MADRID

26/03/07
Another bargain Ryanair flight from Bournemouth; our plan was for a two(ish) night trip to Madrid. It seemed strange returning to Spain, less than a month after leaving it earlier in the year.


The flight was brisk with us arriving at a sensible time during the morning. We had some reservations about the connections from the airport to the city centre, but the under ground network turned out to be simplicity itself. One Euro each to travel anywhere we wanted.

We took the underground in the direction of the three major art museums and walked the last half mile to get a flavour of the town atmosphere.


We toured the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza galleries and decided that was enough art for one day. We walked back toward the centre of town to find the "Hotel Moderno-Puerta del Sol, where we were staying." Stopping several times to enjoy beers and tapas, we located the hotel with ease and were pleased to find that it was conveniently located right in the middle of town, yet quiet with the windows closed.


The remainder of the day was spent exploring the central area and Plaza Mayor, where we ate that evening. We strolled up to Grand Via where we found lots of people gathering outside a cinema. There was a large display of Harley Davidson motorcycles. It was the premier of Wild Hogs. We had a debate as to whether any of the cast would be there and sure enough, Tim Allen and John Travolta arrived!


27/03/07

Checking out early, we walked to the nearby Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales which is a convent and museum at the same time. Although the tour was in Spanish, the eyes told us enough - there were fantastic ceiling frescoes and tapestries.


After, we strolled down to the Palacio Real where we stopped for coffee before visiting the palace, quite a bit of which is open to the public. We were lucky in that the day we visited was a free entry day for European Union citizens.


Next, we walked next door the Madrid Cathedral, which was much more unusual than any other we have seen in Spain - a recent building with modern stained glass.


We found that we had covered the ground very quickly again today so walked back into town where we stopped for more refreshments, before carrying on to visit the last of the three art museums, the Reina Sofia. The art here was much more unusual, such as a room full of old television sets. We strolled through Parc del Retiro which was very large and almost a village in it's own right. The central boat lake was in use by a few rowers and some canoe polo players. As the evening drew in, we set off again back toward Plaza Mayor, stopping for beer and tapas along the way before eating in another restaurant at Plaza Mayor. We stayed late into the night, to about one a.m.


28/03/07

Just in to the 28th, we caught the under ground train back to the airport where we settled in for a few hours until our flight home.

SPAIN - Malaga to Alicante

29/01/06
Having flown in to Malaga to start the next leg of our Spanish coastal journey, Our first stop was Nerja, a coastal resort town that we had visited before. Nerja has two great aspects – the caves and the balcony perched on the cliff top. The caves were to be our first port of call. On our arrival, the visitor centre was shut so we enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine, sat on the terrace overlooking the town and coast. The sea seemed to shimmer especially for us and in the haze, we could make out the Balcon de Europa hotel where we would be staying later.
Once the caves had reopened to visitors, we descended the stairs into the caverns below. The chamber appeared quite big or at least large enough to impress me. A further flight of stairs lead down and I was not prepared for the sight before me. The cavern was astonishingly huge - cathedral proportions. It was hard to imagine that the caves had gone undiscovered until 1959, when they were discovered by school boys hunting bats. The cave had been carefully lit for effect and we followed a foot path trail around the cave, descending further as we got deeper into the void. An enormous central rock pillar, 60 metres tall greeted us at the lower end of the cavern. The path encircled it and lead back toward the entrance. I had anticipated the cave being impressive, but not this amazing.
Later, we descended the few kilometers into the town. We checked into the hotel and strolled the balcony. Following the stairs down to the small beach, we found the feral cat population in good health, sprawled across the fishing boats and sand. The old houses set into the rock face had not changed at all (and probably never will). The Sierra Nevada mountains behind were completely snow capped and we wondered whether the Alpujarran foot hills would be, for our visit the next day.
Passing the old white church on the placa, we stopped for a beer or three and visited the upper and lower town areas looking in the shops and stopping for a drink. Later we walked down into the lower town area to eat. Most of the restaurants were closed so our choice was limited.

30/01/06
Departing quite early, we headed out of town, following the coast eastwards, before heading north and up into the Alpujarras. The foot hills still had quite a bit of snow present and it noticeably increased as we gained altitude. An unusual cave formation came into a view and we stopped to investigate. The cave was not especially deep, but the mouth was at least thirty feet wide. On one side, set in to the stone with rough building blocks was a shed, or in fact as we discovered, some sort of stable. Very odd, albeit that the livestock would have had a great view.. Further up, we stopped at 998 metres where there was an old church, which had the most amazing panoramic view of the surrounding villages and valleys. We continued to climb towards our destination Bubion, formerly the highest town in Spain, now superceded by a growing village nearby. On our arrival, we were bitterly disappointed to find that our hotel booking could not be honoured, mainly as the hotel was shut for the winter. We spoke to an attendant, who appeared after quite some time and the hotel was most definitely closed as it was out of season. We wandered the town before settling in a bar with beer and tapas to consider our limited options. The Serrano ham was particularly good and helped to focus our thoughts. Certain of finding a hotel on the coast, we decided to follow the Alpujarran mountain road further east until it dropped below the snow line and south to the beach towns. Picking a sizable town as our aim point, we headed for Roquets de Mar. On our arrival two hours or so later, we selected from a choice of beach hotels and found that our allocated room, at half board, was directly overlooking the raked sands of the beach with a rather nice balcony. In the distance we could see the coast of a national park - Cabo de Gata - and decided at that point that we would explore it the following day. We went for a stroll along the paseo before finding a bar for refreshments. The local shop also afforded some tourist products such as an English newspaper.
We returned to the hotel for dinner. The menu was great in variety but not quality.
We had a very amusing evening in the hotel bar, surrounded by geriatrics. The amusement was the bingo, in which we participated, in an increasingly inebriated state. It was almost impossible to win. The young bingo caller, announced the numbers in three different languages - Spanish, German and then English. Not only did the order favour the Spanish, but his habit of calling a different (but close) number for each different language, livened up the proceedings considerably. We were not even close to claiming a line or a house, but the drink and farcical bingo calls made it all seem really quite funny.

31/01/06
After a good night of sleep, we drove to Cabo de Gata national park, as intended. The roads made it favourable to drive past it and then start at the eastern side. The first point of note was St Jose, a small marina town, largely desolate due to the season. The marina though was typically Mediterranean, with boats moored stern to the quay. We sat and enjoyed morning coffee at a cafe overlooking the marina. Most of the buildings at this end of the town were set back against the rocky cliffs either side of the harbour entrance. We climbed up on to the top, to be greeted with a good view of the sea breaking on the rocks.
We continued westwards again, entering the national park area, easily defined by the end of tarmac roads and the commencement of dusty tracks. We followed this road, unsure of how far it would carry us. The surroundings were truly wild, like driving through an arid desert. The beaches, as we found them, were very remote and would be ideal for a night in a motor home. Some travellers had already found this out and I envied their freedom to stay as long as they pleased. Further along the track, we encountered a huge herd of two hundred goats or so, all white and all in our our way. Reluctantly, they slowly moved out of the way and allowed us to pass, but a quarter of mile further on as we approached the headland, the road was blocked and we had to turn around and head back in the direction we had just come from. Later, we arrived in Almeria where we would spend the night. The town was not geared up for tourism and it made a pleasant change to stay amongst locals rather than visitors. The hotel was centrally located and had a great tapas bar. We strolled through the town, climbing the hill to the impressive alcazabar that dominates the sky line and spans the valley which the town and port is at the foot of. Built on two hill tops, with a connecting defensive wall stretching between, the western hill fort was being restored but the eastern hill fort was still in ruins. We visited both before walking down in to the town to the cathedral. We searched for a nice restaurant, but ended up back at the hotel tapas bar, where every beer was accompanied by a free tapas. We purchased some more to make a meal of it and had a very pleasant evening - which was my birthday.

01/02/06
Leaving Almeria behind, we drove north in to the Desert of Tabernas, the only true desert in Europe. The land was very arid, with sparse vegetation and many rock formations, eroded by thousands of years of wind and sand. The land looked more like the Wild West than the Wild West, hence why it had been the setting for so many Spaghetti Westerns and other adventure films, such as Indiana Jones films. We were going to visit a film set, but discovered that there were in fact four different areas each being managed as a tourist attraction. We chose Fort Bravo, which had two main areas, one supposed to be a Mexican border town and the other, a western town. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and the "Magnificent Seven" amongst others were filmed here. Some of the buildings were genuine and had four walls and a roof. Some of them were just a frontage, supported from behind with timber frames. Walking the 'streets', you could not tell the difference. For effect, cowboy film themes were played through loud speakers and men on horseback roamed up and down. The saloon bar was also genuine and we stopped for a coffee.
The drive through the desert saw the terrain gradually became greener as we closed on the coast again and we arrived at Mojacar by mid afternoon. Stopping in the pueblo on top of the hill, we sat in the sun and sipped beer. The bar had a roof terrace which offered views across the surrounding countryside and coast line. Jayne had been here before, when there was one hotel and an unspoilt coast without a beach bar in sight. Now there were many and we were staying in a beach hotel. We wandered around the old town, along cobbled streets and down to the bottom of the hill where we had parked. All of the houses were white washed and from the coast, it still looked picturesque despite the development. Our hotel, opposite the sea front, was basically a collection of small apartments, each with its own front door. It had an enormous terrace, but unfortunately it was east facing. We sat outside our front door on the balcony, enjoying the evening sun and a newspaper, drinking Tio Pepe like it was lemonade. We ate at a local restaurant, owned by an English couple and the food and atmosphere were very good.

02/02/06
Continuing our trip eastwards along the coast, we stopped briefly at Mazarron, a beach town with a small island just off-shore, rocky and green and home to thousands of sea gulls. Further on, we visited Cartagena where we walked around the port area and marina. Cartagena was an impressive town, overlooked by two alcazabars, one of obvious Moorish origins and the other perhaps much newer.
We drove the short distance to Murcia where we would spend our last night. Finding the hotel was especially hard, mainly because of the series of one-way streets that we had to negotiate. The old town centre area was dominated by the cathedral and bell tower and the square before it contained a few bars. Adjacent was an old palace, painted a light burgundy colour. We saw the interior of the cathedral, typically plush with numerous chapels and gold everywhere. We walked the narrow streets and shops. Our evening meal was in a posh restaurant to the rear of the cathedral and after, we took another stroll through the cathedral square, to the faint sounds of a violin being played by a street performer. We walked past fountain displays back to the river, crossing a suspension bridge, held up by a single spindle with wires fanning out like the spokes of a wheel. It shook uncomfortably as we walked across it, back to our hotel.

03/02/06
Our last day and it was a pity as we were just getting into it. We stopped for coffee on the paseo at Torrevieja and looked in the market stalls for last minute gifts for the family. Later, we drove the length of La Manga, to see what all the fuss was about. It is regularly refered to as a beach holiday hot spot, but the beaches were poor and the spit of land was benighted with unfinished and abandoned shells of buildings. We were not impressed. Our trip ended at Alicante, where we flew home with Flybe. Crossing the Pyrenees, the view of the snow capped mountains was crystal clear and inspiring. A plan to drive the length of the mountain range, from the west coast of France to the Mediterranean was formed.

SPAIN - La Frontera - Arcos & Jerez

Late April 2004
As part of an extended stay in Fuengirola, Andalucia, we took a one night trip out away from the Costa del Sol, into the country.

Day 1
Our first stop, after a twisting mountain road was Ronda. The 'New Bridge' turned out to be several hundred years old and spanned an extremely deep gorge. The stone bridge is constructed from several arches, crossing the Guadalévin river, 130 metres below. A nearby house offers a stair well through the rocks, emerging on a platform suspended a few feet above the river. The town is also considered to be the home of bull fighting. We visit the museum within the bull ring.

After coffee, we resume our drive to Arcos de la Frontera, a small town clinging to the very edge of a cliff. Our hotel, El Convento, a converted convent, has a luxurious bath room featuring a table and chairs, with two windows looking out across the valley floor, directly down the side of the cliff. We watch red kites soaring on the thermals and Jayne sees one plummet out of the sky, taking a pigeon out. I only heard the mid-air thump. The views were just spectacular. We ate in the hotel restaurant, two streets away, a great meal. The town buildings are almost all white and the narrow cobbled streets can barely handle a large car. The town comes to a halt when a small lorry is parked up outside a street cafe. we sit back, with a coffee and watch the commotion.

Day 2
Leaving Arcos, we drive west to Jerez del la Frontera, commonly known just as Jerez. Our visit is mainly to tour the bodegas of Gonzalez Byass - famous for Tio Pepe, Crofts and Lepanto brandy. This was an interesting visit, providing an insight in to the processes and the way old and new barrels are used to influence the colour and flavour.

Regrettably, we only walked through the town and did not stay long enough to absorb much of the atmosphere. Our early departure to Gibraltar was largely so make it there before the shops closed. We will need to return to Jerez to see it properly, including the famous horses.

GIBRALTAR - Warm Beer & Barbary Apes

Anybody who regularly stays on the Costa del Sol, will have called in to Gibraltar. Passing through the border control reveals nothing as the air field has to be crossed before you reach the rock and anything recognisably British. Walking or driving across an airport run way is unusual to say the least.

April 2004
My first visit to Gibraltar, as part of my first visit to southern Spain. Driving through the border control was painless. Once across the run way, the first tell tale signs of being a corner of Britain are the UK traffic signals, only out of place because they are on the right hand side of the road still. Gibraltar is a very compact lump of rock with the town and port clinging to the western side. We drove the length of the island, to the most southern point, a pleasant viewing area overlooking the Straight with Morocco visible in the haze. Adjacent to this view point, was the 'Last Shop in Europe'. It was closed...
Returning back the way we had come, we parked at the foot of the cable car and boarded for the ascent to the top of the rock. The view from the glass walled gondola was fabulous. Arriving at the top, revealed a slightly desolate and abandoned outpost; Former military buildings, now relocated to other parts of the hill top. The ruins were not quite uninhabited - the Barbary Apes have found a use for them, mainly sunbathing. Quite unperturbed by human presence, it is thought that they were left behind when Gibraltar was dragged away from Africa with the rest of Europe. The 'Top of the Rock Restaurant' could have been a grand enterprise. It turned out to be a bit of a greasy spoon.
After a brief visit to an off-license to take advantage of the ridiculously cheap prices, we joined the farce that is the Spanish border control. Boots and bonnets inspected on every car. A sign erected by the Gibraltan authorities advises that is just the Spanish being funny as they want Gibraltar back.

January 2005
Another flying visit to take advantage of the cheap spirits and cigarettes. This time we walk in leaving our car at La Linea, the border town. The run way beckons again, a good leg stretch before reaching the town. Arriving on foot means that you get to see the old town gates and defences that the roads circumvent. The fortifications now play host to a variety of bars, shops and arts and crafts centres. We enjoy a beer in the sun before carrying on through the town, looking in the shops for bargains. We visit Pickwick's Pub for a pint of warm beer served from a sticky bar top. It feels great sat in the sunshine though.
The stroll back across the border marked the end of a busy two day trip, away from our main holiday in Fuenguirola.

SPAIN - Castro Urdiales & a three night mini-cruise

November 2005

P&O Ferries have for many years, operated a car ferry service from Portsmouth to Bilbao in northern Spain. The ferry that operates this route is amongst the largest in their fleet and carries passengers, cars and freight from Portsmouth, across the English Channel, around Ushant and across the Bay of Biscay, taking one day and two nights to get there, and two days and one night to get back. Through out the year, passengers board the ship for a mini-cruise, a return ticket out and back in three nights and three days. Up for something a bit different, we took advantage of a ridiculous ticket price of £70 return, for two adults with a cabin.

Day 1
Boarding the ferry in Portsmouth during the evening of Day 1, it was already cold and blustery and this did not bode well for the passage. Having eaten at home prior to departure, we settled down in the bar for the evening, watching the cabaret performances.
There were many 'old hands' on this cruise, all equipped with their own full supply of stores and on first name terms with the host! We had anticipated being held captive for food and drink so had off-set this a bit by bringing our own travel kettle and a few essentials.

Day 2
In the early hours of the morning, the ship rounded Ushant, in the shipping separation lanes of the north west coast on Brittany, France. This was our last glimpse of land, sailing by in the distance. The ship really does have quite a few facilities and we made the most of the gym, open decks, shops, restaurants and bars. The Bay of Biscay is an area highly populated by marine mammals - whales and dolphins of all types. We spent quite a lot of time looking for them. The ship is permanent home to a scientific observation charity - the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme. We saw a slide show and lecture about this, with hints and tips on where to look.
After our evening meal in one of the restaurants, the evening was spent partly in the bar with the live entertainment, which included our participation on stage in a game of Family Fortunes. It was a close thing, but we lost. Our prize as runner-up was a cocktail each. The winners got a free ticket each on another min-cruise. We may have had the better deal....

Day 3
Arrival in Santurzi, the port town for Bilbao. The mountains behind the town were snow capped. We had opted for one of the coach assisted tours for our morning ashore - only 5 hours in Spain. We were chauffeured to Castro Urdiales, a small fishing port a few miles west of Bilbao. It was very pretty, with an inner and outer harbour, protected from the Bay of Biscay by a large breakwater, which we strolled along. The town was quite compact and we strolled the back streets. Overlooking the harbour is a striking Gothic church and the remains of a Roman bridge. After whiling away some time in a cafe, we re boarded the coach for the journey back to the ship.
Once back on board and departed for home, we settled down to some serious dolphin spotting, only interrupted by some serious drinking. Starting out on deck, we were blown away by the vicious cold wild and retreated to the forward observation deck. Situated over 100 feet above sea level, it was quite a surprise to see waves breaking over the windows in front of us. Patience paid off and eventually we had a fleeting glimpse of dolphins, speeding in from the side to ride the bow way of the ship. Only a few seconds of seeing the small grey things between wave crests seemed to justify the time spent waiting. Later, we went to another lecture where the BDRP observer described all the sightings he had made during our passage. Clearly, a lot more can be seen from his desk on the ship's bridge....
In the evening, after another meal in the restaurant, we purchased cinema tickets and watched, "School of Rock" only, spoiled by the endless chatter of school kids...

Day 4
Daylight as you enter the English Channel is a surprisingly pleasant sight. Time was spent still looking for dolphins, but to no avail. The Atlantic grey water soon turned into the channel brown as we closed on Portsmouth. This day really did feel a bit like we were waiting just to get home, which was a shame as the previous days had been nothing but fun (except maybe a bit of queasiness at times). Portsmouth always looks great when arriving in the dark. The illuminations on Southsea sea front and the lights of The Solent never fail to please me.
The trip had been a great mix of nature, history, travel and fun and whilst we would not be booking out tickets any time soon, I have no doubt that we will go again.

SPAIN - an Andalucian loop - Cadiz, Seville & Cordoba

01/02/05
As part of a ten day stay in Spain at Jayne’s parent’s flat in Fuengirola, we hired a car to undertake a loop of classical Andalucia – Cadiz, Seville and Cordoba. Along with these main destinations where we would stay overnight, we were also to visit the towns of Carmona and Antequera.
Taking the wind swept Atlantic coast road from Tarifa to Cadiz was a sight to behold. Climbing past the wind farm at Tarifa, we were greeted with a panoramic view of the Straits of Gibraltar, before dropping down to the coast and sandy beaches. Hugging the coast, we arrived at Cadiz around midday. Cadiz is small, a peninsular almost surrounded by water, except for the long arm of land that carries the road and railway to the town. Our 3 star hotel, was outside of the ancient city walls, but only a short hop away. We strolled along the front and through the city gates. With the sea to our left, we were greeted with views of the domes of the cathedral and the remains of a roman theatre. We wandered the churches and narrow cobbled streets, lined with white washed buildings, so very quiet with out the noise of cars or industry. We stopped in front of the cathedral for coffee, before climbing the steps to the top of the Torre de Poniente. The sun was glimmering off of the golden domes and the maze of white buildings before us was a remarkable sight, with the sea in the back ground. Cadiz would be one of the places that we must return to. We continued to roam the streets, the port and coast line until we retired to the hotel to change. We came back into the old town to dine that night.

02/02/05
After a stretch of autovia, we arrived in Seville quite early today. We found our hotel with surprising ease, but then struggled to stop nearby to find the parking. This hotel was a 2 star, but still very nice albeit a good ten minute walk from the centre of the old town centre. Seville was to offer many attractions and was a long day of walking. We visited the Alcazar, with similar buildings and gardens to the Alhambra palaces at Granada, only a smaller scale. The cathedral as with others in the area, was formerly a mosque, later converted to a cathedral. The minaret was adapted and is now known as the Giralda. The climb to the top was easy, a sloping path around the four sides of the tower instead of stairs. A king had even ridden his horse to the top. The view is inspiring, encompassing a bull ring, the river and towers amongst many sights. After a coffee, we walked further across town to the Plaza de Espana, an enormous semi-circular red brick built palatial construction, with a moat and central fountain, built for the 1929 exhibition. We followed the River Guadalquivir past the Torre del Oro (in scaffolding) and bull ring, back into town stopping at tiny back street bars.

03/02/05
Leaving Seville, it was not long before we came to Carmona, a small quaint town. With ancient city walls and gates, we strolled the streets to see several churches including one with a tower modelled on the Giralda at Seville, clearly very similar only much smaller. The roman ruins remained unseen by us as a man in uniform stood in the road seemingly not wanting us to park….
We had only stopped for a short break so continued to our intended destination. The road to Cordoba was surrounded by green rolling fields of olive trees, as far as the eye could see in all directions. It was quite a shock compared to the dryness of the coastal Andalucian hills. Having been fore warned about parking problems, we were prepared with a booking at Hostel Lineros, near to all the central historic areas. At barely a 1 star, it was a magical quaint room, with a Moorish central court yard in a building several hundred years old. It was also conveniently close to the Mezquita, another converted mosque. Typically Spanish, the many chapels dedicated to various saints were shoe-horned in amongst the existing and expansive mosque, still complete with hundreds of red and white striped arches. This itself though had been built on a Christian church, showing the history of the Moorish invasion and re-conquering of this area. Nearby, we visited another alcazar fortress also on the bank of the Guadalquivir, with roman baths, towers and attractive water gardens, previously driven by an enormous arabic water wheel on the bank of the river. We strolled the streets of the Jewish quarter and the town walls.

04/02/05
Leaving Cordoba was hard. It was a fantastic town and we had only scratched the surface.
Our route back to Fuengirola would take us to Antequera. Situated on the slopes of a hill, with a large church and castle remains open to the public, it provided a pleasant break to the journey, with coffee at a café overlooking the town and hills surrounding. Antequera was another town of white washed buildings and church spires. Before we got to the coast, we were caught in a deluge of rain that cleared just as we got back to the flat. The bug of seeing all of Spain had got us.

SPAIN - Ceuta, a Spanish corner of Morocco

Late Jan 2005, possibly 29th or 30th

This overnight trip was part of a longer stay in main-land Spain. As the place is such an unusual one, I felt that it deserved it's own record. It was partly as a follow up to our trip to Tangier the year before and partly for completeness in our ambition to see all of Spain.

Ceuta is an enclave. A spit of land forming part of Morocco, a bit like Gibraltar is to Spain. I found the correlation between the two quite amusing. The Spanish government want Gibraltar back despite the residents who resist it. The Gibraltans are hassled at the border. It is no different with the Spanish refusing to hand back Ceuta to the Moroccans. It is funny that the Spanish government over look this. Ceuta is seen as the gate way to Africa. The Africans see it as a holding area, for those caught trying to cross the Straits of Gibraltar hoping for a better life.

The ferry crossing from Algeciras to Ceuta is a swift one (Euroferrys), similar to the crossing to Tangier. The high speed catamaran service delivers you to the port in 35 minutes. A short walk later, we checked in at the Tryp Ceuta hotel near the centre. The attractions are few and far between. Even the Parador hotel is a prefabricated concrete monster. We strolled the town, port and historic city walls which were the most attractive thing we found, with a deep sea moat, built to defend the town from invaders.

Unfortunately, as it was very much out of season, we could not even find a restaurant and ate at the hotel. The food was good and despite the apparently run down area, it was still an interesting place, especially as it snowed while we were walking the town. It was possibly the most remarkable thing about the trip. I would return in the summer but only for a day trip. It did not justify an over-night stop.

SPAIN - Alicante to Girona (& French border)

21/02/07
Flight from London (Luton) to Alicante with Easyjet. Collected hire car and hit the autovia, northwards. First stop for a beer at Cullera (photo), but with all shut – out of season!
Arrived in Valencia and shecked in to hotel. Walking tour of the old town centre, taking in the Miguelete (tower) and cathedral and Torres Serranos (city gates), narrow streets and squares.
Evening meal outside the cathedral –Valencia Paella.

22/02/07
Check out and drive across town to the massive L'Oceanografic, oceanarium.
An amazing aquarium, featuring marine mammals, fish and birds.
Drive northwards again to Tarragona. Walking tour of the ancient town walls and streets. Beer in front of the town hall building. On departure, coast road taken to Barcelona.
On arrival in Barcelona (at rush hour) manage to locate the hotel quite easily, half way up Ls Ramblas and one block back. Once checked in, we stroll down Las Ramblas with the evening crowds and street performers and eat tapas at Café De l’Opera (excellent).
A short stroll after and back to the hotel for an early (11pm) night.

23/02/07
Once out and about, start our walking tour of Barcelona. First, down Las Ramblas to the Christopher Columbus monument and along the harbour front with a coffee stop. Visit the Cathedral Santa De Maria del Mar. A stroll through the narrow Bario streets and a visit to the Picasso art museum brings us to the main cathedral and another visit. Unfortunately, the exterior is clad in scaffolding. After, we head off to Gaudi’d Segrada Familia with a beer stop at a street café at L’Arc de Triomphe. The Segrada is fascinating insight into the building process and humbling to know we will not live to see it’s completion.

We stroll back across town to the top of Las Ramblas and walk it’s length down to the port, where we rest (more beer). After a pit-stop at the hotel, we are back out, checking out restaurants and the market, but are again drawn to Café De L’opera again and are not disappointed. After another stroll on Las Rambas, we turn in for the night.

24/02/07
Once out and after a refuel, we hit the autovia again for an hour, before joining the coast road at Blanes. The Costa Brava coast road calls at Tossa de Mar (photo), Lloret de Mar, Llfranc (spot the El Far hotel / bar and must return – the views!), aigua blava (check out the parador). We drive as far as L’Estartit for a beer, before returning south to find our hotel in Begur. The road is a driving must, hard work but incredible views. This is a lovely small town and we eat a magic if pricey meal at Un Poc de Tot restaurant. The hotel Aigua Clara has to be
seen to be believed – tall ceilings, acres of dark wood, tiled floors, all very old and wonderful.

25/02/07
Leaving Begur, we stop nearby at L’Escala for coffee. Further up the road, we stop
at Empuries to visit an astonishingly large area of ruins, some Greek and some Roman. This is a full size town reduced to rubble. Good museum on site.
Finish the drive via the coast to the France / Spain border. Turn around and drive back to Cadaques, the coastal town where Salvador Dali lived and painted. Stroll the streets and harbour – beer on the beach watching the sea lap the shore.
Drive into Roses to our hotel and sit on the balcony watching a pink sunset. Evening meal in a local bar – cheap but great with a few games of pool. Sit in the hotel bar after with the bar staff, watching Ice Age 2, in Spanish with English subtitles. Very surreal.

26/02/07
Check out and head back through Roses to Montjoi (a hairy coast drive – no barriers and big drops!) Check out the secluded bay, before returning in land. Visit Castello d’Empuries , old town and church. Head back to the 1960s leisure port town of Empuriabrava where every house has a marina berth instead of a back garden. After a beer in the sun, head to Figueres to find that the Dali museum is closed! Drive out to the ancient walled town of Besalu – worth the drive to this protected UNESCO town. Short visit to Banyoles to see the lake where the rowing was held during the Barcelona Olympics. We then found our hotel in Figures and walked into town. Found a nice back street Italian restaurant for a change.

27/02/07
Dali museum open. Interesting visit, if hard to comprehend at times – very surreal. Drive to Girona and visit the walled town, including the cathedral, a walking tour of the lower town and river, followed by an unusual walk along the top of the city wall, from one side of the town to the other. Later, return to Girona airport and fly home to London Luton with Ryanair, which felt like sitting on a bus for two hours - stiff vinyl seats with bright yellow paintwork. Oh, and the heat!
1250kms covered in 7 days (6 driving). Land at 2330hrs, back at home at 0200. Out to work by 0530!

Next month – Madrid….