Road Trip
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Re: Road Trip
The autovía may have drastically shortened the time it takes to drive from the north to the south of Spain and vice-versa but it has has totally destroyed the experience I know you can leave it whenever you wish but it's not the same.
There are beautiful villages which one would never even think of visiting and it really was an experience which can never be repeated now. The surfaced road would often peter out to be replaced with a dirt track and I still have a map upon which I had made notes to assist on the journey including one where I had written 'last filling station for 150 km.'
With no mobile phone or emergency roadside telephones and, apart from the odd tiny hamlet, hundreds of kilometres of deserted roads and tracks between populated areas you really were on your own.
Spain was different. It still is but, now, for entirely different reasons.
There are beautiful villages which one would never even think of visiting and it really was an experience which can never be repeated now. The surfaced road would often peter out to be replaced with a dirt track and I still have a map upon which I had made notes to assist on the journey including one where I had written 'last filling station for 150 km.'
With no mobile phone or emergency roadside telephones and, apart from the odd tiny hamlet, hundreds of kilometres of deserted roads and tracks between populated areas you really were on your own.
Spain was different. It still is but, now, for entirely different reasons.
- Devils Advocate
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Re: Road Trip
Totally agree with that Beachy. 20 years ago when I took our first car over there to leave in Spain we must have taken the route (or similar) you mention. Sadly I was with a mate and not the other half.....and we were going at break neck pace with no overnight stop just to get there ready to pick the OH up at Malaga airport the next day.
What an exciting trip that would make now, I can't even fathom on the maps which roads they were.
Incredible route through the centre of so many towns and villages as we crossed the plain.
When I next drove it 17 years later it was just the Autovia and nothing like I'd explained to the Mrs it was like...........still nice to do but as you say you need to detour to get to some beauty.
Do you think it's possible Beachy to retrace the old route or has it gone?
What an exciting trip that would make now, I can't even fathom on the maps which roads they were.
Incredible route through the centre of so many towns and villages as we crossed the plain.
When I next drove it 17 years later it was just the Autovia and nothing like I'd explained to the Mrs it was like...........still nice to do but as you say you need to detour to get to some beauty.
Do you think it's possible Beachy to retrace the old route or has it gone?
Property owner in Andalucia since 2002. How time flies.
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Absolutely, I drove my father down to his new home in Nerja in 1980 with my car loaded with his personal items. I remember the trip from Santander stopping for an overnight at Aranjuez south of Madrid then onwards towards the south and those roads that abruptly ended and turned into tracks then back to a road. I recall rounding a bend on a track near Jaén to find a car stationary with the driver flagging us down....he wanted a light for his cigarette as his battered old jalopy had no lighter or windscreen for that matter A different era!Beachcomber wrote: ↑Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:25 am The autovía may have drastically shortened the time it takes to drive from the north to the south of Spain and vice-versa but it has has totally destroyed the experience I know you can leave it whenever you wish but it's not the same.
There are beautiful villages which one would never even think of visiting and it really was an experience which can never be repeated now. The surfaced road would often peter out to be replaced with a dirt track and I still have a map upon which I had made notes to assist on the journey including one where I had written 'last filling station for 150 km.'
With no mobile phone or emergency roadside telephones and, apart from the odd tiny hamlet, hundreds of kilometres of deserted roads and tracks between populated areas you really were on your own.
Spain was different. It still is but, now, for entirely different reasons.
Re: Road Trip
My good school friend often recounts his dad taking him on holiday to Spain in 1963. That was in an Austin A40. They called to see a relative first ( a nun in Belgium) . He remembers how many of the roads were gravel and specially going over the Pyrenees .
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Re: Road Trip
I recall the very first time i went to visit hubby's family many years ago,we travelled by bus from Malaga to Diezma before they put in the motorway up to Granada. It was a long journey back then and the last part from Granada to Diezma travelling the windy roads was stomach churning..Those were the days when mules were used regularly and the busy small village didn't even have a telephone box.Tinned food in the local small shops was all but non existent except for the odd tin of peas..How things have changed however they still have a few mules which graze on some unfenced land near the village roadside, it wasn't that many years ago one early evening the owner of the mules walked into the local bar, one of his mules must have noticed him, it crossed the road and followed him in the residents didn't bat an eyelid..Oh for times like those again..
Re: Road Trip
I remember driving through a village only 20 years ago and seeing a kiosko on the outskirts. We stopped for a coffee and it was that thick camp coffee made with tinned condensed milk. A bit too sweet for me but I still have that memory.
Re: Road Trip
Condensed milk was used a lot. There was one bar on the main Costa del Sol road that milked a goat in front of us when we asked for cafe con leche. It was like curdled cream on top.
I remember Mum driving when she turned off a track somewhere a South of Granada. She drove across a field to get back on route. There was some kind of a factory and they all came out whistling and cheering.
It really was a foreign country.
I remember Mum driving when she turned off a track somewhere a South of Granada. She drove across a field to get back on route. There was some kind of a factory and they all came out whistling and cheering.
It really was a foreign country.
Re: Road Trip
Even here when we bought our first house in 1996 it was a different world. The motorway around Malaga stopped at Rincon and then it was just the narrow coast road from there. There was only one 'supermarket' on the coast in Torrox and that only had very basic foodstuffs and the veg was always in very poor condition with fruit flies hovering over it. Everyone smoked everywhere, including the man behind the fresh meat counter. It was common to see the mules and most people had motos rather than cars and carried all the family and various items on shopping on it too.
In some ways the advent of the motorways here has made travelling so much easier, but there's a lot more fast cars about in recent years and so much busier everywhere than before. It has changed so much in the past 15 - 20 years.
In some ways the advent of the motorways here has made travelling so much easier, but there's a lot more fast cars about in recent years and so much busier everywhere than before. It has changed so much in the past 15 - 20 years.
Re: Road Trip
The 1st time i came to Spain was 1977. We left Malaga airport in a taxi at night and drove through the city and all the way to Nerja along the coast. We went through a town that had a raised pavement/walkway with a barrier like in the old westerns with old men leaning on it. Thinking back now I think it must have been Rincon or Torre del Mar. Love to go back to those times.
We have been east of Malaga city for 19 years and the changes are unbelievable. I actually think the south side of Malaga hasn’t changed as much in 19 years.
We have been east of Malaga city for 19 years and the changes are unbelievable. I actually think the south side of Malaga hasn’t changed as much in 19 years.
Re: Road Trip
OH went to a private clinic in Los Alamos near Malaga. The Doctors were stood around smoking. One of the first things I did when arriving in Spain was buy a packet of Ducados or BN cigarettes. Loved the smellWicksey wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 10:05 am Even here when we bought our first house in 1996 it was a different world. The motorway around Malaga stopped at Rincon and then it was just the narrow coast road from there. There was only one 'supermarket' on the coast in Torrox and that only had very basic foodstuffs and the veg was always in very poor condition with fruit flies hovering over it. Everyone smoked everywhere, including the man behind the fresh meat counter. It was common to see the mules and most people had motos rather than cars and carried all the family and various items on shopping on it too.
In some ways the advent of the motorways here has made travelling so much easier, but there's a lot more fast cars about in recent years and so much busier everywhere than before. It has changed so much in the past 15 - 20 years.
Re: Road Trip
Malaga airport has seen many changes too. I remember being with my parents and they had to pick out their luggage on the tarmac. Locals used to come for a day out, see the plane land and watch all these strange people coming through.
Mum used to bring Weetabix and cornflakes for me. Ask for 2 fried eggs and they would come swimming in about half a pint of oil.
Mum used to bring Weetabix and cornflakes for me. Ask for 2 fried eggs and they would come swimming in about half a pint of oil.
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Re: Road Trip
There must have been a massive north south divide. I first visited Bilbao in the early eighties it was quite developed and there were already motorways here. By the early nineties, it was possible to go to Santander San Sebastian and Madrid on one. In fact I remember driving from London to Bilbao the first time in 88 and it was all motorway. The first hypermarket was near here in 87. There were shopping centres in the early nineties too.
For me the big change gas been the conversion from a dirty smelly industrial city with high levels of pollution to the way it looks now. I always found it strange when locals used to say it was the best place in the world to live when in fact it was a rather ugly place. I suppose they were comparing it with the South of Spain.
For me the big change gas been the conversion from a dirty smelly industrial city with high levels of pollution to the way it looks now. I always found it strange when locals used to say it was the best place in the world to live when in fact it was a rather ugly place. I suppose they were comparing it with the South of Spain.
Re: Road Trip
Just backtracking to original queries.firsttango wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:47 am Thinking of doing a "leisurely" road trip in early December from Nerja to Calais taking a few days. Anyone done this? Would appreciate some input as to any tips, pitfalls etc.....good places to stop for an overnight etc....basically any info....prefer to stick to motorways.....thx
We travelled a few times at this time of year. None very enjoyable as we always got bad weather until about an hour south of Madrid. Roads could have changed now, not done the route for ages. One trip Grandad was driving, we had long lunch and walk around Burgos and left quite late. Freezing cold. As we travelled on the N1 snow began to fall, road was quickly getting snowdrifts. We stopped at a hotel called Hotel Somosierra close to a mountain pass. The place was really crowded with stranded travellers. We managed to get a room for 4 of us. Led down dusty passages which seemed to have been built into the rock. Not just a dump, it was filthy with large spiders on the ceiling. Civil guard was there and said the snow plough was coming at first light. we were the first car out following it. As we drove south we were removing layers of clothing.
There is a thread with recommendations but haven't found it. Enrique contributed a few Hotels , i posted one just over the border into France but forgotten it's name.
- Enrique
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Re: Road Trip
Hi firsttango,
Some info on this Thread............
viewtopic.php?t=24119
Katy's Hotel...............
https://www.hotel-lesbruyeres.com/
More Winter Driving info and Hotels in this Link................
viewtopic.php?t=22156
Some of the info is dated.......also ring ahead on the Hotels as some will be closed due to current situation and Winter Season.........one we have booked says ring 4 days before to check its still open that's later this month.
Some info on this Thread............
viewtopic.php?t=24119
Katy's Hotel...............
https://www.hotel-lesbruyeres.com/
More Winter Driving info and Hotels in this Link................
viewtopic.php?t=22156
Some of the info is dated.......also ring ahead on the Hotels as some will be closed due to current situation and Winter Season.........one we have booked says ring 4 days before to check its still open that's later this month.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.
- firsttango
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Re: Road Trip
Thanks everyone and thanks Enrique, will take a good look through these links.....most grateful
Re: Road Trip
I think Burgos is cold all year. Stopped a few times as a lovely place but always Baltic.katy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:49 pmJust backtracking to original queries.firsttango wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:47 am Thinking of doing a "leisurely" road trip in early December from Nerja to Calais taking a few days. Anyone done this? Would appreciate some input as to any tips, pitfalls etc.....good places to stop for an overnight etc....basically any info....prefer to stick to motorways.....thx
We travelled a few times at this time of year. None very enjoyable as we always got bad weather until about an hour south of Madrid. Roads could have changed now, not done the route for ages. One trip Grandad was driving, we had long lunch and walk around Burgos and left quite late. Freezing cold. As we travelled on the N1 snow began to fall, road was quickly getting snowdrifts. We stopped at a hotel called Hotel Somosierra close to a mountain pass. The place was really crowded with stranded travellers. We managed to get a room for 4 of us. Led down dusty passages which seemed to have been built into the rock. Not just a dump, it was filthy with large spiders on the ceiling. Civil guard was there and said the snow plough was coming at first light. we were the first car out following it. As we drove south we were removing layers of clothing.
There is a thread with recommendations but haven't found it. Enrique contributed a few Hotels , i posted one just over the border into France but forgotten it's name.
Re: Road Trip
Thanks Enrique, you are a star
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