Blogs from Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, Europe

It was another grey weekend in Pamplona, but the weather forecast suggested that just under two hours away in the car, we might find some sunshine. So we headed off to Zaragoza and, sure enough, just as we were getting close, the clouds broke up and we were left with a beautiful blue sky. About 50km Southeast of Zaragoza is the sad sight of the crumbling remains of Belchite. To get there we drove through spartan countryside on one of the straightest roads we have ever seen. The ruins of the cathedral loomed large in the distance and helped us get our bearings. Not really knowing where we were heading, we went through the new town and parked up out side the ruins of the old town. It seems that once upon a time wandering idly ... read more

Alarm rudely awakens me and looking omits grey and miserable, checked weather forecast and need waterproofs again. Need coffee and breakfast in Mac Donalds plus the normal hand signal lecture to kick off the day Goode putting left hand on helmet means he looking for fuel as his bike does 150 miles between fill ups rest of us can do 250 Low Waving left hand means he is lost or his sat nav has jumped a page forward again. Straight finger to the left means point of interest or Spanish lady with big chest or nice legs Niel Ashbourne found his wallet in his jeans thought had left it last hotel, will revert to calling him Neil AShton Now as he was correcting my spelling on my blog on first few drafts, he was statement reader ... read more

It was the late autumn of that year I was in Pyrennes, the mountains were gray becoming white as the clouds descended and dropped they first flakes on the highest peaks. The rivers low from the long summer exposed their smoothed stones and peebles. They were gray also and the road was gray and there was a chill coming. The trees were bare and pointed and held no leaves anymore and it felt like winter already. We had been higher in the mountains the previous month and were to move out onto the Aragon plains in the next days. The plains were dry and sandy and yellow and they stretched very far and there was emptyness there. We had been stationed in an apartment in Zaragoza, it was hot there and it was uncomfortable to walk ... read more

A triplet of historically appropriate greetings from the next stop on our travels – Zaragoza, the capital of the province of Aragon. And what a surprising little gem this place is. While not likely to replace a number of Spain's tourist hotspots, Zaragoza is a quiet achiever, and we have had little difficulty occupying ourselves during our five days here, albeit we have not been going at it at a cracking pace either; like the town we have been quietly achieving. Within our first 15 minutes here we were introduced to the main elements that define Zaragoza – from our arrival at the huge Delicias transport intermodal (aptly described in the guidebooks as “Space age but sterile”), our taxi ride past the Aljaferia castle – the northern stronghold of the muslim empire built before the Alhambra ... read more

Pues nada, oye... que me voy a hacer el Transmongoliano!!! Probablemente, a muchos de vosotros os sonará más la palabra Transiberiano, pero en realidad, lo que voy a hacer los próximos días va a ser un una parte de la mítica línea férrea rusa para luego bajar por Mongolia y llegar hasta Beijing. Antes de nada sería recomendable explicar el por qué hago este viaje y cuándo me lo empecé a plantear en serio. Y las explicaciones a este respecto son un poco difusas. Sí que recuerdo que hace tres o cuatro años leí un diario de viaje de unos chicos que habían hecho el Transmongoliano y luego, en el mismo viaje, habían seguido por Nepal y demás. Aquello me dejó impresionado. Jamás me había planteado hacer un viaje tan largo, no tanto por el número ... read more

Zaragoza (the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the autonomous community of Aragon)... read more

Blog 58 was supposed to be so short as to be non-existent. No such luck. We packed our bags, loaded the car and set Miss GPS for the road out of Madrid. Simple? Of course it was. We were on our way to Zaragoza for a stop-over before heading to Barcelona , a total of 600 kilometres over two days. Once we were safely on the A2 we put Miss GPS to bed because all roads were heading for Zaragoza We were smiling away thinking how good we are at this navigation thing and missing all the toll roads. But as we know, pride comes before a fall. Just as we came to the appropriate exit we were confronted by a Police barrier and Road Closed sign. No alternative but to continue on and thankfully the ... read more