Tag - #marleydog

Doggie Paradise – Playa de Lóngara

03/08/18  – 05/08/18 – Praia de Lóngara, Barreiros, Galicia Well we certainly got what we wished for in heading to northern Spain in terms of a cooler climate. As we drove through the valleys of Galacia a mist descended on us out of nowhere, so thick that we had to put the fog-lights on in the Moho. It didn’t really clear up for the majority of our stay apart from a couple of hours when we took Marley to the beach on the first afternoon. You might be thinking it seem like a bit of a random place to visit and it is, but we had recently discovered this great website that states all the doggie friendly beaches in Spain –  so we decided to give it a try and head to the closest one. It was great knowing that you could legitimately be there throughout the whole day and not be worried about getting fined or moved on by the police. Access wasn’t for the faint hearted as it was down a relatively steep descent across some rocks but once you were down there it was...

Our last night in Portugal – Vila Nova Cerveira

01/08/18 -02/08/18 – Vila Nova de Cerveira It suddenly seemed to creep up on us – this was it, our last night in Portugal 🙁 We chose to visit this place based on an image of colourful umbrellas strung up between buildings we had seen by chance when researching other destinations around Aveiro. (See image right)  That was enough to grab our attention to put it on our itinerary if only to get a colourful image! Our place for the night was another carpark on the outskirts of town, next to the railway station. It had full motorhome services for free, and from what we had read in the reviews, it seemed a good location to explore the town. (GPS 41.93772,-8.7472219) To date, we had been relatively lucky with the weather in Portugal for Marleys sake. However, today that luck ran out as it 41 degrees inside and 40 outside of the Moho, so rather than slowly roast inside, we made a bee-line for the riverside to hopefully catch some shade under a tree. As luck would have it, this was...

3 for the price of 1 – Sintra, Mafra & Praia Santa Rita in a day.

14/07/18 – Sintra, Greater Lisbon We had been putting off going to Sintra for no real reason other than we were having a nice relaxing time at Guincho and perhaps the thought of a very touristy town didn’t really sit too well with us after relaxing for a few days. Still, after 3 days of not doing much, it was time to move on and brave the hoards. As we arrived it was nice to start to see some greenery again. It’s surprising how you get used to dry, sparse landscapes or coastal environments, but when you finally see grass and trees again, it reminds us of how much we miss it. It must remind us of England I guess. Sintra is a narrow, hilly town and I was getting that feeling again that perhaps being in the Moho wasn’t the best choice of vehicle to visit this place.  That said, we arrived Saturday morning and manged to arrive before 10:00 and bag a free parking space about 5 minutes outside the town. The big draw of Sintra are the many coloured villas and palaces...

A Surfers Paradise – Guincho

11/07/18 – 14/07/18 – Guincho, Lisbon After Lisbon, we fancied a break from sightseeing and needed a good nights sleep so we took a short drive North along the coast to Guincho Beach for a few days. It is within the district of Cascais. I’d already read that Guincho beach is apparently one of the finest surfing beaches of Western Portugal, and having been there you can see why. It was so windy….enough to shake the moho. We stayed in a big car park for €2 a night overlooking the beach, which we shared with many surfers, surf schools and all the very cool camper vans that came with them!   Guicho is set amidst the beautiful Serra de Sintra Natural Park, which is clearly well loved as we saw many conservation projects happening at the time. The area has neat wooden walkways to protect the vegetation, which were great for walking Marley. The cafe, Duna Da Cresmina at the end of the walkway was a very nice treat. The cafe is very dog friendly in that they had 2 big...

Come and Get your Free Hot Shower at the Reservoir! Barragen do Pego do Altar

08/07/18 – 09/07/18 – Barragen do Pego do Altar, Alentejo We were very glad to arrive at this beautiful reservoir/dam at Barragen do Pego do Altar, as it was so much cooler than Evora where we’d just come from. There was hardly anyone around which seemed odd given it was very pretty and free to stayover. The only two other travellers that were there, were very welcoming on arrival. An enthusiastic lone German with his caravan who was happy to share some helpful tips, especially as he’d been there for some time. The other was Annemieke from Holland. She’d been there a week and is travelling with her partner, but at the time he’d returned home for a few days. They both had dogs, so Marley was in his element. We were so impressed with Annemieke’s converted Dutch Fire truck. She’d painted a gorgeous colourful mandala on the side and was just starting another on the other side. She obviously picked up on my keen interest in her van, as she invited...