Back to the drive... It took us into the mountains, I think the Pyreenes, which were beautiful and green. It was a lovely day which made it even more spectular. On the other side of Granada we passed a huge dam that went on forever. It had the bluest water and was surrounded by the most beautiful forrests. We really enjoyed the scenery on our last drive but we are ao glad to be giving the van back...
Pro's of a Campervan:
- visiting lots of different places, not just capital cities
- you can take your time (sort of)
- you can cook
- you can sing loudly
- you don't have to keep unpacking
- you can choose your own adventure...
Con's of a Campervan:
- the bed sucks
- you spend a lot of money on tolls and fuel
- campgrounds are priced based on distance from the nearest major city, so if you wanted to pay 20 Euro a night, you were in the middle of nowhere
- navigation is super hard unless you have internet
- the terrible 'artwork' on the sides of the van, I'm over people staring at us
- trying to put pants on after having a shower and the floor is wet (not the campervans fault).
- feeling like you're camping but then remembering you actually have to look nice in capital cities (again not the vans fault).
Would we do it again... Probably not because we've seen what we need to see. It's given us an awesome insight into where we would like to come back to and where we won't go again (Naples haha).
Getting to spend two nights in one place has been bliss and the restaurant here is unbelievable. Alex's had the most delicious ribs and I had chilli con carne, so nice not to cook and for it not to cost the world. The second night we had a full english roast.
Oh and I forgot our awesome news... We got short term summer jobs in the French Alps! The people hiring us in the Winter asked if we'd like 6 weeks work now, cleaning up and maintaining the chalets. We get to live in one of the chalets (which has a hot tub, Win!) and get paid €300 a week, not a lot, but who cares we're in France (cheese cheese wine cheese). We are currently making plans to head back the way we came, spending 3 nights in Madrid, a week in Barcelona and then back into France (Ken Hunter Travel is currently working that out for us, the bloody legend!) They don't need us till the 25th July so we've got some time to travel before then. We won't be back in London until September now, then mum and dad will be here... Maybe we'll just travel till the Winter season... Wouldn't that be lovely haha.
Only problem with working in Courchevel is still quite cold, so my abundance of summer clothes just isn't going to work. We went to Primark before getting on the bus and spent up big (€40 what a joke, it's so cheap) and got track pants, shorts, tights, two jumpers, 4 tshirts and 7 pairs of socks. I already had two pairs of tights and some jeans and Alex's has a jumper, a jacket, jeans and cino pants (he didn't really get the whole packing for summer thing... But he's stoked now) (when actual fact, I couldn't fit all of my clothing in the suitcase left behind because it was filled with Gabi's clothes - Alex, The Editor). Sucks we couldn't go home first cause we've got lots of warm stuff in London but oh well, we'll survive. It's like Brisbane winter anyway, so not too bad (jokes I know how cold it's been). Plus we should be working pretty hard during the day, I'm hoping to burn off all the cheese I eat by painting like a mad woman.
On our second day we ventured into Malaga, about an hours drive from our campsite. We needed to book our bus tickets because we found out the Spanish company we kept using didn't take non-Spanish credit cards. It was a Sunday so everything was closed, but we were stoked to have those tickets in our pocket. We got back to the campsite and started cleaning the van, we had a few bits and pieces that we weren't taking with us, like butane cans for the stove, camping chairs, rope, pegs and other stuff we'd picked up along the way. We set it all out on a table and wrote a sign in Spanish, saying please take it! A lovely Spanish couple arrived and took almost everything. They were so thankful but we were just happy not to throw it in the bin. We bumped into her later at the shop and found out she was from North Spain, she said madrid was beautiful and we would love it. In the morning we woke up to a 4 page note under the wind screen wiper, full of things to do in Madrid and Barcelona, it said 'to my australian friends'. What an amazing gesture. We wanted to say thanks but it was 7am. Little things like that make you so happy, and feel better about being away from home. Although thinking about it, if someone had given us all that stuff at the beginning we would have been so grateful. It was actually nice to have a conversation in English, broken english but all the same, we've been craving it.
There was this one kid who just yelled all the time, just stood out the front of the van and yelled, usually it was 'HAYYYY PAPPPPPAAA' we had fun thinking about all the things we would say to him if we actually had the guts to get angry... It went along the lines of 'I'LL PAPPA YOU!' with choreographed hand gestures. If you have been reading this blog, there may have been the odd occasion when you questioned mine and Alex's sanity! No need to be alarmed, we've just spent too much time around people that don't speak english and it has just been the two of us for a little while. Some other human interaction, wine and cheese and the beach should help us get back to our usual crazy selves, as long as they aren't kids... HAY PAPPA!
We are beyond excited to arrive Madrid, sleeping in a real bed, having a normal shower and being in the centre of a city will be a dream. We feel like we haven't experienced Spanish food as I've been cooking so much, so we are stoked to eat more tapas and paella. Barcelona will be so fun, we really wanted to stay longer after we saw it the first time, so to have 5 nights there now will be amazing. I can't wait to have the beach so close again and to be able to explore at night time, we've missed a night life. We're staying in Hostals as well, so hopefully will be a few young people to talk, or these posts might just get weirder and weirder!
Our travelling dream continues... :)
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