Arrival: Wednesday 11 October to 12 October

 Really pleasant ferry crossing. Calm, punctual and comfortable. It seems easy to while away nearly 24 hours. Nice meal in the restaurant although we must remember that the buffet is enough and we don’t need the main course option as well! We sleep well and enjoy a prolonged breakfast. The weather is not good: very grey and wet and the nearer we get to Santander the more relieved we are that we have decided not to head to the Picos. Heavy mist. We cannot even see them! A punctual disembarkation into the drizzle and we start our journey south in search of the sun. It is only 12 degrees! After a while the temperature does indeed start to rise and the scenery becomes more arid and there are fields of sunflowers going to seed. This feels promising. After a couple of hours the temperature outside is 28 degrees and we begin to feel like we’re on holiday. The roads are mostly empty and progress is good. We reach Salamanca 4 hours after we landed at Santander and it feels like a different country. Warm and dry. It’s nice to be returning to the campsite we visited last October but it is very busy. I am relieved that we booked and we have one of the few empty pitches. After making ourselves at home we have a quick dip in the fresh swimming pool before a shower, preprandials and then the customary first supper of Spag Bol! It’s still warm enough to be writing this outside at 9.45pm under our twinkling fairy lights.