Ciudad Real to Sevilla

We took the bus. There is no direct route from Ciudad Real to Sevilla, so we travelled to Cordoba first and we had to change buses at the first stop along the way, the Cordoba bus was waiting there. They did not warn us about that in Ciudad Real, so it was lucky we realised in time! We completed the journey on a bus to Sevilla from Cordoba.

It was a great trip - loads of great scenary - mountains, olive trees, valleys, rivers.

When we arrived in Sevilla we found out that many roads are closed and bus routes diverted and tram routes shortened because of the Semana Santa processions. It took us 5 hours to get to our hotel from the bus station because the road it is in, is connected to the main procession route. The only reason we made it before midnight was because a Spanish couple who live in Sevilla helped us - they persuaded a security guard to let us through a barrier when there was a small gap in the procession. It was the fifth guard they tried!

Ciudad Real 30thMarch2010

We took the train from Toledo to Ciudad Real via the Madrid main station.
We are here just for one night. We thought we would stop here on the way to Sevilla. It is a nice ordinary town and we visited a great Museum about Don Quijote.

Toledo26th to 30th March

We stayed in a nice small hotel near the river, just by the wier. The river runs through a deep valley so it is beautiful.
Toledo is really hilly - we got lots of exercise walking about the town. The town has many monuments in good condition - including a castle and synagogues.
We had partridge and venison in a nice retaurant that specialises in game.

Segovia - 23rd to 27th March2010

We had a nice flat in the centre of the old town, next to the cathedral, so seeing the town was really easy. The town and Roman Aqueduct are very beautiful
We walked the length of the aqueduct, it is spectacular and hard to believe that no mortar was used in its construction.
The other great monument is the Alcazar , a castle out of a fairy tale. It is quite like the disney castle.

Madrid 20th to 23rd March 2010

We stayed in a luxury hotel - The Puerta America - because it was our 30th wedding anniversary and we wanted to do something memorable. The hotel is spectacular - each floor is by a different designer, but all very modern and space-age. We stayed on the 8th floor and it really was like being on a brand new spaceship, the room was decorated all in white and had lots of electronic gadgets like the automatic television that appeared from the ceiling. Also, we went for a meal in the oldest restaurant in the world. We had suckling pig that was cooked in a wood-burning oven and it was great, the meat was tender and the cracking really crispy. The restaurant is very pretty, with lots of old decoration and furniture. We ate in the cellar room which is very atmospheric, with brick and stone walls and old looking wooden doors.
I took a few photos of the Plaza Mayor and surrounding area.

18th March - Cordoba

We went straight from the south coast - the Malaga area - to Cordoba. We took the bus again - it is great to see the countryside from the buses. So far we have been lucky and always get the front seats because we buy the tickets a few days in advance. Seats 1 and 2 are the best, they are behind the driver with a clear view out of the front and side windows.
In Cordoba, the Mezquita is as beautiful as I hoped it would be. It is a huge area with red and white arches throughout - I took loads of photos. Photographing the Mezquita was difficult though - the photos only give an impression of how beautiful it is. Something that makes the mosque really strange is the vandalism of the catholic cathedral, that was built, literally, right in the middle of the mosque. Even the Spanish king of the time when the cathedral was built, Charles V, complained to the Church that they had vandalised a unique and beautiful building.
We also visited the synagogue. It is small and one of only 3 left in Spain - the other 2 are in Toledo. The Jewish Quarter around La Mezquita is fabulous. Narrow lanes and very old buildings. Jewish people have tried to gain a foothold in the area again and have opened a very good museum nearby the old Synagogue.

We went to a small town in the Sierra Nevada - not far from Malaga. It was an Arab town and was the last Arab town before the Christain reconquest of Spain.

It has a ruined arab castle at the top of a small mountain. We climbed up it. It was hard work but worth it. The view from the castle was incredible. We could see about 4 miles of Spanish coastline, the Mediteranean and the outline of the African coast. To the north are the Sierra Nevada mountains. I was impressed that Lian Choo could make it up the mountain - although when we reached the top she collapsed for about 15 minutes getting her strength back. I took photos and will upload them when we get a better internet conection - probably in Madrid.

We went by bus from Granada to Malaga and then hired a car to go Estepona on the south coast. The coast is a very built up area with high rise flats and hotels. the area we are in is a bit less built up but still very much a beach holiday area.
We went to Malaga - it is okay - a big city on the coast with a beautiful castle on the hill overlooking the port.
Today we went to Ronda - a small town in the Sierra Nevada. It was the last place held by the Arabs in Spain. The old arabic town is on one side of a gorge and the newer town on the other - connected by a bridge spanning the deep gorge. As usual for this area - small whitewashed buildings with narrow streets and lanes. the air is very crisp due to being high up in the hills. I took quite a few photos.
We went to Cadiz - usual old town - narrow streets and nice buildings. It is more rundown than other places we visited. I only took a few photos.

Granada

We went to Granada, of course, to go to the Al Hambra. And it was worth it. Wonderful Arabic buildings and gardens and Spanish style buildings that were added after the Arabs were finally defeated.
I did not realise how much Granada is a city built in the high hills. It is surrounded by mountains - many were covered with snow - apparently they are high enough to have snow on them all year round - which is quite something considering how hot this part of Spain becomes in the summer.
We went to the Central Market and bought some high quality fruit at very cheap prices. A kilo of oranges cost 79 cents - and they were fabulous, sweet and juicy - not like the ones we have to buy in England. We went to Malaga by bus. It was another great trip - 2 hours through the Sierra Nevada.

Valencia - 05/03/2010 to 08/03/2010

We went to Valencia during the Fallas Festival. It consists of fireworks and parades. They set off daytime fireworks - the explosions were deafening - my ears were ringing for hours afterwards.
Valencia is another beautiful Spanish city - Spain really is beautiful. Although - it is the centre that is beautiful - the suburbs are more ropey - lots of tall boxes for people to live in.
Especially great in Valencia is the Central Market - it is in a huge building that has many grand features, such as a high dome in the centre. The produce is fresh and high quality and the market is very busy - loads of local people milling around doing their weeky shop. Most of them use shopping trolleys because they buy so much. I have noticed - there are nice looking well-made shopping trolleys on sale everywhere - I guess you need one if you shop in such markets. Every town we have ever been to in Spain has a good municiple market - why can't we do that in England? I suppose Tesco would not stand for it.
We decided to go to Granada from Valencia and took the bus - a 9 hour journey. The journey was interesting though. The road follows valleys along the Sierra Nevada mountain range, so the scenery was spectacular. The valleys must have good soil - there was food growing all along the way - olives, orange trees that were all in blossom, lemons etc.

Barcelona

Barcelona was great. We saw loads of it in 3 days. It is a really beautiful city - lovely buildings, museums, coastline, restaurants, the central market on the Rambla. We bought a tourist bus ticket so saw most of the city from the open top of a double decker bus. The highlight was Gaudi - Park Guell, La Pedrera, La Sagrada Familia. We took the slow train at 9.30am and arrived in Valencia at 2.15p.m. A really nice journey - the train follows the coast most of the way - so hills on one side and the Mediteranean on the other - great.

Big trip departure

We departed on 1/3/10 from St Pancras on the Eurostar at 2.04pm and arrived Paris Gare du Nord at 5.26, a two and a half hour journey. We took the 8.34pm Trenhotel from Gare d’Austerlitz and arrived Barcelona Estacio Franca.

The trip was great. We went GranClass on the TrenHotel - had a nice meal and breakfast on the train included in the ticket. Our cabin had en-suite shower. The cabin was incredibly small and we had to store our luggage in the shower so that we could get into the room. We were laughing so much as we climbed over the luggage to get into a position to manoeuvre them, that I hardly had the strength left to budge them. Whilst we were having dinner the Steward opened the folding beds. They were comfortable and we slept well.

In Barcelona we are staying in a Pension near the Rambla. We got a very good deal on the Late Room web-site. It is basic but okay.