quarter, there were a variety of interesting buildings but it was hot work in full sunshine and a refreshing drink was required.

The evening weather was wonderful and we ate outside.

Tuesday morning.

Early morning we walked up to the Citadel, which was the site of a succession of forts before Fernando Mendes, brother in law to King Alfonso Henriques, built a walled citadel here in 1130, like its predecessors it was named Brigantia.

Within the walls still stands Sancho 1 castle built in 1187 with its watchtower and dungeons.

Across the square from the castle is the church of Santa Maria.

It was enjoyable to walk around whilst not full of tourists, and I enjoyed the fact it was still a part of modern life with people living inside the walls of the citadel.

Sunday 6th April 2025.

We travelled approx 160 miles from Santander to Leon to a free motorhome aire provided by. the city with facilities.

Leon is a city on the Bernesga River in north west Spain,it is the capital of the Province of Leon, it’s home to many churches and cathedrals noted for their architecture and art. Among them is the Gothic 13th century Cathedral de Leon, with its towers and flying buttresses. The Romanesque 10th century Basilica de San Isidoro is known for its frescoes and royal tombs.

These buildings along with other old architecture are concentrated in one area of Leon and the streets are thronged with street cafes. Being a Sunday thankfully there were very few shops open. It was hot work sight seeing so we had to indulge in a little light refreshment .

We walked into the old quarter via the old town gate in the castle walls, I believe you can walk on part of the walls, there is a strange piece of sculpture inside the gate.

A few extra photos taken on our walk around.

After a quite tiring few days we were quite happy to put our feet up for the evening.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday 4th-6th April 2025.

We headed down to Portsmouth on Friday afternoon meeting up with travel buddies Alison and Peter at Port Solent.

Port Solent is a marina and leisure area with a cinema, shops, restaurants and bars it is only a few miles from the ferry port at Portsmouth so it was a good stopping off place. We had a meal at Wetherspoons before moving on to the port.

We were travelling on the Santona from Portsmouth to Santander in northern Spain, sadly people travelling with dogs were the last to board which was annoying. We had a dog friendly cabin which was adequate for our needs.

We met up in the bar for a nightcap and left when the entertainer began singing, didn’t sleep brilliantly well but there was no rush to get up. Midday on Saturday Michelle and I went to the bar lounge area and consumed a picnic we had taken with us.

After lunch we went up onto the top deck, weather was glorious and much to our surprise we could see the coast of Brittany.

We spent a little time in the sunshine marvelling at how calm the sea was.

We opted for an evening meal together in the restaurant where the menu had a French bias, the starter buffet was admired by all and enjoyed by Alison and Peter.

After the meal we went to the bar for another drink only to be driven out by another entertainer who equated loud singing as good singing.

We were up early Sunday morning and were just in time to take a few photos as we entered Santander, it was still dawn and the lighthouses were flashing.

It took an age to get off the ferry and out of the port but eventually we were out on the open road which for the whole of the journey was relatively traffic free, we arrived at tonight’s stop in Leon northern Spain around midday.