Tag Archives: lonely planet

Day 17 – Cliffs of Disappointment

We couldn’t wait to leave the campground in Galway. It didn’t feel welcoming at all. Instead, you had to pay for a hot shower and in the morning, we realized you even had to pay to use the campers’ kitchen. That was just a little too much for us. Even so, we met a friendly fellow traveller at breakfast to swap stories with. He’s lived in New Zealand for the last 23 years and he just joined our conversation when Flo was going on about the (Path of) Exile Con in Auckland next year.

deep contemplation

We weren’t too sure what we’d get to do today. Planning wasn’t really in the cards as we didn’t even know where we’d end up sleeping yesterday. But there were plenty of options.

Number 3 had bugged us about wanting to see a castle for a while. We agreed in principle though somehow the time wasn’t right. Dunguaire Castle was on our way today…we didn’t stop. Again, it just didn’t seem right for today. We had just left Galway.

In the end, our first proper stop was my pick: Hazel Mountain Chocolate factory. Flo and I had already agreed on skipping the factory tour. Buying chocolate in a factory outlet is a totally different thing though. When we got there, a tour bus had just pulled in so we swerved a little and sat down in the café before hitting the store. The café was lovely, serving hot drinks and baked goods, full of chocolatey goodness. All of it came in lovely pottery, making the experience extra cute. As you can imagine, I was happy. The kids seemed happy, too.

In the store, the tour was about to start. What had they done all this time? Shopping? Anyhow, the tour guide invited us to come along which was amazingly friendly of her. Flo and I listened for a bit but it is hardly our first chocolate factory tour. So we browsed the wares, turning around whenever something cool turned up in the talk. Number 3 got to smell cocoa beans, Flo got a handful of single origin chocolate to try. When the kids waved at the lady busy with actually making chocolates, she came out and rewarded both of them with chocolate covered marshmallows. A visit can’t be more of a win than this.

the pass into the Buren national park

Flo picked the next point of interest for today: The Burren National park. The Burren are a stony landscape that you can walk through or in our case, drive through. Flo is a fan of limestone so he was particularly looking forward to this part. At a road side car park, we got out to check out if we could walk around for a bit. Per chance, we’d stopped right next to the beginning of seven hiking trails, two of which were marked as easy and loop walks of only about 1.5km. Number 3 picked the white one which we walked in its entirety. We hadn’t actually planned a walk here. Thus, lunch had to be improvised. We had spaghetti leftovers at the roadside with recently bought chocolate for dessert. 😊

The one good view …

County Clare’s big draw are the cliffs of Moher though. The Lonely Planet (which I’ve been reading way more than Flo) already instilled caution in me, given its description of the place. In fact, they turned out to be the cliffs of disappointment. It’s a gigantic tourist attraction, no question. You queue to pay your ticket fee, are ushered to your parking spot, walk with the crowd to the wall separating you from the cliff edge, take a couple of pictures and leave again. Yes, the cliffs are high and yes, they are steep. The experience is almost lost in the crowds. Sliabh Liag was way more atmospheric than this. The best way to see the cliffs of Moher is probably by boat. We just didn’t want to spend that kind of cash on it. It’s not cheap.

From here, our campsite slowly came to mind. We’d booked a site in Doonbeg without electricity (nothing else was available) so the car needed to be charged if we wanted to start early tomorrow morning. The charger in Lahinch was luckily available (after a 10 minute wait), which even gave the kids an excuse to put their feet in the ocean one more time.

The Strand Camping Doonbeg wasn’t used to one night travellers. At least everything was set up to feel much more long term. Still happy that we had a place to sleep, we set up before the rain, had a lovely shower and brought the kids to bed.

I kept threatening to throw them over – they still trust me 😀
It looks so much like the Transalp XL650V, I felt homesick 😀
considered going in, autentic clans castle – too early to stop though
better stop here – chocolatly goodness
deep contemplation
Number 3 learning how its done
milk chocolate or dark?
this is how its done
the pass into the Buren national park
good fun going 80 km/h – ralley feeling
kid colour-matched to track markers 😉
“walk alone!” – ok, go for it, litttle goat
inquisitive mind at work – “mama, mama – a big root!”
over stick and rock
of cause we climed up the one rock …
An otherworldly landscape with the exposed limestone
the kids called out “tunnel”
Here and there, a tuft of grass survives the lime
Goodbye Buren National Park
that crow has seen better days …
The tallest section
The one good view …
Number 3 went wildlife spotting again
Sweet treats to keep ’em going
Do you see a pattern here?
display broken, brightness always on max 😀

Day 17 – Goth Burger

We got greeted by a delightfully sunny morning on our little ställplats out in the middle of nowhere. It was not as cold as the last two nights close to the lake and a bit further north, so breakfast was a pleasant and rather quick affair. Today was marked fully as a city day, but we had a little bit to go before we could get to that.

Breakfast at the ställplats

About 100km and an extremely confusing ride through a cratered landscape of urban re-development later, we found ourselves at the desired parking garage as close to the old town as we needed. We had to be a bit cheeky to grab one of the last four available chargers (out of 50+, mind you!) but around 10:30am we were ready to explore.

After a quick glance at the Lonely Planet map, we decided to start at the northernmost point for the day and get ourselves a bit of an overview from there. Quite literally, actually – since the first stop was the harbor high-rise called “the lipstick”. It had a dedicated viewing platform accessible to the public. 13 € and an elevator ride later, we were treated to a spectacular 360° view of Gothenburg. We could see the moored sailing vessel Number 3 took a liking to on our way here, the massive redevelopment happening in the east that almost tripped our google maps navigation and much more.

New bridge opening

Of particular interest to Number 3 were all the construction sites with interesting machinery in operation all around. That was, until a ship approached to pass the new bridge and it lifted the whole central bit up, tram tracks and all. The old bridge, in the process of being torn down, was locked in open position anyways. Perfect timing – even Nina dared to approach the windows for a view. Otherwise, she preferred the seats closer to the core 😀

Next up was lunch. I had picked a vegetarian place a bit further south and we made the track across town. What I should have done is some COVID due diligence and check if the place actually made it through 2020 (which it had not) – nothing outdates a guidebook (2019 edition!) faster than a global pandemic, eh? With that disappointment fresh and already well into lunch time, we had to revert to emergency mode and settle for “anything, hopefully fast”. The vegetarian buffet lunch we ended up with was alright, but nothing to write home about.

He might take after me in that regard

After lunch, some more exploration on foot, via the oldest stone building in the old town (Kronhuset, 1654). The slightly younger service buildings around it have been converted into artisan workshops and cafés. And so, our quest to visit a chocolate manufactory on every continent continued with some gifts and snacks for the way on our way out.

We decided on a change of pace and for two more stops for the day. Four, if you choose to see it from Number 3’s perspective: City museum for some brain food, tram ride, Haga for city vibes and coffee time, tram ride and then home.

Haga, an “area of interest” according to the guide book

The museum was pretty cool and held the kids’ attention for a good hour and a half, topped off with an amazing playroom they had basically to themselves for a while. The tram ride would most likely be the real highlight of the day, in Number 3’s opinion.

Haga was a very good way to round out the day. A different, more neighborhood-y vibe than the old town it reminded us of Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt. We shared a humongous kanelbullar and enjoyed the atmosphere. In terms of excitement factor for our eldest, all this paled in comparison though to being allowed to pull the string (very old school) to signal the tram driver for our stop.

So off we went, after a good, enjoyable day to our beachside campground just out of town. I think it was a good way to say goodbye to Sweden. Tomorrow, the road …

  • Breakfast at the ställplats
  • Looks a bit like we left her there, munching on her breakfast banana
  • Number 3 entertained himself with sharpening sticks on a rock
  • Bye West coast!
  • A bridge across an inlet before we go to Göteborg
  • Our first impression of Göteborg. We then decided to go up on the highrise “the lip stick” and loom at the city from above
  • So many flags! It’s a hotel now
  • Looking at the new part of town
  • The harbour
  • And the gigantic construction site that is Göteborg
  • Putting on a brave face in the vicinity of heights
  • New bridge opening
  • A glass facade with tiny windows which Flo promptly opened to take pictures O.O
  • Demolition of the old bridge, Numer 3 couldn’t take his eyes off the bits falling down even if it was waaaaaay too loud for him
  • Canal at the Brunnenplats
  • He might take after me in that regard
  • Little snack immediately improved my mood
  • That’s her “I want a piece of your chocolate” look
  • Right next to the chocolate facory were old suitcases filled with things…quite artsy
  • Number 3 found more things to listen to…in Swedish
  • A model train! from the 19th century
  • Gazing out the window
  • Miniature pottery workshop
  • Toy tram in the kids’ section of the museum
  • Sun slide
  • Climbing up the highrise
  • Hollywood swing
  • The Agent was quite unhappy for a good portion of the day. Here, waiting for mama to come back from the loo
  • Our tram to Haga leaving
  • Haga, an “area of interest” according to the guide book
  • The biggest kanelbullar up to this date. The Agent can’t believe how big it is
  • All the kids played with this art installation
  • Tram ride. Old skool cord to signal that you want to stop in the background
  • Baby driver
  • Tent is set up. Looks like rain
  • A rainbow appeared!
  • Looking out the window to admire the double rainbow
  • Evening light at the campground in Göteborg
  • Flo and I managed to go on a short evening walk to the shore
  • The end of the holiday. From here on out, we drive home

Day 18 – La Serenissima or Venice! Finally!

Okay, just as a warning, there will probably be a lot of squeeing. It is my first time in Venice. And Venice is one of these places that you know something about without ever having been there. It’s the city in the water. Also, being in Venice during carnival and going all out on a costume is on my bucket list.

first views of the outlying islands

The day started on our lovely campground. Flo organized two-day passes for the public transport in and around Venice which will make getting around so much easier. We packed up and left. Of course, I forgot the “Italian road trip” Lonely planet, which is the only guide book we brought, on the campground while the Venice guide book is still at home. -.- Oh well. At least we had the app.

Off we went. The bus left super close to the campground. Taking the land bridge to Venice, we already saw the sea and then buildings started to appear on the horizon. Venice!

The bus stop is where everybody got off for their own personal Venice experience. We opted to use the “face first” approach for the city and take a vaporetto to San Marco. Vaporettos are water busses which take you around Venice. Line 1 goes along the Canale Grande and stops at every lamp post. However, since we just wanted to get to our starting point, we used line 2, which took us to San Marco quicker but on a less picturesque way along the outskirts.  

A big task she had picked for herself there …

So, our day started on a boat. We were lucky enough to get seats outside, put our noses in the wind and eventually have a good view on a couple of amazing buildings, including the doge’s palace. Piazza San Marco was our first destination. It was already really hot in the sun and it was only like 10.15am. Then again, it’s just beautiful. You walk around and everything around you is just so lovely to look at. We are really fortunate to travel now as Piazza San Marco was nowhere near the level of crowds it usually draws. As our half-Italian friend put it when he saw a picture “Wow, it’s empty!”. J

So this was our start. Looking at the doge’s palace, San Marco basilica, the tower and the buildings surrounding Piazza San Marco…we just wanted to stay here for a bit. This is why we sat down in Cafe Florian, which has been around for the last 300 years, and the prime spot to look at the buildings and take it all in. It also has the most expensive coffee Flo (10.50 € a cup) had ever had. No matter, we were here to enjoy ourselves. We had coffee and tea and some macaroons and life was good. J

Coffee time moved straight into lunch time. Number 3 got hungry so we started walking around a little on our way to a little lunch place. As soon as you turn away from Piazza San Marco, the city quiets down. Sometimes, we were the only people in an alleyway. Just taking the city in through walking is something we really enjoy. The Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal was busier again and in the sunshine and thus too hot to linger.

just some impressions

Further we went, into the little alleys with tiny bridges over canals, here a turn, there a tunnel…it’s a maze and I don’t know how people get around without google. You can tell who’s local just by how confidently people turn corners into what looks like a house entrance but turns out to be a tunnel underneath a house and your only way to get to where you’re going.

We had lunch at a tiny whole-in-the-wall type place which made amazing pizzas. So far on our trip, it was pasta all the way. It was really nice to change to the other staple Italian food for once. It was good pizza. Even Number 3 enjoyed it and he’s not the biggest fan of pizza. As a side note: Number 3 was utterly charmed by the city. It had everything he wanted: Boat busses, water and food; including sweet treats. After lunch, we went on another boat ride, this time straight through the city until we got to the railway station. We didn’t mean to stop here but Number 3 needed to go to the toilet and in a classic move, we went into the wrong entrance first and had a little tour of all of the railway station in our search. Number 3 was delighted by the trains on display – he thought this to be a highlight of the day.

I had looked up a pastry shop where I wanted to have afternoon coffee really close to the railway station. Also, the railway station has a vaporetto stop which is just *so* convenient. From there, it was just a couple of minutes to Dal Mas. Oh, they had great stuff! Still being rather full, we all could just get one thing but they were all delicious.

worth the detour to another district

Our first day in Venice was a Sunday which meant that churches were closed for tourists as regular mess was held. Luckily, San Marco Basilica opened up at 2pm for tourists. We decided to get out of the sun and into a church. Another boat ride. By now we were professionals at riding a water bus.

The line to get into the basilica looked long, but it took 10 minutes tops to get in. We had our temperature checked, used disinfectant hand gel, got an audio guide for Flo and looked around inside. There is much to look at from the mosaics in the entry hallway to the colourful Venetian marble floors to the Pala d’Oro, for which we paid another 5 € to see. Given that the admission into the church is only 3 € per person, we could easily justify that extra expense. J

After this, we did a good bye tour of Piazza San Marco. Both kids were really, really tired and it was getting close to dinner time. So we took another boat, went back to Piazza Roma and took the bus back to the campground.

Such a great day. Number 3, especially, is the best city explorer I know. He walked so much today!

  • A “bus stop”, venice style. The boat on the yellow pier is one of the water busses
  • ‘t was that day
  • first views of the outlying islands
  • lets get the camera warmed up – 300+ shot at the end of the day
  • First full view of the big ticket items – the doges palace on the right.
  • The houses on the outer island are newer and the channels a bit wider
  • the palace and tower
  • Go straight to jail, do not earn 500 ducats
  • The most impressive thing is maybe that it is not visible croocked
  • A little taste of what would come inside – very Byzantine
  • It’a me, Florian!
  • Delicious treats, genuine silver tray …
  • polished silverware, black tie waiters and …
  • … and a live quartet
  • A big task she had picked for herself there …
  • Ready to face the day
  • and off we go, into the labyrinth of venice
  • there were many calm and quiet moments like this while exploring on foot
  • this is a street, obviously, right?
  • what are you looking at?
  • Pizza!
  • the column in the middle had been partly shaved down in the back at some point 😀
  • top notch pizza
  • Not much point sharing a photo from earlier when we wer on it 🙂
  • Visitors come from all over …
  • just some impressions
  • … while we were on the canale grande
  • Which one has the most chocolate was his question …
  • we gave her a taste of the treats … seems like she liked it …
  • chocolate and pistatio treat
  • worth the detour to another district
  • TRAINS! Would you not like to experence such pure joy once in a while?
  • hard to miss, this is round 3
  • only gondola – not a very common traffic sign, I’d expect
  • the central artery of Venice – pretty calm today
  • whoa, what a day, right?!
  • recharging on the boat
  • busride doubling as sightseeing
  • trying to keep the spirits up
  • He said: look, a turtle – I was ready to dismiss him, when we saw the crab!
  • The icon of Venice, back at the Piazza San Marco
  • As we had been to Istanbul before, we recognised the Byzantine influences in the mosaics
  • can you spot a theme?
  • All the marbles, all the patterns!
  • “We sacked Constantinople, what should we do with all of this?” “Hey, Giovanni, what can you do with 500 precious stones and 20 pounds of gold?”
  • the carvings were cool, too.
  • looks almost three dimensional? Emperor Redbeared kneeled before the pope here.
  • the sun has come around, so now the other directions
  • ok, thats it … home?
  • this was last night, but still so cute – the Agent insisted on sharing in storytime

Day 46 – Bilbao architecture

We had most of today to explore Bilbao. However, it was a two hour drive to our next camp ground in the Rioja valley. So we’d aim for a departure around 4pm. That’s fine, Number 3 can’t explore forever so it’s around the time we’d head to a camp ground anyway.

Nevertheless, we tried to be early. It didn’t really happen but it was made worse by the camp site. We still had to pay for the night but reception was closed and you had to press a button to talk to them and then they actually had to come over….it just took time.

But even the architecture is quite sculptural

Finally, we were in Bilbao again. We picked the same parking garage as yesterday as it was right in town. The Lonely Planet suggests an “Architecture and river views walking tour” through the newer part of Bilbao and we followed their suggestion. It started pretty much right where we’d parked. Very convenient.

We passed some of the old houses including the town hall and then went over the Puente Zubizuri. It’s a modern bridge, formed a bit like a wave. Now, on the other side of the river, it was but a brief stroll to the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry. It’s funny how one building (okay, Flo stated that it is more a sculpture itself) can inspire so many artists to leave a sculpture or installation of their own in the vicinity. Yesterday we were lucky enough to see Fujiko Nakaya’s mist installation in action. Today we looked at all the other art around the Guggenheim, most notably Louise Bourgeois’ Maman and Jeff Koon’s Puppy.

Leaving the Guggenheim museum behind, we went through Parque de Dona Casilda de Iturrizar and past the museum of Fine Arts. It was getting towards our lunch time now but our selected restaurant opened at 1.30pm. That was still a while away so we bought some sweet treats to get through the wait.

Continuing through the Plaza de Frederico Moyua, we came to the inner city again.

we were both reminded of south east asia in this bit

We were too hungry though. Instead, we decided to split lunch into two again and have some pintxos now and then some pintxos later. Our first lunch place was Ledesma No 5. Again, no vegetarian pintxos were available but the lovely waiter only took a minute to come up with a vegetarian tapa topped with cheese that was especially prepared for me in the kitchen. 🙂

Our second lunch spot was the vegan restaurant La Camilla. Already half full, we decided to share a plate of sushi and I took an extra chickpea salad while Flo had a tempeh sandwich. Hm. We both had to wonder afterwards what it is with vegan restaurants to let us down so many times. Even vegan food in vegetarian places is usually better tasting that orthodox vegan stuff. Ah well …

It was 3 o’clock by now and we’re pretty down and tired. With the prospect of another 2 hours in the car, we left Bilbao and waved goodbye. Definitely well worth a city holiday if anyone is looking for recommendations. One more stop in a hypermarket to stock up groceries and we were on the drive to Rioja. Everyone except Flo fell asleep. Poor Flo. Always having to drive.

He managed to get us safe and sound to Haro, the capital of the Rioja region where we will stay for two nights. Tomorrow, it’s wine tasting time!

  • Back to where we started yesterday
  • but in a different direction this time
  • loads of sculptures along the way
  • But even the architecture is quite sculptural
  • What is sculpture, what defines space?
  • oh yes, and Koons …
  • we did not go in … no patience for it today
  • that guy again
  • this time, local artists
  • some has questional artistic value
  • nature always helps
  • we were both reminded of south east asia in this bit
  • one of the main axis of the newtown
  • lots of brick, or brick coloured buildings. And steel

Day 18 – A different scenery

The next morning didn’t start much better. We were unsure about where to go and what to do next. This part of Portugal is all about the beaches. Here, between Tavira, Olhão and Faro, there is a National Park just off the coast, full of sandbanks. Taking a boat to see parts of it is a thing according to the guide book. So I thought that’s a plan.

After breakfast, we headed towards the reception area to get information about tours through the park. The lady gave us one that looked promising, having an eco tour in it. She couldn’t give us any more information though or sell us tickets so we packed up (not really sorry to leave this camp ground) and drove to the marina of Olhão to make a final decision.

Daily ritual …

While I still entertained the thought of a boat ride, Flo was having serious doubt. None of the boats had any roofs or cloths to create a bit of shade. Going on a 1 ½ hour tour with Number 3 in full sunshine seemed like a bad idea. And a tour would already be the exotic thing to do: Most people opted for a ferry to the “desert island” sandbank to tan for up to 5 hours and then take the ferry back. That seemed even less of a thing that we would enjoy, least of all Number 3.

When we saw all those people at the docks, prepared to worship the sun for one day, even I changed my mind. Maybe we’re just not beach people. Or maybe we got snobby through all our travels…I just couldn’t see the appeal of sand with no shade anymore. Maybe the rugged west coast will be more our thing.

Thus, we changed course and drove inland, exchanging the ocean for the hills. Flo immediately felt better. And Number 3 was asleep in the car again. 🙂 So our first stop was to get more groceries, because food makes you feel better as well.

We stopped briefly in Salir as the Lonely Planet said, it is a lovely little village but we were still not feeling it. The tourist info was closed and none of the cafes looked too inviting. We had a quick ice cream and coffee intake and then continued.

Only about 8km further, the loop walk of Rocha da Pena started. We arrived, had a quick sandwich lunch with our groceries and prepared for the walk. The estimated time to complete the loop is between 2.5 and 3 hours. It was already past midday when we started and the sun burned down quite mercilessly. Right at the start, two walkers came back down so we asked them about shade on the path and were told, it practically didn’t exist. It would wind up to the cliffs, become a walk along the cliff edge and then get back down. Nothing big, about 160 meters in height but all in sunshine.

Only 150m up, but steep and hot

Now I had doubts. So Flo and I settled on going up for 30min and then coming back down again. And this is what we did. It was a scorcher. Even for me and I wasn’t carrying Number 3 on my back. The views were great, wild sage and thyme bloomed and made it smell delicious everywhere but there just was neither shade nor wind. All of what we saw would probably turn brown in summer, given the heat we experienced. But…we both enjoyed the walk. Finally, we were back on track with how we felt about Portugal and what we are doing.

Our next, and last stop before the camp ground for today was Alte. Agua Mel was a cosy little café with a small balcony-like outside seating area. All of the cakes and treats looked delicious. So we had another round of Portugese Gao, black tea and treats. Baby seemed quite hungry as he was really tugging into the sweets.

Alte itself was a picturesque little village. We wandered through a couple of roads on our way to the “Fontes”, walled in springs next to a small stream. The village used to come here for the washing, nowadays it’s a picnic area where you can look at the stream and count the fish. 😉

Feeling amazing, we headed towards our camp ground. When the road turned into a gravel road two kilometres before we arrived, we got excited. These camp ground out in the sticks are usually the best. As was correct again in this case. The camp ground was small, tucked away and just overall lovely.

There was a bit of a frenzy at the end. First to get back to the petrol station nearby to buy ice for our cooler and then to set everything up in time for another Skype date with our German friends. But all was well. It was warm, sunny and just the kind of quiet place we love. So a little rush does nothing to phase us on this night.

  • Daily ritual …
  • … for the faint of melanin
  • Just a little help … tall stairs …
  • Only 150m up, but steep and hot
  • For our kiwi readers: This is were gorse belongs
  • Daddy got out the big boots fror this
  • cool view, worth the hot hike in our books
  • Final bit up under the cliff
  • this would be less chill with a white landship
  • cracker still in hand, was a good walk
  • walking makes hungry
  • portugese coustardy treats – worth it
  • new skill: climb steps up to the bellybutton
  • walk through Alte
  • brave fountain defender
  • Checking out Fonte de Alte
  • perfect day to walk the hat
  • Number 3 mesmerised by all the …
  • … fishies!!!
  • Blue George felt like a rally car 🙂
  • making sure dad goes past the post
  • base set up in record time
  • combine x with dirt = entertainment
  • georgeous spot
  • first sunset picture of the trip

Day 17 – Hasta luego España, bom dia Portugal

It was quite the hard decision to leave this place today. In the end, the lure of our “destination” and the distinct lack of connectivity made the call for us. We took our time. Enough to share breakfast drinks with Lu and Eike, whom we had a great wine filled chat with last night.

We took aim for the very first thing on the Portuguese side recommended in our guidebook: The seaside town of Tavira. The scale has to change now, almost by an order of magnitude. If we do travel by the 100 kilometers, we will rush past most there is to see. Portugal is, ultimately, a small country.

We knew in advance the Algarve coast will be touristy. After the huge pre-season crowds in Andalucia, we did not mind much. Tavira was touristy, but right now still retained this elusive air of authenticity. There are still locals mingling about, out on the streets and the whole affair, though freshly painted and dressed up for the guests, stayed well this side of the Rüdesheim point. We felt good sampling our first custard-hbased bit of pastry and Portuguese coffee. Just enough of a stop gap to bridge the one hour time difference and help us to hold out to lunch.

Another thing was inconveniencing us more as we strolled along the sides of the river: The Lonely Planet for Portugal is from early 2017 vs the 2019 edition Spain guide we carry. In hot spots like this, the “cool places” change at quite the pace, it seems. None of the three food recommendation we steered for were even still in business. After about half an hour of wandering and not wanting to risk it with one of the riverside touts, we headed back for the Pastelaria Tavirense. There we loaded up on savoury pastries and headed off to find a picnic spot on our way to the campground.

Right away, the short distances tripped us up. We skipped the first beach sign only to realise that the next stop will already be the designated campground. Then, Baby dutifully fell asleep in the car, unaware that his nap would have to be cut woefully short. We checked in and had lunch with a sleepy and cranky Linus on our towel sized emplacement.

The mood started to turn. Why did we leave the amazing camp yesterday instead of enjoying it for a while? What are we doing on this 250 emplacement supercamp hell filled with permanent campers? At least the emplacements around us were unoccupied – oh never mind. Noisy ones, with beer, music and impolite kids walking right through our camp to get to the bathrooms. A fence and a rail line separate us from the beach, almost 20 minutes to walk. This is not at all what we were looking for. Shade and the cheapest price of our trip was all that this camp had going for it.

To add to all of this, sleep deprived Number 3 went into a bit of a downward spiral as well. Mozzie bites, two molars breaking through and lack of sleep made him insufferable. He would not sleep, would not eat. We tried to make plans but could all but manage to hold on from resignation.

Dinner was a quick affair, chomping through the worst spaghetti carbonara I ever served. Something needs to change tomorrow.    

  • Bridge into Portugal
  • Our “destination”
  • Little roads
  • A bit of riverfront music
  • Shoulder ride for Number 3
  • River in Tavira
  • Going all in with the touristy things
  • Tavira
  • Sleepy but still having fun
  • Too tired to walk
  • Campsite hell
  • Campground pool
  • New fashion…
  • …for Number 3

Day 299 – Moving on (and on …)

Hotels in towns have become a luxury for us by now, so after two nights in Trabzon with patchy weather, it was nonetheless time to move on. We used all the time to sleep in and get ourselves organized though. This included changing the brake pads around, taking the dodgy pair I got gifted way back in Pattaya, Thailand and swapping it for the most worn one. The Transalp uses CBS, which means that the foot brake also operates one of the two front calipers, which in turn wears faster.

Finally a shot of the main building without a school class

Finally a shot of the main building without a school class

On our way out, we did a brief stop at Trabzon’s version of the Aya Sofia. This one is a 10th century church, build on the same site as a roman temple that got converted into a mosque, ammunition depot, museum and now mosque again over the last 10 centuries. We mostly learned how to squeeze through endless high school classes armed with selfie sticks.

Then, we were back on the coastal highway. Riding is really smooth, even through the regular little showers coming from the grey sky. Soon enough it was time for lunch. We bought some supplies and found a really nice picnic spot right at the sea. We sat down, enjoyed our lunch and amused ourselves with the innocent romancing of high-school-aged teenagers.

No break without a hot cuppa :)

No break without a hot cuppa 🙂

We had no real goal until Cappadocia, 660 km down the road. So soon enough, we were faced with a decision: Take the shortest route now, or follow the fast coastal highway for another 100 km, adding 50 km to the trip. We made the call as the rain started back up and turned inland. The particular pass we chose turned out to be a bit annoying, because it was in the process of being upgraded to two lanes per direction. To make matters worse, it really started hammering down about half way in.

Flo decided to wear plastic bags over his shoes to stop the water from leaking in

Flo decided to wear plastic bags over his shoes to stop the water from leaking in

Thoroughly soaked (the Compañeros held true, but summer gloves and old boots not so much), we made it to the high point of the pass at 2200m. We had passed through the rain by then and at least up here, the sun was out. Not too much consolation, though, as it was pretty cold.

We still stopped for a bit right after the pass to have a chat with two huffing and puffing pushbikers on a snack break. Tristan and Francesco from Switzerland are on their own epic journey from Europe to central Asia (and beyond for one of them). We swapped some anecdotes, snack food and tips for our respective roads ahead before going our way to secure a camp spot. In parting, we heard they will be looking for a guidebook for Iran, so we quickly dug up our Lonely Planet and donated it to their cause. Definitively a much better use than collecting dust in our future home. Godspeed guys!

Lovely guys (just) starting on their journey: Tristan and Francesco

Lovely guys (just) starting on their journey: Tristan and Francesco

As we got lower, it got warmer again, but so did the clouds return. In the first town after the pass, we stocked up on rations again and soon after were in full camp spot hunting mode. The rain made it tempting to look at the hotels, but the idea of spending another $50 did not appeal to me at all. We got lucky anyway – off the main road, then a side road and into a dirt track we found the perfect little ditch in the pastures that could not be seen even from the little track.

We set up our tent in the light drizzle and soon gobbled up our dinner. Risini noodles and instant sauce made for a surprisingly good and hearty meal and a nice change from bread and cheese. Time to keel over, exhausted. 440 km to go till Göreme …