Nimes and Pont Du Gard We found a lovely little campground in Nimes, Pont du Gard, France... Domaine de la Bastide; it was a bit tricky to find. We were lulled into easy finds in Spain, because we found a camping book that had GPS coordinates. We have not been so lucky in southeast France; we have some knowledge in Spanish, but are clueless in French. So the happy dumb-wanders just keep going. Actually we have found everything we wanted to find and are safe and sound...that is a good thing. We began our day waiting at the bus stop, just [View Full Entry]

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Barcelona to Nimes The morning started with a neighbor/camper who was traveling across Europe walking/backpacking. He is from Auckland, New Zealand, and is raising money for SOS, a charity. He does charitable work with children that have AIDS, etc. After making a contribution, we invited him to join us for breakfast. It must be lonely to be traveling by tent, in and out of towns and know no one. He was a admirable young man with a good heart. It was a long drive from Barcelona, Spain into Nimes, France, and the tolls were many. It was hard to keep track [View Full Entry]

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Barcelona, Spain We now have the train system down...I hope. The weather is much more pleasant and we are off to walk the La Rambla in Barcelona; a lovely tree lined street in the middle of the city. Today is the Marathon here in Barcelona, and many streets are closed. We walked down the La Rambla... a famous pedestrian street in Barcelona, with venders and mimes. Greetings to our Rambler's in Pittsburgh that we hike with... couldn't help think of you all as we walked this tree lined street. The cable car was our next destination, it goes over the city [View Full Entry]

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June 1 UPDATE we are leaving Roma after 2 busy days on the way north May 16, 2008 One long drive with outrageous toll charges...848 kilometers.... maybe $100 Euros; probably the locals know a way around the tolls. We tried to get some photos of the Sierra Nevada Mountains as we were leaving Granada, they were lovely in the morning sun. We depend on "Matilda", our GPS system and either she blew it ...or the coordinates were not accurate. We were miserably lost in the seaport of Barcelona, after eight hours of driving; so we scrambled and eventually crawled out of [View Full Entry]

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Granada Spain...The Alhambra Granada...This ancient city was founded by the Iberians and for 250 years was a Moorish Kingdom. When Granada fell to the Catholic Monarchs some outstanding Moorish architecture was left behind. The greatest legacy of their rule is the spectacular palace complex ...The Alhambra. The magical use of space, light, water, gardens, and decoration make this a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Alhambra is nestled in a mountainside with the city of Granada on one side and the snow capped Sierra Nevada Mountains as a backdrop---quite a lovely setting. A [View Full Entry]

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Granada, Espana Our morning began with a long, long walk. First to the Monastery of Cartuja, just past the City University. We continued to the old town, Albaycin, it sits on top of a hill, on top of a hill, etc. Many of the streets are steps, like Pittsburgh, but the reward for our hike is a grand view of Granada and the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada's...just beautiful! We were able to get wide angle photos of the Alhambra from Albaycin. Tomorrow we will be there to tour. There are to our surprise, mini-buses zooming up and down the very [View Full Entry]

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Cordoba to Granada Espana Leaving Cordoba we headed to Granada---have I mentioned how wonderful the GPS is, our "Matilda" has helped us out of so many difficult situations. She helps me navigate so Bob can drive. I will drive on the highways but not in the towns. Bob does a great job maneuvering this vehicle in narrow streets and round-abouts.... and there are many, many round-abouts. It is a challenge when one does not speak the language (well) and does not understand (all) the signs?! Granada, Spain is located close to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and as a result t [View Full Entry]

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Cordoba, Espana (Just so you know today is really May 24 and we are now in Levanto, Italy. It takes luck and WIFI to get the blogs out) Today May 12, 2008, we managed to find a supermercado (supermarket) and do some food shopping. It is sometimes a challenge. This particular market was in a mall and didn't open 'til 10 am. I have been looking for oatmeal and I THINK we found it, we will see. It is not possible to read the label but it looks similar??!! But there is no Quaker Oat Guy... The next trick is to [View Full Entry]

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El Brillante Camping The drive from Seville to Cordoba was 2 hours +, thank goodness for the GPS. The Brillant campground has a bus stop in front, but we choose to walk to the city Centro, about 2 miles each way. We considered going to the Mesquita Mosque, but the line was very long, maybe tomorrow. So we headed to the Alcazar. To the west of its towering wall, the Alcazar dos Reyes Cristanos is in the old Jewish quarter, a 14th century palace/fortress built by Alfonso XI. The Catholic Monarchs stayed here during the campaign to gain Granada from Moorish [View Full Entry]

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This campground is complete with its very own rooster. However, the poor creature doesn't seem to understand at what hour he is to do his "thing". So "cock-a doodle-do" went on and off during the night! With our bus schedule in hand we are off to Seville, for a full day in Seville. It is a bit of a walk to the bus stop. It is always a challenge to attack a new city, especially one with so many places to visit. Our first stop was the Visitor's Center. Then on to Seville's Cathedral and La Giralda. This is one [View Full Entry]

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