Friday August 24 Ayegui, In the Navarra Region of Spain

August 24, 2018

Friday August 24 Ayegui, In the Navarra Region of Spain

Thierry and Valerie....enjoyed our time with them.

We have been in a number of different countries in Europe now and we always find the first week the hardest as we come to grips with understanding things like road signs, the language (a little), regions, shopping hours, eating out and supermarket shopping. It can be quite testing for awhile but know that by next week hopefully we will be more comfortable with life in Spain.
It was a very lazy morning after a rather late night. Thierry and Valerie went by scooter to another village about 30 minutes away where they heard there was to be a wine festival and to check out if we could park our motorhomes. But it wasn’t going to start until this evening so decided not to stay for it. While we waited for them to return I went for a walk into the village. Just fascinated me, the little streets with wall to wall housing. I didn’t know where I was going but knew there was a shop to buy bread, and eventually found a corner with some tables outside. Sure enough when I went in there were a few grocery items as well as bread behind the counter. I am really struggling with the language, at least in France I new a little bit but I had to use sign language to show what I needed. I have learnt gracias to say thank you, but must keep practicing and learning a lot more words. I think if you try to say something in Spanish they do appreciate it.
Said our goodbyes to Valerie and Thierry and look forward to catching up with them again on our way back through France. Had found a parking place and possible overnight stop about 30 minutes away at Olite. Needed to stop for fuel on our way, our first in Spain, and diesel is much cheaper than in France at €1.22. There was no paying by card at the pump so we started pumping, and I went inside to pay. The attendant then came out and took the nozzle from Ian and continued, asking us questions in Spanish. Had no idea what she wanted but eventually told her we wanted to fill it up. Not sure yet if we need to get someone to pump our fuel but guess we will learn. I smiled a lot and said gracias and she smiled back, so guess all was well.
Parked in the town and the car park was really dusty. After some lunch in the van we went exploring and visited the Kings Royal Palace of Olite, and as a couple of oldies it only cost €2 each!!! It was built in the early 1400’s and was considered one of the most palatial palaces in the whole of Europe. The king had a collection of exotic animals including lions, buffalos, camels and wolves that were kept within the castle. The mulberry tree in the centre is protected and evidently at least 300 years old, but rumoured to have been planted 600 years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
Wandered through the streets but everything was shut, including all the wine stores. This is an important wine growing region and we were keen to sample a few. Arrived back at the van, the wind was blowing as was the dust, not a good place to spend the night. A quick look on Park4night and found what looked to be a good spot about 45 minutes away at Ayegui. It was a great drive across through arable cropping interspersed with massive dairy feedlot farms. The lad thoroughly enjoyed the drive.
Well we have fallen on our feet, this is a superb campspot, €4 a night which includes dumping and filling with water. Across the road is a monastery…and a winery!!!! It is very peaceful. Think we will stay the weekend although will have to drive to the nearby town tomorrow and do our first Spanish supermarket shop. Will be interesting.