Reaching Spain

It has been one week that we have left Rotterdam to go on a trip in a time period that none of us will ever forget. It was weird to just drive by my (Constanze) family in Germany and wave good bye. In normal times we would have taken the time to stay at my grannys, dads, moms and my brothers + my little nephews place, catching up and just leave whenever we felt like leaving. This time we were in a rush. We had taken the PCR tests and wanted to be in the South of Spain or Portugal as quickly as possible but above all crossing France within 48 hours. So we did a drive-through family tour. As we literally just quickly went by my family we managed to reach a camping in Luxembourg the same day we left Rotterdam. That would not have been such a big achievement if we would have driven to Luxembourg directly from Rotterdam (which normally takes you 4-5 hours and not 12 hours like we did this time). Rick did even manage to put sweat on both of our foreheads already on day 1 by letting the petrol come down to a level that we almost did not reach the petrol station. We underestimated the hills in Luxembourg ... Luckily we did just in time and survived day 1 unharmed.

France to Spain - just in time

On our way towards the South we decided to first try to reach the South of Spain instead of driving to Portugal as the lockdown situation got worse the last couple of days. The plan was to drive as far as possible (preferably Bordeaux) and start looking for an open campsite on time due to the curfew at 6 pm. But on our way through France we realised that we could reach Spain before 6 pm ... just before 6 pm by the way. There was a campsite in Zarautz (behind the French border by the sea) that is open and reaching that camping got our target for day 2. Crossing the French-Spanish border at 5:50 pm (!) and the bordercheck just at the last péage led to a sweat on our forehead situation on day 2.

But reaching that beautiful campsite on a hill let us forget that stress immediatly... we were blown away by the spot (literally blown away as the wind up there was so strong that I could not even open the door of the camper at the reception). That was our first moment of relieve, happiness and freedom.

Spain - not as relaxed as in the past

Spain felt good so we left the next day to drive through the mountains in order to find another beautiful camping by the sea. We did not find one. The ones we found were closed so we went for the quickest solution and drove to a caravane parking above Bilboa which was open. Even though that caravane parking was practically empty, it took the guy at the "reception" 5 minutes to decide where we could park our van. 5 minutes to decide which of the 80 empy spaces would be for us ...oh and btw the toiletbuilding closed at 5pm. Hahaha.

Note to ourselves: be better prepared and look for spots/campsites that are open in advance (and in advance I mean not like 30 minutes before but longer than that).

Said and done, the next morning we chose a campsite already in the morning and headed direction north-east to Tordesillas (a small town). Everywhere on the highways you can see the signs "Estado de alarmo" + "Controles en carraterra" which means that the country is in a state of emergency and that you can be controlled on the highway. We did have a small control but the police waved us through. That is not very relaxed driving and especially for me being an anxious person it is nerve wracking. Luckily I have Mister Relaxed sitting next to me. And hopefully I will get rid of that anxious feeling sooner than later as the travel situation is just not relaxed so I better learn quickly.

In Tordesillas the camping was empty, the toiletbuilding broken (we were allowed to use a small bungalow though to use the toilet), it was cold and the town very quiet and kind of run down. We are still having fun with the two of us which is the most important. We learned as well that you can cross innercountry borders being a tourist as long you have destination.

South of Spain

Which is why we drove the next day down to the south. South South. Since then we have been staying on a small campsite(Playa de Traya) by the beach in La Redondela next to Isla Cristina. We needed some days to relax, wash our clothes, shower and just calm down. You can find many other campers here (mostly retired French and Germans that camp here to overwinter). Our neighbours i.e. give us something small to eat every day (dessert, chocolade and meatballs).

Corona is a big problem in Isla Cristina and people advise us not to go there. So we spent the next days just beach walking and cycling and making up our minds where to go next.

Where do we want to go next?

Rick and I are having that conversation already for 3 days now (and I keep changing my mind every 10 minutes). Where do we want to go next? Staying in Spain and moving away from Portugal including the risk that we will not see Portugal in a van this year anymore. Or going to the lions den aka Portugal, find a spot and sit out the lockdown there (apparently you can drive around there more easily than here except for the weekends).

We are just hoping that Corona will be more under control asap and that the lockdowns will loosen up a bit the next month so that everyone can start living again. As far as I decided now we leave tomorrow to Portugal and hide there in the mountains ..but who knows what I decide the next 10 minutes. Bless Rick for keeping up with me.

Thanks for reading.

Big hug from Puck. Einen Kuss aus dem Bus. Een kus vanuit de bus.

Liefs, Constanze & Rick