Good morning friends, followers and fellow moho tribe. Hope this Sunday finds you all fine and dandy. We’ve just done a few hundred miles down the middle of Spain, bypassing Salamanca, stopping at Tordesillas for a spot of lunch, and made it to Caceres before teatime. Good result, no sat nav issues, even got some tunes out of the radio amidst the hundred mile an hour Spanish babble. The roads on this route are fast and straightforward. Sunday is a good day to drive as there are no lorries to contend with.

We are returning to Caceres for another look. It is the main filming location of ‘Game of Thrones’ (like I would know, I’ve never seen a single episode!). We’ve covered if before, briefly. Check out the previous heading. Our travelling buddies rave on about it so we thought it was worth another go. Last time was a flying visit and we stayed on the Aire in the middle of town. The spaces are simply not big enough so Motorhomes tend to hog two bays. It therefore gets full very quickly. We had to park further up the Carpark in a coach bay on that occasion so we couldn’t settle (that’s the ‘royal we’, Mark would be fine parked in the middle of a city centre roundabout). We knew we would have to be away by 7.30am next morning though to make room for the college buses. Not ideal. We were taking no chances this time and and headed straight to the campsite recommended by our friends, Camping Caceres. It’s on the edge of town next to the football stadium. The bus goes from the site entrance. It’s very regular. It runs until late and is only €1.10 each way. Excellent service. The site is great too. Each pitch has its own little building housing a shower and toilet. It has a pool and a bar/restaurant and a good laundry. Much better dryers, amen to that (fluffy bedding thought bubbles already 🤗). We paid €18 per night with ACSI.

So glad we decided to come back here. It was all so much more enjoyable when we could actually relax. It’s a handsome City, much bigger than I realised. It’s main attraction is definitely the old walled town. The architecture, a combination of Gothic and Renaissance, just blows you away. The historic walled town, ‘Cuidad Monumental’ was originally founded by the Romans. The cobbled, medieval streets leading steeply up hill, (don’t wear your heels girls), with their fortified houses and palaces, are encircled by huge, impenetrable, 12th century Moorish walls. It’s all incredibly well preserved. There are 30 towers in total, most of them crowned by messy Storks nests. It’s hard to get your head around how it all could have been built back in the day without modern construction machinery. You have to constantly crane your neck to take in the massiveness of it. At the top is the impressive Cathedral and Square of Santa Maria whilst down below, an attractive Plaza Mayor is accessed via the Roman arch, Arco de la Estrella. The square is lined with bars, restaurants and interesting little shops. We got to see the place at night this time too. We rarely get a night out in a City. It looks fabulous as the sun goes down, the old ochre coloured walls are silhouetted against a pinky gold sky. After dark it’s even more impressive with all the buildings lit up. We sat drinking wine and eating tapas in the square just taking in the atmosphere. A wonderful experience. Everyone should see this place. It’s very special.

As I mentioned above, a great deal of Game of Thrones was filmed here. You can certainly see why. I might have to start watching it, I feel a bit left out!!

I won’t bore you with loads more pictures as I’m sure I would just be repeating what I posted under the previous heading last tour. I would highly recommend Caceres and the campsite and make sure you have a night out here, it’s a whole different ball game in the evening. Also, take time to walk around the rest of the city. It’s a bit of a sprawl but there are some very reasonably priced and authentic places to eat and good shopping for the ladies (menfolk, just hand over the plastic and go sit it out in the square with a beer!!).

We’ve bought locally produced wild boar chorizo at one of the traditional deli’s and some fabulous Moroccan saffron so tonight Im going to put it to good use. I haven’t shared a recipe in a while so here we go. Ive yet to give this dish a name, I’m working on it. I’m thinking Arroz Moro ‘Moorish Rice’ Yes or no? Let me know what you think. Ok, so, to feed 2, you need :-

A mug full of cooked and rinsed basmati type rice , not paella rice on this occasion, it needs to be firmer. Skinned chorizo cut into rings. One chicken breast. Large prawns, king prawns work well, I use 4 per person. Sliced coloured peppers, black pitted olives, about 4 small waxy potatoes, a decent handful of chopped cherry or small plum tomatoes, a pinch of saffron, smoked paprika, garlic and chopped parsley.

Now I’m doing the whole thing in a Remoska. You guys at home could do things a lot quicker with two pans on the go at once. Heat a good splash of olive oil with a pinch of sea salt and brown off the chorizo in it. Add the chopped chicken, chopped garlic and paprika. Cook through but be careful not to over cook. Remove and set aside leaving the flavoured oil in the pan. Cook the sliced potatoes in it until softened and starting to brown. Remove those also. Put the tomatoes in, add a little more oil, a tablespoon of tomato purée and a generous glug of red wine. When turning to a juicy pulp, sprinkle in the saffron and add the raw prawns. Cook for a minute or two until the prawns are starting to pink, stir in the peppers and reintroduce the other ingredients. Make sure everything is warmed through then stir in the, olives, rice and parsley. Once everything is coated in rich sauciness and heated thoroughly, serve with a chunk of lemon and some garlic mayonnaise. Crusty French bread works well. I’m showing off though as I’ve baked paprika Focaccia. Get me! Bloody domestic goddess innit! Hope you enjoy. Don’t forget to swill it down with copious amounts of good Rioja. We even have Spanish music. We bought a CD in Tordesillas from some random guy playing guitar in the street. Wadders felt a bit sorry for him so he parted with ten Euros. It’s pretty naff but sounds amazing when you’ve had a few, I can see my castanets coming out at this rate, don’t get me started 💃!

Ok, signing out now folks. We’ve had 3 nights here and enjoyed every minute. Tomorrow will see us over yet another border and into Portugal. Hope you follow us on down there!

Have a great evening. Love to you all.

Buenas Noches mid amigos ❤️