About 10 AM on Sunday, we were close to the Spanish border at Donastia San Sebastian. having stuck to the N10 since Tours, we stayed true to our course - and ended up on a small, winding road going along the coast ... at 50 km/h ... behind a volvo with a caravan.. It took us an hour and a half to get through the traffic and into Spain.

On the upside, it was now 12 PM and we had all of Spain to cross... Nice timing. Luckily it was only nearing 35°C and there was no A/C in the car. Suffice to say, this was not part of the plan.

But we made it through Spain and into Portugal at a town called Guarda, and much to our surprise it got even warmer. Even at 9 PM it was close to 40° and since I had been drinking too little water - naturally I got a slight heat stroke - nice going there. And by the way, we were later told, that it was actually a good day, since it had been relatively cool that day.

Don't cross Spain in the middle of July during the daytime - and if you have to: Drink a lot of water.