Travels in the Van 2023: Week 8

 

Sunday 5^th March 

Playamonte to Valencia

We replan the last week in the quiet of this near deserted new campsite and then head out on a ride. We decided to slow things down. We need to be in Barcelona for the lunchtime flight on Saturday, so we plan for another two base camps, one outside Valencia and the other outside Barcelona. Both have a good cycling routes. 

It’s a long drive to Valencia and we’re entertained listening to ‘something rhymes with purple’, a podcast with Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent, which looks at word origins and vocabulary - lots of laughter!

‘Valencia Camper’ is the antithesis to the quiet of the last site and is possibly my favourite so far. It’s busy, it has a little café and Bar. We have the pitch right next to it, which is a good thing, it’s like an extension. It also right next to the reception office and we hear first-hand the friendly and excellent customer service the hard-working Carlos provides to the never-ending stream of arrivals. Despite this, or because of it, the whole place is relaxed and friendly. They’ve got it all worked out. A quick briefing and links to a couple of videos that give details of all anyone needs to know, especially about public transport, which is what most queries are about. Carlos’s patience is infinite when people come back, not having watched the video, to ask the same questions - it’s a superpower. The landscaping creates little areas of calm and the cafe proprietor is lovely. She looks a bit stressed and sad as she busies about but as I book the home-made paella for supper, she has a warm smile and kind eyes. Lola the campsite cat purrs when I stroke her head which adds to the warmth of the place.

Richard misses out on the paella as he’s got a prior engagement to watch Man U get hammered 7-0 by Liverpool, in a bar in Valencia. We hear Carlos putting campers off cycling the 10 miles into the city, as the local Metro carries bikes free at least halfway. He clearly misunderstands our intrepid determination. Richard tries it out and I enjoy the paella solo. I get into conversation with Barry, a camp regular aged 80, and Gary the chef who is from Hastings. He's worked in Spain for 25 years.

We decided to slow things down. We need to be in Barcelona for the lunchtime flight on Saturday, so we plan for another two base camps, one outside Valencia and the other outside Barcelona. Both have a good cycling routes. 

It’s a long drive to Valencia and we’re entertained listening to ‘something rhymes with purple’, a podcast with Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent, which looks at word origins and vocabulary - lots of laughter!

‘Valencia Camper’ is the antithesis to the quiet of the last site and is possibly my favourite so far. It’s busy, it has a little café and Bar. We have the pitch right next to it, which is a good thing, it’s like an extension. It also right next to the reception office and we hear first-hand the friendly and excellent customer service the hard-working Carlos provides to the never-ending stream of arrivals. Despite this, or because of it, the whole place is relaxed and friendly. They’ve got it all worked out. A quick briefing and links to a couple of videos that give details of all anyone needs to know, especially about public transport, which is what most queries are about. Carlos’s patience is infinite when people come back, not having watched the video, to ask the same questions - it’s a superpower. The landscaping creates little areas of calm and the cafe proprietor is lovely. She looks a bit stressed and sad as she busies about but as I book the home-made paella for supper, she has a warm smile and kind eyes. Lola the campsite cat purrs when I stroke her head which adds to the warmth of the place.

Richard misses out on the paella as he’s got a prior engagement to watch Man U get hammered 7-0 by Liverpool, in a bar in Valencia. We hear Carlos putting campers off cycling the 10 miles into the city, as the local Metro carries bikes free at least halfway. He clearly misunderstands our intrepid determination. Richard tries it out and I enjoy the paella solo. I get into conversation with Barry, a camp regular aged 80, and Gary the chef who is from Hastings. He's worked in Spain for 25 years.

 

Monday 6th of March 

We make the journey to the city together the following day. There’s a low traffic route but the ground is rough in parts, nothing impossible. Once we reach the outskirts, the cycle lanes are the standard we come to expect in Spanish cities. Valencia is lovely, with attractive public spaces, ancient and Modern. We start a walking tour, but the group is huge and the guide a bit long-winded. So we duck out and do our own cycling tour. The provision market, the amazing park that winds through the city to the modern Science Park. It’s sunny and glorious. 

I’ve been looking further into the history of the Civil War and why it’s rarely referred to. There are good podcasts about it. ‘In our time’ has an episode and there’s an English language podcast ‘the Sobremesa podcast’ devoted to Spanish culture, current affairs and history. The ‘Pact of silence’ about the Civil War is a thing it turns out, there is currently a movement to uncover and validate historic memory and to acknowledge the still uncharted mass graves from the post-Civil War era. 

It’s March and therefore the celebration of Las Fallas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles

which is a huge festival across Valencia in commemoration of Saint Joseph (of Mary & Joseph fame), which explains the fireworks and distant sounds of marching bands we’ve heard the last couple of nights in the previous campsite.  At 2pm every day in March, fireworks and fire firecrackers explode in the biggest square in the city which is crammed with citizens and visitors, the tall buildings’ balconies full of onlookers.  As it reaches its crescendo the noise reverberates in our chests. Babies cry and adults nearby are visibly excited by it. It seems remarkable that the city which once endured heavy aerial bombing should want to celebrate with this alarming cacophony.

 

Tuesday 7th of March.

We like it here. We enjoy another day cycling in the countryside in near perfect conditions.

Leaving the van and the return home is on our minds. What to leave, what’s essential and will fit into the strict hand-luggage rules of Ryanair. After all the previous overpacking, I resolve to take almost nothing back. Warm clothes for the journey from Bristol Airport and a rain jacket and my laptop and other electronic essentials on my notebook of course. It all fits into a small supermarket bag. It says something sobering that there are duplicates of almost everything else at home. It’s also sobering that the UK is experiencing snow, since the temperatures here have reached the mid 20s. 

 

Wednesday 8^th – Saturday 11th March

Tarragona and Vilanova i la Geltrú
We say goodbye to Lola who almost stows away with us and move on. We stop to see the magnificent aqueduct outside Tarragona and do a park and bike-ride round the streets. It’s lovely. I’m so glad we stopped and made the time. We enjoy a local beer in a busy square amongst the Roman remains before carrying onto Villanova and the mega-campsite that will be our last stop. 

This is a proper holiday camp with different styles of cabins and chalets. We have a huge pitch amongst the other camper vans and the facilities are like a modern airport. It’s lacking in character though, but well-placed for exploring the local small city, a route through the countryside and the coast. We’ve done well to run the fresh food down to just a bit of fruit to take on the plane. Last ride is an easy 30 miles up and down the coast and very strong winds which takes me to 1000 miles in the last eight weeks, (Richard hit 1K the day before) and we celebrate by drinking the fizz that we’ve had in the van for months. We’ve done well to run the fresh food down to just a bit of fruit to take on the plane.

Saturday 11^th March

We’re leaving the van with Orson, who is Dutch and Christina, Spanish who run a van rental company near the airport in Barcelona. They’re friendly and chatty and show us the lovely vans they have with all the facilities (WC, shower, oven) that we don’t! It is tempting but I have enjoyed the romance of our little van. 

Orson drops us off at the airport and as I’m writing this we’ve just taken off. My thoughts turn to my brother, as they always do for the first 10 minutes or so on any flight, until we’re airborne and on our way home.

 

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