Penhaven at play!

  Alicante We farewelled our house owners and took a Blabla car to Alicante - such a great concept! This time the car took us as well as another person. We enjoyed Alicante with its castle on a hill giving great views over the city. Can you see the bull fighting ring in the city view? Still used once a year! We enjoyed wondering the little lanes, coming across quaint old lanes and buskers. Visited the huge indoor market - would make many meatlovers vegetarian- fully skinned rabbits, kid goat heads, cow hooves and more! Along with great selection of salami, cheese, eggs of all colours , pastries and more! Also we had time on the beach - swimming and amazed at the various shapes and the HUGE variety of boobs out😆 Enjoyed some Spainish delights - paella and another time churros. Ca Remember to listen to the buskers - push the play button Grandie!! Barcelona We took a train to Barcelona but this train only reaching 200km/hr. Really enjoyed our time in this city -clean, modern and old area

This house sit was for 8 days. Paul and I were looking forward to some relaxation time! Sightseeing, planning accommodation and organising transport was tiring hard work!! From Cartagena we could bus the 45 km which would take over 2 hours due to all the stops or try BlablaCar - a car share app. So we organised a  Blabla  costing only 8 euros at 11am. Our house-sit owners were very sceptical about the trip and were worried we were going to be robbed or that we miss-understood and it should of been 80 euros! But we were prepared to give it a go - if no show there was a bus at 1pm. But all went to plan, a lovely local mechanical engineer student was our Blabla car owner. He even dropped us off where we were meeting Brian, our house-sit owner, rather than at his stop, travelling an extra couple of Kilometers! Our Scottish house-sit owner still doesn't believe it's legit! A true Scotsman! We had two nights and one full day with house owners, a retired Scottish couple who have lived

Our next house-sit was an hour south of Alicante on the south coast of Spain and we needed to be there by 16th September. We went from Badajoz to Merida, to Cordoba, to Almería, to Cartagena, and finally to House-sit near Torrevieja! Needless to say we were feeling pretty tired by the 6th day of travelling, sightseeing, and booking accommodation and transport ahead. Badajoz Safely  delivered across the border from Elvas in Portugal by taxi to Badajoz, an hour later we caught a train to Merida. Merida This is the city of Roman ruins - was founded by the Romans in the 1st century BC. Paul read and read and read at each ruins site. He was interested that we were standing in the same location on earth as something that had happened 2000 years ago! There was an arena 400m long by 100m wide where they did chariot racing. A Roman arena where they had gladiator and animal fights. An Ampitheatre where there were shows, and still used today! Another aqueduct supplying the city with water. This o

12 September A taxi story! From Elvas we wanted to get across the border into Badajoz in Spain. But no public transport available between Elvas, Portugal and Badajoz, Spain! Luckily the day before when arrived in Elvas I had spoken to 'Oscar' the taxi driver at the train station. He offered to get us to Badajoz for 25 Euros. I took his number but was sure he was trying to rip me the tourist off!!  However, after talking around the following day it seemed he was fair and really our only option unless we walked the 20km - in this heat not doable! So I rang him and organised pick up the following day. He told me to ring him in the morning. Still niggling in the back of my mind - will he want more money, will he pick us up even!  So rang him in the morning, he told me he had to work on the tractor but his son would pick us up...His son rang and organised to pick us up. So we went to the meeting point. Phone call from son - "car broken down but I organise another taxi"- re

  From Coimbra we headed down to Lisbon, this time by bus as we thought we might see a bit more. The bus seats were very comfortable but not too much leg room and you couldn't really walk around. But yes, we could see a bit more! Lisbon was a big city - Marie didn't really want to go there for that reason, so we only stayed one night. Went to the old city with its narrow winding lanes and then on to the waterfront and along to this massive square which I'm sure they would have and national celebrations there. Behind this square was the main shopping street with all the usual 'High Street's shops any big city would have, including a few buskers which we enjoyed. They had this crazy tin sardines shop where each can would have a year on it, with an interesting fact for that year. Here are ours: They may be a bit hard to read, so: 1964 says 'Beatles became a worldwide phanomenon, thanks to their American tour's, and  1965 says 'Rolling Stones release the sin

 5-7 September We trained from Porto to Aveiro - not far at all! But we wanted to see Aveiro - known as Portugal's poor man's Venice. We got bikes and had a look around- rain made us hide in a cute locals cafe for some local treats - Ovos Moles. Ovos moles are a traditional pastry of the Aveiro region. They trace their origin to the nuns who lived at various convents of the Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite orders present in the area until the early 20th century—particularly the Mosteiro de Jesus [pt] (Monastery of Jesus). According to popular legend, the nuns used egg whites to clean their habits, while they used the yolks to make sweets so as not to waste them, and in order to raise money for their religious communities. The are made from an egg yolk and sugar mix wrapped in a communion like wafer. Salt was a major role in the economy of Aveiro with only a few salt ponds remaining. We continued by train to Coimbra- the country's former capital of Portugal, a preserved

 2 - 5 September Flew into Porto from London, having booked 3 nights there. We fell in love with Porto, or otherwise known as Oporto. Renowned for its Port Wine and Pastel de nata (egg custard tart-one of Jade's favourite treats!). We enjoyed just getting lost in the cobblestone alleyways looking at the architecture of the homes and many cathedrals. (Paul began to feel ABC - "another bloody cathedral"). We were  amazed/amused by the alleyways that cars went down and  busker entertainment along the way as we got lost, and there was always another wonder or surprise around the corner! Paul enjoyed the Portuguese traditional food which seems to be very heavy in meat and carbs!!  tr   We walked across the Dom Luis 1 Bridge, a double deck metal arch bridge that spans the River Douru, upper deck tram and pedestrian, and lower deck car and pedestrian! We walked both levels and enjoyed the view back to Porto.   On our final night we enjoyed a Laser lighting and music show at Cler