Birthday blog!

Saturday 19th March, my birthday, and once again the weather wasn't great with rain showers and cool temperatures but we managed to find a window in the weather to go for a pedal, we cycled half way to Castellon along a cycle route but the city ahead looked very industrial so we decided to turn back towards home, we headed along the seafront  cycle lane stopping for a ham and cheese bocadillo (roll) in a restaurant along the way. It was all rather awkward as the restaurant looked from the outside like a bar/restaurant but when we sat down the menu was for 'proper' food instead of light lunches, the tables were set with cloth tablecloths and napkins etc. We had to ask for the bocadillos and the staff were very obliging although trying to persuade us to have chips or a salad with our rolls, which were very delicious, but quite enough on their own.

After our lunch we cycled back towards the site but were distracted by some loud music coming from the town square. When we went to investigate we found a live rock band playing to a small audience and they were amazing! The guitarist did the best Jimi Hendrix guitar solo since the real man himself! They were incredibly professional and very lively. - a real tonic on a dull afternoon! We planned to just watch for a while but ended up staying until they stopped playing and their audience reluctantly dispersed.

Back at the van I spent some time writing and uploading my blog having treated myself to some Wifi - glad to be back in business after two weeks of diabolically useless Internet! Don't ever take our internet in the UK for granted - it's excellent!

For my birthday dinner we met our Dutch friends Paul and Gea in the site restaurant where we had a great meal with entertainment from a singer with a keyboard playing music for Old Fogeys, not quite our scene but we still had some fun and he did play some music we could enjoy! It was a jolly evening and the waitress brought me my panacotta with a single candle in it - not quite a cake but a kind gesture! 

The next morning we were on the road again but this time we turned inland into the hills in search of the Via Verde Ojos Negros at Navajas. Keith had located a place for us to stay in a quiet area on the outskirts of the village just a stones throw from a local beauty spot.

Once we had settled in and had some lunch we set out on foot to find the Via verde and also to go and have a look at the beautiful waterfall and surrounding area, it was such a lovely afternoon with spectacular scenery we ended up walking miles along the paths through the hills, stopping for a while to admire the view of Segorbe in the distance and feel the warm sun on our faces for a change.

After a quiet night in our little parking space (except for the dustcart emptying a nearby wheelie bin at 4.45am - the Spanish always have their bins emptied at night!) we set out on our bikes on the Via Verde, after about 5 miles we arrived in a small town and having stopped for coffee (maybe that was the distraction) we managed to lose the trail and cycle for another few miles up hill and down dale in the wrong direction, nevertheless we enjoyed the ride into the quiet hills - finding a remote campsite (it was interesting but not for us - just too remote and much too hilly for cycling trips out)
Later in the day we were joined by our friend Paul (another Paul - not the one from Holland, this Paul we met in Italy last year) and we had a lovely evening catching up - Paul is a full time Motorhomer and loves his van gadgets so we have a lot in common and a lot of travel information to share.
As we spend more time away we are meeting more and more people that we can meet up with - a whole new circle of friends spread across Europe.
There is so much to talk about to help us with planning the rest of our journey