31 October 2006
Spain
Hola, all. Mum and Dad arrived to meet us in Barcelona on the 21st Oct and we have been sharing our travels since. They have generally spent most of the days doing their stuff and we do ours, usually meeting in the evenings. Barcelona, by the way, is an absolutely beautiful city, full of lovely, stately buildings in a city setting that is very well thought out, with wide pedestrianised avenues and cool, quiet plazas. Gail and I made some great tapas bar discoveries. In particular, a place packed day and night so you stand shoulder to shoulder with locals, ordering cava (Spanish name for champagne) by the glass for only 50c, with fresh toasted buns full of Spanish sausage (churizo and others), cheese and bacon. Brilliant.
The Barcelona skyline from a nearby hilltop. Gaudi´s La Familia cathedral dominates.
Next stop was Madrid. We did the 640km drive between Barcelona and Madrid in in one day; once I have the bit in my mouth sometimes I just want to keep going! I had fond memories of Madrid from when I visited briefly in 2002 for work. Edda also lived there for a year when she was studying and she kept regaling us with stories of her favourite haunts and the mayhem she caused! Unfortunately we had pretty bad weather for some of the time, dampening our mood a bit. Plaza Mayor was largely deserted, but we all enjoyed the other major sights such as the Museo del Prado and the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Madrid is as beautiful as Barcelona, especially the main street Grand Via. Completely lined with the most ornate and aesthetically pleasing buildings imaginable - any city could do well to hire a Spanish architect. It just declares, "I am the nation´s capital". The down side was that it was very difficult to get from our campsite into the city. Spanish eat and stay out very late (dinner starts about 10pm), but our buses stopped running at 9.30pm. Daft!
The relatively new cathedral in Madrid. Note the sky!
Next we moved onto Toledo, just 70km to the south. A magical hilltop town with narrow, windy, cobbled streets and the most sumptuous Cathedral you can imagine. We all enjoyed slowing down to the pace of this place. So much so Gail and I decided it was a good spot for one of our much-needed rest days, as we´ve been travelling and sightseeing hard for weeks. The campsite and weather was great too. Mum and Dad also enjoyed their lovely little boutique hotel in the middle of the old town.
Toledo from one of this ancient town´s chrch towers. The cathedral is to the right, with the Alcazar fort in the centre (under restoration unfortunately, so unlike me in 2002 we couldn´t visit)
La Mancha windmills south of Toledo, an area where Cervantes based his book Don Quixote
Now we are in Grenada, in the province of Andalucia in the south of Spain. The skys are sunny and we are loving the place. This large town is magical, full of the life and verve you would expect from Spain, with a mix of old arab history and culture mixed in. A massive ancient castle and palace complex dominates the town and is a place we spent an entire day exploring. Another was the old Arab quarter where Gail and I spent hours wandering the narrow cobbled streets, stumbling on architectural and cultural gems and hidden plazas with their bars and cafes.
The Alhambra fort and palace complex dominates over beautiful Granada
Tomorrow we move west to Seville where we farewell Mum and Dad who are on to their tour of Italy, while we head north through Portugal and to the north of Spain. Adios for now.
The Barcelona skyline from a nearby hilltop. Gaudi´s La Familia cathedral dominates.
Next stop was Madrid. We did the 640km drive between Barcelona and Madrid in in one day; once I have the bit in my mouth sometimes I just want to keep going! I had fond memories of Madrid from when I visited briefly in 2002 for work. Edda also lived there for a year when she was studying and she kept regaling us with stories of her favourite haunts and the mayhem she caused! Unfortunately we had pretty bad weather for some of the time, dampening our mood a bit. Plaza Mayor was largely deserted, but we all enjoyed the other major sights such as the Museo del Prado and the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Madrid is as beautiful as Barcelona, especially the main street Grand Via. Completely lined with the most ornate and aesthetically pleasing buildings imaginable - any city could do well to hire a Spanish architect. It just declares, "I am the nation´s capital". The down side was that it was very difficult to get from our campsite into the city. Spanish eat and stay out very late (dinner starts about 10pm), but our buses stopped running at 9.30pm. Daft!
The relatively new cathedral in Madrid. Note the sky!
Next we moved onto Toledo, just 70km to the south. A magical hilltop town with narrow, windy, cobbled streets and the most sumptuous Cathedral you can imagine. We all enjoyed slowing down to the pace of this place. So much so Gail and I decided it was a good spot for one of our much-needed rest days, as we´ve been travelling and sightseeing hard for weeks. The campsite and weather was great too. Mum and Dad also enjoyed their lovely little boutique hotel in the middle of the old town.
Toledo from one of this ancient town´s chrch towers. The cathedral is to the right, with the Alcazar fort in the centre (under restoration unfortunately, so unlike me in 2002 we couldn´t visit)
La Mancha windmills south of Toledo, an area where Cervantes based his book Don Quixote
Now we are in Grenada, in the province of Andalucia in the south of Spain. The skys are sunny and we are loving the place. This large town is magical, full of the life and verve you would expect from Spain, with a mix of old arab history and culture mixed in. A massive ancient castle and palace complex dominates the town and is a place we spent an entire day exploring. Another was the old Arab quarter where Gail and I spent hours wandering the narrow cobbled streets, stumbling on architectural and cultural gems and hidden plazas with their bars and cafes.
The Alhambra fort and palace complex dominates over beautiful Granada
Tomorrow we move west to Seville where we farewell Mum and Dad who are on to their tour of Italy, while we head north through Portugal and to the north of Spain. Adios for now.
Comments:
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Hi Ian and Gail,
Sam here. Have been following your travels which have been inspiring so thought I would drop a line and say hi. Love the scenic shots but a few more photos of the locals such as the "particpant in the Harvest parade in Florence" would be nice!! All is well in WA and as you know we are making mini Alcoa at Woodside. It's fun working with Tanya again even if it is long distance.
Hasta mas tarde.
Sam here. Have been following your travels which have been inspiring so thought I would drop a line and say hi. Love the scenic shots but a few more photos of the locals such as the "particpant in the Harvest parade in Florence" would be nice!! All is well in WA and as you know we are making mini Alcoa at Woodside. It's fun working with Tanya again even if it is long distance.
Hasta mas tarde.
# posted by 
: October 31, 2006 9:26 pm
: October 31, 2006 9:26 pm
heres your comment.
Travelling and sightseeing HARD?
What? Are you serious?
shut up.
got the hard life travelling around europe.
can't even IMAGINE how tough that is.
i work 6 days.9 hours.
did a 12 hour shift on monday.
so shush you!
-Gem
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/gemmyberry/BIGDAYOUT.jpg
Travelling and sightseeing HARD?
What? Are you serious?
shut up.
got the hard life travelling around europe.
can't even IMAGINE how tough that is.
i work 6 days.9 hours.
did a 12 hour shift on monday.
so shush you!
-Gem
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/gemmyberry/BIGDAYOUT.jpg
# posted by : November 01, 2006 1:13 pm
: November 01, 2006 1:13 pm
Hi Ian and Gail, nice to read from you again. We are happy, that you have so much fun and experieces. We hope you are well and good luck for the next time.
With love, although to Bluey
Bruni and Dieter
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With love, although to Bluey
Bruni and Dieter
# posted by : November 01, 2006 5:40 pm
: November 01, 2006 5:40 pm<< Home
