http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain en-us Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:41:15 +0000 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:41:15 +0000 Tminus 2 days until I39m on a plane headed straight for Espaa plus a minor layover in the UK but they have cool accents so it39s okEstoy demasiada animada pero al mismo tiempo no siento como este es algo real que pasar. Todava es una idea de un futuro lejos menos que dos das o una realidad fantstica. Estoy esperando las horas en el aire con nervios hasta mis orejas. Y miran http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/Barcelona/blog-792184.html Barcelona was an amazing city. It was pretty cheap compared to the rest of Europe had great food amazing architecture and the night life was fantastic.Luckily we arrived on a Saturday night so we got to experience the prime night life of Barcelona. We got to the city and went to Antonio Gaudis building Sangria Familia I cant remember the exact spelling off the top of my head Gaudi is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/Barcelona/blog-792131.html Today I plan to head out farther afield. I had my first French breakfast from the coffee shop EIGHTY STEPS yes much less than China below us. Megan you would be proud of me I had Cafe con Leche but I did score it in decaf though. Drinkable way more so than home. I got one of those flat donut peach from the fruit stand and then my con Leche and crissant from the Cafe. The croissant was mu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/Barcelona/blog-792064.html More pics The area around the cathedral is called el Gotic or someGotica. Don39t know what the difference is just as some call it a Rambla and some La Romblus http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/Barcelona/blog-791929.html So much to tell such an assault to the senses So much so that now that I have had a chance to unwind and glass of wine in hand it is rather overwhelming and a bit muddled in my mind.Let me just start with overall impressions. CHINA OMG so much of this takes me back to China. From the train ride into town to the way the apartments are built straight up in little squares around each other to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/Barcelona/blog-791923.html I almost turned off the alarm this morning and went back to sleep. I39m so glad that I didn39t. The mosque and cathedral are well worth an early start. At 830am the gates and doors are opened for visitors who do not want a tour. The entry is free and the information I had read said that you were supposed to make your visit in silence. The exterior wall of the mosquecathedral is imposing an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-rdoba/A-Mezquita/blog-791904.html ltspangtMallorca is one of the most popular holiday destinations of Europe. But i did not follow the regular tourists and ended up in Porto Petro a lovely fishing village in south east Majorca.Stayed at the Varadero Porto Petro Hotel.Quiet and magic place...end of my holidays this summer 2013 in Spain and Portugal.... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Balearic-Islands/Majorca/blog-791894.html Discovering the city that never sleeps in Spain Madrid...Stayed at the hostel Meeting Point.There are many things to see and so little time... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-791888.html It39s been a long time coming At last the sun has come out in Pamplona So what did we do Well we had a very busy weekend so here goesFor three successive nights we went to the Tres Sesenta 360 Music Festival which was fantastic. Ok so we didn39t see every band because we need sustenance and without a siesta we would never have made it through to 1am let alone 2.30 when the final http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Navarre/Pamplona/blog-791885.html We have been talking about visiting this town since we first heard about it while in Cangas but just hadnt been able to make good connections. It turned out to be a 1 hour train ride from A Coruna to Lugo 9.40 euro one way through beautiful countryside. Fortunately we picked one of the rare completely sunny days for our visit. The highlight of Lugo is that it is the only city in Europe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Lugo/blog-791748.html CORDOBA SUNDAY 16TH TO TUESDAY 18TH JUNEIt39s Monday night I think and I39m sitting in the courtyardbar of the El Conquistador Hotel in Cordoba. Another amazing place Unlike hilly Toledo Cordoba is flat and the old town known as the Jewish Quarter is compact and quite easy to get around. The train journey from Toledo went well and I was here in the hotel around 130pm yesterday. I too http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-rdoba/A-Mezquita/blog-791743.html TOLEDO Friday 14th to Sunday 16th June 2013I made my way by metro from the hotel to the Madrid Atroche train station. That part was easy firstly I lined up in the line for a ticket for 39short39 distances only then after moving to the correct section of the station and getting a numbered ticket to be served in order I waited 45 minutes. More people watching time. Consequently I just mi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Castile-La-Mancha/Toledo/Corral-de-Almaguer/blog-791741.html Sadly we left Granada behind us. We had such a great time in this lively city and could have stayed longer. But we were very curious about our next destination. When I Nina was 19 years old I lived in Seville for a month and did never return. I loved this city. What would it be like now But before we reached Seville we made a little detour.Our first stop was Osuna a little city often overse http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-791721.html A long night of sleep is definitely not what I got. Around 1 in the morning two older woman who were sleeping in my room came in. Of course like any respectable person they should have come in and quietly went to sleep. In reality they came in turned on all the lights and made as much noise as possible. So I was woken up and quite frankly not in a good mood. Finally after a decade they deci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Chipiona/blog-791575.html Catch up time It was nearly a week ago that i was sitting in a Hotel in Cantabria in a small place called Murgo and watching the F1 on the TV with the raisin pouring down. I am now at the other end of spain..almost in France and the weather is sun and 29 degrees at the moment. A lot has happened in this week and I shall try to put it down in a form which will make sense. Monday the 10 J http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Ripoll/blog-791556.html We made it to La Coruna Spanish spelling on June 6th after a fairly nice sail from Camarinas. We were pleasantly surprised sailing up the coast to get a call on the VHF from Gazelle. They had left a day before us going directly to the Isle of Wight and we hadnt expected to run into them again. They had stopped for the night due to rough seas and were going to A Coruna as well. We also found t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/La-Coruna/La-Coruna/blog-791544.html Today at Starbucks I am Shaw. I dont even know if thats a name. Especially when the guy went to hand out my drink he did a double take and frowned. I just shrugged like yeah I guess thats me. Shaw. So today due to the flat footwear and heavy camera bag Ive been lugging i decided to go full tourista tackey and wear my running shoes. Yes thats right like a downtown business gal on her lunch br http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-791459.html Driving to Aranda we had spotted a lovely looking town up on a hill by the side of the motorway. With plenty of time to spare we decided to stop off on our way home and have a look. What a good decision that was.We parked up near the central parador and wandered through the cobbled streets. It39s such a shame that parking is allowed on the big central plaza though as it rather spoils the view. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Castile-Leon/Lerma/blog-791457.html Well hello again Its been a while since I have made the time to sit down at the computer and write some lines. Its now Saturday the 15 June and this is being written from a The Hotel Sequia Molinar just outside Ripoll in Campdevanol. Have a look at the map to see the route to here. I intend to sit down tonight and tomorrow and sort out the photos and upload everything. See you all then again http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Ripoll/blog-791454.html After arriving in Valencia late on Monday 3rd running to catch the train again I was so tired and needed some rest so a little lay in was just what I needed.I decided to take the Valencia sight seeing bus tour. There were 2 routes to do the Maritime route and the Historical route.I had to do the blue route first Maritime route where it took me past the science museum down the river bed the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-791438.html