It was a perfect autumn evening in early September when we took Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Santander.
The ferry was new boat and was powered by gas and, as we were late in booking, we could only get an inside cabin. However, we suffered no feelings of claustrophobia because there was a clever back-lit picture on the wall depicting a beautiful sunlit balcony.
The journey lasted two nights and a day and we enjoyed every minute. When the ferry docked in Spain we were allowed to go directly from our cabins to the vehicle decks without having to wait in a public area.
Our passports were checked in Portsmouth but there were no other security checks. On arrival in Spain we were waved through Customs and were soon on our way to join our family at a villa in the Algarve. En route we stopped overnight in Burgos, Tordesillas and Cáceres before reaching Portugal where we stayed two nights at Castro Verde before arriving at the villa.
