{"id":4086,"date":"2023-05-19T18:43:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T18:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=4086"},"modified":"2023-05-19T18:43:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T18:43:27","slug":"2-disaster-strikes-at-coffee-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=4086","title":{"rendered":"2. DISASTER STRIKES AT COFFEE TIME!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I move on here, I have been much criticised by my editor-in-chief for my brief comment about Chistmas “coming and going”.\u00a0 It actually came with much effort on everyone’s part.\u00a0 Two beautiful trees, Christmas decorations everywhere and heaps of presents.\u00a0 Linda and Robin put on a magnificent spread for 12 of us on Christmas Day.\u00a0 Fabulous!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So much other stuff happened.\u00a0 I really should have written about it at the time..\u00a0 but polymyalgia kind of took over!\u00a0 And I’m not going to do it now!<\/p>\n

So, back to Spain…<\/p>\n

On day three of our trip, we were sitting quietly minding our own business, when the caravan alarm suddenly burst into activity.\u00a0 And loud it was.\u00a0 VERY!\u00a0 For four hours!\u00a0 You have never seen a campsite empty so fast!\u00a0 We tried all the obvious things: caravan battery, mains power, alarm control fob, fuses etc.\u00a0 Then we got the technical experts at the Caravan Club involved.\u00a0 \u00a0Yes, yes, yes – done all that.\u00a0 Well, we were gradually introduced to the inner workings of the alarm system.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the end – and in desperation – we were advised to disconnect the internal battery.\u00a0 Cut the wires!\u00a0 But which ones?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There are 15 wires going in and out of the box!\u00a0 Even with the fuse out and the internal battery isolated the alarm kept going for another ten minutes.\u00a0 There appears to be a backup, backup battery on the mother board.\u00a0 All the while Glenda was trying to stuff earplugs in my ears!\u00a0 It was very noisy!<\/p>\n

We soon discovered, in the ensuing, piercing quiteness, that all the 12 volt electrics had gone on strike.\u00a0 No lights, no water pump, no toilet flusher and no clickers to light the gas systems.\u00a0 This went on for five days.\u00a0 We were sort of getting used to basic camping with a metal tent and comfy bed!\u00a0 On the positive side, we still had mains electricity – so the microwave worked.\u00a0 But the electric water heater didn’t – and that,\u00a0 failing, just might have been the root cause of all the other problems.<\/p>\n

Eventually, and with little hope of success, we gave in and persuaded the local caravan dealers in Santander to come to site and have a look.\u00a0 Hugo (let’s call him that) spent two hours dismantling anything vaguely connected to electricity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All the while talking animatedly, and loudly, in Spanish.\u00a0 Either to himself, the Caravan Club techies, his boss or to me (more or less pointlessly).\u00a0 Anyway, after two hours he found a wire (red and green, i think) that might have had a poor connection.\u00a0 Then with the alarm fuse re-inserted, we were back in 12 volt wonderland.\u00a0 Everything sprang back to life. \u20ac174.20 well spent!<\/p>\n

Enough disaster!\u00a0 We are still smiling!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now able to concentrate on holidaying, we walked the beaches of Comillas, Ombreya and San Vincente.\u00a0 At low tide these three beaches gave eight miles (in total) of almost deserted walking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We found some super small restaurants.\u00a0 \u00a0The renamed Ciclo in Ruente (last time we were here it was called La Ventusta!) and, especially, La Taberna de Valle near Cabu\u00e9rniga.\u00a0 Three courses, bread, water and a bottle of wine for \u20ac14.\u00a0 Not at all a bad price – and the food and the views were brilliant!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another day we splashed out at La Ostreria at the mouth of the Rio del Escudo at San Vincente.\u00a0 Prime location!\u00a0 It looked like were on a cruise!\u00a0 Very nice meal – avoiding all oysters (with difficulty as they featured in most dishes – the clue is in the restaurant’s name!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We visited Santillana del Mar, a village of many ancient, local-style houses and heaps of tourists.\u00a0 (Pretty, but I wouldn’t want to be here in Summer!)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Santa Juliana (11th century church) and the communal laundry and cannabis exchange depot in front of the church.<\/p>\n

Another day we drove a little way west to Colombres.\u00a0 The Picos mountains still have snow on top.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But the weather is changing.\u00a0 Two weeks of wet weather is forecast (you may notice how nice and green everywhere is!).\u00a0 The awning comes down in two stages between heavy showers and we are ready to move.\u00a0 Glenda wants to go south, I’m all for not making the drive home any longer than necessary – so we are off to France.\u00a0 Say goodbye to the superbly clean showers, the cheap coffees (ca \u20ac1.50) and the (relatively) cheap diesel (\u20ac1.25 per litre.)\u00a0 Say hello to the land where we have a fighting chance of communicating with the locals!<\/p>\n

To be continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I move on here, I have been much criticised by my editor-in-chief for my brief comment about Chistmas “coming and going”.\u00a0 It actually came with much effort on everyone’s part.\u00a0 Two beautiful trees, Christmas decorations everywhere and heaps of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain-and-france","category-travels-in-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4086"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4107,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4086\/revisions\/4107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}