We were heading to Spain to the olive groves of Andalusia, where Matilde and her family ran one of our favourite camp sites, La Campiña at Santaella near Córdoba.
Our journey from Genoa to Spain was roughly a thousand miles and, at our gentle pace of travel, it took us six days to reach our destination. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and sunshine but very cold at night. Our route took us over the Sierra de Cazorla to a height of 2,700 feet where the night time temperature was below freezing.
In Spain we were able to stop for lunch at one of the many hotel restaurants along our route. Some restaurants were more rustic and geared towards truckers – three huge courses of delicious home cooked food for €12 a head. Other restaurants were more up-market with excellent food, perhaps costing €20 a head. No alcohol as we needed to drive on for another hour or so after lunch.
Driving through France and Spain we saw acre upon acre of vineyards as far as the eye could see on either side of the road, stretching for hundreds and hundreds of miles. So many vines, so much wine. I wondered, who on earth drank it all? Of course we were doing our best but . . . . .
