We ended up spending a bit longer than originally intended in Spain, for relaxation, the sights and in part made necessary as repairs were required on the car.
First stop was the Costa del Sol where some kind friends let us stay for the night, which turned into 3 as it took a few extra days than planned to get one of the front trailing arm bolt replaced. This was mainly because it was a public holiday in Benalmadena where we were staying (though oddly only in that small part of the Costa del Sol, not the towns neighbouring). The San Juan Festival. There was a night of drinks dancing and fireworks on the beach, along with some odd traditions, swim as it turned midnight... walking over hot coals... There was also a night where lots of women were wearing traditional dresses, and we saw a local flamenco show in the square.... Thanks to the Greenans for showing us around town and for having us stay!
From there we headed North, to Grenada where we had a great look around the Alhambra...
camped in an olive field (and visited by the farmer in the morning as a bit of a hurry along we think J)
and on to Madrid via Toledo.
There were 2 highlights for me of Madrid... firstly the Museu de Jambon in the centre of town.... really good Tapas... from 1EUR. We just stood and ate in the deli downstairs but there was a constant queue for the seating area upstairs... very, very popular and little wonder....
2nd highlight was seeing a bullfight. Didn’t really intend to go. We got off at the Metro stop just to have a look around the ring itself, to compare to the one we’d seen in Sevilla, but as we exited we noticed there were ticket queues... as Matt was checking prices, someone was a bit too slow noticing an available ticket booth and Matt jumped in and bought the cheapest tickets available (in the sun, at the back). I’m glad to have been... if only to confirm that I didn’t like it. I like the theatrics of it, the skill of the Matadors... but I could not watch the swords and daggers strike the bull... or the bull charging the horses (that are now armoured).. we left after about 40 mins... though we definitely weren’t the first.
We stopped in Zaragoza (nice quaint town) and Montserrant (odd rocky mountain range) on our way across to Barcelona.
I loved Barcelona, but Matt preferred Madrid. I loved the Gaudi architecture, all the little shopping streets and that city beaches were within a couple of kilometres of the centre. Loved sitting in a little bar in a quiet part of town and watching the Spain v Portugal match with the locals. Didn’t so much enjoy realising we didn’t have much time to get the last bus back to the campsite and having to really power walk/run across town! Given that Spain had just played, the city was strangely quiet. Perhaps because we were in the touristy part of town, or they watch the matches at home.
After breaking down on the highway leaving Barcelona and spending a night in a hotel in Mataro we started heading to France and Italy. Stopped in Girona and Figueres on the way and bush camped next to a dam near the border. A really nice spot, including the 4W-Driving required to get down there!... and finding the tarred road the next morning. Got interrupted by some police who were looking to get rid of some people spear fishing, but other than that, probably the best free camp so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment