The way to the washing machine. (06.01.2020) We spent a quiet night in the industrial area of Marchena. The sun was already shining and we were looking forward to orange juice. Mathias squeezed one orange after another. Wilma and I drank. It was so delicious. I'm not a fan of juice, but this was different. Even Wilma, who avoids vitamins, enjoyed it. Delicious. We only had a small sandwich and then we were strengthened for the search for a place to do laundry. In our app, we found a place 20km away. Supposedly with a washing machine. We drove through the beautiful rural Andalusia. The place we arrived at had no machine and did not meet our expectations. So we continued driving. Towards Seville. On a road sign it said 'Carmona'. I remembered that Pablo had raved about this place. So we changed our plans. We took the exit. Mathias is looking for a parking space. We drove up the hill into the town. But in the roundabout, we decided not to continue into the city. Afraid of the narrow streets. What a pity. It looked so promising. On the way down, we refueled our motorhome for 1.14 euros. And Mathias actually found another parking space. Turn left. Left? There was only a small, very steep road, but good. Let's go up there. And it went great. Then we stood on a small hill in front of the historic entrance to the city and the view over the landscape. Great. We parked there and actually wanted to stay the night. However, there were a lot of broken glass shards on the square, apparently from smashed car windows. Mathias didn't feel good about staying. So we only spent a few hours here. I collected trash once again. It has somehow become a standard. Mathias and Wilma tried a lemon cake made from fresh lemons from Pablo's parents. Then we had lunch in the sun. Wilma wasn't feeling well. The past night was too short for the child. Doesn't matter. We have to get through this now. I wanted to take a walk in the town. But Mathias only wanted to go a short distance, afraid for the car. We walked through the archway and actually discovered a small, beautiful Andalusian town. The traces of a royal parade were also visible on the ground here, and Wilma examined every candy. After a short walk, we continued towards a supermarket parking lot with washing machines just before Seville. Wilma sat up front with me. Max Raabe was 'screaming' for us on the radio, and Wilma fell asleep. When we arrived in La Rinconada, we looked for the parking lot. We were alone there. Wilma was in an even worse mood after waking up. But it was already after 6 p.m. While Wilma was cuddling on my arm, trying to 'cope', Mathias sorted our laundry. We put Wilma to bed. Mathias started two machines. So we spent our evening washing, drying, folding, making phone calls, and so on. It was almost midnight when we went to bed. But we had been able to get everything done.
Little Sweden in the middle of Spain. (07.01. - 09.01.2020) Wilma woke up early. That was probably because our pitch was very loud. We snuggled a bit in bed. Then we had a small cereal for breakfast before we went shopping. Conveniently, the way there was not far. Wilma helped with the shopping. Giant sausages and more ended up in the shopping cart and back in the refrigeration counter. After we had everything on our shopping list, we wanted to drive a few kilometers to Seville and explore the city. In theory. After an hour of unsuccessful parking space search, we gave up. Drive out of the city frustrated. The visit is postponed to later. Then we are better prepared and prefer to park in a suburb and take public transport into the city. Now we are heading north. A little bit of mountains. Mathias had found a nice spot by a lake. When we arrived, we were greatly disappointed - it was nice... well, it was right next to the road and we couldn't see the lake. Nevertheless, we stopped. There were many seating options and we had breakfast for lunch. Wilma built a garden and we spent 2 hours in the sun. A few days ago, I had found a place by a lake. After the break, we headed there. Actually just around the corner. Well, it turned out to be an hour's drive. But what awaited us was worth the back and forth of the day. A lonely lake in the mountains of Andalusia. No one in sight. Except for a few free-roaming cows, goats, and even pigs. Utterly calm. It looks like Sweden. We explored the place. It enchanted us from the first second. Later in the afternoon, I took out my SUP and went for a ride. Mathias and Wilma went fishing. After dinner, we put Wilma to bed. Finally, we could look at the starry sky with her again. We even heard an owl.
We slept perfectly. Decided to stay longer here. We spent three days at this lake. Walked around the area, went SUPing, went fishing. Made a campfire, enjoyed the sun and the peace. We even had time for yoga. Wilma's highlight was discovering the echo. Every evening we tested if it still worked. Mathias' and my highlight was getting haircuts. Yes, yes ... in little Sweden, hair stylists come directly to your home, not. Mathias shaved outside the door. When he finished, he came back into the motorhome. Well, the beard was short but the sideburns were shaved up to the temples. He wanted to see if it looked better. No. It didn't. It turned out pretty bad. The end of this experiment meant - cutting the hair off. So for the first time in my life, I shaved someone's hair (mine) off. But it didn't get any better. In the meantime, he looked like he was molting, then he looked like Brother Jacob, and in the end, he looked like he had gone through a delousing 'treatment'. Wilma and I decided not to attempt cutting our hair. Unfortunately, we had to leave our beautiful spot the next day. Water was used up, the two toilet cassettes and the water tank were full. What a shame.
Thick clouds in paradise. (10.01.2020) We packed everything up and wanted to leave after lunch to empty and refill. Unfortunately, there was a small incident. Wilma tumbled down from her nursery to the bottom. A huge shock for us. Thank goodness it looked worse than it was. She had bitten her cheek when she fell and it was bleeding a little. We cooled it, comforted her, and stroked her. We blamed ourselves for not watching her closely enough and argued. Of course, that didn't help with comforting. In the end, not only Wilma, but also Mathias and I were crying. The day started badly and unfortunately ended badly too. Our goal today was to find a gas station to refill the gas. Then we needed a place with service facilities. We drove through mountains and beautiful landscapes. The mood calmed down briefly. Finding a gas station took a little longer again. Then we found one. Wilma had fallen asleep in the meantime and woke up. Unfortunately, she had wet herself, so I took care of the child while Mathias filled the gas bottle. We continued driving without a destination in mind. Each of us thought the other had already taken care of it. The argument continued. Mathias stubbornly looked for a place and gave me the phone. So we drove silently until we reached this place. Valverde del Camino was our overnight spot. It was already well filled with motorhomes and not in a nice location at all. Right on the main road. Nevertheless, we stayed. Emptied and refilled. Then we went for a walk in the town in search of a bakery. Besides our arguments, we were now also hungry. Hunger makes some people even angrier. Great mood. What we saw of Valverde del Camino was quite nice. We even found a small playground for Wilma. However, the bakery we wanted to visit was closed. A few meters further, there was a supermarket. Here, we bought a few small things. Just as a side note - the supermarket was great. A paradise for fish fans. After a few cookies, the mood improved a bit and we went back to the motorhome. Made dinner. Then a large tour bus parked next to us. We noticed that the two reserved bus parking spaces (one of which we were on) were apparently needed after all. So we quickly moved before we were knocked on at night and had to leave. We went to bed quietly. But it was not quiet around us. Dogs barking, motorcycles rushing, cars driving, and more motorhomes arriving. One of them seemed to have a small suspension problem and squeaked horribly with every movement of the owner. It was a restless night.
From the mountains to the sea. (11.01.2020) None of us slept well. Today is the weekend and there are rolls. Yeah! Rolls in Spain - not yeah. But never mind. We make ourselves comfortable with these rolls too. The mood is clouded. I'm still not in a good mood. Mathias tries to forget about yesterday and just move on as if nothing had happened. Then Wilma and Mathias give me some peace and quiet. They go to the supermarket again. Mathias wanted to cook a paella and needed something else. We also needed water, which we forgot yesterday. I took care of the motorhome. Normally not my task. Today, I wanted to see if I can do it too. I emptied the tank, filled our water canisters, and cleaned/emptied the toilet. Not difficult at all. Mathias and Wilma came back as well. So we just had to store the groceries and we could leave. The goal was the beach. We had chosen a nice spot right on the beach. Mathias drove and Wilma and I looked out. Played 'I spy with my little eye'. Looked for animals, and after an hour, we reached our spot. The drive to the spot alone was spectacular. We drove straight towards the Atlantic Ocean. After a small detour because we missed the entrance, we had arrived. Only one Spanish camper was here. We settled in. From our windows, we could see the Atlantic Ocean, and the path to the beach was just a stone's throw away. Another great spot. In nature and hardly any people. We decided to stay here until our water supplies and cassettes allowed us. Wilma and I went to the beach. We had perfect weather as in the previous days. Mathias had lunch. Wilma played freely in the sand and dunes. Even her little kitchen was allowed to enjoy the Spanish seaside air. We enjoyed the sun, made phone calls back home, and let the day come to an end outside.
Summer feeling and bathing day with Dad. (12.01.2020) In the morning, it is still quite cool. However, since we usually don't leave the 'house' before 12 o'clock, we don't notice it much. The sun was blazing and the sky was bright blue. Even though the few Spaniards around us showcased their winter clothes, I took out my bikini. At least the top, and played with Wilma on the beach. Wilma loved the dunes. She hopped and jumped around. Played 'apartment' and showed me her living room, kitchen, bathroom, terrace, stable, and more. It's nice to see that she doesn't need anything and develops imagination to play with the things around her. Sometimes it's a dog, a cat, a ball, or a vegetable soup. Often it's ice cream. Mathias was busy with the paella. We had lunch around 1:30 p.m. I had never eaten paella before. It tasted very good. The mixture of fish, seafood, chicken, sausage, rice, and vegetables is really good. We were proud of Dad/Mathias. After lunch, we went back to the beach. Wilma was wearing her wetsuit so she could play in the water too. Mathias was so hot that he felt like jumping into the water. It was really warm and the water temperature was about 15 degrees Celsius. I didn't feel like swimming yet. Mathias went in alone. Wilma didn't want to at first. But then she couldn't be stopped anymore. Mathias had to go into the water three more times with Wilma. Wilma had fun and Dad did too. We spent the day at the beach.
Let's see how long we will stay here. The weather forecast is a bit mixed. But no reason to 'flee'. Recently, we have also been thinking about whether we will go to Portugal. The places are all subject to fees and the reviews are not so good. The weather for Portugal shows rain. Furthermore, in a few days, we will meet Pablo again. Our health insurance cards, which we have been waiting for for a while, have arrived. Pablo and Lene have also received a package with a gas adapter for Spain and a French gas adapter for Morocco. Actually, we didn't plan on going to Morocco. We have too much respect for this foreign country. But our curiosity is greater. We want to get to know Morocco. Experience the country and its people. So, in February, we will probably make a detour. But for now, we continue to enjoy our beautiful spot on the Atlantic Ocean.
