Our main reason for returning here was to say hello to Sven and Maria, the Swedish couple we met here last year. They over-winter here in their enormous battleship grey bus - Sven's 'pension-projekt'. It's an impressive self-build, complete with an IKEA adapted kitchen. We were just exiting the camping reception when Maria happened to pass by on her bike. Given our mostly solitary existence it was wonderful to be greeted with a big hug.
There was an empty pitch next to the 'Buzz' so we parked next to Sven and Maria. Our original plan had been to visit them in Sweden last Spring, but the weather in England in March and April had been so cold we chickened-out of a Scananvian trip and headed south. In the event this proved to be the wrong decision, Sweden basked in Mediterranean heat and Corsica felt a tad Nordic. 'Next Spring we will visit you,' we promised them.
We stayed five nights in Isla Christina, though we did not really do much other than clean up the van and catch-up with washing bedding and towels. We like this small town and the camp site on the outskirts. Though an easy bike ride into town, the site itself is in a forest next to the broad estuary. I can see why people choose to over-winter here. The campsite management are friendly and welcoming, the facilities, though a little old, serviceable and clean. Most importantly it is relaxed, and not given to the strange competitive attitudes and overt status anxiety that typifies many long stay sites. Partly it's to do with the town itself, though it has a lovely big beach and way-marked walks through the pines behind the dunes, Isla Christina is not really a resort, it's a big tuna fishing port, a workaday kind of place, unpretentious and practical. I think it appeals to visitors who share the same values.
Sometimes we wonder about what it would be like to spend a month or more in one place. It would only work if you were prepared to become part of the campsite community. Most of the long-stay sites arrange activities - yoga classes, Spanish lessons, paella parties and so on. Since we don't really join in activities when we are home, I cannot see us doing it abroad, though learning a language in-situ would be a worthwhile thing. For the moment at least I think our wandering winter travels will continue. We are not old enough yet to settle down.
The mixed weather continues, chiily sunshine punctuated by chunky showers. Camping Giralda's sandy ground is becoming very puddly. All this rain has had a magical effect in the woods. The bare sun-baked ground from summer has suddenly greened. It's like an instant spring before winter, not just grasses sprouting but small flowers too. We saw something similar in the Peloponnese in November 2015 after a period of rain.
All things considered it' has been good to be back in Spain, apart from anything else we had run out of Mercadona crunchy muesli which is a bit of an existential crisis so far as we are concerned. Portugal's Pingu Doce chain tries to compete, even stocking hummus, but it's inferior to the kind you get in Mercadona. Aside from the supermarkets the roads are better, all things considered it's the least stressful place to live in a motorhome in Europe. Not that we travel to avoid stress, otherwise we would never have spent months in Italy or driven around the M25. Sometimes you need simplicity to recharge you and your motorhome's batteries. Five nights in Isla Cristina did the trick.
We will always will remember Sven an Maria's kindness, and the 'Angelina stew' that they cooked for us, named after one of Camping Girelda's staff who offers Spanish cookery lessons. So it was with a tinge of regret that we waved goodbye to them both and headed for Sevilla, but we are wanderers at heart, so off we went.
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