Dwti Draig

It was with great reluctance I left Frias. I could have quite happily stayed for another few nights, but we needed to start making tracks south. 

The journey to our next stop was not too bad at all; a bit of motorway and then gorgeous countryside. We had planned on going to Burgos, as I had fallen in love with it (and the churros I had there) when I visited in 2022, but I decided to forgo it this time, as I am finding I much prefer the quieter park ups in the smaller places. Instead we headed to the little village of Covarrubias. Covarrubias is another medieval village tucked into the rolling hills of Burgos province. It feels almost untouched by time with thick defensive walls, narrow cobbled streets and stone houses gracing quiet squares. We wandered along the riverside outside the town walls, and found a church where the gorgeous singing from a Friday evening service wafted out over the gaze of the statue of Princess Christina of Norway. She was the daughter of King Sigurd 1 of Norway who travelled to Spain to marry Prince Felipe of Castile (brother of King Alfonso X) but sadly she died a few years later in 1262, and her tomb still stands today. 

Covarrubias is another shining example of a town that welcomes motorhomes, with a large free aire with water and water disposal. We had a quiet night there after our walk around the town. Well, quiet after the huge thunderstorm passed over. It was much needed to clear the air as the heat had been so oppressive in the afternoon. We retreated inside the van with the blinds closed and the fans on. 

We left relatively early the next morning to drive to the La Yecla gorge walk that David and Janette had recommended in the Frias park up. We parked outside the huge tunnels carved through the cliffs for the traffic to drive through, and walked in, watching the huge vultures and raptors circling above, and praying one wouldn’t swoop down and carry me off by my hair!

The gorge walk is made up of a walk-way that clings to the cliff walls above a rushing stream. The slot canyon is so tight I had to turn sideways at times, and you can easily touch both sides of it at once. It was fascinating to look down and see larger logs suspended high up, from where high water levels had left them stranded. It must be so cool to see it in full flood. I absolutely love slot canyons, and have been lucky to visit many in Utah, Nevada and Arizona, so it was fabulous to see one much closer to home. Luckily Lyn didn’t get stuck in this one and need rescuing!

The journey onto our next place took us through the most amazing countryside. We saw vast empty fields, some filled with hay bales, others with dead sunflowers and others with smelly pigs. We drove through almost deserted villages and saw gorgeous little isolated churches and graveyards. We passed near the town of Santa Domingo De Silos, which has under 300 inhabitants and is famous for its Benedictine monastery where the monks are famous for their Gregorian chanting, selling hit making CDs of their music which became famous in the 1990s. The public can attend services and hear them chant. I was gutted the timing was not right for us. 

Once we got back on the motorway the roads and landscape got much busier. We stopped at a massive outdoor shopping complex to visit a supermarket and then to the biggest Decathlon I have ever been in, where I picked up some stuff. 

It had been a long day travelling, but we eventually got to our next park up, where we will stay for two nights to visit the city of Salamanca at an amazing cost of 8E a night!

The park up gave us yet another problem with Le Barrier. It was supposed to recognise our number plate and let us in automatically, but guess what, it didn’t! No surprises there then! Maybe it was because we are a truck, and the number plate is higher up? We sat there wondering what to do, and I tried ringing the number on the board, and What’s App them, but no reply on either. After about 10 minutes it suddenly opened and Lyn accelerated through. No idea why, but we were grateful. We drove in and then Lyn had to do Le Shuffle to get into the pitch with enough space to get our steps down. We had a lovely breeze for a change and were able to sit out in the sunshine without melting, overlooking a beautiful golden field and blue sky.

Even though I am trying not to visit too many cities Salamanca was one I decided was worthy of a day’s visit. We caught the bus from outside the park up, and headed in. The city is beautiful, with gorgeous warm sandstone buildings that glow in the sun. We started in the Plaza Mayor, the grand heart of the city. It is enormous, and the central square is enclosed by a magnificent huge building and lined with cafes. We sat and enjoyed a coffee, just people watching, and listening to the music from a big bike race that was finishing in the square.

t is also home to one of the oldest universities in Europe. The University of Salamanca was founded in 1218. The twin cathedrals were also amazing to see. There is an old Romanesque one from the 12th century, and a “new” Gothic – Baroque one towering besides it. We went inside the New Cathedral. There is a wonderful statue of the Virgin of the Assumption near the main altar. I sat and watched as people queued to touch or kiss her hand, and a nearby member of staff hovered to clean the hand with wipes in between kisses. 

We wandered the streets of Old Town and down onto the Roman Bridge. It spans the River Tormes with 26 granite arches, most of them dating back to the first century AD when the Romans built the road from Merida to Zaragoza. The view from the bridge back over the city and its towering spires was beautiful, but it was time for lunch! We found an Italian restaurant and tucked into pizza. 

We’d had a lovely day in Salamanca, but getting back to Dwti was not easy! It was a Sunday, so buses back were less frequent and we had no idea where they went from. We headed back to the area we had got off. There were plenty of buses leaving, but none with the numbers we needed and no signs saying where or when each bus departed. We asked teh bus drivers and not even they knew! It was all a great Salmancan mystery. After waiting and hoping for an eternity we gave in and got a taxi back, knackered but happy.