Rain, Sun, Wind and Snow

 Barcelona to Albarracin Orihuela del Tremadal

13-14 Feb 2026

Friday has arrived, and it was time to say goodbye to Barcelona – until we visit again on our way home in June. Our McRent Taxi driver showed up at 10.30 and helped us with our luggage – which had grown as we had begun to acquire some of the “things” needed for the motorhome (food, water etc.).  It was raining… and as we passed Montserrat it was cradled in mist – so it’s good that we got to visit their on the previous day… although as a result of the cold we experienced that day… our throats were feeling a bit “scratchy” (nurse’s technical term). To cover the last 500m to  McRent Barcelona (in a business with a 15 year relationship with Dethleffs/ McRent) – we found ourselves being driven down a slightly muddy farm-like track…to a set of somewhat ramshackle looking buildings.   The customer toilet  was in a farm shed some distance from the office – and looked like it had not been cleaned in 5 years! In visiting said shed, I passed their “preparation area” – which looked like a dump that would have made Steptoe proud (if you recall that famous TV show!). After being signed up – we moved on to receive our Sunlight V60 Motorhome. We knew it was a “compact”… but the reality left an impression!  And the rain continued to come down… as we loaded up our belongings. Oh and the gear lever was to the right of the driver, and on top was a letter “R” and 6 numbers! A real vehicle to “drive”… though on a few occasions – I did forget to change the numbers… until the effect of not doing so became obvious. We moved onto the nearest supermarket to complete our initial requirements (salt and pepper remain outstanding).

Our first stop would be in Tarragona – which has a well preserved Roman Amphitheatre – as well as other fortifications. The Campsite (Camping Trillas) was the only one open in the area (the others being closed till March or even April). It was a good place to start – a few hundred metres from the Mediterranean Beach, an old Fortification, including a watchtower built in the 11^th Century. We walked up the hill that the camp was on (to see what we could see)… and walked down again – more training.

The following morning we set out to visit the Roman Ruins – and it was at this point that the compact size of Baby Fiat (BF!) – became evident. We could fit into a car park much like a largish car… You will see “us” in one of the photos here…

Again – being aged had its advantages – a 50% discount on entry. And on the day (Saturday) their was a demonstration of gladiator skills in a “gladiator training school”.  This amphitheatre had seen the burning of Christians, among other things… but as the years passed, a Church was built over the site.

This was to be a long day, as we were heading for Albarracin (around 350km) on national roads – a scenic route.  The forecast (windy) was well validated, with lots of heavy gusts. Interestingly, MF did not mind them much – so I assume that it has the software on board that allows it to use the ABS system to correct for the effect of wind gusts. And, while there is little road noise (no chip seal here!), there are a few rattles that travel with us!

The main impressions from this drive were that Spain is an “old” country, many lives have helped shape the landscape down through the ages, and for some – the  only evidence of their presence is seen in buildings that lie ruined along the way.  Also – the villages often looked like they have been designed by a painter – they appear so harmonious, and congruous with the landscape in which they stand.  Perhaps this sense is because we see so many paintings of these beautiful pieces of architecture? 

Aragon left us with impressions of broad vistas of table lands as well as mountains… and evidence everywhere of what we assume is sedimentary geology… with many layers and an almost brick like appearance in the road cuttings.

Remember – double clicking on an image in the blog will give you a higher resolution picture.

At Caminreal, where we filled with Diesel – it was hard to stand up in the wind, and the place had the appearance of Waiouru – but even more desolate… and a pile of scrapped cars that looked like something from a Star Wars movie (recall the trash collectors from Part ?). The day was drawing to a close as we reached what I (Michael) thought should be our booked campsite… and by now it was snowing – as we were quite high up in the Sierra Albarracin at this point.  But… my mistake… the TomTom would not accept the campsite address in Albarracin – but it did seem to come up as a POI for Albarracin – so that was where we headed… except it wasn’t in Albarracin – it was in Orihuela del Tremedal… and it was now nearly dark, was snowing, and to get to our real campsite meant another 45 minutes, over what turned out to be even higher altitude roads. We started out… but pretty soon more white stuff was falling, and the roads had become “white”, so we did a Donald Trump… and Chickened Out. Back in Orihuela we were the only motorhome in the civic motorhome parking area… and it was freezing.  But the Truma heating did the job of keeping us warm. The training step counter added another 12,000 steps across these two days.

As regards Albarracin… that is tomorrow’s story.




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