Letters from Di and Mike - "Travels with an umbrella"
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Sent: 26 June 2008 11:23

Dear All  

The weather has now definitely turned, and we find shade where we can against the heat of the summer sun. Fortunately, we are now in a delightfully cool, green campsite, with swimming pool, in the eastern Spanish Pyrenees, near the small and beautiful Mediaeval town of Besalu. This is proving an excellent base for exploring the varied countryside, cities and villages. Recent highlights have included the beautiful city of Gerona, with its colour-washed houses, narrow streets and steps, the hill village of Santa Pau with its ancient architecture and tiny arcaded square, the Natural Park of the Costa Brava with Salvado Dali´s house looking out over a rocky bay and filled with eccentricities as if he were a Roman emperor or Arabic sultan, and the St Juan festival, enthusiastically observed by the Catalans. We saw fireworks over the mediaeval bridge at Besalu on Monday night, (thinking of Laurie Bleasdale and the Cradley bonfire as we did so), and were made most welcome by villagers at Tortilla at their festival lunch on Tuesday; Mike has been invited to play boules with them this evening.  

This area is a complete contrast to the more hectic pace of Barcelona which was our last stopping area. There we delighted in seeing Gaudi´s secular architecture and were fascinated by the work going on to complete his vision of the Sagrada Familia temple. We also visited the Picasso museum which houses much of his early work - we had not appreciated what a prodigy he was, master of so many artistic techniques.  

We hope that the Open Gardens went well for everybody concerned, that the weather was kind and that the event was well supported.  

In a few days´ time we shall have to tear ourselves away from Spain after vuirtually 3 months here, and move on to southern France, the Languedoc and Camargue. Meanwhile, our love to you all.  

Mike and Di

From Mike and Di, Sunday 8 June 2008
Greetings from the Cazorla Natural Park on the eastern edge of Andalucia, where we are staying, quite by chance, at a deluightfully sylvan campsite between the mountains and the olive-groves, where the loudest sounds are goat-bells, the nightingales and the fireworks to announce the fiesta weekend church service.
  The last fortnight has been a roller-coaster. We met up with our friends Chris and Jan who have recently moved to Vejer near Cadiz. They kindly put us up for a few days while we went over to Tangiers to join Stefan Scot and Sue Hughes for the inauguration of the new keyboard at St. Andrew´s church there - a fascinating arabic intyerior to an English church! Tangier was - well - interesting, but not for the faint-hearted. It is less cosmopolitan than it used to be, and the constant attention of beggars and hustlers can be wearing. However, we saw the sites there, and enjoyed the different "culture". Back in Andalucia, we visited Cadiz with our friends, and then set off north through the mountains to one of our favourite white villages, Grazalema.
  Our main sightseeing has been to Cordoba, where we saw the fantastic Mesquita, to Seville, and to Granada, where we spent a day at the Alhambra. We also spent a day in the Alpujarras where we met up with folk whose goat-house we rented two years ago!
  From Cazorla, we will be travelling north-eastwards to Cuenca and then towards Barcelona.
  We hope that all preparations for Cradley Open Gardens and other activities are going well.
  Love to you all  
Mike and Di

From Mike and Di, Thursday 22 May 2008.
Chapter 2 of our travels, this time from Conil de la Frontera, between Cadiz and Cape Trafalgay on the southern coast of Spain where AT LAST we have warm sunshine, blue skies, a glass of sherry by my elbow and a lovely girl by my side (don´t tell Di!!).
The last couple of weeks hav been spent sightseeing  in central Spain, and such sights -after Salamanca, we stayed in Avila the birthplace of the mystic St. Teresa and completely surrounded by Medieval walls. In fact, walled cities of different types have been the theme  for many of our visits. We treated ourselves to a night in the lovely Parador hotel in Avila, built into the walls, and with a garden which resembled a museum of art and architecture. We also witnessed a procession of Our Lady of Fatima, from church to church, with brass band and firing of guns!
From Avila we drove to Segovia, which we also used as a base for visiting Madrid using public transport. Segovia was lovely - the Roman aqueduct spans the town centre, and we enjoyed the cathedral and Alcazar (castle) famous as the model for Disneyland´s castle - the climb to the top of the tower was quiite something.
Our day in Madrid coincided with the feast of St. Isodore, the city´s patron, and the Madrilenos were dressed up in local costume, not unlike London´s Pearly King and Queen.
Perhaps our favourite city was Toledo, with its narrow streets and wonderful exhibitions of El Greco´s art. We saw examples of Roman, Christian, Arab and Jewish art and architecture, all in the space of a few hundred yards.
From Toledo we drove southwest and our next stopping place was Merida, famous for its Roman remains which were quite spectacular - two bridges still in use, two aqueducts and a Roman reservoir still in use, by which we rough-camped.
We then drove south to the coast and spent yesterday lazing on the beach for once, and cycling around the village lanes. We are now meeting up with friends who live in a Moorish village called Vejer, and on Saturday we meet up with Stefan Scot and Sue Hughes in Tangier, for the consecration of the new church electric piano. 3 days in and around the old quarter of Tangier promise to be fascinating.
All for now
Best wishes tio you all  Mike and Di

From: Di and Mike
Sent: Tue 13 May 2008 11:11
Subject: RE: Travels with an umbrella!
Hope Di´s puddings went down well at the lunch! We are under the Roman acqueduct in Segovia, sheltering...
Mike and Di

Tony Copp wrote:
Di, Mike, lovely to hear from you! See www.cradley.org.uk
Whit Sunday lunch tomorrow in the village hall, I expect you will manage to miss it!
Tony

From: Di and Mike
Sent: Sat 10 May 2008 11:47
Subject: Travels with an umbrella!

True - not a parasol, though we gather the weather in England is quite Mediterranean. Wish it were here, too. We write from a soggy Salamanca, before setting out for a day´s sightseeing around the cathedrals. Actually, the city IS lovely, with golden sandstone and superb architecture. We spent yestyerday in part of the pontifical university on a guided tour, in Spanish of course.

We've had some unexpected events - like Mike being admitted to Plymouth hospital on our departure date, but all is well - Di was able to rearrange the sailing for 4 days later. We began on the north Spanish coast at the lovely village of Santillana, then moved west - St Vincent de la Barquera was a particular favourite. We enjoyed 5 lovely days in the Picos de Europa, staying at a superb site at Potes, and then moved further west to try the pilgrim route to Santiago. Our attempt was frustrated by a combination of appalling weather and inadequate mapping, but Mike eventually managed to walk the last part of the Portuguese Camino from Padron, wehere legend has it that St. James' body was carried to his final resting place. We enjoyed several lovely days in the Rias Baixas area, and spent a night rough camping at Cape Finisterra.

From that area, we drove south into Portugal, basing ourselves on the outskirts of Opporto and taking a combination of boat and trains to explore the length of the lovely Douro valley. We then drove over some fantasdtic mpountain routes towards the Spanish border near Guarda, and spent two nights in a most remote border mountain area, with delightful walks amonst chestnut trees and fantastic wildlife, including the wake-up calls of golden orioles. Then via the lovely town of Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca, where last night three nightingales serenaded us to sleep in the rain!

So far, so good, with many thanks to all at Millbank garage for the fantastic work they have done preparing the van mechanically for such hard work. Tomorrow we hope to dry off in the Parador hotel in Avila, home of the famous mystic St Teresa, then on to Segovia, with trips to El Escorial and Madrid, before heading southwards.

We are missing you all, and often think of yopu as we travel. We will endeavour to maintain our reputation as Spàin´s best postcard customers. Love Di and Mike.

Dear Tony, we´d be most grateful if you could post this on to our many friends in the area via your internet connection, as you kindly offered - love D&M