Summer Spanish Road Trip Part 2 - Madrid, Valencia

---

Back on the Road Again!

The early night in Spain was a good call, we were felling at least 40% waking up and pulled down the tent and were ready to go in decent time, we were back on the road again! A five hour mission to Madrid by this time we realised everything was jambon (ham) flavour and came with a crusty role, lunch in the service station was chorizo omelette in a roll with some jambon crisps.

The main motorway into Madrid was busy, just like Madrid you knew you were back in the hustle and bustle where life moved that little bit quick, cars everywhere cutting each other up, horns, city life! After finding our bearing we booked into a basic hostel and proceeded to once again get on the smash. The night-life from where we were in Madrid did not seem good but is very hard to judge by the limited time we were here. I'm pretty sure they would have some good spots in you were in the know.

The highlight of Madrid being football fans was the Santiago Bernabeau, what a stadium. The Kings Team and you can see why the place oozed with class and the rich history of the club and the Glactico's really get you a sense of why this is one of the worlds greatest clubs.

We also popped over to Althetico's stadium it was much more run down and the black eyed peas had a concert so we were unable to look around the stadium which was a shame. We mingled around on the metro Station of Madrid visiting the palace and generally wandering round Madrid a great city but a little too condensed and busy for my liking. After two days we were off to our final stop Valencia.

What a fantastic city on the coast with the marina a thriving up and coming city to rival that of Madrid and Barcelona. I loved Valencia with a real sense of traditional Spain meeting the modern era. Futuristic sculptures, the Mestella, F1 course and lovely bars down the marina (where I had the best mojito I have ever had) ensured we had a great time in Valencia. The large Animals nightclub was also spectacular with outdoor terrace Valencia was classy without being pretentious.

It may have helped by this point we had a great deal on a 4 star hotel which was the same price as a night on the camp-site in Pamplona! We had truly gone full circle with spa jacuzzi bathroom and a pool on the roof.

A final road trip up the coast to Girona where we had a day and night in a spa resort helped to ease our battered bodies.

I hate to say it but I don't know if its lack of consistent training of boozing like my body used to be able to deal with but I was shattered. 10 days on the road little sleep and poor diet getting older was harder to deal with and took me about a month before I felt in the shape I had before the trip. A fantastic experience in three very different cities but I don't know if I could go for 10 days full throttle again the days of two weeks non-stop in Ibiza seem distance and incomprehensible, think three days will be the limit from now on! The trip was a fantastic insight into Spanish culture in three very different but amazing cities and will definitely return to see Sevilla down the south. For now some much needed rest!

Adios Frygo xxxxxxxxxx

---