Birthday girl on holidays, relief crew has arrived.

Hola!

The chief navigation officer is away off on her holidays, again, on a trip to Paris to watch some tennis. This meant she missed having her birthday at her post in the Moglander, but that does not stop the celebrations!  First off we had to bake a birthday cake.

Baking birthday cakes is hard work

Birthday cake ready

All set, waiting for birthday girl to blow out the candles.

Decided not to wait...... Anyone for a piece

While Sarah was away, the relief crew arrived for a holiday. We decided to take a look around the Pyrenees, and it has not disappointed. Unfortunately we have had a storm go through and the clouds are so low we’ve not seen too much. none the less, we did get out and about.

Looking into France from the Spanish border.

Trev doing impressions

Trev does Kilroy.

We also got to see the nicest Ducati ever.

Potted plants for the handlebars are the latest thing in Spain.


However all the fun and games and sightseeing is over, we have a few “jobs” that the truck needs and Trev kindly offered to help. What a guy.

Oh, and in case your wondering what happened to the cake…

Too much cake means sleepy time.

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Hola Nustro Amigos y Familia de Moglanders.

Somos Merv y Sarah. Estamos en Aes aprendemos Espanol con Fernando. Fernando es professor de Espanol. Vive con Merche y tienen dos hijas gemelas y se llaman Raquel y Victoria.

Familia de Fernando

Son muy grapas y graciosas. Fernando vive en el campo. Aes es bastante pequeno, y es bonito y antiguo. Esta al sur de Santander, no muy lejos de la costa. Aes es muy bueno para caminar. Hay una tienda, un bar y dos iglesias. La casa de Fernando es parece pequena pero dentro es grande comez la casa de Doctor Who.

 

Cerca de Aes hay un pueblo que se llama ontaneda y es famoso a por helado de queso. Fernando dice que es el mejor helado del mundo.

helados ontaneda photo

Salou! Helado de Quese.

Fernando, si, la Helado de queso es muy bueno!

helados ontaneda

Helados Lopez

Es bonito y hay mucho flor.

Esta noche somos en Cabárceno Nature Park. Buenos Noches amigos, hasta la mañana.

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Where is Moglander 24 May 2012

We have not updated our location for a while, at least not in the good old fashioned way with a map, so here we are:

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The white misty looking bit just below and to the right of us are the Picos, and are white as they are high enough to be snow covered for a lot of the year. You can find all sorts of folks up there, some looking for snow:

Skiiers on their way home, after a long walk in ski boots.

Of course, there are also cyclists:

He didn't get to the top in the lift like we did....

and no trip up a mountain would be complete without some lunatics:

on top of the world

But enough about the mountains! This little town makes a great stop for anyone going through. It’s got some nice touristy pubs on main street selling the local Cider. We tried that, did’nt like it and went to find a beer in a “local” place. We found it. It was down by the river and sold beer through a window. Perfect – Just like “the blue light” at home.

4 locals getting their beer through a window

We figured this would be great, so got 2 beers. However, there was one small issue.

Either these are the biggest napkins I have ever seen, or....

Small beers. it’s no wonder all these Spanish folks are so fit, they must be going up and down to the bar 4 or 5 times more often than anyone in Ireland!

no wonder they look fit, running up and down to the bar every few minutes.

and now the culture bit. There is a superb old bridge in the town. It seems it’s a bit like Trigger in “only fools and horses” who declared that in his 20+ years as a street sweeper he still had the same brush. It’s had a dozen or so new heads, and a couple of new handles, but he still loved that brush. The Bridge has been rebuilt a good few times, but it’s still the old bridge…

a good high bridge, and then go hanging a cross from it. Ah well.

There are a lot of these types of buildings on stone or timber stilts. Built to keep the contents dry.

no damp getting into this house

They have a super new bridge, which I really liked the look of.

I just loved the light on this bridge.

The mog contemplating the world, while overlooking the village of Potes.

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A trip into the mountains – Picos de Europa

We are on our way through the mountains in Picos de Europa, and it’s spectacular! And it seems we’re not the only people to think so. We spotted this Dutch truck today, but didn’t get to meet the owners.

Nice Mercedes 1113 camper.

and you would be right to think that’s not so strange, seeing another truck on the road. well, the thing is we were well off the beaten path when we saw it, and the clouds were coming down, and there were bears around (or so we were told…)

Picos de Europa

Bear looks on the campers like I look on cans of Tuna. Full of nice things to eat.

And it got stranger. Sarah convinced me to go for a walk! And here is proof of that.

Picos de Europa

yes, I do walk sometimes, and yes, that is the mog in the distance.

 

Farm vehicles in Picos de Europa

The locals have really neat machines they use for agriculture, a cross between a quad, dumper, tractor and trailer.

the trailer is used as a cab…

tractor from the side

The scenery is stunning!

N621 in the mountains, heading towards Potes from Riano. Sarah took this one while on the move.

This was the view at lunchtime:

lunch time views were never like this

just to prove we were there..

On the road, we explored a few villages, and saw some really nice old doors, with the timber full of cracks and weathering.

Secure? I think not.

bw closeup

And the villages are really nice.

Sarah exploring a village

How long did it take you to read this, and maybe click on a few of the photos to see a “proper” version of them? 30 seconds? a minute perhaps? That’s about how long it took the clouds to descend on the Mog and the Mercedes. Scary thought!

cloudy

This guide to the Picos de Europa could be useful if you plan to go there.

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Out of Madrid – into the countryside

Well, we’re out of Madrid. It is a great city, and we both liked it a lot. The Metro works great, the food is super and the graffiti brightens up all the newer buildings, the old ones need no such help.

Huge mural by a city square where we had dinner. I love how the ladies chat away beside it.

 

 

 
Once we left Madrid, we started to head north. We went via Segovia as Sarah had not seen it, and I think it’s one of the best sights in Spain. So I got to go there again.

I'm not sure what he asked her, but I'm pretty sure of the answer.

wet and cold people reflecting on wearing shorts and bikinis. (cheers for the idea Podge)

The Lady in blue was dressed in a local costume, and I think was talking her way into photos with the tourists.

We moved on north, and did a bit of market shopping for veggies on the way in a little village called Valderas, near Leon.

Sarah getting a few spuds. All is back to normal.

We grabbed a coffee in “La Casita”, and it was great as they give out free buns with each coffee, so I had 2 and Sarah had none 🙂 For a small country village, this was a real treat.

This is Carlos, who is rightly proud of the best coffee shop we have been in.

We spotted this explorer on our way to see an old ruins, and we were impressed by the number of countries they had been to, and by the shape of the bike on the roof. We waited about for an hour to see who might surface, but saw no one. Their shoes we on the front seat, so they had not gone too far.

We think they had slept there, and we presume that they is singular as it's hard to picture a crowd in that.

The little lane to the ruins (which was closed that day and we never saw…) was spectacular.

loads of poppies at the side of the lane

That’s the last shot of the Mog at a castle as it’s getting tired of parking near Cathedrals, Castles and Monasteries. And to be honest, we’re getting tired of them too, and are looking forward to our Spanish classes which are now booked and sorted!. The number of castles in Spain is incredible, and there is something to see in each town, but I’m afraid we have been overloaded and need to learn to Habla en Espanol!

Mog posing outside the castle in Valencia de Don Juan

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Spain – Around Madrid

Well, we have been quiet on-line over the last week or so, but we’ve also been pretty busy. The mog needed a few things sorted, and I had to get stuck into that. No photos, but basically we got a leak in both an air line, and in the engine cooling system. All sorted now, so we’re back on track. Still have to sort out a battery issue, but no big deal.

We did however get to take a look at a few spots. Much of Spain has really old stuff, which I thought would be no big deal as we’ve loads of old things in Ireland. I was not really ready for some of the suff we got to see. Some of it was things the Romans built when they were here!

From here in Madrid, we head north. We are trying to get booked into a Spanish speaking class  in Santander, or somewhere similar. In the large cities, most folks we interact with speak English, so we’re not progressing like we had hoped. Time for some classes!

 

The Segovia aqueduct

The carousel at the at night

Watching for the shopper to return in Toledo

The amount of tourists in Toledo is incredible. Sticking out a mile by checking maps.

Folks walking the narrow streets in Segovia

sarah in Toledo

Despite the sunshine, it can be cool in the early mornings

unimog based photo safari truck, spotted outside of Madrid. For sale.

This little kid was having a ball running around in a Cathedral. I just loved the bright color she brought to such a serious somber place.

I had a couple of days to drive around some of Spain's smaller roads. They get pretty small!

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