Return to reality

13th Jan 2009 - Return to the UK

I find it hard to believe but tomorrow it is a year since we left Bristol in our little van and set out on our big adventure, it seemed therefore an appropriate tome for an update. I was going to leave this blog on our return to the UK but have decided to continue at least for the next few months as we settle into our new lives (in Essex!! - I know, more on that in the next post....!)

So much has happened and its been such a fantastic year, looking back through my posts on here it is hard to believe we actually went to all those places. I think it is going to take a little while to sink in, and certainly a long time to sort out the 2500 photos that we have come back with. It was a sad day when we finally emptied out the van and left it in storage, hopefully we will be back in it for a few holidays later this year.

The first few weeks back in the UK have been great catching up with so many family and friends but it was also all quite disorientating. Even the little things like finding the correct change in a shop was surprisingly difficult, and it was really odd to feel foreign in my own country. I am looking at things with slightly different eyes after being away for so long, slightly more detached and spotting all the little peculiarities of life in Britain, which I am thoroughly enjoying!

The last few weeks have been quite hard for me as I have not really been able to settle into any kind of routine or do a lot towards getting our life going in the UK, while we were waiting for Chris to find a job and decide on where in the UK we are going to be based. To make the most of my free time I have been volunteering in the local Oxfam bookshop which is really interesting and good fun, although I am having to learn a lot. I am becoming quite an expert in the terminology for old books but was completely befuddled to start with by people going on about foxing, bumping and closed tears!

The Icy Waste

Today I am writing this from our new abode in Ware having managed to run the gauntlet of the weather and arrive in the UK at 6:30, yes 6:30am! yesterday morning, confusingly about 5 days before any one was expecting us!

Our journey north from La Rochelle was fairly uneventful with a lovely overnight stop in Rennes for a last meal out of the trip and a few pints of Breton Ale! Although we didn't meet any snow until the last 100km of the Journey to Cherbourg the weather was very cold and all the water taps at camperstops were frozen solid, sightly limiting our options for places to stay. In fact in Rennes we had to wait a couple of hours for the campsite to open up so we could top up our tanks from the only outside tap they had working, which had been firmly insulated with a foam filled bin bag when not in use. We have certainly put the van through its paces on this trip, our lowest temperature last week being about -3, compared to the nearly 40degree heat we were experiencing in Hungary. The heating has done a fab job and we were nice and toasty all the way.

On Tuesday we left Rennes and started heading further north. As the weather forecast was for the snow to come in again badly across France in the afternoon we decided to get as close to our ferry port as possible even though we would then have a few days to kill. We had a fairly tricky drive on dual carriageways reduced to only one lane by the snow (they have a serious shortage of salt in France) and arrived in Cherbourg early afternoon. We had planned to spend a few days on the beaches on the Normandy peninsular but as we were likely to get snowed in we decided against that and changed the ferry booking to leave France on Tuesday night on the night crossing. About 3 the snow started coming down hard so we parked up on the docks and settled in for a long wait in the snow. There was absolutely no onearound and we got slowly more covered in snow (picture). Miraculously the ferry did actually run, with just three cars in the hold! and much to our surprise we found ourselves back in the UK yesterday morning, slightly confused at being here early and driving through yet more snow whilst chanting "drive on the left, drive on the left"

North into the icy wastes?

Yesterday we started our journey North and homewards after a few days
wandering along the northern Spanish coast. We had some wonderful overnight
stops on campsites overlooking the sea and went to sleep to the sound of
the waves. Our last stop in Spain was in St Sebastian, where we had a
lovely afternoon wandering around the bay and an evening in a nearby bar.
This however is also where we met the winter weather, waking up yesterday
morning to about an inch of snow. Before we left we went for a walk on the
beach where people where cross country skiing on the snow (picture), I was
quite jealous! The roads however looked fine so about lunch time we headed
on.
Yesterday afternoon we went to Arcachon which has the most amazing 80m high
sand dune running for kms along the coast, on top of it there are amazing
views and the sheer scale of it makes it feel almost like being in a
desert, an amazing place and although we weren't there for long, one I will
remember for a long time (picture).

We have spent several long and indecisive evenings on the internet the last
week or so looking at every weather chart and forecast we could find,
trying to decide whether we should postpone our return to the UK until the
weather gets better. In the end we decided to change our plans and rather
than head for Calais to come up the west coats of France and ferry from
Cherbourg, in an attempt to miss the worst of it in France, there is sadly
no way to avoid the UK roads! Yesterday morning I was beginning to doubt
our wisdom but tonight we have made it as far as La Rochelle, and so far
not a flake of snow has been seen in France........the next time I right I
may well be stuck in a snow storm in Portsmouth!

Epiphany - kings, camels & fireworks!

We had a wonderful evening yesterday at our first Spanish "fiesta". The
children here get their presents today (6th) and they are brought not by
Santa but by the Three Kings. Consequently Epiphany is a big deal and most
towns have parades and celebrations, and the children get to meet the kings
afterwards and make their requests.

We have spent the last couple of days in Santiago de Compostella where the
parade is held on the night of the 5th. So yesterday afternoon we headed
into town and by 6pm found ourselves in the crowd lining the street below
the main square, and surrounded by very excited children, spray cans of
fake snow at the ready. First came the camels, followed by a motley
collection of marching bands, men on stilts, unicyclists, toy soldiers and
floats. Each of the three kings had his own float, (dissapointingly they
weren't riding the camels!) and threw sweets into the crowds as they
passed. The procession ended in the main square in front of the cathedral,
where we joined the crowds to see the mayor and the kings appear on a
balcony of one of the buildings. And then the fireworks started..........
they were great, lots of big rockets and it made up for missing them at New
Year; however they were being let off from within the square, probably only
10m from the edge of the crowds! This was one accasion where I was wishing
for the more rigorous UK restrictions, I now have a large burn on my hat
(luckily not my Italian one as that would have been very upsetting!) from
the falling embers and quite a lot of the crowd put up their umbrellas to
avoid a similar fate! Despite this it was a great evening with a wonderful
atmosphere (not a drunkard in site) and a lovely way to end the Christmas
season.

Christmas in pictures

A few more shots of the beach at Christmas and other general festivities!

A Portuguese Festive Season

So here we are in 2010, and we are going to be home in just a few short
weeks. We left Salir do Porto two days ago and have started our journey
north. We welcomed the New Year in last night with some Portuguese
Champagne under our sun awning, listening to the sound of the sea crashing
on the beach and the towns firework display. Sadly we couldn't get out to
actually see either of these as the campsite locked the gates at 11 and
despite my best pleading and smiles refused to bend the rules for new year!
We had a great time though and the champagne disappeared far too quickly!
Definitely wasn't fit to drive today so we had a nice walk into town (viana
do castello) this morning and spent the afternoon on the beach. Tomorrow we
move further north into Spain.

We spent Christmas week with the family in Sao Martinho de Porto, a lovely
sea side town near Obidos in central Portugal (picture). The British
weather was not without its effects even on our Portuguese Christmas, and
it was touch and go if everyone would make it out of the UK. A few
cancelled flights and some very cold early morning starts later we finally
got everyone together Christmas Eve and spent a lovely few days catching
up, playing on the beach, visiting the local sites and relaxing in the
cafes.

Christmas here is definitely a much more relaxed affair, with more emphasis
on the religious as opposed to the commercial, and their are nativity
scenes everywhere. We missed midnight mass as it was in another village but
managed to get to Church on Sunday, which aside from a never ending sermon
in Portuguese was really nice! On boxing day we went to a friend of my
mother in laws, who has a holiday cottage nearby and were also joined by
their Portuguese neighbours. This was a fun evening, and between the great
food and wine we learnt about Christmas traditions here and were treated to
some live fado. The last night we celebrated in a local fish restaurant
overlooking the beach followed by a stroll along the beach, all in all
great christmas.

Thanks everyone for coming!