After 4 good summer months back home in Copenhagen, I am back on the road. Karvans was finishing up the engine rebuilt as the spanish coronavirus restrictions were lifted.

Since my last post, I experienced the start of the lockdown in a parking lot in Famara in Lanzarote, and as a consequence decided to go home and wait it out.

I might do a retrospective post on that and a few other things from the Canaries, but for now I just wanted to activate the blog again. If not, see Experiencing the spanish lockdown by Jakob, where I am also featured, for pictures of the parking lot that I will remember forever.

Seville to Asturias

After flying to an spending a lovely day in a very nice hotel in Seville, I went straight to Karvans to pick up the van. It was great meeting the guys there that I had only spoken to on the phone. They gave me a thorough walkthrough of all the engine parts they had changed.

The main issue that required urgent fixing was a broken piston. But it turned out that there was lots of other things which were in bad condition.

Rusty exhaust pipes..

Molded tubes..

Bent rods (with marks that indicated it was attempted straightened out with a hammer..)

Crankshaft bearing which is supposed to have a smooth surface.

And lots of other things! I will dedicate a separate page to the engine rebuilt.

After more than 4 months I was back in the van. It is exciting to have a rebuilt engine, and so far it has been performing smooth and very well.

The weather in Andalucía this time of year is insanely hot. I drove to the nearest lake to spend the first night.

Forecast for the week.. Almost too much!

The next day I drove to El Palmar near Cadiz, where I have spend many summer beach days when I was younger. One of my favorite beaches ever, though this photo does not do it justice.

The beach was absolutely packed with spanish vacationers, but I managed to find a cozy parking spot close to the water to spend a few days.

Got some provisions and the first watermelon of the trip.

Once I had enough of the heat and crowded beach I began my journey north. Apparently, when you set google maps to avoid highways, it leads you right through the center of Seville. Lucky for me it was sunday and siesta time.

After Seville I stopped at a lake, where some families were cooling off.

While swimming in the lake, I spotted this castle that called out to me.

After a long dirt road I made it to the castle. Palacio de Parladé is a private property built in medieval style. Beautiful.

The next day I decided to make a stop in Trujillo.

Driving into town I was met with a great view of this (real) old castle.

The region of Extremadura is an excellent place for melons, so I decided to buy some provisions for the road here.

Watermelons! I had been wanting to buy some on the road, and this supermarket was great.

After getting groceries I walked the historic city center and inside the castle walls of the city.

I was surprised by how beautiful and quite it was. A great experience.

Great overview of the land to efficiently defend the kingdom.

I bet it’s also nice inside.

After Trujillo I drove on towards San Esteban de la Sierra and our family house there. I had to unexpectedly spend the night in this little nice hotel on the way due to a loose hose clamp, which caused fuel to leak on the way from the tank to the engine.

Luckily Carlos took very good care of me, he both towed the car in the evening and fixed it early next morning so I could continue straight away.

As I neared San Esteban I drove straight to our favorite bathing spot in the area. El Pielago, a natural river pool. Very refreshing as always.

It was great to make it to the village and the house. Everything was in order even though it has been empty for a while longer than usual due to travel restrictions.

The watermelon from Trujillo delivered.

A view of the village from one of the walking trails.

The football pitch where many good matches were had.

I spend nearly a week relaxing in the house and village, doing some minor maintenance with help from the local carpenter.

Curtains fixed on both sides of the house.

Lots of things are going on in the village. A lot of old houses have been renovated, there is a new restaurant, a public swimming pool being built and generally lots of people around. It has been a while since I was there last, so it was great to see the developments. The landscape is unchanged.

Even though it was nice to be in the house, I decided it was time to drive north as the Atlantic was starting to do something, and the wave forecast started to look good. I spent the night in a mountain pass on the road.

There was some little mining town nearby.

I hiked to the top of the hill to get a view of the surrounding mountain range.

The next day I arrived at Xago in Asturias. I did not expect waves that day already, so I was excited to be met with this view as I drove over the hill. I got in the water right away and had a great surf. The next day was great as well with a double session. The waves had a pretty good size, but it was easy to ride. Perfect conditions to get back in the water!

I got a beachfront parking spot to spend a few days there. There were lots of surfers camping here. Many more than on Fuerteventura or Lanzarote.

With the roof elevated I could check the surf from my bed in the morning and during naps, which was nice. Xago was a perfect return to the surf after 4 months.