Adious holiday!

A few days ago we walked the streets of Barcelona in search of Spanish leather - I had found the address of a respected leather shop. Armed with the directions it was not quite as quick as we thought - did check a couple of times with people who obviously though my "Si, si" meant that I understood them!  We eventually arrived and I was disappointed with the stock - you really can't beat Italian leather!

A trip on the metro - getting good with this - took us to the area of Barcelona called La Rambla. So ramble and amble we did. There were numerous souvenir and flower stalls but the 'food  market' was the best. There was so much variety and the displays were very enticing. Even the bottles of olive oil were in bottles which could have graced the perfume isle in other stores. Unfortunately we couldn't find seats at the deli 'bars' so continued our walk.

Instead of walking up the middle of La Rambla  we took to the side paths and there was a shoe shop beckoning us in. I walked away with 2 pairs of ankle boots - well Spain is known for their shoes!

It was a cold 4C real feel -1C yesterday morning! I put my themal top on for the first time and boy did you need it - the wind just cut through you. No doubt I will be moaning in a few days that I am too hot!

We caught a taxi up to Park Guell, a park designed by Gaudi, which didnt quite turn out the way it was expected to. We visited one of the houses and it was a well put together museum about Gaudi's life and work.

Now getting ready for the long trip home. Fly to Doha later tonight, then a 15 hour layover, in a hotel, then 14+ hours to Sydney

What a difference 12 years makes!

After looking out of the apartment window across to the Sagrada Familia it was finally time to see the inside.

WOW! What a change - last time I was here we were walking on boards and the centre was dirt with scaffolding everywhere! Now:

It was breath taking!

You just stood and stared - will probably have a stiff neck from looking up! It is hoped that the building will be completed by 2026 - the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

We visited the  museum,  on site,  which shows all the drawings and models  used to show the basic construction.

Although not quite  as impressive as the inside the designs on the outside are  interesting.

So much work has gone into this building and it is estimated that it is costing 1 milliln Euro a day to build!!

We had tickets which included going up to the top of one of the towers - lift up, walk down - but because it was so windy it was cancelled. After looking at a few reviews on line it might have been for the best - very high, narrow walkway from one tower to other and a claustrophobic descent!

We spent the afternoon exploring  the local area.

Finally to Barcelona

Our few days in Denia were rather relaxing. We strolled through the town, had a massage, visited the castle, drank coffee/chocolate in open air cafes (when it was warm enough), Googled the names of the yachts seen from the window, ( one had been built for a middle eastern prince!) and people watched!

We were on the 9th floor and after dinner one night we came back into the apartment block and pressed button for lift, waited for ages, saw the lift was on level 8, thought someone was getting in and waited. Finally climbed stairs to first floor, called lift again, still not arriving. Slowly climbed each floor, pressing for lift as well as trying to find the light switch. I made a mistake on one floor and pressed someone's door bell instead of light - luckily no one was home but we did hot foot it up to the next level! When we reached level 8 we found out why the lift wasn't working - the door wasn't shut properly!

We did enjoy seeing the ferry come in/go out each day and the day we decided to watch it come through  the harbour entrance was the day the Med turned into a raging sea - wild enough that even the fishing boats didn't leave the harbour! We walked along the harbour wall trying to time our run through the waves coming over the top, didn't get wet luckily!

Was impressed to see a small boat head towards the ferry and then to see the pilot climb aboard to bring it into the harbour.

Beautiful sunrise!

We left Denia and were heading towards Barcelona with an overnight stop in Tarragona. Managed to get out of Denia with only one mistake - thank goodness for roundabouts! It took about 4 hours to reach Tarragona - Spanish drivers are mad! They tailgate and pull in/out at the last minute! Speed limits don't appear to concern them! 

Found the hotel and then had a wander. The amphitheatre here dates back to the first century - amazing!

Decided to eat in the hotel but they would only serve dinner from 8:30pm - too late for us!  Had to eat in hotel coffee shop but could only get pizza. The place was full of older ladies, many playing cards, who looked as if they'd been to the hairdresser that day - perhaps it was their weekly night out!

It took about 90mins to get to Barcelona airport where I dropped of the car. The guy didn't seem too concerned about the car/wall tangle - hope I don't get a letter asking for money when I get home! Caught airport bus and metro to eventually find our accommodation here. We are straight across from Sagrada Familia.

View from apartment in afternoon.

Today we took hop on/off bus. It must have been the coldest day of the year - 3C!

Survived the 2 hour round trip - so many changes since I was last here - but our legs failed to work properly - frozen? Tomorrow we have a tour of the Sagrada Familia  - looking forward to that.

Onward through Spain.

The day after our gorge walk we were all up ready to get to Granada and our guided tour of the Alhambra. Although Granada was only about 90mins away the weather was rather variable with frost and fog patches but wecarrived in good time! Once our guide arrived we started to tour through gardens and 'palaces'. The insides of the buildings were quite remarkable.

I will never remember everything that the guide mentioned but the three hours soon passed and we were all glad that we'd had a guided tour!
Next stop was lunch and we were able to sit and relax in the sun.

The next day I had to say goodbye to my sister and b-in- l. It had been so great tosee them and a lot of reminiscing went on - hopefully we will be able to catch up again at end of 2017.
It took a while to get started as the car was totally covered in ice - out came the credit cards and the scraping began! I think the car registered minus 4 - a tad cool for those from southern hemisphere!

A drive of about 4 hours bought us to  Denia on the Costa Blanca. It's an old Spanish port town - settled over 2000 years ago. The apartment we are in overlooks the port and we keep an eye on the comings and goings of the daily ferry to the party island of Ibiza! We have walked around the town and port and have a visit to the castle on the plan for tomorrow.

To Sevilla and beyond

We finally managed to make it to Seville by train! Even got the correct seats! When we arrived we made our way to the centre of town and it was after wandering down many little lanes we came across Savilla cathedral. It was very impressive.

 Unfortunately the queues to go into were very long and so we checked the interior out on line -  very impressive! Just got into a restaurant for lunch as the rain fell. A dish of paella and glass of sangria hit the spot.

Next day we left for a long drive to Baza was we were catching up with my sister and b-in l. We made it to the local supermarket as it opened to stock up on all our needs. We were soon on our way but once again were worried that we were going in the wrong direction! After a couple of false starts we found the road that we needed and sped through beautiful countryside. It was a long drive with a couple of stops but the directions given to us for the cave house were spot on.

The lady who greeted us was eccentric, to say the least! The cave house was another eye opener - a labyrinth for sure - as it's also known as the fairy house you might get the idea!

Valda and I got sorted and then set about waiting for my sister to arrive when i received a strange text to say that they were having trouble with the car but were heading towards Granada and would get in touch. They finally arrived about 11pm and what a story they had to tell! They were due to pick up a car at Malaga airport but were told that the insurance for 4 days was going to 1200 euros and they would get nothing back, even if the car was perfect! They then walked away from the hire firm, caught a bus to Granada and then a taxi to here (130kms away). There was much joy at their safe arrival and it turned into a very late night!

We had a lazy day yesterday with a quick wander around the local town. We are quite high up and there is snow on the mountains. 

Today we went in search of a gorge walk that I had found on line. It was impressive scenery and we did have a pleasant amble in the sun.

Going to Seville

Our day was planned we were catching the train to Seville. Off to the station we trotted - well ambled! At the ticket office in my limited Spanish I asked for two return tickets to Seville. What time I was asked. The 9:14 please. No! I then realised that all the seats were booked unless I wanted to go at 2pm. Manana (tomorrow) I asked. Si,Si so tickets were bought.

Not wanting to return home at 9am I asked how long it took to go to Cadiz - 45 minutes and tbere was a train within 20 mins -  tickets for Cadiz please. I think the guy was pretty impressed with our quick decision making. So we were off to Cadiz rather unexpectedly! Went onto the platform for the train when :
1. a  sign came up saying exit immediately - my Spanish is getting better &
2. A guy came up asking us about a train - we had to shrug our shoulders and say sorry ' No hablo espanol!' He then spoke to someone else who indicated that his train was on another platform. Well that put us in a bit of a panic, showed the same guy our ticket and he indicated that we were on  the  wrong platform. We were off , like greyhounds out of the gate, to the next platform and on reaching the train collapsed in a heap! On regaining our breathe we saw a train arrive on the platform we had left!!

During our journey we did find that we should have caught the other train but all was well as this one was also going to Cadiz! It was an interesting trip mainly through flat lands although there were lots of  waterways - not sure of their purpose. We travelled beside the beach into the station and, although sunny, it looked rather cold.

We made our way into the centre and found it a very interesting place.

After a cuppa and the usual discussion about how disgusted we were by the amount of smoking everywhere including restaurants - no wonder we are coughing our lungs up an so appreciate the no smoking in certain areas policy.

We came across Cadiz cathedral and ventured inside. So much history and it looks like money is needed to restore the ceilings - there was netting up to stop any of it falling on your head!

 we wandered tnrough the streets until we reached the sea.

We had a great day with an awesome tapas lunch - with finally a sherry we liked! Well we are in the sherry region! Finally found our way back to the station and got on the correct train, which luckily terminated at Jerez so no problems there! Hopefully we make it to Seville!!

From Africa to Europe

Tne  blue city was rather attractive although the reason that it was blue was to keep away the mozzies didn't quite ring true with us! My day was spent relaxing with a massage and the lack of voice was keeping me low key! By the end of the day the hotel staff had the solution - to drink a third of a glass of pure lemon juice! I did this under sufferance and it didn't help that Valda wanted to record   facial expressions - for YouTube no doubt! Amazingly I did have some voice the next day!

 Taxis took us to the local bus station for our 3 hour trip to Tangier. All was going well until the kids behind Valda and I started kicking us. A few delicate words from our guide helped! It was a rather windy descent and luckily we weren't at the back of the bus because that seemed to be the spot for the locals vomiting! The joys of travel!

As soon as lunch was over we left the group for their overnight train and we booked into a very pleasant  hotel in Tangier Medina! Over a couple of G & T's our hosts explaned how they had come from Nice, bought two houses, knocked them down and produced a beautiful hotel.

It was so good to stay in somewhere rather special but an early ferry, to Tarifa, Spain, soon had us on the way again.

A half an hour delay had us bobbing up and down, rolling from side to side until we eventually reached Tarifa. Only an hour on the clock but then we had to put our watch forward an hour. A free, well part of the ferry ticket, bus ride (for about 45 mins) bought us to Algeciras. The view of the rock of Gibraltar was quite impressive. We then took a taxi to the car hire company. Well, we arrive 10 minutes after the lady should have gone off duty and the huffing and puffing and general negative demeanor told us in no uncertain terms what low life we were. Caught her out though when she told me that my licence was out of date - it still had a year to go! After theatrically wiping the sweat from my brow she finally became more human. The car was bought to the door, and with no instructions we were on our own!

I made my way out of Algeciras ok and Valda was my navigator. We were soon out on the freeway and all was well  - until we got within a stones throw of the apartment and then everything went to pieces!! We had followed instructions but then got caught up in one way streets. I made one serious error but realised in time when I was preparing to turn left - but it was an Aussie left! I'm sure the scooter rider thought ' bloody tourists '!

After, what seemed like hours  driving around the one way streets we made it to a large supermarket and called the apartment owner who arrived on his motor bike to find us. We followed closely until arriving at apartment parking. Unfortunately the car door handle and a wall had a disagreement - oh well!!

We insisted that a cab was booked to take us to the local supermarket - no way I was doing any more driving that day! We bought copious supplies and after a few drinks headed off to the land of nod.

The next day, with map in hand, we wandered into the centre of the town. We noticed every road that we had driven download and couldn't believe how close to our destination we had come!!

We found a local market and bought prawns to cook for dinner. Made one of the local stall holders laugh when asking for garlic as we had to buy 4 bulbs - no way you could buy them singularly!

Tried our hand at ordering sherry at tbe local bars but haven't been  too successful