Fast waters

Storyline:  2026 Winter: Portugal and Spain

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Trains, storms, Calima… and then a war! A short summary of our numerous adventures on this trip.

(We’ve been home for about a month, but life got in the way)

Prelude

If you have to choose between extreme cold and rain so heavy that rivers are overflowing their banks and creating chaos in the cities, villages and farmland, what would you chose?

That’s how our story unfolded. Although our trip was planned long before the unusually brutal winter in Canada began, the first significant (over 5 cm) snowfall at the beginning of November left us longing for the warm and sunny weather we’ve been experiencing the last three winters in Portugal and Spain.

We had a return flight to Lisbon and two months to tour around the Iberian Peninsula.

A week in Tavira Portugal, a few days in Sevilla (been there).

A week in Granada,

a week in Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon,

enough time in Logroño, the capital of the wine region La Rioja,

then moving to the Basque Region, with a few days in expensive San Sebastian (Donosita in Basque),

and a week in Bilbao.

From there we go to the capital of Cantabria, Santander

and onwards to Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. To the west Asturias borders Galicia. We loved Vigo in Galicia last year and intend to spend 4 days in A Coruña, a short hop to Vigo via Santiago de Compostela, famous for its eponymous Camino. From there we’d cross the Portuguese border and spend 6 days in Braga and Northen Portugal, explore the region, and take a train to Lisbon for the flight home. This was the plan, but…

Thu, Feb 5, Zaragoza

It’s almost a month since we flew to Lisbon on Mon, Jan 12 leaving extremely cold and snowy Ontario for what other winters have been a sunny and warm Iberian Peninsula. It is our fourth winter here. Glad we covered many parts of Portugal and Andalusia in the past. And for that reason, glad our itinerary goes mainly through places we haven’t been before. This year’s weather here has been vicious too.

Enjoyed our first week in sunny Tavira. And then… all hell broke loose. We’ve mostly heard or read about it, being a day or two ahead of every destructive storm so far.

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First, we got the news about the fatal crash of two high speed trains near Cordoba. It was in the Canadian news, which we read online. Jan 18. From that point on we began paying attention to the Spanish and European news. Aside from many casualties, the infrastructure damage will take time to repair. Meanwhile, trains don’t run between Sevilla to Cordoba. We visited Cordoba last year (loved it!) though luckily it is not on our list for this trip.

A bus took us from Tavira to Sevilla yesterday, Jan 20. Dry, but chilly. We spent a week in Sevilla last year, so this visit is short. Some 3 nights, which gives us two days to sort the trains out. What a difference weatherwise. Last year it was nice, sunny, dry and warm. Not now.

The train station’s service area is extremely busy. While Alex is trying to see if he can get better supplies for his immunotherapy than the ones they gave him in Tavira, I line up to buy Renfe’s seniors discount cards, ‘Tarjeta Dorada’, and tickets to Granada. If trains to there run. The rail unions call for a strike after two consequent crashes (the second near Barcelona blamed on the rain and mudslide).

Many people are lining up to find a way to replace their canceled trains with buses or to obtain a refund. The line is unbelievable, but understandable. I am waiting patiently for my turn. Meanwhile Alex goes to the University hospital in a different direction. Sees huge crowds and no reception or service desk. Finds the oncology department, same thing. Gives up. He is actually lucky that the staff in Tavira’s small hospital was so helpful. He finds me at the train station still waiting.

Half a day later we eventually have our discount cards and tickets to Granada. Yes, trains run on a different line from Sevilla to Granada, so we are again lucky. But our train from Granada to Zaragoza doesn’t run. The clerk can’t help us with ideas for alternative options, but we have over a week to sort this out.

On Fri Jan 23 we take a train from Sevilla to Granada. It is nice and dry in Granada. We walk from the train station to our accommodation for a week, drop our luggage off and run up towards the Alhambra. No, we won’t get in today but at least get the idea of the landscape around.

Next day, Jan 24 is also nice, and we head up to the hills of St. Nicolas and more. This for a future Granada post. This day was our last dry day in the city. Rain usually starts before a storm hits hard. Heavy rain in Granada began Jan 25 and it was on and off until we left.

At times it was so heavy that I felt I was taking a very long cold shower fully clothed. As mentioned above, our planned train from Granada to Zaragoza was cancelled. At the beginning all I could find was a 10-hour bus with one 10 min bio-break stop. The bus is with Spanish bus operator Alsa. For the lack of other options at the time, I booked a cancelable ticket. But 10 hours on a bus with one stop and no option for stretching our legs is way too much for our aging bladders and bodies.

Closer to the end of our stay in Granada a train from Madrid to Zaragoza appeared on the Renfe website. I booked it. Now I could take an early Alsa bus to Madrid bus station, about a 30 min walk to the Atocha train station. Next day a train from Granada to Madrid also appeared on the Renfe site. I booked this too. Canceled the bus. It is a lot more comfortable in a train with toilets, leg room, food, etc. than aboard a bus. We had over an hour for the Madrid transfer.

Fri, Jan 30 is a travel day. Our last day in Granada was in a hotel near the train station. Departure at 10:45. We board the train. It is slow with frequent stops as it navigates through the flooded fields. It is the first time we see the devastation of Storm Kristina (Jan 27^th) in the area. In general, we don’t pay attention to the news while travelling. We never watch TV either. However, I learned from Facebook (yes, believe it or not it’s been very helpful during this trip) about a storm that decimated Portugal and parts of Andalusia. From the train, I texted our Tavira host.

She said that the Algarve was spared with mainly fallen trees, but it hasn’t stopped raining since and “everything is flooded and overflowing: fields, streams, rivers. The most affected area was in the centre of the country….” This was after the first storm. What comes next is a disaster.

We could see the train going on tracks that were under water. Very slow with frequent stops. Will we make it to the second train? We did. The next train was waiting for us on the other side of the platform. It is just over an hour to our destination. Phew! We made it all the way through. This, we thought, was our biggest challenge after Kristina. But then Leonardo arrived.

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We are in Zaragoza for a week. It is mostly sunny or overcast, but every TV in every pub, café and restaurant shows rivers running through flooded cities. I am also watching news on Facebook regarding the storms. Never thought that anything helpful could come out of Facebook, but once again it proved useful. I do my own fact checking.

Enjoying sunny Zaragoza, we get the information for a second storm, Leonardo, hitting the Iberian Peninsula on Feb 3. It apparently completely devastated Portugal and Andalusia, Spain. It also hit Galicia in the northwest particularly hard.

As we are leaving Zaragoza for Logroño, storm Marta (Feb 5) is ravaging the northern peninsula and Southern France. We are dry in Logroño. Just cloudy.

Mon, Feb. 9 – Thu Feb 12

A bus takes us to San Sebastian (Donosita in the Basque language), an upscale expensive town in the Basque Country known for its beaches and Michelin-starred restaurants. It’s a short walk from the bus station to our hotel, but by the time we arrive we are soaked.

First full day there is somewhat dry. But then we get into the crosshairs of Nils. When it rains, it rains heavily. (The rain in Spain declining to stay mainly on the plain – A).

I sit at the table on a covered balcony at our hotel, watching people on the road with umbrellas,

kids playing in the rain and… it was supposed to be a gourmet tour. Instead, it became a dodging the storms tour. So far, we’ve been ahead of every storm that hit Portugal and then Spain.

Nils hit the peninsula on Feb 12, this time including Galicia, Bilbao and Southern France. This is the 8^th storm in Spain since the new year and the 4^th we dodged. On the 12^th a bus takes us from Donosita to Bilbao.

Thu Feb 12 – Thu Feb 19 in Bilbao

We have half a bottle of brandy (Alex doesn’t drink brandy so it is mine) and a bottle of wine. Accommodation is on the first floor (European counting, second in North America), so no flooding😊, on a steep slope (drainage)… we are safe in this apartment😊

Our time there was a mixed bag. But we had a week. So we managed to see the major attractions and Alex even managed to hike up the hill overlooking the city. But again, this for in the upcoming Bilbao post.

Storm Oriana (Feb 13-14) was ravaging the peninsula while we were in Bilbao. There were days we just stayed inside. At a certain point of time (Feb 13 to be exact), after a thunderstorm and watching floodings on every TV in every pub, café or restaurant, in every city we’ve been so far, it appeared to me that we perhaps won’t be able to finish our itinerary as planned and booked.

We fly out from Lisbon on March 11. Our original itinerary takes us through all the northern provinces of Spain. According to some news at the time there was no easy way to get from Galicia to Northern Portugal. Coimbra region has been devastated. Checked the Portuguese train service on Feb 13. An alert from their website made it clear to me that we have to re-route.

 “Due to the worsening weather conditions, with a risk of flooding in the Coimbra region, long-distance services — Alfa Pendular and Intercidades — on the North Line, on the Porto–Lisbon, have been suspended for safety reasons, with no forecast for resumption.”

A quick check on trains, flights and weather forecasts and I decided that we can still get to Oviedo, the capital of Asturias and from there take a train to València on the safer (we believe) East coast. We haven’t been in València and it looked like nice and warm (until we got there). And so, I booked a direct train to València from Oviedo. And a flight from València to Lisbon with TAP Air. Canceled Braga in Northern Portugal and A Coruña in Galicia. Next time, perhaps.

Feb 19 to Feb 28: We had 9 dry and sunny days in Santander and Oviedo. Enjoyed the sunny promenades and beaches in Santander and the cider obsession in Oviedo. For all this is future posts from home, I guess.

Feb, 28 was a travel day. We took a train from Oviedo to València. It was supposed to be direct, but at the last moment we had to change trains in Madrid. While on the train the news broke that US had bombed Iran. Now that is a lot more dangerous than anything else. We are in Spain. I listen to the Spanish news every evening and appreciate their Prime Minister Sánchez for standing up to the orange peel. No to the war!

I lost track of all the storms. There was storm Regina around March 3^rd to 6^th. We were in València and didn’t get much of it (cloudy skies and strong winds excepted). But we got some of the dust brought by the Calima. Calima or Kalima happens when strong winds bring sand from the Sahara to continental Europe. It covers everything with sand and dust.

Hazy skies were covering València for part of our stay there. Our flight from València to Lisbon is in the evening of March 10. With all the international bickering the last moment flight from València to Lisbon didn’t feel very comfortable. It is the last flight for the evening before our morning flight home. A bit risky in this particular situation. It was the cheapest at the time, but I could change it. I check again and find a flight at noon Sun, March 8. Booked a hotel near Oriente train station in Lisbon for 3 nights. Done with all the changes.

Tue, March 10

We arrived in sunny Lisbon in the afternoon of March 8, checked in: the girl at the reception gave me a rose for the Women’s International Day (nice gesture). Spent the afternoon in Vasco Da Gama mall to find lunch, and then walk the well-known surroundings. We are at the end of our two-month trip, full of events and adventures. It is less than 24 hours before we fly home.

My last adventure is somewhat laughable. I don’t take lots of medication. Just occasionally sleeping pills and daily treatment for acid reflux. I left the sleeping pills in Alex’s rather full medications cube (bag) and kept my antacids in my purse. Arriving in the Lisbon hotel I have no idea how my sleeping pill appeared on the table instead of my acidity one. So yesterday I took my antacid pill in the morning (or so I thought). After breakfast I was very sleepy but pushed it, and we went out for a walk along the Tajo riverside. Coming back home my legs didn’t want to move.

I told Alex I have to literally focus to command every leg movement. It was scary. This morning after a coffee I took my daily pill. After I closed the bottle and glanced at it, it said 30 pills. Wait a second, it should say 100. I looked on the label and realised that I just took my sleeping pill in the morning. You see our prescription drugs come in the same type and size bottles. So, if one doesn’t read the label, it is very easy to mix them up. Especially in this case where the pills are same size small and pale and in the morning I am not quite awake.

That explained why my legs didn’t want to move. Phew, nothing more serious. Oh well, aside from packing for tomorrow’s departure there isn’t much I have to do. We walked again by the bank of river Tajo, and now I was just careful not to stumble. Last adventure for this two-month trip (fingers crossed!). Oh, and it’s been spring-like at home – temperatures in the mid-teens. When we arrive, it’ll be back down to freezing and below with a lot of snow. And with a few exceptions it hasn’t stopped raining in April.

Grass is soaked, my gardens are underwater, not far north from here the rivers are overflowing and cities are flooded. So, for climate change deniers there we have it!