![\"\"](\"https:\/\/katamarino.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/2024-10-17-12.13.24.jpg\")
The marina in Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The marina in Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nJust across the marina were some beautiful looking old buildings that we could not resist checking out. The first of these was the Santa Maria House. Despite its very old appearance, the house only dates back to 1902, when it was constructed by the aristocrat Jorge O’Neil as a wedding gift for his daughter. The house was expanded through the years and hosted (in)famous guests such as Richard Nixon, before being purchased by the municipality in 2004 and opened as a museum. <\/p>\n\n\n
Santa Marta lighthouse<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Waves crash on the marina breakwater<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe entered through the front doors but found the welcome desk deserted, with no way to pay the entry fee. We wandered off to look around the house anyway, hoping to find some staff as we went. A few minutes in we did run in to a lady who was most surprised to find us there; she thought she had locked the doors for lunch and was therefore not expecting to have any guests. We were sent on our way to come back later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To pass the time before the re-opening of the house we headed into a nearby park. The museum there was also closing for lunch, but we could at least have a walk around the grounds. Highlights included a pond that was absolutely packed with turtles, and a large pair of disembodied feet.<\/p>\n\n\n
Turtles in the park<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Ozymandias vibes<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Streets of Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Pope John Paul II<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWalking towards the center of town, we came across an old fort, the Citadel of Cascais, that had now been converted into a hotel and a variety of small art galleries. The Citadel was built between the 15th and 17th centuries to defend the Cascais coastline, including protecting against attacks on the capital, Lisbon. In the 19th century the Citadel was converted into a palace for the royals to stay in when they came for rest and recreation in Cascais.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Santa Maria House was now open again, so we returned for a proper visit, before going next door to check out the lighthouse. <\/p>\n\n\n
At the Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>At the Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>At the Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>At the Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>At the Santa Maria house<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dog on a mission<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nJuvy and I parted ways here – her into the museum, and me to take a walk along the seafront back towards the hotel. A large swell was running and I occasionally had to time my movements quite carefully to avoid being caught by one of the waves that was crashing over the seafront path. <\/p>\n\n\n
Museum courtyard<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Palacete Seixas<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cascais seafront<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Tiled housefront<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cascais waterfront<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cascais waterfront<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter getting back to the hotel, I spent a couple of hours working on flight planning for the subsequent days. Flying in Europe, Southern Europe in particular, is much more challenging than it is in North America; not because of any physical differences in landscape or weather, but entirely due to stupid bureaucracy and the mentality of the people in charge of airports and airspace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day’s flying was a good example; only very limited airfields in central Spain had Avgas. The one I located that seemed to suit had a restriction stating that, for some reason, only IFR traffic was accepted on weekdays. European countries, again for no apparent reason, maintain a list of tens of thousands of airspace and IFR routing restrictions that change on a daily basis; this means that it is effectively impossible to manually plan a route, and a website such as autorouter must be relied on to parse all these restrictions and calculate a route. The only IFR route that would validate for my flight had a minimum altitude of 15,000ft. I was glad that I had brought my oxygen system.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>Planning complete, I dropped in to a local restaurant for a pizza, and turned in for an early night. The rest of the trip would be happening solo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
The handling agent, just one lady this time, met me at the little General Aviation terminal and escorted me through security and out to the aircraft. The cost of handling at Cascais was high at well over 300 Euros, and in no way value for money even though the people assisting me were friendly and helpful. It was not surprising that very few General Aviation aircraft were in evidence. After a thorough pre-flight I started up and called for my IFR clearance, being assigned a standard departure route that would require a steep climb to meet the altitude restrictions. <\/p>\n\n\n
Morning at Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning at Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>With my handling agent<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Climbing out from Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the shoreline near Cascais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Planey's shadow on the clouds<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI passed through a thin cloud layer and shortly afterwards, passing 12,000 feet, donned my oxygen canula. My oxygen system is an oxygen concentrator – instead of using stored oxygen from a tank (which needs to be refilled), this unit concentrates oxygen from the atmosphere and delivered pure oxygen to the user. This makes it much more practical for trips such as mine where it can be difficult to arrange oxygen refills; it’s also somewhat lighter.<\/p>\n\n\n
Using oxygen at high altitude<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing Portugal<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cockpit view at 15,000 ft<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nPlaney was light today, with no fuel in the ferry tanks and the mains about half full, as well as only one person on board. The climb to 15,000ft had been rapid (at least by Planey’s standards) and he was performing quite nicely in the cruise as we made our way across Portugal and towards central Spain. Not long after crossing the border into Spain I was cleared to start my descent towards Salamanca.<\/p>\n\n\n
Salamanca was very quiet – no surprise given their “IFR-only” restrictions. After flying the ILS approach to land on runway 21 I parked on the end of a row of flying school aircraft and went in search of how to pay my fees, and get fuel – although I had emailed a notification in advance letting them know I’d need fuel, no reply had been received. Eventually a couple of airport firefighters drove by and directed me to the hidden side entrance to the terminal; here another official took over and led me to the airport office. The lady there did not seem to have ever processed an arriving airplane before and after more than 30 minutes she gave up and said they’d email the invoice to me. She did at least manage to call the fueler, who was much more efficient, and soon Planey’s main tanks were topped off and we were ready to go.<\/p>\n\n\n
Parked at Salamanca<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Fire-fighting aircraft at Salamanca<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI departed IFR, given the restrictions, and cancelled once I was outside of Salamanca’s airspace. My next stop was the small field of Fuentemilanos, a private airfield of the type that seems to support the majority of General Aviation in places like Spain. As is usual for Europe they request contact in advance to get permission to fly in, and this had been quickly granted by email. I had originally planned to take on some fuel here but having filled in Salamanca, and given the fact that the Avgas pump was blocked by several parked gliders, I decided to just have a quick drink, look over the plan for my next leg, and chat with the few Spanish pilots who were there cleaning gliders and taking care of other odd jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n
Departing from Salamanca<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing central Spain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Fuentemilanos<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Landing at Fuentemilanos<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Fuentemilanos<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Fuentemilanos<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe final two-hour flight of the day would take me across the rest of Spain and just over the border into France, and the town of Biarritz. As I flew north the terrain became more rugged and mountainous, until finally the northern coast of Spain appeared ahead and to the left. Another US-registered Cessna was on frequency, a Cessna 177 Cardinal that it turned out was also on its way to Biarritz. Spanish ATC handed me over to Biarritz, who assigned me the SSN 2N arrival and I joined the instrument approach behind the Cardinal, landing on runway 27 and taxiing to the General Aviation apron. <\/p>\n\n\n
Central Spain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mountains of northern Spain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mountains of northern Spain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching the north Spanish coast<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Pasaia port<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Donostiako airport, northern Spain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe representative from the GA terminal met me as I parked up. Despite still not being cheap, the prices here were a lot more reasonable than those of Cascais, and the facilities better! As I tidied up Planey and tied him down, the 177 came and parked next to me having completed refueling. On board were a retired British couple who coincidentally were also on their way to the UK from Cascais. They’d been into Biarritz before and I asked if they had any hotel recommendations; the one they mentioned they were staying at was 600 Euros per night, so I decided to stay elsewhere!<\/p>\n\n\n
Final approach to Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dutch airline at Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nIt was a short Uber ride to the town and my hotel, which was on the seafront just above the fishing port. There was still some daylight left so I headed out to take a look around before dinner. A large swell was running here, just like in Cascais, and paths closest to the waterfront were closed. <\/p>\n\n\n
Eglise Saint Eugenie<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Evening in Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The fishing port<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Evening in Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sunset in Biarritz<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>