Its Monday morning here in Valencia, today I’m taking the train to Barcelona- the last leg of my journey in Spain. Valencia was a very pleasant experience and being near the coast (even if I didn’t go to the beach) made a change form the inland cities and towns that I had visited. Valencia’s a great city and its residents are very friendly. I had some lovely food during my stay here and I would recommend it especially if you want to spend some time on the coast and if you are also visiting Barcelona. The trip between these two famous [View Full Entry]

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After a sleep-in (by my standards) I decided I would Valencia’s fresh food market the Mercado Central. Situated only five minutes from the hotel the market is THE place for locals to buy their fresh produce. The market is open Monday- Saturday and if you want to taste the real Valencia I recommend a visit and mingle amongst the locals and curious tourists. From its fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and cured meats (including the ever present jamon) this market has the lot. Of course there are lots of oranges on sale (at less than 1 euro per kg) as well [View Full Entry]

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It is Friday morning and an early start as I check out of the Hotel Petit Palace Italia bound for the coastal city of Valencia about 350km south of Barcelona and the same distance west of Madrid. With its idyllic coastal location, Valencia enjoys a Mediterranean climate, warm dry summers, mild winters, and beautiful beaches. Having arrived in Madrid in my overcoat it would be a relief to pack it away at least for the next few days as I wind up the Spanish leg of the trip first in Valencia and then Barcelona. The train journey took three and a [View Full Entry]

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At the start of this year the French enforced new laws in regards to smoking in public places. This was a massive cultural shift but one that the French are embracing albeit with great difficulty - it is a shame that the Spanish do not enforce this law here (especially in Madrid). Normally I can accept the fact that people want to smoke - what I don’t accept is that people choose to smoke at the dinner table, in bars and restaurants and in my face at the football! Last night I was lucky enough to go to the iconic Santiago [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday (Wednesday) I took a trip out to the historic town of Segovia. I caught the train from Chamartin Station in Madrid and the journey takes only 35 minutes. It was cloudy and very cold on arrival - about 5c at 1030am. The train to Segovia was fantastic, very comfortable and incredibly fast. Once at the train station at Segovia you need to catch the local bus to the centre of the town. They tend to run the buses at the same time as the RENFE trains arrive. The first thing you see when you hit the old town is the [View Full Entry]

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Wandering down Gran Via towards Puerta del Sol I noticed the most extraordinary of sites. Even the icy wind could not prevent hundreds of Madrileños queuing for tickets in one of the richest lotteries in the world. "El gordo" - the fat one. To call it a national obsession would be a pretty accurate statement. Apparently the prize pool is worth more than $1 billion and the jackpot is usually divided amongst thousands of winners. The lottery, broadcast live on TV started in 1812. I momentarily considered buying a ticket, however to wait in a queue as long as the street [View Full Entry]

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It was with a great sense of relief to make it to Madrid after the minor annoyance of not having accommodation secured until Saturday night. Much to my satisfaction everything has gone well since arriving. My flight was 90 minutes late however the airport transfer that I had arranged from Madrid Barajas airport was sitting patiently waiting for me when I arrived. The trip from the airport to the city is about 20 mins or so. The Hotel (Petit Palace Italia) is very pleasant, very secure and in an excellent location next to the main drag in Madrid, the Gran Via. [View Full Entry]

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Dinner tonight was with Paul and Mark at the Blueprint Café - a restaurant east of Tower Bridge, sitting above the Design Museum with great views of Tower Bridge and the city. The menu, whilst not extensive, was certainly an eclectic mix of ingredients and styles. With interesting entrees such as sardines on toast with a fried egg and haddock fish cakes with aioli we were expecting our taste buds to be tantalised this evening. I ordered the sardines, toast and egg and was not disappointed. An incredible blend [View Full Entry]

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Saturday was a wintery day in London, the clouds were low, a cold arctic breeze was blowing and the rain slapped against the apartment window. Paul, myself and Mark (who has now returned from Hong Kong) ventured out to get some breakfast at Borough Market . We headed straight to the Roast to go for some sausage and bacon baps to eat whilst we meandered around the busy market. We had coffee at Brindisa and then Paul and I did some shoppi [View Full Entry]

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On a very cold Friday morning in London I awoke to the news that my apartment in Madrid, which I thought was confirmed more than six weeks ago, is no longer available. This is not the greatest information to recieve two days out from arriving in the capital of Spain. I had to quickly start looking for a new place of abode and I've fired off a couple of emails to places that had vacancies however I will have to wait until Saturday to find out whether I have secured either of them. I quickly put that minor setback aside and [View Full Entry]

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