From Portugal into Spain - Salamanca

Tuesday 16^th September

We had decided to leave Portugal and head back to Spain. Having pre-paid the toll we headed for the A25 motorway at about ten thirty. It was going to be a long drive. I started off, then K took over for the middle bit, and I finished the drive into Salamanca. The weather wasn't good. We still didn’t see anywhere to pay the toll as we left the motorway – so if I hadn’t prepaid I'm not sure what we would have done. Once we left the green mountains of Portugal we hit the arid looking plains of central Spain. We arrived at ‘Don QuixoteCamping’ at about four o'clock. The reception opened at four thirty, so we headed off to Salamanca to find some parking that the satnav  thought was there. It wasn't. We headed back to the campsite and checked in about five thirty.

The highest point that we reached leaving Portugal

We did some washing using the machine and put a line up in the awning to let it dry – the weather was not good. Site facilities are good – with hot showers and clean facilities. I made a beef pasta bake for the meal, and we listened to an audio book before retiring to bed. Intention was to go into Salamanca in the morning.

Plaza Mayor, Salamanca

Wednesday 17^th September

The sun was out so we got the bikes down and headed along the cycle track towards town by ten thirty. The track varied a lot in quality, and K fell off at one point and bruised her legs. The trip to the centre took about forty minutes. We made our way in and looked around the various sites and buildings. Lots and lots of people – many of them students of one sort or another. Lots of interesting buildings also, including an amazing central square. There were lots of food shops so I bought a pasty ‘of the region’ for lunch, and we sat in a central place, close to the library to eat. A small gang of sparrows benefited from our presence. We continued the tour, but the sky was getting darker and darker – so we headed back to the camp although it was only about two thirty.

We were soaked by the time we got back. We emptied the bikes (we had done some shopping), and hung stuff up in the awning to dry. The sun came out for a bit, so that helped. After a while I packed up the awning and everything else, so that we could get a clean start in the morning.

We had decided that we would head back to the aire in San Sebastian that we had visited before, so we had a fairly early night, ready for the off. The forecast was bad, with rain and temperatures as low as fifteen degrees!