Kevnjan's new adventure .

Fri.8th. Mar. Well, it's been an interesting week so far. On Monday the van was repaired and we spent the day and night under cover waiting for the filler to harden. It rained all day, torrential rain, and it was miserable but we had electricity and were warm and dry. We made a decision to head for Portugal on Tuesday. It had been our intention to travel along the coast from Matalascanas to Huelva but the weather was crap again and we stayed on the motorway all the way. We waved goodbye to a soggy Spain and crossed the River Guardiana into Portugal. We found a free aire at Castro Marim, just over the border and parked about 2pm although it was really only 1pm because Portugal is on the same time as England. How sensible!! We had a walk into the town and tried out the beer. It's OK but you wouldn't want to live on it. I'm just beginning to feel the need for a pint of real ale. Must have been gone a long time!! We took a bus into Vila Real de Sao Antonio and found a Vodaphone shop where we got fixed up with local sim card for calls and internet. Not as simple as it should have been but I won't bore you with the details. Returned to the van and had dinner, went to a local bar and watched United lose to Real Madrid. Next day we moved across to Vila Real and parked up by the river on an aire that cost €6. They threw in 3 hours electricity and 3 hours wifi. The wifi was useless. We took a long walk along the river and checked out the town. Nice, typical Portuguese architecture, lovely square. I like it. We got back to the van and the sun was shining warmly. I made a big mistake, put on shorts and got the chairs out. Within an hour the wind was howling and the temperature had dropped. The rain started around 7 and a gale blew all night and well into the morning. The weather forecast is not good for the Algarve for the next week and we made a decision to head inland for a few days. Firstly we had to get the internet sorted out. Never simple!! Around lunch time we set off for Alcoutim, a small, charming town on the banks of the Guardiana opposite an equally pretty Spanish town, Sanlucar. The river is quite wide here and navigable, numerous quite large yachts are moored up waiting for the storms in the Atlantic to abate. Spent the night listening to a cacophony of barking dogs . What a shame. Nowhere's perfect. Today we have driven further up river and are at an old mining town called Mino de Sao Domingo. It's raining again so we haven't explored yet. Will report in next blog. As you can see, so far this leg of our journey has been a little damp. Next week we're expecting better weather and will head for the beautiful Algarve beaches for some hard earned R & R. Already, despite the inclement weather, we are beginning to like this country. The roads are good, and quiet, the people friendly and polite and the scenery is easy on the eye, mile after mile of rolling, deserted countryside, reminds me a bit of the Brecon Beacons or the Mendips. Everywhere there are carpets of wild flowers, we seem to have arrived too late for the almond blossom but you can't have everything. I posted this blog on the phone earlier but when I read it it made no sense, predictive script got to it again. Will report on Mino de Sao Domingo later, if it ever stops raining. Jan's got a cold.