Very unique houses in Costa Nova. They told me when I visited that they painted them that way to welcome the fisherman home after their journey at sea. No more Juju... Sending Good Vibes 🤟
Hi .! Alison here. I'm just squeamish. I feel really guilty and struggle to eat anything that is looking at me. The sardines were really tasty though. I hope you weren't offended. Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@module79l28 Glad you weren't offended We definitely did. 🤣 The lady at the bar looked like I had asked for a side portion of 💩, but they guy grilling couldn't have been lovelier about it. 🤣💜🤟
Well safe to say I think your motorhome adventure getting stuck down impossible roads that google decided was the best route, is a tale most of us can relate to - even us in our wee van! Google does it all the time, especially in the UK 😂🤦♂️ I frequently have to realign her in advance now when she takes us off a main road because it's 3 minutes quicker, even though it's nearly always longer because her chosen path ends up being a pot-hole ridden, narrow country lane. You constantly have to keep an eye on it on long trips! Anyway, glad you escaped, that looked horrendous and stressful! Coimbra seems lovely, a shame you couldn't film in the library though. We're finding that a LOT in Germany. I could eat a grilled sardine now 😋 Tinned sardines are a staple in the van for me (Dan) - cheap and easy to store. The Atlantic is definitely much rougher than the Med side, but we really enjoyed the couple of times we had a dip in the choppy waves there, it was good fun, if a bit scary. I think you'd love Comporta, a great aire there too. Safe travels guys hope you're both well ❤🤟
Hey guys..! Google is the bane of our life at the moment and we concur with the potholed, narrow, windy (but beautiful) roads. 🤷🏼♀️ Problem is that she knows us too well and wants us to see all these obscure, random and stunning villages that no-one in their right mind would drive too...🤣 Sardines (or Pilchards) in tomato sauce on toast is the tops. Shame we don't have a grill. We use the frying pan, but it's not quite the same. 🫤 Coimbra was lovely and the library was extraordinary, but I guess they think that people won't visit if there are too many photos out there...🤷🏼♀️ Comporta is on our list. We are directly east of there at the moment and headed there next. We're hoping it's going to be like Praia da Lagoa de Albufeira, where we were last week. Amazing place, even though it was rediculously peopley. Hope you've got good weather. Enjoy your trip guys and safe travels. Much love 😘🥰💜🤟
@findingxanadulife sardines or pilchards on toast, now you're talking 😋 Miraculously, we do have a grill under the hobs that we've used on occasion but it's a bit fiddly. The thing about Comporta is the beach was so so big you could easily find a stretch all to yourself. This was in April last year though, but hopefully you'll still be okay. It was glorious when we went - such beautiful sand and the free aire (I think it was free) was the icing on the cake. Safe travels both ❤️
Love your videos, also wanted to ask if you recommend the area you chose to live in Spain before you started motorhome life? My family and I are looking at Gandia , Oliva… don’t know your back story of how you ended up there but maybe I need to watch your very first videos :) love the Portugal videos, that would be our second choice so perfect!
Hi..! We moved to the area to be near to Darren's dad (Who has since passed away) who lived in Javea. We loved our village/area and would recommend it, but it depends what you want/need from a home region. We didn't want to be in a big town, but wanted to be close enough to one if we needed it. We wanted to be close to the beach and the mountains and loved the orange groves. Potríes gave us the best of all worlds and we seemed to be drawn there, stopping each time we were driving past. We ended up parking the car and walking the village looking for houses for sale, seeing if they had outdoor space on Google maps and found our home that way. We had already viewed 2 similar properties in the village. Our early videos, the first 10-11 months of the channel, were all in and around the Valencia region. Visits that we could do within an 1½ hours drive of home. We could have made many more in the region too. What are your needs/wants for a home base..?? Thank-you so much for your comment. Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife Thanks for your helpful reply! Yes I’ve been watching some of your videos from the region. I come from a large city, but a few years back ended up in a town of a similar size to Gandia so came to like the smaller town as long as I can go to a city to get my fix every so often…we absolutely want to be near the ocean but not on it, would love to eventually have a house with a sea view of some kind! We love the outdoors and being in nature so mountains and ocean would be perfect for us! So we thought Gandia and surrounding areas because it seems to have both and also near enough to Valencia, we will come on a visit after the summer to get a better feel. We want to be in a warmer climate but also enjoy the Spanish lifestyle and the people, I’m currently learning Spanish.
Well, if you like it warm, the Safor Valley runs inland behind Gandía and once we had moved in, we discovered that it has it's own microclimate and is routinely 5°c warmer than the majority of the surrounding area. The beach along the coastline there, must run for 30kms or more, all white sand beach. The beach at Gandía is impeccably kept and swept between 5-8am every day. The beach continues all the way along the coastline, merely changing the name of the beach when it gets to a different town. Our favourite is at TerraNova, near Oliva, as it is gently shelving, very clear water and has a small bay area where the waves are usually a lot smaller. We will be back in our home area by the end of August for the fiestas.🥳🎉🎊🎆🎇 The old town of Oliva has quite a bad reputation, so ask around, rather than believing everything estate agents say. Also check any potential home on the Cadastral register, to make sure it is legal for habitation and that it's described truthfully. There are still a lot of illegal properties in the area. We are sure you'll find your perfect home.😘💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife thank you so much for all the information! Good to know. Especially about the properties as we had heard about that, and about the old town of Oliva. But we were not sure how true it was. We think we’d rather stick to other places but I’m a little picky as I’d love a house with views! I would consider Denia/Jávea for the views I’ve seen but as it’s smaller and further away from Valencia I feel we may find it too quiet. Thanks for replying it all helps especially as I’m a bit of a planner and need lots to go on. :)
The Denia/Jávea area is completely different to the Gandía/Oliva área. If you like eating at 'British' times of the day, I.E. before 9pm, look to Denia/Jávea. They are more geared to British tourism. Most places will have an English menu available and at least one person that speaks English.. Whereas Gandía especially, is a popular place for other Spaniards to holiday. As such most restaurants don't open until 8.30-9pm in the evenings, as that is when the Spanish prefer to eat. Also the menus are more likely to be in what we call Spanish (Castilliano) and Valenciano. Less people speak English too. The distance between the 2 areas isn't massive in Kms, but is bigger in cultural differences. 💜🤟
They certainly have Paulette..! It wasn't the first time Google had conspired against us and I'm sure it won't be the last. Still, we got there in the end. 🥴 Much love 💜🤟
Nice! Those houses in Costa Nova are traditional fishermen houses. Don't say: "Gracias"! I belieave in UK people would undestand: "Merci", but it's nice to make an effort. Say: "Obrigado" if you are a man, and: "Obrigada" if you are a woman.
Hi Rui..! Thanks for telling us about the fisherman's houses. Are there more villages that have the striped theme..? Or is it just the full tile that is traditional..?!? We're getting better at saying thanks in Portuguese now. Unfortunately we have a habit of falling back into speaking Spanish. We did it all through France too, then kept saying Merci when we got back to Spain..🤣 Muito obrigada for your comment..! Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
As a matter of fact, it was the first time I saw stripes in tiles 😀 in such a town. Traditionally this houses are made of wood from fishermen old boats. You can see them, in some places in our coast, but nothing like in Costa Nova! Did you visit Aveiro Center? Obrigado for your reply, enjoy.
Boa Tarde Rui. 😬 No we didn't. We intend to go back and see the colourful boats and bridges with the ribbons. Would you suggest that we add something else to our list of things to see..?!? 💜🤟
Amazing place mate. Another great vid guys. 😎
Thank-you Gareth. 💜🤟
Very unique houses in Costa Nova. They told me when I visited that they painted them that way to welcome the fisherman home after their journey at sea.
No more Juju... Sending Good Vibes 🤟
How lovely is that..?!? We love that. 😍
Thank-you so much for telling us..! 💜🤟
Nice video, enjoyed it❤
Thank-you so much Ohna..!
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
We, the portuguese, also don't eat the heads of the grilled sardines but man, it would be a sacrilege if we asked for headless sardines! 😆
Hi .! Alison here. I'm just squeamish. I feel really guilty and struggle to eat anything that is looking at me. The sardines were really tasty though. I hope you weren't offended.
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife - No offence taken but I bet you got some weird looks when you asked if he could remove the heads. 😄
@module79l28 Glad you weren't offended We definitely did. 🤣 The lady at the bar looked like I had asked for a side portion of 💩, but they guy grilling couldn't have been lovelier about it. 🤣💜🤟
Well safe to say I think your motorhome adventure getting stuck down impossible roads that google decided was the best route, is a tale most of us can relate to - even us in our wee van! Google does it all the time, especially in the UK 😂🤦♂️ I frequently have to realign her in advance now when she takes us off a main road because it's 3 minutes quicker, even though it's nearly always longer because her chosen path ends up being a pot-hole ridden, narrow country lane. You constantly have to keep an eye on it on long trips! Anyway, glad you escaped, that looked horrendous and stressful!
Coimbra seems lovely, a shame you couldn't film in the library though. We're finding that a LOT in Germany.
I could eat a grilled sardine now 😋 Tinned sardines are a staple in the van for me (Dan) - cheap and easy to store.
The Atlantic is definitely much rougher than the Med side, but we really enjoyed the couple of times we had a dip in the choppy waves there, it was good fun, if a bit scary. I think you'd love Comporta, a great aire there too.
Safe travels guys hope you're both well ❤🤟
Hey guys..!
Google is the bane of our life at the moment and we concur with the potholed, narrow, windy (but beautiful) roads. 🤷🏼♀️ Problem is that she knows us too well and wants us to see all these obscure, random and stunning villages that no-one in their right mind would drive too...🤣
Sardines (or Pilchards) in tomato sauce on toast is the tops. Shame we don't have a grill. We use the frying pan, but it's not quite the same. 🫤
Coimbra was lovely and the library was extraordinary, but I guess they think that people won't visit if there are too many photos out there...🤷🏼♀️
Comporta is on our list. We are directly east of there at the moment and headed there next.
We're hoping it's going to be like Praia da Lagoa de Albufeira, where we were last week. Amazing place, even though it was rediculously peopley.
Hope you've got good weather. Enjoy your trip guys and safe travels.
Much love 😘🥰💜🤟
@findingxanadulife sardines or pilchards on toast, now you're talking 😋 Miraculously, we do have a grill under the hobs that we've used on occasion but it's a bit fiddly.
The thing about Comporta is the beach was so so big you could easily find a stretch all to yourself. This was in April last year though, but hopefully you'll still be okay. It was glorious when we went - such beautiful sand and the free aire (I think it was free) was the icing on the cake. Safe travels both ❤️
Comporta sounds perfect. We can't wait to go back. 😘💜🤟
...so I need chocolate now 😅😅😅
Chocolate is the answer to every question Marcela. Also to every good and every bad situation. 🤣🤣🤣💜🤟
Love your videos, also wanted to ask if you recommend the area you chose to live in Spain before you started motorhome life? My family and I are looking at Gandia , Oliva… don’t know your back story of how you ended up there but maybe I need to watch your very first videos :) love the Portugal videos, that would be our second choice so perfect!
Hi..!
We moved to the area to be near to Darren's dad (Who has since passed away) who lived in Javea. We loved our village/area and would recommend it, but it depends what you want/need from a home region. We didn't want to be in a big town, but wanted to be close enough to one if we needed it. We wanted to be close to the beach and the mountains and loved the orange groves. Potríes gave us the best of all worlds and we seemed to be drawn there, stopping each time we were driving past. We ended up parking the car and walking the village looking for houses for sale, seeing if they had outdoor space on Google maps and found our home that way. We had already viewed 2 similar properties in the village. Our early videos, the first 10-11 months of the channel, were all in and around the Valencia region. Visits that we could do within an 1½ hours drive of home. We could have made many more in the region too.
What are your needs/wants for a home base..??
Thank-you so much for your comment.
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife Thanks for your helpful reply! Yes I’ve been watching some of your videos from the region. I come from a large city, but a few years back ended up in a town of a similar size to Gandia so came to like the smaller town as long as I can go to a city to get my fix every so often…we absolutely want to be near the ocean but not on it, would love to eventually have a house with a sea view of some kind! We love the outdoors and being in nature so mountains and ocean would be perfect for us!
So we thought Gandia and surrounding areas because it seems to have both and also near enough to Valencia, we will come on a visit after the summer to get a better feel. We want to be in a warmer climate but also enjoy the Spanish lifestyle and the people, I’m currently learning Spanish.
Well, if you like it warm, the Safor Valley runs inland behind Gandía and once we had moved in, we discovered that it has it's own microclimate and is routinely 5°c warmer than the majority of the surrounding area.
The beach along the coastline there, must run for 30kms or more, all white sand beach. The beach at Gandía is impeccably kept and swept between 5-8am every day. The beach continues all the way along the coastline, merely changing the name of the beach when it gets to a different town. Our favourite is at TerraNova, near Oliva, as it is gently shelving, very clear water and has a small bay area where the waves are usually a lot smaller. We will be back in our home area by the end of August for the fiestas.🥳🎉🎊🎆🎇
The old town of Oliva has quite a bad reputation, so ask around, rather than believing everything estate agents say. Also check any potential home on the Cadastral register, to make sure it is legal for habitation and that it's described truthfully. There are still a lot of illegal properties in the area. We are sure you'll find your perfect home.😘💜🤟
@@findingxanadulife thank you so much for all the information! Good to know. Especially about the properties as we had heard about that, and about the old town of Oliva. But we were not sure how true it was. We think we’d rather stick to other places but I’m a little picky as I’d love a house with views! I would consider Denia/Jávea for the views I’ve seen but as it’s smaller and further away from Valencia I feel we may find it too quiet. Thanks for replying it all helps especially as I’m a bit of a planner and need lots to go on. :)
The Denia/Jávea area is completely different to the Gandía/Oliva área. If you like eating at 'British' times of the day, I.E. before 9pm, look to Denia/Jávea. They are more geared to British tourism. Most places will have an English menu available and at least one person that speaks English..
Whereas Gandía especially, is a popular place for other Spaniards to holiday. As such most restaurants don't open until 8.30-9pm in the evenings, as that is when the Spanish prefer to eat. Also the menus are more likely to be in what we call Spanish (Castilliano) and Valenciano. Less people speak English too.
The distance between the 2 areas isn't massive in Kms, but is bigger in cultural differences. 💜🤟
AI, algorithms, Google, and a large vehicle all have conspired to make those roads less traveled a bit more difficult than you would want to traverse.
They certainly have Paulette..! It wasn't the first time Google had conspired against us and I'm sure it won't be the last. Still, we got there in the end. 🥴
Much love 💜🤟
Nice! Those houses in Costa Nova are traditional fishermen houses. Don't say: "Gracias"! I belieave in UK people would undestand: "Merci", but it's nice to make an effort. Say: "Obrigado" if you are a man, and: "Obrigada" if you are a woman.
Hi Rui..!
Thanks for telling us about the fisherman's houses. Are there more villages that have the striped theme..? Or is it just the full tile that is traditional..?!?
We're getting better at saying thanks in Portuguese now. Unfortunately we have a habit of falling back into speaking Spanish. We did it all through France too, then kept saying Merci when we got back to Spain..🤣
Muito obrigada for your comment..!
Much love Alison and Darren 💜🤟
As a matter of fact, it was the first time I saw stripes in tiles 😀 in such a town. Traditionally this houses are made of wood from fishermen old boats. You can see them, in some places in our coast, but nothing like in Costa Nova! Did you visit Aveiro Center? Obrigado for your reply, enjoy.
Boa Tarde Rui. 😬
No we didn't. We intend to go back and see the colourful boats and bridges with the ribbons. Would you suggest that we add something else to our list of things to see..?!? 💜🤟
Gracias , es una palabra internacional. La usan 600 millones de personas nativas y no nativas muchos millones más.😂
Obrigado, é uma palavra internacional é falada por 260 milhões de pessoas, mas mesmo que não fosse: "Em Roma sê Romano" Diga: Kiitos na Finlândia.