Matilda on Tour - From Portsmouth to Spain - Our Adventure Begins

Day 2 — A Day In Southampton And The D-Day Museum

It’s funny to think that back in May we were heading towards spring, and now here we are with autumn beginning to show itself.

Arriving in Portsmouth, we headed for The D-Day Story. We’ve seen plenty of films over the years and knew the history, but actually seeing the scale of it all — how many troops were involved, how much planning went into the landings and just how much was at stake — was mind-blowing and incredibly sad.

It seemed they had thought of everything, and yet so much still hinged on the weather.

What fascinated me too was the amount of deception used to fool the Germans — inflatable tanks, dummy parachutists dropped away from the main landing areas, and strips of metal released to confuse radar

The Overlord Embroidery was incredible. At 83 metres long, with 34 hand-stitched panels, it tells the story of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in a completely different way.

Leaving the museum, we strolled along the promenade in sunshine, watching ferries and container ships criss-crossing the Solent, with the Isle of Wight across the water.

There were sea defences along the front, people sitting on the large boulders and on the wide shingle beach, which looked almost man-made. The cenotaph towered over the parkland, another reminder of Portsmouth’s wartime history.

It really has felt like a proper day on holiday rather than simply a travel day.

Now we just need the sea to stay calm for tonight’s crossing.

Fingers crossed — the sea legs have been packed.

Day 3 & 4 — Across The Bay And Into Spain

After all the planning, lists and thinking, there was something rather lovely about having a whole day on the ferry when absolutely nothing needed doing.

No driving, no decisions and, with no internet for around 36 hours, no blogging either. At first it felt strange being disconnected, but actually it was quite nice. I finished a book, relaxed and simply let the day be.

Then this morning we arrived in Santander and Spain 2026 properly began.

Driving out of Santander, the countryside was lush and green, the hillsides clothed in vegetation. As we headed south, though, the landscape gradually began to change.

The weather suggested heading further south than planned, so that’s what we did. One of the joys of travelling in Matilda is being able to change our minds.

Eventually we reached Aranda de Duero, where rather than pay for a campsite in the middle of nowhere we decided to stay on a free aire close to the centre of town.

We walked into town to stretch our legs. Aranda was very quiet at first — we had arrived during siesta — but we soon found a lively bar and settled down with a couple of beers and some local tapas.

It was one of those moments you get when travelling. We hadn’t planned to be here, knew very little about the town and yet there we were, sitting in a Spanish bar on our first day in Spain.

By the time we wandered back to Matilda, tiredness had definitely caught up with me. I’d had the nodding dogs for quite a bit of the journey south and my body was making it quite clear that an early night was required.

And perhaps that was the nicest thing about today.

After weeks of planning the route, watching the weather and wondering where we might end up, we simply followed the sunshine a little further south and stopped somewhere that felt right.

Spain has begun.