Our first stop in Spain was at El Rocio in the horse rearing area. The streets are sand and the houses all have hitching rails

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1 Our first stop in Spain was at El Rocio in the horse rearing area. The streets are sand and the houses all have hitching rails

2 The church is a place of pilgrimmage

3 The castle and town wall at Niebla was surprisingly good

4 The rooms had been nicely laid out, especially the rather gruesome dungeons!

5 At Trigueros there was a Dolmen a huge mound with an entrance leading to a small chamber.

6 Rio Tinto is the name of the river (Red River), the mining town, and the (British) mining company. Now there is a Mining Park with the museum, a train ride through the opencat mine workings, a Victorian house that would have housed a British minining engineer, and a visit to another opencast mine

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8 The trainline used to take the ore to the port at Huelva, but now takes you through the abandoned mine.

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10 The Victorian House was not particularly Victorian to us, but to the Spanish people it was very British in style. The British engineers had a cricket team and a football team. In fact it was the first football team in Spain it is odd to think that the Spanish craze for football started here!

11 It was a very interesting day out with so much to see. With the rising ore prices, mining may start again a few months time.(just like at home where the mines in the North Pennines may start again)

12 We moved on to Alcala de los Gazules which is inland from Cadiz. We went for a walk from the campsite. There were many birds gliding around on the thermals, but there was a pair of big ones eagles???

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15 More Roman remains yet again! This time on the coast at Bolonia This photo shows the remains of the aqueduct (note the groove in the top of the wall This is one of the main gates and the main street

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18 We moved on to Estepona. We drove up to the hill top village of Caceres

19 We drove inland up to the hilltop town of Ronda, that has a gorge separating the two parts.

20 There are three bridges crossing the river gorge. The Arab bridge is the oldest Then there is the OLD Bridge and the NEW Bridge

21 Down by the Arab Bridge is the Arab Baths

22 Estepona is one of the main tourist resorts, but the Old Town has been nicely renovated with pedestrian streets and loads of flowers. There is even the remains of a castle

23 Yet another Moorish Castle Guess where it is (the flag is a clue!)

24 A bit further up are the siege tunnels. Note the rope curtain used to prevent smoke and sparks blowing back into the cave.

25 Gibraltar is the only airport where the main road goes across the runway!

26 St Michael s Cave is quite spectacular

27 Next stop was Antequera, between Malaga and Seville. It boasted THREE Dolmens This one was so wide it had pillars up the middle to support the roof stones.

28 This one was unusual in having stone walls, rather than huge megaliths for the walls

29 Antequera has a superb Moorish Castle This model shows the original extent of the castle and town walls

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31 Alongside the castle, just outside the wall is the cathedral.

32 Just up the road from the campsite was a lake with many flamingos and other birds.

33 Just outside of Antequera is El Torcal with unusual rock formations

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35 A bit beyond El Torcal is the Ardales National Park with many lakes/reservoirs and the El Chorro Gorge

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37 Then it was on to Seville and the Torre del Oro

38 The cathedral is the largest in Spain. The Giralda Tower was a minaret but is now the bell tower

39 The tomb of Christopher Columbus is in the Cathedral

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41 The Alcazar is the oldest Royal Palace still in use

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45 This is the Plaza de Espana

46 We left Seville, en-route to Merida, and stopped off at Italica to see the roman remains:-

47 The mosaics were particularly good.

48 Just down the road (actually in the town) was a Roman Theatre

49 The caravan sites at Merida were not very good and we continued up to Caceres, but we had a trip back to Merida to see all the roman remains This is the Hippodrome (or Circus) used for Chariot Racing straight out of Ben Hur It could seat 30,000 people!

50 Just alongside is an Aquaduct to bring fresh water into the city.

51 Just up the road is this church built on roman remains. The crypt has been excavated to expose them

52 A bit further on we went through Trajan s Arch More roman remains discovered when excavating for a new building which was then built on stilts

53 Of course, the romans built an impressive bridge over the river and a fortification that later improved by the Moors then the Christians The modern bridge is nice, but does not really compare!

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55 A beautifully carved entrance led down to the Aljibe the water storage cistern. Coffee time with a huge chocolate covered croissant filled with a sort of custard

56 Just down the road is the Temple to Diana And a bit further on more remains with mosaics

57 Then the Amphithetre used for fighting by Gladiators.

58 Alongside the Amphitheatre is the Theatre for plays.

59 In Caceres, quite by chance there was a fiesta (Fiesta de las Lavanderas) The effiigy represented February and was burnt to end the winter.

60 The mediaeval old town of Caceres is unspoilt and not at all touristy

61 The carved wooden altar piece was impressive. There was a tower which just had to be climbed! The church with the two white towers was used in the film 1492 starring Gerard Depardieu.

62 The Caceres Museum has many exhibits including mosaics And in the basement a Moorish Aljibe or water cistern

63 At Alcantara (about an hour from Caceres) there is a magnificent ROMAN bridge

64 Not far from Caceres is the hilltop town of Trujillo. The discoverer of Peru, Pizzaro was born here

65 As always there was an ornate church And of course a Moorish Castle

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67 It was time to leave Caceres and head NORTH, through the snow covered hills to Salamanca

68 Salamanca is quite a vibrant city as it is a university town. Cambridge on steroids@ was one description!

69 This is the House of Shells with carved shells covering the walls Inside the stone balustrade was impressive

70 Over 500 years ago, they built a new cathedral alongside the old cathedral was a bit small

71 Even the organ was quite something.

72 Note the unusual clock marked in minutes, not hours

73 Everywhere you walk there are lovely old buildings

74 Salamanca also has a Roman Bridge

75 An unusual museum is the Car Museum I used to drive my Dad s Black Rover 3 Litre! The Citroen DS was an iconic car. In French, DS is pronounced Dé esse which means Godess

76 We were headed to see some prehistoric rock art and a local recommended the cafeteria at a Napoleonic hill fort that has been converted to a hotel/restaurant/cafeteria Real Fuerte de La Concepcion

77 The rock art is in the open (not protected from the weather in a cave) and is difficult to see!

78 I have shaded these two images of a dog (or wolf) and a deer And here is the dog on its own

79 Ciudad Rodrigo has a town wall and some nice buildings

80 We have seen quite a few town walls, but Avila s City Walls beat the rest hands down!

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82 Of course, Avila has a Roman Bridge And views of the snow capped hills

83 Next stop was a campsite just south of Valladolid. At nearby Medina de Campo there is Castillo de la Mota

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85 Valladolid has some interesting buildings

86 The museum of Sculpture has some fine religious carvings in wood

87 But the incredible ceilings are missed by most people - who don t look up

88 The Plaza Mayor in Valladolid was a different style and was very big. But the cathedral was disappointing.

89 Zamora is a pleasant city that is a bit off the tourist track. Just as we came out of the car park looking a bit lost, a man came along and gave us directions. He then led us to the Parador hotel where he worked and he stamped our car park ticket so that we would get a discount there! We had a coffees and cakes in the luxurious surroundings of the Parador before starting the sightseeing. The Parador had a lovely stone staircase with a tapestry and a FULL suit of armour (horse and all!) Of course, Zamora has a castle!

90 And a City Wall

91 And a bridge with unusual holes in the bridge piers (presumably these reduce the weight on the foundations, and let flood waters through)

92 There are three old watermills sticking out into the river In the Plaza Mayor they were manicuring the trees!

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94 We moved on to Burgos and went to see the Archaeological Site at Atapuerco A BRITISH Mining Company built a railway from their mines at Burgos to Bilbao and dug a cutting. Later, remains were found and this became one of the most important sites in Europe as they found the earliest humanoid remains in Europe. They found a burial pit containing 29 skeletons! They also found an arm bone with V shaped marks on it. Animal teeth leave a U shaped groove. Only cutting tools (flint) leave a V shaped groove this indicates that they were cannibals! There was not a lot to see, but it was interesting to see the site and the ongoing archaeological work.

95 Flint tools and skulls were passed around

96 This was a particularly nice sunset over our campsite.

97 Burgos has a fine Gothic Cathedral

98 It has an unusual two-storey Cloister

99 This chapel had unusual star-shaped glazing in the dome that made it very light.

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101 And, of course, Burgos has a castle

102 The statue is El Cid Iglesia San Esteban (St Stephen s Church)

103 We visited the village of Orbaneja that has a waterfall (and old mills) running through it.

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106 From Burgos we headed north to a campsite nearer to Santander. On the way we saw this (very) Long Vehicle with three wind turbine blades. The campsite at Aguilar is on the edge of the Picos de Europa.

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