We awake to look across to Morella on Tuesday, 28 February and decide to drive over to park in the town for breakfast and a brief wander around, given it’s still sub-zero and extremely windy! The streets of the walled town wind up towards the castle, a fortification since the time of the Greeks and Carthaginians to the Romans and Moors.
There’s so much more to discover, but it was too cold and we took refuge in a busy cafe for breakfast and visited the Church of Santa Maria de la Major with a remarkable spiral staircase to the choir and fantastic altarpiece. Leaving at noon, the weather still looked pretty poor north of here so we took another scenic route up over the Puente de Torre Miro, 1204m, and back towards the coast. We were in search of LPG, seemingly sold in fewer garages hereabouts – but essential since it’s still really cold and we don’t want to run out of gas.
We finally find fuel at Amposta on the Ebre Delta and although we’ve driven 124 miles, we realise we’re no further north than yesterday! However, the weather’s warmed up and we find an excellent place to stay on the beach in the Ebre Natural Park with a bird reserve in walking distance. The parking area seems to be free of charge and we’re tempted to stay longer. After a lovely bike ride exploring the Delta on Wednesday, 1 March we treat ourselves to lunch at the Restaurant La Casa de Fusta, next to the parking area. It’s a Catalan Arrocería and our friendly waiter is most helpful in guiding us through the menu choices as well as giving us some interesting linguistic help with the difference between Spanish and Catalan.
Apart from the LPG, we’re in quite urgent need of laundry facilities, so tear ourselves away from the beach parking to drive towards Barcelona in search of washing machines and a drier. As dusk falls, we’re made most welcome at the huge campsite near the airport, Estrella del Mar. Not sure where the sea is – the place is like a small housing estate of tents, bungalows, awnings, caravans and motorhomes – not really our style. However, it’s open at 1900 when we arrive, only charges €21 and does have a laundry. We do two washing machine loads, bringing everything back to the van at 2200, hoping it will dry overnight without making too much condensation. We’ve only done another 107 miles today, but will be at the French border in the morning with a full tank of LPG and all the washing done. We’ve also just hit 3,000 miles from home.