Spain Diary
27-11-2011 Sunday
It was a fairly foggy start to the morning as we drove 58ks only today to a town
called San Sebastian in Spain. It's a
fairly big town and was very busy for a Sunday - it took a while to get through
some of the streets, so I'm not looking forward to driving on them on a week
day! Luckily we didn't have to go far as Dave wasn't feeling too well today. We
drove to a caravan park called Igueldo (and lovely hot showers) and plan
to stay for at least 2 nights. This park is situated high up and the road was a
little narrow so we were glad when we got here and found that it was actually
open for business - it's happened before that a park has been closed when the
book said it was open.
Gotta go now and study our small Spanish phrase book. We got by in France with
our collective high school French but none of us know Spanish except for the
words and phrases we've seen on TV.
28-11-2011
Monday
This morning (in Spain) it was a clear, sunny and beautiful day - different to
yesterday. Dave still wasn't feeling well so we took the opportunity to do some
more washing and seeing as I don't have anything more interesting to put in my
diary today, I will tell you about our troubles with the washing machine.
Something was wrong with the machine because it was beeping after 1 and a half
hours but still seemed to be washing and filling with water on and off, while
water was coming out on the floor from the back of the machine and down a drain,
luckily situated in the middle of the laundry floor. We spoke to the people
concerned but after about 20 more minutes with nothing happening, we stopped the
machine, took out our water sodden clothes, wrung them out as best we could, and
hung them on our small clothesline and other makeshift lines next to our van.
The air is cool and as long as the clothes are not water logged, we can put them
in the dryer eventually, tomorrow.
Kerry and I only (as Dave still wasn't feeling well) had dinner at the on site
bar/restaurant, which was very handy. On the way back, we looked out over the
city below, beautifully lit up, as we are high up on terraced levels within the
park. The wind that has just sprung up may just dry our clothes - we'll see.
29-11-2011 Tuesday
It was another beautiful, clear and sunny day but very windy. The wind sprang up
during the night and finally knocked over our little clothesline - luckily it
didn't fall in the dirt. After finishing off our laundry in the dryer, we caught
the bus to the Plaza in the main town of San Sebastian (Spain) and walked
around the large shopping mall-like areas. There was some very interesting old
buildings, including the impressive cathedral which unfortunately wasn't open
for viewing inside. We wandered down to the beach front which was absolutley
glorious - no wonder it is very popular in the summer time.
We enjoyed a set nice 3 course meal with a bottle of wine for only $20 AUD each
at a restaurant right on the seafront - we were very pleasantly surprised (we
thought we should go back there tomorrow but probably need to move on). After
lunch we walked for about 25 mins to where a funicular took us up a 45
degree angle to a viewing place, providing a spectacular view over the beaches
and the town - a million dollar view! (A funicular, also known as an inclined
plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached
to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails, moves them up and down a steep slope;
the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.)
30-11-2011 Wednesday
Drove about 100ks to the town of Bilbao (Spain) and an Aires, up high and
along a very winding and narrow road that the big busses drive on, but when we
got there we found it was closed (which wasn't in the book). A non-English
speaking but helpful bus driver showed us (along his bus route) where we might
be able to spend the night, but it was outside a hotel(?) and there really
wasn't any room on the small road (and no real car park) for our mhome and the
road wasn't very condusive to a big mhome turning around. So we went back up the
winding road to a decent size car park on the top of the hill, with a good view
overlooking the city, but we haven't seen any sign of old buildings. Hope no-one
tells us to move (especially now as we've had nibblies and a couple drinks) - we
didn't see any signs at all, let alone any to do with mhome parking. The bus
line was Bilbo Bus (not Bilbao) and it reminded me of the book I'm reading, The
Hobbit with the main character, Bilbo Baggins.
1-12-2011 Thursday
We drove down into the main town to find a Post Office (Correos) to send an
international fax and post a small parcel, not much bigger than a thick
envelope. Well the fax cost nearly €22 which is over $30! I couldn't believe
it! The small parcel only cost €2 ($2.60) which was more acceptable. We then
drove about 70ks to an Aires at a small town called Cabarceno (Spain)
south of the seaside town of Santander. The town is right next to a
nature park and we looked over the fence and saw 12 elephants
with 1 small
baby,
some black buffalo and some dear little deer. It was fantastic! It's a nice
little town with some lovely buildings and plenty of restaurants which don't
seem to be open for business right now - would be a busy place in the summer I
expect. We are parked right beside a lovely lake with geese, ducks, seagulls and
little black water hens.
2-12-2011 Friday
We left about midday - it was quite rainy and rained heavy last night. We drove
about 70k to a town call ed Reinosa (Spain) which we were told was nice
by a Spanish mhome owner who stopped and talked to us while we parked in the
street near the Post Office. We did a big shop and as it was raining and not
condusive to walking or cycling around, we decided to drive the next 30k to an
Aires in a town called Aguilar De Campoo. The Aires is right next to a
sports field and a school.
3-12-2011 Saturday.
It was a nice sunny day so we got the bikes out and rode around the lovely town
of Aguilar De Campoo. In France we always seemed to be at a town looking for a
meal after 1.30 and they finish then and don't open for dinner again til 7pm,
and the normal businesses seem to shut at 12 til about 2-2.30 and some even
3pm!. So today we were in town (Spain) around midday and thought that's good,
we'll have lunch but the couple places we tried were only open for meals at 1.30
not before! We can't win! They're probably having their siesta before then.
Anyway we were able to find a place that served some hot snacks (raciones) that
did us for lunch. We then drove 190ks to a caravan park called Costajan
that is actually open in a town called Aranda de Deuro. They have
wifi internet but unfortunately for some reason we can't access it on our
computer and we haven't had internet for 4 days now.
4-12-2011 Sunday
Today it was overcast and cool but not rainy so we rode the bikes about 3.5ks
into the main town of Aranda de Deuro. We walked around the old part with old
buildings and viewed the externally impressive church, Iglesia de Santa Maria
La Real - we didn't see inside as there was a service going on at the time
which was around midday. We walked a little way to another old church that is
being used as a religious museum, Iglesia de San Juan Bautista - Museo
Sacro.
Had lunch in a cosy little pub which again, only had 'raciones' - nice snacky
food (haven't been able to find an open place that has real meals yet).
5-12-2011
Monday
Left cara park and drove just a few ks to an interesting town Torregalinda
with very old buildings, many in disrepair. There were some rock with doorways
cut into them, but covered over - we wondered if they were early residences from
hundreds of years ago or maybe some sort of bomb shelters(?) We then drove 75ks
to an Aires in a town called Turegano for the night. We walked around the
town and up to an old castle but of course, we got there at 1.55pm and it was
just shutting til 4pm! We had a nice dinner in a pub/restaurant but didn't have
any veges with it (it's always fun ordering meals with waiters who don't have
much English, sometimes a bit of a lucky dip!) - had to cook some veges when we
got home as haven't had any for a couple days and I miss them.
6-12-2011 Tuesday
Drove 30k to a town called Segovia and saw Alcazar Palace, which
in the Middle Ages became one of the favourite residences of the monarchs of
Castile. We then drove to the Roman Aqueduct, an 894m long engineering
wonder that looks like an enormous comb plunged into the centre of Segovia. It
is 28m high and was built without a drop of mortar - just gool old Roman
know-how. We then drove about 75ks to Madrid, to a cara park called Arco
Iris for 7 nights at this stage.
7-12-2011 Wednesday
Madrid - was a little more than a muddy, mediocre
village when King Felipe II declared it Spain's capital in 1561. Though
established as a Moorish garrison in 854, by the 16th century the population was
only 12,000. That began to change when Madrid became the epicentre of the
Spanish court. The city was a squalid grid of unpaved alleys and dirty buildings
until the 18th century, when King Carlos III turned his attention to public
works. By the early 20th century Madrid finally began to look like a proper
capital.
The 1940's and '50's were trying times for the capital, with rampant poverty.
Nowhere was Franco's thumb as firmly pressed down as on Madrid, which lived
under a blanket of fear and forced austerity for nearly four decades. When the
dictator died in 1975 the city exploded with creativity and life, giving
Madrilenos the party-hard reputation they still cherish. The tourist's bible,
Lonely Planet, says "Spain's capital is a vibrant place, the hub of the
country's government and commerce, and an exciting city bubbling over with
creativity. Madrid may not have the effortless elegance of European capitals
like Paris or Rome, but it has a raw energy that is infectious."
We felt like a rest today so we stayed at the park and did nothing much.
8-12-2011 Thursday
We made the trek into the main city of Madrid today and trek it was - we had to
walk only a few hundred metres to a bus stop to catch a bus to a light rail line
(like a tram), which takes you about 10 stops to the normal metro rail network
which services the main city. It probably took us about an hour to an hour and a
half by the time we waited for each service and got to where we wanted to go -
and our caravan park is close to the city! The trains are quite frequent though,
and modern and clean. Using a prepaid tourist travel pass we could hop on and
off most of the transport networks without having to worry about buying a ticket
each time, which was good. We were very surprised to find there were no toilets
in the train stations - that was the first time we've encountered that in a big
city.
We walked around a markets and had a lunch of mixed meats (chicken, pork ribs,
chorizo and kabana type sausages), cooked on this large BBQ grill (a spectacle
in itself) - everyone was taking photos of it. It was very nice smoky meat.
While we were ordering, we heard a commotion behind us and when we turned we saw
someone (adult woman although looked a bit like a man) yelling at this young
girl in Spanish (appeared about 12-14 yrs) and then slap her hard across the
face and then push her just about over a low garden fence behind her. The young
girl looked helpless and innocent. We were shocked and some men in the crowd
approached the woman a few feet away to stop her from attacking the girl. It
turned out that the girl was stealing a big piece of the cooked ribs of the BBQ,
and had thrown it on the ground when confronted by the woman, a worker at the
stall. And the lady serving us told us this same girl does this every day! A bit
of excitement for the day.
We then went to the Templo de Debod, and authentic ancient temple which
was a gift from Egypt, and was transferred here stone by stone in 1972. The sign
said the afternoon admittance was 4.15p so we decided to sit around and wait for
25 mins til it opened, along with a lot of other people. When it was time we saw
some other people being told it wasn't opening today - there's our good old luck
again! I shouldn't complain - we do have some good luck at times. On the way
into the grounds, some young people with forms and pens were approaching people
and one girl came over to us. Before she could say 2 words, very forcefully and
with a touch of anger, Dave and I both told her NO! and to GO AWAY! - we weren't
going to be fooled by pickpockets again! It was good actually - I hadn't had the
opportunity to do that since that fateful day. After that we made our long trek
back home.
9-12-2011 Friday
It was a cooler day today than yesterday. We caught the 3 modes of transport
again into Madrid and bought tickets to the Madrid City Tours, which is
the tourist hop-on-hop-off bus service. Like similar tourist buses in other
cities we've been in, it drives all over the city and gives you a pre-recorded
commentary on the city's tourist attractions. It's a great way to see the city
without the hassle of battling the traffic yourself. Madrid has many old,
beautiful, ornate buildings, statues and monuments. When we drove past Puerta
del Sol it was packed with people - a remarkable sight. This area, Spanish
for "Gate of the Sun", is one of the best known and busiest places in
Madrid. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial network of Spanish roads, the
point from which all Spanish road distances are measured. The square also
contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve
Grapes and the beginning of a new year. The New Year's celebration has been
broadcast live on TV since 31 December 1962.
We had an early dinner about 3pm at a traditional restaurant, and finally had some
Spanish Paella (shellfish) and Andaluza style fried calamari (just
seemed like battered calamari to me but sounded good). It was nice to round off
our day in a nice warm restaurant with a couple bottles of red wine before
making the trek home. The shine was taken off a bit when we had to wait 40 mins
for a bus on the last leg - it was starting to get dark and bit colder.
10-12-2011 Saturday
It was a dull, overcast and very misty day today. We trekked into the city of
Madrid again and first walked down the Gran Via street, one of the main
streets. Being Saturday the place was even more busy than yesterday, even though
the weather was quite cool. We then hopped on the Tour Bus again and did the
second tour route of the city. The roof was closed on the open top bus, making
it nice and warm. We had an early dinner again at a Mexican restaurant run by
really nice people.
11-12-2011 Sunday
After going into Madrid for 3 consecutive days, we decided to stay back at the
park today. I did some washing and Kerry packed her bag, ready to catch her
flight back to OZ tomorrow.
12-12-2011 Monday
We took Kerry to Madrid international airport for her 2pm flight home. We got
there in plenty of time and after she checked her bag in, we had a nice
breakfast/lunch of tapas and champagne which did us for food for the rest of the
day. After leaving the airport Dave and I trained it to the 18th century Palacio
Real (Royal Palace), is used mainly for important events. It's King Juan
Carlos I's official residence (though no-one actually lives here) and 50 of the
2800 plus rooms are available for public viewing. It wasn't as oppulent as
Versailles but still impressive. Outside the main palace was the Farmacia
Real (Royal Pharmacy), where apothecary-style medicine jars lined the
shelves in about 7 different rooms.
The impressive Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena is right next
door but we didn't go inside. We wanted to catch a train to a telephone museum
that Dave had heard about but when we finally found where it was, we found it
wasn't open today (of course not!) and there weren't really any phones, mostly
postal and telegraphic stuff! Oh well, C'est le Vie! , or así es la vida!
On the way to the airport in the train, a standing young lady fainted in front
of us. It was in an open space part of the carriage luckily, as the young
guys next to her first of all put her on her side and when the train stopped,
lifted her up and out on to the platform so help could be summoned. She
still hadn't come around at that time which was quite a few minutes (not a good
sign). While she was sitting on the chair outside with her head against
the wall she looked to me like she could be pregnant (her abdomen sticking out
just far enough to think she could be). The guys who carried her out,
stayed with her which was really nice. There was no point us being there
as we couldn't speak Spanish.
In my sceptical mind, since being pickpocketed and having read up on some of the
scams they pull, I thought maybe it was a distraction so some pickpocket could
do his/her work on other passengers. Distracting the victim is one of the
scams. Even someone yelling out on a train "Someone has stolen my
purse" can be one of the distractions so people immediately feel that their
purse/wallet is still there, and the pickpocket gets to see where people are
holding their purse/wallet.
13-12-2011 Tuesday
We drove (about 80ks south of Madrid) to Toledo
for 2 nights, to a caravan park called El Greco. It started out a
lovely sunny day at Madrid but by the time we got to Toledo it grew overcast and
cool. As we didn't do anything touristy today to tell, I'll relate my latest
washing machine experience. It was about 2pm so I thought I'd get it done well
before it gets dark and cold. I put the detergent in the machine with stain
spray on the clothes, put the token in and nothing happened. After going to
reception and some investigation and phone calls by the lady, I was told for
some reason the electricity wasn't working in that building, so I had to take
the clothes back out and take it all down to another laundry at the other end of
the park. That laundry was locked and I couldn't get in til 4.30 when someone
came back with the key! At 5.30 after having gone down to check the door a
couple times and finding it still locked, I went back to reception which also
was locked. There is a house on site so I knocked on the door and a man, who
doesn't speak English, came to the door. I was able to get out in Spanish that
the laundry door was locked (puerta cerrado) and he seemed to understand and
gestured to me to wait in our mhome. After about 10 mins another man came to
tell me the door was now unlocked.
So I went down and put the washing in the machine again, put the token in and
the light came on (hooray, electricity is on) but nothing happened - no water! I
checked the taps which didn't help at all, so back to reception I go and
thankfully the same young man was there. I told him the problem (he spoke a bit
of English thankfully) and he came down to check. It appears the water had been
turned off (as that laundry was supposed to be closed as low season), which he
fixed after going into the building next door. It was now about 6pm. Luckily we
had the bikes out as I rode back and forth the 200 metres to the far laundry
quite a few times before the finish. All went ok after that until I took the
washing out of the dryer (by this time it's about 7pm - lucky I started at 2!).
It was still damp, which was pretty poor considering the cost of the token was
€3.20 (about $4). So our mhome looks like a Chinese laundry and lucky I'm used
to going without a shower as all the towels were in this wash.
14-12-2011 Wednesday
Dave and I rode our bikes into the old part of Toledo (Spain) today - very
interesting, very old and very narrow streets between the very old buildings.
One of the streets was even marked as being only 1.8m wide (the mhome is >2m
wide). A small car had to pull his side mirrors in to get through on one street.
The street system was a bit of a maize and even with Dave's good spacial
ability, we didn't go too far away from the bikes when we chained them up for
fear of not finding them later. We did a lot of climbing (walking and pushing
the bikes) up the steep streets - the old town was built up on a hill, probably
for defence reasons at the time, similar to a lot of old places we've seen.
We went into the church, Iglesia de los Jesuitas. Inside was obviously
repainted and restored and was beautiful with very ornate alter-like structures
with statues, in several alcoves (about 5 on each side). Then there was the main
alter at the top end of the church which was bigger and even more ornate with a
high dome celing above it. We were able to climb up to the twin Torres
(towers) which gave a fantastic panoramic view of the city. We also saw the
impressive outside only (as it was locked) of the Catedral Primada Santa
Maria de Toldedo. We then had lunch in a nearby restaurant and then were
going to make our way to the new part of the city to a markets we'd seen on the
way in yesterday. However, with the maize confusion we headed down the wrong
side of the old city and had to skirt around along the Rio (River) Tajo
which surrounds the city.
On the way back we saw the defensive wall of the town as we rode toward the cara
park. 'Holy Toledo' does describe our reaction to this town as it certainly is a
town worth seeing and exploring. We didn't end up making it to the markets -
maybe tomorrow as we decided to stay another night.
15-12-2011 Thursday
We rode into the town looking for these markets that the receptionist at the
park told us were open every day. We had trouble finding them which was odd
because they were on the same route we came on to get to the caravan park. A
nice young man stopped and asked if we needed help and he told us those markets
are only open on Tuesdays! (could've been a language problem when the lady told
me they were open every day - hers or mine) At least we then knew we weren't
going crazy, not being able to find them.
We rode into the old part of the city again, but not far up this time. We went
into a specialty shop that we saw yesterday and looked interesting. He had in
tins, Estofada de Perdiz (Partridge Casserole) which we'd read was a good
Spanish meal, Alubias con Perdiz (white haricot beans with partridge) and Paté
de Carne de pato (duck pate). We also bought a big piece of cheese (probably
about 2 kilos) which on its own was €25 (about $35). When he told us the final
price it was €55 (about $71)! I hadn't asked how much the stuff was beforehand
and had already said we'd take them. Anyway it was a specialty shop and I had
been wondering what we'd have for Xmas dinner, and now I know.
We then went into a restaurant closeby for lunch. The lady in there was very
hospitable and helped us with the menu and even some Spanish words/phrases when
she could see we tried (poorly) to use some Spanish. It always makes the
experience a lot nicer when the people are friendly and helpful (and they get a
better tip!). The food was very nice also, unlike the tough steak we had
yesterday.
16-12-2011 Friday
Driving down through Spain is certainly not like driving through France.
Everywhere we drove in France was nearly always green and mostly farming land.
Going down the middle of Spain (where the capital Madrid is) is quite dry and is
known for its aridity. It's a bit unusual seeing a lot of brown sandy land after
France. We thought it was also unusual that Madrid was made the capital as it's
smack in the middle of the country, not on the coast with access to a port like
most other country capitals (and no, it didn't slip our minds that our
Australian capital is Canberra which is nowhere near the coast).
We drove 70 ks south to a town called Consuegra in the region of (Castilla-La
Mancha). A couple large regions of Spain are called 'Castilla' because the
word means 'castle' and during the hundreds of years of turmoil and takeovers by
various conquerors and communities (Roman, Jewish, Muslim, Visigoth and
Christian), many castles and fortifications were built in these areas.
Castilla-La Mancha is known as the home of fictional characters Don Quixote
(spelt Quijote in some places we've noticed) and his sidekick, Sancho Panza, in
Miguel de Cervantes literary classic. The saying 'tilting at windmills'
(fighting imaginary enemies) comes from this story.
Consuegra has cashed in on the Don Quixote theme with a walking trail and road
for cars, that lead up to the top of a hill with 7 (non-working) windmills and a
castle, Castillo de la Muela. These windmills are white with a black
pointed top and black 'arms' and look nothing like the ones we saw in The
Netherlands. It was a very, very windy and cold day and we were being pushing
around walking up and on top of the hill. Each of the windmills had their own
name and the tourist one which opens for visitors is called Bolero (it
wasn't going to be open for an hour after we'd finished looking around and we
weren't going to wait or go back later in those cold windy conditions). We also
explored the interesting castle which dates back to the 12th century. Some of it
is in ruins but a good part of it has been made safe for visitors.
We were glad to go back down the hill and we had the problem of a place to stay
for the night - there wasn't a caravan park or Aires in this place. At the
bottom of the hill, there was a bar/restaurant with the Don Quixote figures on
the fence and a gravel car park outside. It was on the edge of town with no
other buildings around it so we went inside and asked (in our limited Spanish
and charades) if we could stay in the car park overnight. One of the ladies said
yes and seemed to gesture that it belonged to her so it was ok. That was great
so we moved the mhome and then went inside to the bar and had a nice meal to
boot.
17-12-2011 Saturday
Not much to report today - we did a grocery shop in the town (Consuegra) and
then drove 360ks to a town called Merida and a caravan park with the same
name, for 2 nights.
Sunday 18-12-2011 Sunday
We did a bit of riding today (all up about 10ks) into and around the town of Merida, visiting the various interesting ruins which had their origins in
Roman
architecture. The prince of the monuments were the Roman Theatre
(16-15BC), where the various entertainment was carried out on a stage with a
semi-circle seating arrangement; and the Ampitheatre (8BC) used for
staging gladiatorial combats (Russel Crowe comes to mind) and fights between
animals, or between animals and men, which together with circus performances,
were the entertainments preferred by the public (like the Colosseum but
smaller). It felt funny viewing these structures in Spain when we've always
heard (mostly on the movies) that they existed in ancient Rome in Italy, but the
Romans fought wars and occupied many countries as did other races.
The remains of 2 aqueducts also still exist. The Los Milagros Aqueduct
consisted of a strong series of arches, 830 metres long with a maximum height of
25 metres, crossing the River Albarregas. Built in the late 1st century
A.D., water was carried by means of this aqueduct to a water tower, from which
water was distributed to different parts of the urban area. Another structure
was called the Roman Circus, measuring about 440m long by 115m wide. The
competitions that took place in the circus, together with the events in the
ampitheatre, were the 2 types of entertainment that most appealed to the masses
in Roman times. We don't know if there were any (what we know as) 'circus' type
entertainment carried out in this place but chariot races certainly featured.
2 Roman bridges are the ones over the River Albarregas and the
River Guadiana -
this bridge is 792m long, with a height of 12m and comprised 60 arches. It
became an exclusively pedestrian zone in 1993. Some other ruins we saw were Temple
of Diana (no, not that Diana), Trajan's Arch, Municipal Forum,
and Alcazaba (Moorish Citadel. We had lunch at one of the many
restaurants that had people walking around handing out flyers. This one had a 3
course meal for €10 each ($15) including a bottle of wine and coffee. Luckily
we did a bit more sightseeing after lunch so the ride home wasn't too bad.
19-12-2011 Monday
Nothing much to report today, just a 200k drive south to Seville
(Flamenco and barber country) in the Andalucian region, and to the
caravan park, Camping Villsom for 3 nights.
20-12-2011 Tuesday
Caught the bus into the town of Sevilla and then straight onto a sightseeing bus
around the city. (One thing we've noticed with most of the towns we've been in,
they have been very clean as far as litter goes, which gives a good feel) We
then went to the nearby magnificent Plaza de Espana with its fountain, 4
arched bridges over a canal and simply dazzling semicircle building clad in azulejo
(ceramic tiles). The building would be about 200m across, 3 stories, with
beautiful and colourful ceramic balustrades on the fence, ceramic on the
columns, bridges, lamp posts, everywhere. It was truly spectacular! We looked
around for over and hour. All along the bottom part of the semicircular wall
were 56 individual, wide, ceramic tiled
seats. Each one of these individual
areas had a tiled scene on the wall behind, and different names of the towns in
Spain. I could go on forever about the decorative tiled expanse of this monument
- it was awesome and probably comes close, if not tops the list, of things we've
seen so far. There was nothing to see inside - we believe it was offices for the
local council.
Previously in other towns in Spain, we've noticed and admired these same sorts
of tiles that are used to display the street
names, on the sides of
buildings or separate signage. It's a charming practice. Everywhere in the town
and the streets are orange
trees, laden with fruit - an unusual and pleasant
site. We tried one of them but it was sour even though the skin was a good shade
of orange. We'll keep them for a few days and see if the taste changes. Had a
nice early cheap 'menu of the dias' (day) and then bussed it back home.
21-12-2011 Wednesday
Caught the bus again into Sevilla and onto the city sightseeing bus again. Got
off at the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza which is one of the
oldest bullfighting rings in Spain, construction started in 1761. In 1983 it was
declared an Historical Art Monument. It is a big round mostly white building and
is used for bullfights from about April to October, and also houses a museum. We
had to have a compulsory guide for the tour and she showed us inside the bull
ring (viewed from the seating area) which was exciting as we'd never been in one
before. They even sold in the souvenir shop, small bottles of the gravel from
inside the ring! I was glad the season was over because even though I'd enjoy
the pageantry of the show leading up to the bullfight, I wouldn't enjoy the
fight because the final aim is to kill the bull - even today. I thought that'd
changed and other criteria was used to decide the outcome of the fight rather
than to actually kill the beast. After it's killed they do sell it off for meat
so it isn't wasted.
Of course, if the bull wins and kills the matador, or if it puts up such a good
fight that the crowd says it should live, then it's put out to pasture and used
for breeding, probably more bulls for fights. When we've been driving through
Spain, we've actually seen some fenced paddocks with quite a few bulls (mostly
black) in them which we thought was unusual, but the lady told us they would've
probably been bulls for fighting. While driving we've also seen quite a few
large billboards, cut out in the shape of a single bull, no writing or
advertisement on them, just a big plain black bull cutout. They really stand out
as there's usually nothing around them, just an open grassy field. It reminds me
of our Aussie theme of 'the Big ......', like 'the Big Gumboot', 'the Big
Pineapple' or 'the Big Prawn', etc. In this case it's 'the Big Bull'. The museum
displayed some matador uniforms, paintings, and even some bulls' heads up on the
wall - only about 4 or so - ones that were real fighters. The uniforms
apparently were worn very tight so the bull's horns couldn't hook into the
material easily.
After an early dinner, we walked to the very ornate Catedral, which was
very impressive externally but we could only see one small part inside as we
believe it was closed off for the upcoming Navidad (Xmas) celebrations. We
happened across Spain's man of the moment and had to say hello to Rafael.
We then
visited the 10th century Real Alcazar (Royal Palace) which is next door
to the cathedral and is the oldest active royal residence in Europe. It was
declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, together with the Cathedral. We were
bowled over by all the ceramic tiled walls in most of the rooms, and various
styles that were installed over hundreds of years as different rulers came to
power - Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance and Baroque. Sevilla/Seville was the seat
of enormous ceramics manufacturing in Spain so it's no wonder that there's such
a big presence of the products everywhere you look.
22-12-2011 Thursday
We drove 180ks to a town called Villafranca de Cordoba (about 25ks out of
the big town of Cordoba), to a cara park called Albolafia (we made the
joke that if you whack your 'elbow' you 'laugh-ia' so it's easy to remember ha
ha) for about 4 nights including Xmas night. Before we left Seville we did a
shop at a big supermarket called Carrefour, which was like Coles and Kmart
combined and had extensive selections of products - stay tuned for our upcoming
photos, showing the freezer holding the cute little frozen, whole, baby, pigs
(3.5ks) ready for the oven or spit rotisserie! We were gobsmacked as we've never
seen it before! but would not have turned our noses up at roasted suckling pig
on the menu as we have seen on recent menues (apololgies to our vegetarian
readers). The park seems nice and straight away a mhome pulled in behind us with
a couple of Aussies (John and Marcelle) from Sydney so we had a good chat to
them.
23-12-2011 Friday
Caught the bus which was surprisingly a comfortable long distance type bus with
curtains (about 40 mins) into Cordoba. Cordoba was the effective Islamic capital
on the Iberian peninsula (the name given to Spain, Portugal and Andorra)
following the Muslim invasion in 711. Inside the Mezquita (mosque) you
find a mesmerising sequence of 856,
two tier arches (painted with thick maroon and
beige stripes which put me in mind of the pharoah's headdress) amid a thicket of
columns resembling palm trees. Its construction began in 785 and enlarged by
subsequent generations. The mosque was used as a church from 1236 and here's the
weird thing - a cathedral was built right in its centre in the 16th
century! The mosque part wasn't torn down or destroyed in any way which was
surprising, just about 60 separate altars were built amongst the mosque
constructions, which is a strange combination to see.
Large Catholic paintings were hung on the walls throughout, high decorative
ceilings typical of cathedrals were built and a big very ornate altar with dark
timber pulpit was built right in the middle of the building. Next to this main
alter is a separate side chapel, with a floor to ceiling dark timber altar and
both sides of the walls of the chapel, lined with carved high backed seats.
Three adjoining rooms in the middle of the building showed many beautiful gold
and silver coloured chalices, crosses and other items on display behind locked
glass cabinets. The place was truly an awesome sight.
We then walked to the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Palace of the
Christian Kings) where the Kings and important people stayed when in town. The
gardens and big pools with giant dark coloured and goldfish were well manicured
and beautiful. We walked around the interesting narrow streets and buildings to
the Synagoga which we were told was an interesting site but it was closed
and wouldn't be open for another hour which didn't fit in with our schedule. We
needed to catch the 3.30pm bus back as the next one wasn't until 6pm and it
would be dark and cold walking the 500m back from the bus stop to the cara park.
24-12-2011 Saturday Christmas Eve
We didn't do much today - just rode into the local town Villafranca de Cordoba
for a quick look around today. We've had some beautiful sunny days lately after
the night cold has worn off.
25-12-2011 Sunday Christmas Day
We joined the other Aussie couple, Marcelle and John for Christmas lunch today
and we had a very enjoyable day. The park is nearly empty so we put chairs and
tables in one of the pitches between our vans, where the sun shone most of the
day. It was a lovely day with only a slight wind. John and Marcelle have been
travelling over here and Britain for 20 months.
We had drinks and nibblies of pate, cheese, nuts, olives and dried fruits and
then a nice simple lunch of baked chicken and veges along with a typical Spanish
food called Estofada de Perdiz (partridge casserole) which we bought
in Toledo. We served it cold (as that's how we were told to eat it by the guy in
the shop) and it was very nice but it would've been better hot. For dessert, we
had Xmas pudding with a light dessert custard, 2 different types of pastries
along with ferrero rocher chocs and another dark type chocolate that was round,
flat with sultanas and nuts on them.
26-12-2011 Monday Boxing
Day
Drove 180ks east to Granada (still Andalucia region
in Spain) to a cara park called Reina Isabel in a small town of La
Zubia (for 4 nights), which is about 3-4ks out of the main town. On the
drive here we saw millions of olive trees all over the hilly terrain which
appears so dry. The trees seem to grow on quite steep hillsides. As we neared
the outskirts of Granada, the snow covered Sierra Nevada Mountains came
into view and they were just amazing! Here it appears the snow is so close but
the town of Granada doesn't really get snow.
We went out tonight (which is pretty big as it doesn't happen very often) to
dinner and a Flamenco show in the caves
area, so called as the
premises (and many others) are built into the rocks. The roads the small private
bus went on to the show, were quite small and narrow and we couldn't believe it
when the (show provided) guide told us these streets were 2way! There was hardly
room for one way traffic, and he said in the summer season, it is quite bedlam
with the extra traffic trying to drive both ways. After the show the guide took
us for a 15 min walking tour around the Albayzin, the old Moorish
quarter, before getting the private bus ride back home. We had a fantastic view
over the city and the Alhambra
Palace. Because this was the last area where the
Christian armies displaced Muslims, it is supposedly the oldest area for, and
the last surviving area of, the gypsy or flamenco people.
Here's a little history of flamenco for those who are interested:-
Born from the
expression of a persecuted people in Southern Spain, Flamenco is a unique blend
of influences and musical complexity can be attributed to the consequences of
the decree made in Spain 1492 by Catholic Spanish King Ferdinand V and Queen
Isabella that everyone living under their domain convert to Catholicism. This
proclamation was issued under the threat of varying degrees of punishment, the
most severe being the death penalty, by fire. Gypsies, Muslims, Jews and anyone
living in Spain at the time was ordered to convert. It is believed that because
of this decree these different ethnic groups came together to help each other,
and within this melding of cultures Flamenco was born. Flamenco became their
collective expression of anguish and protest against oppression. Flamenco, in
general, consists of three artistic elements: the singing (cante), the dance
(baile) and the guitar (guitarra). In addition, there are often members of a
Flamenco group playing “palmas” or hand-clapping. The relationship between
the artists is similar to that of Jazz-there is a basic structure that one must
follow, but at its heart, it is an improvised form. The singing is the center of
the Flamenco group. The dancer physically interprets the words and emotion of
the singer through his or her movements, which include percussive footwork and
intricate hand, arm and body movements.
27-12-2011 Tuesday
3 months ago to the day, I had my cracked tooth fixed (nerve taken out and
temporary filling put in). About a week ago the protective flap over the crack
the Belguim dentist did, deteriorated and broke away. The reception guy at the
park rang for me and so I went to a dentist here with my written explanation of
the problem, translated into Spanish, as I couldn't find one that spoke English.
He actually replaced the temporary filling but didn't seem to put a protective
bit over the crack - he seemed to be saying to me that it wasn't important - so
we'll see (had rung my dentist at home who said he thought there should be a
cover over the crack to prevent infection).
From there we rode to the shopping centre and bought a few things before we came
back to the park and did some washing (without too much drama this time).
28-12-2011 Wednesday
We caught the bus into the main town of Granada today. Nestled at the foot of
the snow-clad Sierra Nevada, the city was a sanctuary for Muslims after the fall
of Cordoba and Seville, and reminders of this period are easily discernable in
the maze-like Albayzin (the old Moorish quarter) and in the commanding presence
of the Alhambra. We walked first to the Catedral Metropolitana de Granada
which was very impressive inside with its lavish main
altar, large system of
organ pipes and separate individual altars around the walls. The columns inside
were massive - each one consisting of about 6 normal columns joined into one.
With all the wonderful cathedrals we've seen, it is hard to know which one is
grander!
We had a nice kebab for lunch and caught a small bus up to the Alhambra,
a palace and fortress complex - one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic
art and architecture. A small bus it had to be as the bigger normal ones would
not have been able to go up the narrow tight streets. 3 main parts to the
Alhambra are:-
- Palacio Nazaries (Nasrid Palace) built for Granada's Muslim rulers in
their 13th to 15th century heyday, is the centrepiece of the complex. The beauty
of its patios and intricacy of its stucco and woodwork are unrivalled anywhere
in the world.
- the Alcazaba, the Alhambra's fortress dating from the 11th to the 13th
centuries. There are spectacular views from the tops of its towers.
- the Generalife (Palace Garden), extensive and manicured gardens and
hedges
29-12-2011 Thursday
Had a lazy start today - caught the bus about midday into the centro ciudad
(city) Granada again and just walked around enjoying not having to be somewhere
at a specific time like yesterday. Walked up to the Albayzin area again as it is
very interesting to explore. We went to the viewpoint, Mirador de San Nicolas,
which has a marvellous view of the Alhambra with the snow capped Sierra Nevada
in the background (where the guide took us the other night, after the flamenco
show). Outdoors eating and drinking areas were well patronized as people soaked
up the lovely sun and a good one-man-band
busking. Colourful
souvenir shops of course, are everywhere up there and also
down in the main more modern part of town. And as usual, we just get used to the
public transport system and we move on, tomorrow.
30-12-2011 Friday
After doing some provisions stock up at the local supermarket, we drove 28ks up
the Sierra Nevada mountains for a good view and that's what we got. Quite a lot
of the road was steep and winding as you'd expect (and good thankfully) and we
stopped at about 3,000m altitude. The road went up further but we decided that
we'd gone far enough and got a fantastic enough view. We had lunch
with the snow capped mountains in view out our mhome window. It was a
picture! We then drove about 240ks south-east to our next cara park for 3
nights, Los Escullos at a town called San Jose (very Spanish
sounding), right down on the bottom east coast of Spain. This area is situated
in the Cabo de Gata National Park. We are on part of the coast line
called the Costa
del Sol (Sunshine Coast - where have I heard that before???) We are
about 800m from the beach. There is a big difference in temperature here
compared to our last stop. It is a lot warmer here, being close to the sea. We
haven't had to turn the heater on this evening at all.
On the way here we saw acres of solar
panels and wind turbines, and acres and acres of fruit and vege greenhouses.
The weather down here is such that this produce can be grown all year round.
It's no wonder their fruit and veg in the shops are so cheap. In one area not
far from the highway, we saw (cave homes) houses
that were built into the rock - there was a normal house front wall facade,
painted white, with windows and a door, up against the rock and then you could
see chimnies poking up out of the rock - it looked a bit like Fred Flinstone's
place. I suppose they'd have to hollow it out inside to make the rooms. On the
way we also saw a lot of mountain
formations that looked more like the ones we've seen in the movies (like
Raiders of the Lost Ark), in South America or some other countries, not what we
expected to see here (even though we don't have any experience or particular
knowlege of what we should see here, mind you).
31-12-2011 Saturday New Year's Eve
Yesterday we saw the following quote in big letters on the back of a mhome just
like ours, further supporting our decision to do this big trip:-
“Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't
do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the
safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
We had a lazy day today. There's not a lot to see around here which we knew and
were happy about as we felt we would like have a break from full on sightseeing
for a couple days. This park is pretty popular especially for families which is
understandable as the weather is so nice and not cold (get the kids out of the
'house'). We went for a ride about 1pm. It was nice and sunny but a bit windy so
we didn't stay out for too long. We rode down to the sea, the mediterranean sea
that is, and it was a really beautiful dark blue. There was this unusual
sandy rock with a wave-like formation with a honeycombed appearance, like
the splashing sea waves had done it. A sign stated it was fossilized dunes,
which look like exposed
reefs.
There was also an old building, La
Bateria de San Felipé which was a fortress built under the reign of Carlos
the 3rd around 1800.
1-1-2012 Sunday New
Year's Day
We had an even lazier day today as everything would be closed in the town about
5ks away seeing as it's New Years day. Dave did a few little odd jobs that
needed doing and we looked at where we are going tomorrow.
2-1-2012 Monday
Drove 180ks to town of Cartegana (in the Murcia region of Spain) to an
Aires for the night, next to a shell garage with a great Eroski supermarket
across the road. This part of the coastline from Almeria on the southern coast,
up the east coast to Alicante has the stretches of ocean called the
"Costas" - Costa de Almeria, Costa Calida, Costa Blanca. On the drive
here, we encountered English speaking radio stations with English songs, and the
(small) English food section in the Eroski supermarket (which had real baked
beans, which we haven't been able to find in Europe), attests to the fact that
English speaking people (probably from the UK) holiday here a lot. We were
wearing t-shirts all day - it was really nice warm weather. Saw many, many more
vege and fruit greenhouses on the way here, probably the suppliers of produce to
the rest of the world over the winter months - even OZ.
3-1-2012 Tuesday
Not too much to report today. The garage next door to the Aires had a DIY car
wash which had one for high vehicles - we had been looking for a suitable wash
place for a while. We were a bit ashamed of our grubby home so Dave got in and
gave it a good scrub. It now looks great. We drove 140ks north to a town on the
coast called Alicante
(in the Valenciana region of Spain), and to a cara park called El Jardin
in town, El Campello for 2 nights.
4-1-2012 Wednesday
We rode along the beachfront today and it reminded us of the Gold
Coast, with fine sand, lots of restaurants, lovely walking areas and people
on the beach playing sport or even swimming. We were a bit tired by the time we
eventually got home as we'd probably ridden about 20ks, after riding all the way
to the castle and back, but at least most of it was fairly flat and nice riding,
especially in the nice warm sunny day.
We rode to the imposing fortress Castillo de Santa Bárbara (Saint
Barbara Castle) which affords magnificent 360 degree views over the city
of Alicante
and the
sea. It stands on the Mount Benacantil (166 m). An elevator has been
installed inside which goes up to 2 floors above ground. We could only walk
around the open areas of the castle but there were quite a few areas/buildings
that were closed and are only probably open in the summer months. Bronze Age,
Iberian and Roman artifacts have been found on the slopes of the mountain, but
the origins of the castle date to the 9th century at the time of Muslim control
of the Iberian Peninsular (collectively Spain, Portugal and Andorra). From the
18th century the military role of the castle declined and it was used sometimes
as a prison. The castle remained abandoned until 1963, when it was opened to the
public.
5-1-2012 Thursday
We drove about 175ks north to the 3rd largest city in Spain, Valencia
(after Madrid and Barcelona), (in the Valenciana region). We booked into a cara
park called El Saler in the town of the same name, about 10ks out of
Valencia and about 200m from the beach. On the drive here we saw millions of
orange trees on both sides of the motorway, probably for about 100ks - real
orange country! Wonder if they're valencias?
We got here mid afternoon and got the bikes out for a short ride 200ms down to
the beach (after yesterday, we weren't ready to ride too far on the bikes just
yet). On the beach we could see in the distance, the cranes typical of a port
(of Valencia), and there was a big cruise liner in the same vicinity.
Surprisingly, there was a fair bit of litter on the beach which we hadn't seen
to date on any other beach we'd seen. Most places we've been, the streets and
beaches have been very clean. Nearby was a nice restaurant, on the beach, so we
had an early dinner.
6-1-2012 Friday
Rode the bus into the main city of Valencia. The first old building we saw was
the long distance train station Estacion
Valencia Nord. We thought the outside was impressive until we saw the
inside which was magnificent with its tiled
walls and ceiling.
Of course, they're not just tiles, they make up beautiful, colourful scenes and
pictures. Opposite an old church Iglesia San Catalina, was a
bar/restaurant (using the same 'Catalina' name) with a beautiful tiled front
either side of the doorway, and as you enter the doorway, one whole wall was a
tiled picture of medieval
soldiers. We didn't go in, but you could see there were further tiled
pictures on the wall of the bar and up on the wall. I think I've said it before,
but the people here in Spain, are mad about using tiles, and the pictures of
some are just wonderful.
We walked around the city's oldest quarter called Barrio del Carmen. Went
to Mercado
Central which is a big old building with glass domes and is supposed to
house about 1000 stall holders, but of course it was closed for renovations and
there were only a few stall holders outside. Walking around we can't believe how
close cars park to each other, leaving hardly any room to get out - no wonder so
many have scratches and dents! We couldn't find the cathedral (hard to believe
isn't it!) so gave up on that one. In the bus on the way home, we saw the Ciudad
de las Artes y las Ciencias which is the city's architectural pride and joy,
basically a complex of museums - L'Oceanografic
aquarium (purple mosaic tiles), the Príncipe
Felipe science museum, and L'Hemisferic
IMAX theatre which looked a bit like a small Sydney opera house.
7-1-2012 Saturday
We rode about 500m down the road to the local town of El Saler. There's not much
to report there, just a few restaurants and supermarket. We rode down to the
beach (a different one from the other day) where there were a couple more fancy
restaurants with customers enjoying the sun in the outside seating areas. We
rode back to the town and had a nice lunch of garlic prawns and seafood paella
at one of the restaurants there. Valencia was the host of the 2007 America's Cup
and we've been told, the birthplace of paella.
8-1-2012 Sunday
Drove 180ks north to a town called Sant
Carles de la Rapita where we parked for the night in a car park next to
a marina. We were right next to the water and lots and lots of boats - some were
pleasure crafts and some were working, albeit small, fishing boats. We went for
a walk along the esplanade and then had an early
dinner at one of the restaurants near the water. Dave was able to get his ocean
view fix, sitting with a drink inside the mhome and looking out the window.
It was nice and tranquil.
9-1-2012 Monday
Before we continued on to our next destination, we rode our bikes around the
esplanade and on the big jetty area that held a lot of professional fishing
paraphernalia (nets, floats, etc). There was a fish markets business there also.
It was nice riding in the nice warm sunshine. We then drove about 85ks north to
a town called Salou and a cara park Pineda de Salou. On the way we
noticed what we realised were rice fields, and we had noticed some similar
fields recently, in other areas we'd been driving through. We thought they were
just swampy, unattractive, low lying areas. Of course, they'd have to grow some
of their own considering how much paella they make every day! They weren't as
impressive or as nice to see as the olive and orange trees we'd been seeing
recently.
After setting up at the park, we did some washing and instead of using the
dryer, hung it out on our little clothes line in the lovely warm sunshine. We
then rode the bikes down to the nice beach area although the rest of the town
isn't too interesting, being mainly industrial (refinery) and a port.
10-1-2012 Tuesday
Drove a big 8ks to a town called Tarragona and accidentally found a
mediterranean ocean
view car park where 2 mhomes had obviously stayed overnight (not an offical
Aires) so we decided to stay here overnight instead of just having a quick look
around and moving on today (like we were going to do). We walked around for over
2 hours. First we trudged up the steep hill and then some steps to the old part
of town, to where the cathedral stood but of course, we were about half an hour
too late to go inside the museum part, and it was only 2.30! The actual cathedral
was closed for renovations!! From what we could glimpse of inside, it was nice.
We then wandered back down to the old 2nd century AD Roman
Amfiteatro (Ampitheatre) which is right by the sea which felt really
unusual - you never saw them near the sea in the movies! The best part of the
day though, was sitting back in the mhome, having dinner with a glass of wine,
and watching the sun
go down with a view over the water - wonderful!
11-1-2012 Wednesday
Today we drove just a few ks back into the main part of Tarragona to see a
couple things we'd found on the tourist map. The first was the Paleo-Christian
Necropolis - located next to the Tarragona Archaeological Museum,
conserves numerous Paleo-Christian tombs. The cemetery's origins date back to
the second half of the 3rd century. Subsequent excavations have uncovered up to
2,050 tombs/sarcophagi
of different types. Many of the burials are located around and inside a basilica
which dates from the 5th century AD. Sculptures, marble statues and burial
treasures have also been found in the necropolis. Of course, there was work
being done in the outside open part so we couldn't walk around there where all
the interesting tombs were out in the open, and where they were actually dug up
- seems to be our life story of late. There was a small museum inside the
building however, and a few tombs, one with the skeleton in it which was
interesting. There were all different sorts of tombs made, some out of very
ornately carved thick marble. These archaelogical finds were only discovered
back in the first half of the 1900's when a tobacco
company was excavating in readiness to build business premises. They gave up
a portion of their land for this important historic preservation.
The second thing we wanted to see was the Central Market, which was in an
old building with very high arched doorways but guess what - they were doing
renovations, big time, with trucks and earth diggers in there. Oh well, C'est la
Vie! We had a very late breakfast, at lunchtime, and then drove about 100ks to Barcelona
(or as waste-of-space Manuel out of Faulty Towers would say, Barthelona). We
went on the coastal road and a good distance of this road
wound up and down and round the mountain cliffs - fantastic views over the
water! We came to not an Aires, but a Park and Ride (which is basically a big
car park where you pay to stay and it has showers, toilets, electricity and
wifi), at a town called Sant Adria de Besos right close to the main hub
of Barcelona. (It doesn't really fit our usual idea of a park and ride). We plan
to stay 3 nights. Only a small part of the car park is for mhomes - the rest of
it has buses (even
a UK double decker) and trucks and other big vehicles. We met another nice couple of
(female) Aussies mhoming it around Europe - Eve and Toni.
12-1-2012
Thursday
We rode the bikes into
the central part of Barcelona today to see the Temple de La Sagrada Familia
(Basilica of the Holy Family). In the park across the road we saw some older
men playing a game similar to our ten pin bowling. It was called Bitlles
Catalanes. Apparently Bitlles Catalanes has been played since 1376. Each
player (2 play at a time) gets 6 skittles, and three clubs to knock them down
with (they throw them at the skittles). Unlike traditional skittles where the
more you knock down, the higher your score, Bitlles Catalanes gives you the most
points if you can leave 1 skittle standing, which explains what we saw. When 1
skittle was left standing, the man didn't try to knock it down as we do to get a
'spare' in ten pin bowling.
We then crossed the
road and bought our tickets to La Sagrada Familia which is a monumental
church dedicated to the Holy Family, architect Antoni Gaudi's most famous
work, the finest example of his visionary genius, the worldwide symbol of
Barcelona and the Cathedral of the third Millennium.
The foundation stone
was laid in 1882 and is still being worked on today. Gaudi devoted his life to
the realisation of this monument, left unfinished by his death in 1926, but he
did leave his plans/drawings for whomever would carry out the completion. There
are extraordinary facades representing the birth, death and resurrection of
Christ with eighteen towers symbolizing the twelve Apostles, the four
Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Christ. The Sagrada should be able to
accommodate more than 13,000 people, and the platforms, on the sides, a chorus
of 1,500 people. The uniqueness and complexity of the project, make it
practically impossible to give a precise date to complete the remaining ten
domes. On 7 November 2010 the church was solemnly declared a basilica by the
Holy Father Benedict XVI.
We went up in a lift
(max 8 persons), up one of the 4 spindle-like towers, for the view and walked
down the many spiral stairs, wide enough for only one person. What can I say?
This cathedral is different to any we've seen, inside and out. It is like a bull
terrier to me i.e. it is beautiful and ugly, all at the same time. The
underlying theme is Mother Nature, with the columns inside made to appear like
trees with branches, which are the strengthening structures supporting the roof.
There are abundant flower shapes in the ceiling
decorations. Outside there are
fruits and vegetables shapes being held as in a bowl, at the top of the towers.
I would go so far as to say it is a bit futuristic (and wouldn't be out of place
in a science fiction movie) instead of having been conceived into Gaudi's
thoughts 130 years ago (we wouldn't have been surprised if there were some
hallucinogens at play back then?).
On the ride home,
after a nice 3 course 'menu of the day' meal, we thought we were seeing things
when we came across an archway structure similar to the one in Paris, and which
was also called the Arc de Triomf. It was built for the Exposición
Universal de Barcelona (World Fair) in 1888, as its main access gate.
13-1-2012 Friday
Rode our bikes into
the town again and passed the big Bullet building again. This big building is
shaped exactly like a giant bullet or artillery shell and is dark in colour
(think it's just an offices building). We went in to another of Antoni Gaudi's
creations - Casa Batlló. The owner of the house at the time commissioned
Gaudi to renovate it and again, we've never seen anything like it before! It is
like something you'd see in a science fiction movie - there are no straight
lines in the house so you couldn't tell a naughty child to go and sit in the
corner! Everything, the walls, ceilings, doors, windows are all rounded and odd
shapes. The polished wood used throughout is beautiful, and the doors, even
though oddly shaped, are beautiful. There is even a lift in the middle of the
house with a staircase winding around it up 3 floors. The use of broken tiles in
mosaic pattern, is similar to the Sagrada Familia church which he was doing
around the same time. Apparently Gaudi was into recylcing too back then as he
used broken tiles from other building demolishing sites. Gaudi was very much
into the practical elements such as maximum natural light and airflow benefit.
The theme in this house seemed to be more sea related. Even outside the building
is a sight to see.
We rode through an
older area past the Barcelona Cathedral and also saw the impressive PTT
(Postal, Telegraph and Telephone) building but we didn't venture inside
either. We rode a different way home, down to the waterfront and along the
extensive restaurant lined
esplanade. It was a nicer ride than trying to battle
the busier streets.
14-1-2012 Saturday
We drove 70ks north to
a town called Blanes and came across a caravan park, Camping S'Abanell
that is right across the road from the ocean, this stretch being named the Costa
Brava. After setting up we went for a nice walk in the sun along the
esplanade and around the town. It is nice and quiet here except for the noise of
the sea, a little bit different to Barcelona where we were flanked on 2 sides by
busy roads, but that is the price you pay for the convenience of being close in
the city.
We did a big shop at a
Carrefour supermarket on the way. It's funny - you can buy alcohol at a
supermarket and small shops but you can't buy paracetamol - you have to buy that
at a pharmacy!
15-1-2012 Sunday