26/05/18 – 27/05/18 – Peñiscola
After we stopped giggling about the name (can you see a theme here…) we checked into Els Daus, a very basic overnight stay/car park with facilities and security at a cost of €8.40 per day. There were no free sites close enough and this was the cheapest we could find. We had no problems apart from our anxieties about Marley potentially going crazy at the crowds of cats nearby. He must have been in a funny mood that day, as he was pretty calm on seeing them, which completely surprised us.
We settled in, had lunch and after it was a little cooler outside, we set off along the seafront cycle track towards Peñiscola Castle on the hill. In our opinion, this was the main attraction and focal point of Peñiscola. The ride there was 2-3km. It was very pleasant, however quite touristy along the strip that aligns the beach with many English/Spanish restaurants offering paella and tapas alongside fry ups.
The old town is situated around the castle on the hill and is very pretty. The buildings are whitewashed and the paving is cobbled. One small house is covered in sea shells and looked liked it would have been a labour of love to complete. The balcony’s around the area have a variety of decorative tiles that you can admire whilst looking up, as well as an array of vibrant plants.
As you walk around there are lots of helados (ice cream) cafes and souvenir shops to entice you in. We walked passed a Spanish lady twice with Marley who made a right fuss of him and of course he loved that. She brightened my day as she looked just like ‘Mamma’ from Mrs Browns Boys with her curler’d hair and falling down stockings.
Peñiscola Castle itself is surprisingly well maintained considering its 13th century. Again, we learnt that it has featured in The Game of Thrones, and another old Spanish film called El Cid (we’ve heard of, but never seen).
The stunning views of turquoise sea and coast were worth the trek up there. We had a drink at Blue Dream to cool off as it was still pretty hot around 6.30pm. It was so chilled with its Cafe Del Mar music and Buddha statues. We had crisps, a tiny bottle of lemonade and pineapple juice at a cost of €8. Shocker….don’t they know we’re on a budget! We saw several cool looking bars around this area and thought it would probably be lively and fun at night. We wouldn’t leave Marley at the Moho unless in a proper campsite, but definitely would recommend to others.
Moho issues and Swiss Couple!
We’d recently discovered the windscreen washer was not working, so Dan spent the following morning investigating and I, being his little assistant helped hold the giant headlight out the way and googled problem solving solutions. It turns out it was a problem with the pump which still isn’t sorted as not our area of expertise and we’re not quite ready to pay a mechanic for yet another bill!
We attracted a very friendly Swiss couple in their late 40s staying at El Daus. The guy was asking lots of questions and said we looked like experts, which made us laugh seeing as though we feel we’re just blagging it sometimes. They told us they had stayed the previous night at a campsite just around the corner called Eden at €30 a night, which was pretty much the same set up as Els Daus. Hardly sounded like Eden! Later on, he came over again and explained that he was keen to talk to us because we’re “young compared to the general age of motorhomers”. This is definitely something we’ve found too due to many waiting until retirement age to get one. However there does seem to be a rise in a younger generation selling their homes and living/travelling in a motorhome, as this couple were considering doing. To some people the idea of this seems crazy, but so far we love it 😍.
