Well, with the little wimpers of my ould mate Damo who came to Spain for a visit. Damo was the guy who showed up to our house on the Monday of the week we were due to leave to help out for a few hours, and managed to leave on the Friday. I think we owed him a bit of a “thank you” trip, and we did our best to deliver. More on that in a minute.

Our Spanish lessons firmly under our belt, and probably partly forgotten, we had to cross over from the Atlantic ocean area, over the Pyrenees and over to Barcelona. It’s a superb part of the world, and we did our best to see some of it on our way over. We had been using a garmin GPS waypoint file of places to stop called “AIRES” which usually have points that you can fill with fresh water, discard the not-so-fresh water and park overnight for free. We happened to hit on one that was right outside of a Spa and pool complex, so we had a day of dossing about in the sun, and going through a pool that had enough water jets, spouts and nozzles to massage you in places that you didn’t know needed massaging! We also went for a run-cycle, which is where Sarah runs, and I cycle along beside. I’m learning! We went from here to the town of Huesca, which has a superb tourist office and gives out great maps. They gave us enough tips to keep us in the area for a month, but we had to pick just a few things to see. We tootled off to see the “Castillo de Loarre” which was a very impressive castle set on the side of a large hill. I recognised it from a previous trip to this area in 2003, but its amazing how just a few years can cloud up the details. Either way, it was great to see it again.

Castillo de Loarre, in the evening light.

After dinner, we decided to drive a bit further, and went to Riglos to see the large monoliths there that stand proudly over the small town.

Monalith in the gloomy light

We parked over night in the town car park, and headed off in the morning. The weather was damp and dismal, so we didn’t get the views in the mountains we were hoping for.

We went to see the Monastry of “San Juan de Peno” and this is incredible, as it is built into an overhanging rock. Well worth a stop if your in the area.

Snuggled in under a cliff

At the top of each column there is a unique carving from a different story in the bible.

the dormitory rooms, under the main rooms.

We went up to a National Park called “Parque Nacional de Prdesa Y Monte Ferdido” which has just one road in. We went in late evening, to see would the sun eventually break through, which it did’nt, and we went back to the town to park as overnights in the national park are forbidden, so we parked up at a farmers gate-way, no problem at all.

The stream was high due to the rains that fell most of the day in the Mountains

Low Clouds indeed.

Low clouds by the roadside

When back in the town of Torla, we spotted the local fire crew doing a bit of trainning with their unimog, so a bit of mog bonding had to take place.

Nice unimog, U500 model.

The next morning we went back to the park for an hour or 2 as we did’nt get to see it very well the night before, and it’s just stunning. For folks who really like their hiking, this is a great place to visit.

At last, a clear view of the Pyrenees

Then, it was back to Barcelona to have a drink with my mate Frank Bergman, who I had worked with in Dublin many years ago. From Barcelona, Sarah few to Italy for my sisters alternate-hen party and the aforementioned Damo arrived. Damo arrived into Girona airport, so I had a bit of a dash (Dash and Unimog are rarely seen in the same sentence, so he now knows how quick I had to drive to get up there to meet him!). We headed off for a couple of days of touring about, telling yarns, eating blue steaks and drinking a few beers – though he didn’t help much with that.
We visited the town of Rippol on our way to the higher Pyrenees, and it was just a handy stop over. The next day (a Saturday), we drove about until it was time to head for a town (we had picked Solsona), and somehow decided to agree with the gps that a little gravel road was a great idea for a short cut. This track took us through some of the best scenery we had seen, and a brilliant little coffee-stop. I was looking around for Julie Andrews to march a dozen or so overdressed kids in for tea!

Damo does a little 2 step

nice view for the mog

nice skies in the Pyrenees

Once we got to Solsona, we found ourselves in the middle of a festival, part of the “Festa Nacional dels Paisos Catalans” and got to see some human tower building, fireworks being set off by dozens of happy 8 yr olds,

The little kid kept chasing the dragon.

And of course, a bonfire, and a guy who must have been in trainning for drinking wine from a power hose.

He had a pretty good aim, and a really good incentive

The black scarves or belts were tied on very tightly

a human tower

There was a squad of these old guys with the guns they inherited from their grandfathers

And yes, they helped the occasion to go off with a bang

This old lady was taking it all in from her balcony.

The next day, we stopped off in Montserrat on the way back as it’s a very impressive spot.

Damo contemplating

Once we got to the campsite in Barcelona, we decided to take a walk through the city when it transpired that Damo was going lame from all the walking so we just took a look at the fountains at “Place de Espanya” which are amazing at night. By the time we got back to the Mog, Sarah had returned from Italy, and all was well with the world, as she was watching the footie England v Italy.

And so it was off for wine tasting, badly needed after our week in School!. Our first stop was in a little town called Haro which is entirely devoted to the wine trade, plus the night we were there it was also devoted to Soccer, unfortunately for us,( Espana V Irlanda in Euro 2012) but we joined in with our fellow Irish supporters in Poland and had to sample a few vinos due to the night that it was, couldn’t resist a pincho and vino for €1.  As we were the only two Irish supporters in the bar and possibly the whole town, they took pity on us and offered us free vino to bear the burden of our defeat!.Very novel to watch the match through Spanish and we were trying to pick up on as many new words and phrases as possible, we did’nt do too bad .  Sadly can’t say the same for the Irish team.

Merv's Mecca

Renaissance church of Santo Tomas through the narrow street of Haro

Haro has some very novel statues dotted around the town, all relating to the traditional skills that would have been found in the town over the years.

'the hat' at work

I guess this man hard at work would have been called a 'Cooper'

We visited the Museo de la Cultura del Vino which is the best single visit for anyone interested in Rioja wine with its impressive museum at the Dinastia Vivanco family bodega.  It covers every aspect of wine production that anyone would need to know, plus at the end it has its ‘tasting bar’, Merv was in his element being a Rioja lover.

how to shoot a postcard

Giant Grape Press

small grape press

The Good Stuff

Nine years ago we visited a lovely little town in this area called LaGuardia, so we went back for another visit.  Its a lovely little spot stretching along the crest of a low ridge overlooking the vineyards and what is super it is still surrounded by its medieval walls. We spent a night here, parked up by the city walls , overlooking the view below us and strolled into the town late in the evening for a few glasses of vino, here only 60 cent a glass.  It was such a lovely warm balmy evening all the locals  were sitting outside on the little cobbled streets, chatting and having fun, a very friendly and picturesque place indeed.   The next morning it was equally as beautiful with the sun beaming down on the cobbles, people drinking coffee and doing their shopping.!

Bodegas Ysios designed by Santiago Calatrava who also designed Bilbao Airport

Happy Shoppers examining their purchases

When we were in this area before we bought some lovely Reserva in a bodega called Heredad Ugarte, so back we went for a few more bottles, not sure just how long they will last in the Mog if Merv has his way.   They certainly won’t make their way back to Straffan.

We are in Bilbao for the weekend, and it’s turning out to be a great city. There is an “Aire” which is a parking area specifically for motorhomes on one of the hills outside the city, right beside a bus stop for visiting the centre. We have been in for a look about, and it is the most laid back city we’ve been in yet.

The Guggenheim Museum

The exhibits in the Museum were a bit too heavy, or possibly arty-farty for us, so we did’nt appreciate them as much as some of the folks that were oohing and aaahing. They were certainly impressive, but the building is so stunning, the exhibits were left a little in the shade. The coolest ones were outside, a spider and a puppy. They don’t sound like much, but were pretty cool.

Spider at the Guggenheim Museum.

the flowery puppy

From there we went on to look around the City. In the “old Town” section, there are a lot of colorful and interesting characters which made for a super afternoon of Street photography.

Nice bag.

Umbrellas and Icecream.

Love the hair

Mr T Will love this catalogue. I love it when a plan comes together.

Pretty clear this is a Tobacco shop….

Great outdoor cafes all over the place.

Photographers everywhere

Trev is a buddy of ours who has been instrumental in our landrover being kept in tip top shape over the last few years. He has received calls about some minor, and also some major issues to be sorted with the Defender, and always sorted us out. So when Sarah was going to be in Paris for 10 days, Trev and I arranged for him to come visit the Mog in Spain, and to have a week of fun in the sun, so to speak. Trev was looking forward to a week away from Landrovers, and away from work. Or so he thought….

What Trevor thought that Trevor would be doing.

What Merv thought Trev would be doing

Communication about the trip may not have been the best, there were very different hopes and dreams about what the week would bring. Its easier for me to explain in photos.

So, the week started off with different ideas about what was ahead. It took a bit of figuring out to get a balanced view of what we should do each day.

Who Trevor thought would be in charge. The desert fox.

How happy Merv thought Trev would be when allowed to work on the Mog.

But it was’nt too bad. Once we got a few things sorted out, all went well.

Some serious work did get completed. “WE” cleaned out the Air Brake controller which had started to leak air and stoped the leak, “WE” got the air horn finally fitted, and “WE” rotated the tyres. The Air Horn was a farewell gift that was given to us on the way to the ferry, so it never got installed before we left. The Mog now sound like a proper truck.

Trev looking more puzzled than Merv was happy with. (That's the Mogs air brakes in his hand)

What the Mog wanted from Trev's visit

So, the Mog is now running as well as could be expected. It stops when requested and roars when requested. The tyres are rotated. The spare which was new, is now being used, and each 12,000km or so, we will rotate them again.

We also installed an extra PCL fitting, which means that we have an air supply right at the passenger front wheel which makes pumping tyres much easier than before

Not bad for a week of being eaten out of house and home…

Merv thought that Trev would make a great guinnea pig for his experimental Moroccan cooking. Trev had not counted on this.

And of course, there have been great words and wishes of encouragement on facebook from some mutual friends who had a pretty good idea what the week would be like.

What everyone else knew would happen