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Exchange rates, Spain: roughly 200 pesetas (pts) to 1UK or 100 pts to $1Aus. Portugal: roughly 240$00 (escudos) to 1UK or 120$00 to $1Aus. Our guide book was 'Lets Go: Spain and Portugal'.
Plan - catch 8am train from Edinburgh arriving London Kings Cross at 12:30. Thameslink from KC to Gatwick for 15:55 flight.Easy! Diary - After our trek in the dark to the station in Edinburgh for the 8am train - made it in plenty of time - the train only got 3 miles down the track and stopped for 35 minutes. There was a fire at the nearby depot and the power had to be turned off! So...arriving into Kings Cross late we marched up to Thameslink and caught the 13:24 train to Gatwick - again with plenty of time to spare. As we checked our bags in with BA the bloke at the check-in desk next to us was saying - 'you mean I can't take my chainsaw on as hand-luggage, I need it to cut down some trees on my property in Spain'. Sure enough, on the floor was a smallish chain-saw reeking of petrol.
We only realised as we were about to land in Madrid at 8pm that we'd completely forgotten to buy some extra films for the camera. However we did score a small bottle of red vino from the flight for our evening nibbles in Madrid. The flight was just 2 hours and only about one-third full - most of them in business class. We landed at about 8am and caught the bus into the city (360pts each) and then trekked around to the hotel - double room with bathroom 5,000pts per night. We swapped the room at the front with balcony (too much traffic noise) for one at the back. We wanted to go for an evening stroll - so headed down towards Puerta del Sol, a busy little thoroughfare with some magnificent buildings around the place. Walking back via Plaza Santa Ana - where there are supposedly good tapas bars etc. - we came home via a Jamon shop (ham etc) and bought some chorizo, bread and knobbly ham bits (later turned out to be very chewy and will not be bought again!) and came back to the hotel for the late picnic - washed down with Vino de BA to toast our first few hours in Madrid. It looks a very pleasant city - far too many cars but!
Well we must have needed the sleep - even with the locals crashing and banging around, the alarm at 9am woke us up. The hotel doesn't do breakfast so we dashed off to the local cafe and had cafe (x2), tea, cheese roll and ham + cheese toastie (1700 pts) - then back and collected our bits and headed off to 'do' Madrid.
Heading west to Plaza Mayor - built 1620 by Felipe III - a wonderful huge square surrounded by shops & cafes on the ground level - lots of hat shops - then 4 or 5 levels of housing with great little balconies above. The XMAS market started here yesterday so there's lots of XMAS trees, bark & moss, stall a la Vienna with all sorts of nativity animals, horrid masks etc etc - something for everyone. By the end of this week it should be in full swing there.
Twas a wonderful sunny day - the temperature indicators around the city ranged from 11c to 19c, but the man in the tourist office assured us that it was about to change on Thursday and by Friday it would be snowing!
We ventured through the side streets full of wonderful balconied homes / flats to the Cathedral of San Francisco. 50 pts each to get in & an apology for the scaffolding to the cathedral cupola - in fact the whole of the inside was heavily scaffolded & we joined a (Spanish) tour & saw the other chapels etc out the back. Some magnificent paintings & frescoes - but all needing lots of repairs. The scaffolding will be there for nother year yet.
Wandered around to Puerto del Toledo - a great arch but sun too bright for a photograph! Found a supermarket and bought our picnic lunch - cheese, bread, water, mandarins & chorizo (1800 pts) and wandered via Plaza Mayor to Palacio Real and found a sunny pew between the Palace and the run-down Cathedral. Interesting views from there to the suburbs west of Madrid.
After picnic we wandered up to Gran Via & along it - checked out some prices - nice shoes for 8000 pts. May have to have a wee buying trip in January. We dropped back into our breakfast cafe for a hot chocolate before our 5pm siesta - 2 hot chocs & some pastry sticks to dunk in the chocs (thick as custard) - 900 pts. Must find a cheaper cafe!
After siesta (8pm) we trekked around the corner to Calle Echegeray and into a restaurant (from Lets Go) - we were drawn in by the huge paella pan just inside the window. After a bit of confusion the waiter gave us the menu of the day (2000 pts each); first paella, then a meat dish (meat and chips, no veggies), then melon, 2 wines, 1 beer and 1 coke. Still not understanding a word we spoke (and vice versa) and gave us a local liqueur - lemon from Galicia, and then another, on the house. We rolled out of the restaurant about 9:30 and had a stroll around the very busy back streets & to the main road near the Prado and back. Its damn near midnight , so I've got to sign off - Mal is sleeping already and the alarm is set for 8am.
Bought some postcards for 50pts each, just need the stamps now!
Alarm woke us at 8am, surprisingly the huge meal last night didn't leave us sleepless. Had b'fast at another cafe - s x Jamon&Queso toasties, 1 tea & 2 cafe - 1000 pts - a much better bet than yesterday - just off the main street makes the difference. It was an overcast morning / day and our tasks for today are: to book a hotel for our return in 5 weeks, then phone ahead to Segovia for a hotel for tomorrow night & get stamps for postcards to be written.
We booked a room at Hotel Monaco - LG says it's an ex-brothel with great rooms - it's 10,000pts a night. It will be worth it as these will be our last two night in Spain and we'll be staying with Lesley the next night, then in a single room at Dougie & Juliets, then on the plain for 24 hours. We tried to book a room in Segovia but our Spanish wasn't up to the task. We'll just take a train/bus in the morning and take a chance. Tried to get stamps but every postboy in Madrid was in the queue in front of us with huge stacks of mail, so we gave up.
We trotted up to the Prado and the excitement.....policemen everywhere. We sat and waited for about 10 mins and then sirens came screaming up the road and cars came into the car park and out popped Queen Sofia. Cameras clicked, security men ran around and schoolchildren screamed in the background. From there we had a stroll in the park, found a chap sitting on a bench feeding some red squirrels. These are very rare in the UK nowadays but there were heaps in the park and all very tame. When it started to rain we headed for the inside of the Prado for lunch then went and paintinged ourselves out. Lots of Goyas and other big names and some very bizarre ones by Bosch (Garden of Delights).
Back to our breakfast place for cafe and OJ (370pts) and then collapsed for our siesta 5:45pm to 7pm. We think it's getting dark about 6pm here - but we've not been up and about to see it happening.
Tapas bar hopping for dinner at 8pm. First one was 4 vino tinto, salmon, ham tuna and sausage - all on bread with salady bits - 2100pts for the lot. Then further along Plaza Santa Ana to a much older bar for 2 vino tinto & a huge (compared to first bar) plate of warm delicious calamare (1100pts). Dinner for 3200pts - much better than last night. We like Madrid but still think there are too many cars (seem to be police everywhere you look too).
Coldish and raining. As we unfurled our brollies for the dash to the brekky place we decided it could be quite bleak here in winter - ham and cheese toasties with tea and cafes (1000pts).
Our metro dash from Sevilla to Opera was smooth - Madrid has decent, regular metro trains to get you around for 130pts for any single journey, whatever distance. We eventually found our bus station and got tickets for Segovia without any problems and even understood her instructions for where to find the right bus. Thru the bedlam of Madrid traffic and then onto the motorways and out into the country. 'Is that snow out there in the distance ?' we asked ourselves. First it was a light sprinkling and then became a somewhat heavier shower. After an hour and half we drove into a very white Segovia and trudged through the snow towards the centre - deciding to stop en-route to see if the hotel we'd tried to call had a room - yes they did. It's not too bad for 3100pts a night plus 300 per shower (no en-suite). The room overlooks the main pedestrian drag (Plaza Juan Bravo) but has shutters, and most important the room has a heater.
Bloody cold as we headed out for lunch, the hotel is shut between 2 & 4:30 so we need to keep ourselves occupied. Found a fruit market, snow in everything and even snowmen in the street. Bought some clementines (4 for 60pts), crisps huge bag (for 144pts) and headed for the warmth of the huge cathedral. Paid our 250pts each to go into it's cloister and museum with all sorts of relics (ie. bits of saint's bones, fingernail clippings etc.) It was only 2-ish when we left the cathedral and still snowing outside so we decided we'd better go and have some lunch! Couldn't find the veggie restaurant from LG but did find Meson Alejandro. We each had fish soup (good, 900 each), I had calamares with salad and croquettes (600) - not to be had again, calamares in thick batter and creamy potatoes in the croquettes. Mal had chops (skinny ones), an egg, (cold) chips & cabbage (800pts), but we did have a nice bottle of valdepenas (red) for 600 -- 1900 all up and only so so.
By 3:30 it'd stopped snowing so our adventure boots were on for a wander around - to the aqueduct, built by the Romans about 50BC to bring water fron the Rio Frio 18km away. It's a mighty impressive sight, 163 arches of granite without an speck of mortar. Stopped by the tourist office - it may be very difficult to get directly to Salamanca on Sat. Siesta (of course) from 6 to 7pm. By 9pm we were a tad hungry so set off to find the vege. restaurant...Yes we had a couple of delicious meals - even though my vege lasagna had to go back to be heated through. Mal's tofu and spinach spaghetti was finished by the time the lasagna came back. Washed down with vino and coke - 2100pts. Just before we left a gaggle of animal-wearing women (fur coats) came in - to a vege restaurant!
Brilliant sunshine then cold in the afternoon. It's a public holiday (festival) today so nothing is open, well no shops or bus station offices (as we found when we trekked round to find out about buses to Salamanca). It's Constitution Day according to the LG but there where no civil doings going on in the city.
Had our brekky on the way back from the bus station - 2 Jamon&Queso toasties, 1 tea and 2 cafe for 740pts. Then trekked up to the Alcazar - huge moated castle (11th century) at the other end of town (375pts each). Fabulous ceilings in the rooms, renovated after a fire in 1862. We climbed to the top of the tower and had magnificent views over the snowy surrounds - but with fabo blue skies. Tried to get into a couple of the local kirks but the doors were all solidly locked -- so decided it was time for lunch. Although yesterday's lunch wasn't very good we decided to give them another chance as they had the local specialty - roast suckling pig! The set menu was for soup (bean or garlic), then the (delicious) pork, then dessert (Mal had cream caramel but I didn't like the look of any of them) plus a bottle of water and bottle of vino tinto and bread - all for 2000pts each. We waddled out about 3pm and the restaurant was full and more people arriving! We trotted around town but it was getting colder and colder - so found refuge in this mornings brekky cafe for tea and cafe (300pts) at 4pm - other customers there were still ho-ing into their lunch.
It's a funny town, very picturesque but lots of buildings falling into disrepair - it seems as if they're just left to fall down, while a new building is built adjoining. Raced back to the hotel for 4:30 opening and collapsed, wrote postcards while Mal practiced his Espanol.
Despite the chilly weather there were hundred's of promenaders 'doing' it in the street this evening. We trekked around to the bus station at 7:30pm to re-check whether the window was open - but no joy. The streets were still thick with people - TV must be shite so they all come out to wander the streets. It's now 10pm back in the room and we can hear many voices down in Juan Bravo. We had a very small dinner; cafe and choc. croissant for Mal and pastry thing with pears for me (300pts). We plan to leave here at 8am tomorrow and train to Avila then maybe get to Salamanca the next day - we'll see. Paid hotel for 3100 per night (plus tax) plus 2 showers - 7200pts.
Alarms were set for 7:05 and 7:10 but it may as well have been earlier as we both had terrible night's sleep. The crowds outside were promenading till midnight - or even later! and then the noises from the other rooms seemed to go on all night. Twas almost a relief to hear the alarm and jump (sort of) out of bed. We left - after I'd made as much 'kosher' noise as I could - about quarter to 8 and strolled the 5 mins to the bus station - it was quite cold and misty. The only 'holas' that greeted us were the street-sweepers who were out in numbers. There was some life at the bus station but no sign of our bus so we trekked back to the aqueduct to catch the bus over to the railway station. The 'every 15 mins' bus we'd been told about didn't turn up between 8:05 and 8:30 so we jumped in a cab and paid 500 pts (bargain) to get there.
Fortunately we easily got tix for our journey and jumped onto the double-decker train. By now the mist had cleared but it was still cold. At the station the temperature indicator in the train said 6c, during the journey it went down to 0c before climbing back up to 12c then dipping back to 6c or so. The 0c wasn't really surprising as we passed the snow covered hills and mountains. We chugged into Villalba at 10:15 and had until 11:27 for our connecting train, so we raced off to the station cafe - tea, coffee and 2 jamon e queso later we felt normal, then Mal partook in the most sludgiest cup of hot chocolate (it was the consistency of custard!) and a long choccy croissant (Neopolitana) to dip in it. & gulp - 1200 pts for the lot!
Our train did eventually arrive and we boarded for the journey to Avila - more snowy bits then burnt plains and more cold snowy bits till we got there. First task, sussed out trains to Salamanca - there's one at 11:07 - we'll be on it tomorrow! Second, trudged down the main Calle and found Pension Santa Ana - and we're the only occupants - but for 3500 and quiet, it's fine. Headed into the city and found tourist info., just near the Cathedral, got a city map and trudged around the bits - climbed up and around some of the huge city walls (200 pts), checked out the very derelict roofs amongst the renovated ones - it looks as if they just let them fall down.
Lunch was a light affair - a couple of tuna/tomatoe square pastry thingies with two apple pastries and a choccy pastry (625 pts) - el fresco, then found a cafe outside the city walls for a cafe and tea (300 pts) - until the cathedral opened at 3:30pm. The streets were quite bare of people, but when we came out at 4:30 all the lunchers were out promenading again. Us? - we raced back to the warmth of our hotel room for a sit down, dug out our water boiler and chicken noodle soup - yum. Siesta 6 to 7 then up and out for some hot food for our tummies. Yep, the locals were out promenading despite the 2c chill. We hit the Rest. Italiano (recommended in LG) for pasta, bread & vino tinto (2600 pts) and back to the warmth by 9pm - the locals are still out walking the streets!
Adios Avila. LG rates it as one of the best sights in Spain, but frankly we couldn't see it at all & wouldn't recommend anyone make a detour to get there.. One good thing, we did have a good night's sleep. Our plan was to pop out at 9:30 for brekky then back to our room before trekking up to the station. for the 11:08 train to Salamanca...but we couldn't find a place nearby open so we decided to go straight to the station and get something on the way. Found a place for our usual coffee, tea and 2 jamon/queso toasties (900 pts) Got to the station then sat and sat and sat! The train was delayed until 11:30, so we got plenty of time to watch the local old gadgies strolling around the station with fag/cigar in hand.
It was quite cold and misty on route to Salamanca and the train went over some real prairie areas. From boulders everywhere & cliffs & valleys on the approach to Avila, now it was quite flat, with lots of cereal crops being grown..with the occasional falls of snow on them. We trundled along - the last 60 kms took about 70 minutes and arrived into Sal just after 1pm. Lugged our packs into town - thru lots of 'new town' high-rise apartments and then thru the old town and the promenaders - still in their fur coats etc. Into Plaza Mayor and found Turismo and then upstairs to a pension mentioned in a Daily Telegraph article - 3000 + IVA (7%) + 300 each for b'fast - coffee, tea, bread & jam - it will be a nice change from toasties - and a double bed, very rare. After collecting our thoughts we wandered up thru Pl. Mayor. There's some great sweetie shops around and as it was close to 3pm we really needed to eat - so we wandered back to a place that had 'pasties' - but they had just closed! Finally found a Spanish
fast-food place that serves Bocadillos - a french-stick sammy, Spain's answer to McDonalds. We must try to get into the habit of eating lunch a tad earlier - cos they all shut by 3pm. Tried to get into the Cathedral - old and new ones, at 4pm but doors solidly locked - lots of other people likewise disappointed. Maybe the door-openers were having an extra long lunch/siesta? However we dashed around to one of the convents - Convent de las Duenas - (as recommended in the DT article) and were first in the door at 4:30pm (200pts each) It has a beautiful cloister on two levels around a garden and from the upper level there's a fabo view across to the Cathedrals. The pillars have great carvings on them -all sorts of busty maidens and demons of all shapes and sizes, and all very well preserved.
Across a plaza is a second convent (San Esteban) also 200 pts each. It also has a two level cloister around a garden but not with the same view and at the moment is scaffolded and the carvings aren't as well preserved. It does however have a museum with - among other things - 3 relic cupboards with all sorts of bones, hair, teeth and other bits. By the time we did these two convents it was 6pm and the Cathedrals still weren't open, so it was definitely hometime. Surprisingly we didn't have a siesta, but recharged video batteries, read turismo stuff, and made plans for tomorrow : 1. launderette, 2. bus station for tix to Oporto, 3. change money, 4. University. By 7:30 we wanted to eat - so out on the prowl, Pl. Mayor was full of promenaders. It really looks quite comical on such a freezing night. We eventually found Rest El Bardo - he didn't have a menu del dia but did have some interesting looking tapas - so we decided to have a tapas evening and then a choccy sweetie on the way home. 4 vino tinto and 4 tapas each was 800 pts - still not sure he got the price right, seems very cheap! After finding shop doors closing in our faces we raced back to the Plaza and grabbed 3 choccy sweeties (310 pts) and promenaded around the square to our pension, put the 'kettle' on for some black teas and munched into our sweeties, mmmm, mmm. Crawled into our bed dreaming of clean clothes tomorrow! Also, we'd bought and read from cover to cover - The European (325 pts), still got the crossword to do but.
Slept like logs until the 8:30 alarm. Twas a relief not to have to go out searching for brekky, the dining room has a nice view over Plaza Mayor. Checking out the Cathedrals and the university were our priorities for this morning - so with our last set of clean clothes on we trekked off to find the cathedral open - rather huge, tall, grand, well preserved kirks. The old (12thC) & the new cathedrals (16thC) are right side-by side, you don't even need to go outside to get from one to the other. The old one costs (300 pts each) and has extra chapels and a small museum & cloister with all sorts of goodies. From there it was around the corner to the Uni (free on Monday mornings) & a wander around their cloister & old rooms. They have a great collection of turtle relics (fossils) and a fabulous old library - you can only get into a glass alcove and peek into the library.
It was only 12:30 so we decided to walk up to the bus station to check out tix for Oporto. Bingo, no problem, we have tix for the 11:30 bus on Wed (Mal 2675, me 2140 pts - good old student card!) and it rolls into Oporto at 6pm. Grabbing a bread roll & choccy croissant we trundled around to the laundromat to confirm times etc....only to NOT find it. The ladies in the shop next door tell us that it has closed and send us off in another direction in the hope of finding one. We found the street but couldn't find a laundromat at all - but we did find Calle van Dyck (a street full of tapas bars) & decided on lunch. Rest Meson had a 1200 pts menu del dia, so we tucked into lentil soup, veal steak for me (parts of it were still mooing but it was tasty) and pork fillet for Mal, then choc mousse, all washed down with a bottle of vino tinto - damn good value for 12ukp all up.
We were firstish in the restaurant at 2pm and they were still coming in for lunch at 3pm when we left. We did the local thing and promenaded back down one of the pedestrian areas & home for our siesta. So the laundromat doesn't exist any longer, we'll have to hang out until Oporto and do the washing on Thursday.
10pm and just home from our promenade, tapas & vino (x2 each - total 500 pts) & promenade up & back & around Calle Tono, Zamora & Plaza Mayor. Just had some olives and potatas bravos with our vino tinto at the first tapas bar, then at the next had some yummy sardine fillets in vinegar & some potatoes with tuna and peppers with out vino - a bargain 250 pts at each bar!
Stunning sunshine outside this morning - but cold wind. The temp. indicators showed 1c rising to 2c by 11am. It was going to be a day trip to Zamora today but we thought we'd have another try at finding a laundrette - the Turismo pointed us in the right direction (5 minutes from yesterday's failure) and we marched up there at 10:30 with bags bulging. 575 pts and an hour and a half later we were on our way back with mostly fry clothes. We strung the damp ones around on coat-hangers and then raced across to the market - lots of vegies and fruit (why don't the restaurants serve any?), meat, rabbits, poultry & fish (about $10 to $12 per kilo). The stuff looked fabo. Bought a small bag of olives (50 p) & a 250 gram hunk of fresh tuna (490 pts) and then decided to hit one of the supermarkets for the rest of a picnic lunch and other bits (chocolate). 1600 pts later and we were heading off to find a sunny spot to eat, trouble was that every little parky bit with sun had dogs crapping in it. So we trekked back to our room and had a table picnic. We had a promenade down to the riverbank, via a cafe for cafe & hot choccy, then strolled around Plaza Mayor - went into a couple of bag shops as they re-opened at 5pm after their siesta. They were quite upmarket places but didn't speak much English - I pointed and they handed me the bag for inspection, but I couldn't see anything that really grabbed me.
Another great feast of tapas and vino tinto, After phoning (Mal did it - in French) and successfully booking a place in Oporto, we posted some postcards and headed to El Bardo and had 2 tintos & 2 nibbles each and a racione of patatas bravos (350 pts) - a grand total of 1000 pts. Then off on a promenade/hunt for another joint. We crossed over Gran Via and wandered up a side-street & then another side street to a 'tapas bar' sign. Decided to give it a go - seemed like the front room of a family home, couples, crying baby, prams etc. - had 2 tintos each & 4 tapas (pieces of fish, tunas/toms in pastry etc) the cost was a staggering 450 pts. Dropped in on Plaza Mayor for two sweetie pastries (250 pts) & promenaded home by 10pm. Dinner 1700 pts all up.
Forgot to mention some of the delights we found in the market - pig's snouts & ears, small sheep & pigs sliced down the middle - from nose to tail.
Our Spanish days are over for a couple of weeks. We paid our way out of Pension Los Angeles (Salamanca) - cheaper than we thought 'cos she didn't charge the IVA, so it was only 3600x3=10,800 - bargain! When it stopped raining at 10am we lugged our packs round to the bus station - stopping for a couple of lunch pastries, bonito (tuna) and jamon & queso - then sat out the arrival of the bus - it was coming from Madrid & Avila. It arrived on time & we jumped aboard - not a full bus-load, in fact only about a dozen passengers. We had a lunch stop at the border crossing for 45 minutes - we munched on the pastries under cover from the rain, then drove on. The motorways in Spain were only single lane (in each direction) but those in Portugal were better, lots of middle overtaking lanes. There were only a couple of close(ish) shaves with oncoming trucks & the bus driver played really 'orrible Spanish music (after the dubbed Count of Monte Cristo movie with Richard Chamberlain & Tony Curtis) which was a bit loud but we didn't really mind as it was probably keeping the driver awake for the 10 hour trip from Madrid to Porto! We skipped some of the stops listed on the timetable so were running ahead of time & managed to get into Porto at 5:30pm instead of 6pm. En route we drove thru villages which had been decorated with light blue & white ribbons - bows on everything, round trees etc etc. - we think it was something to do with Xmas/advent?
So into Porto & caught a bus (160$ each) to a square just near our Pension & after a bit of wandering trying to find street signs we found Pension San Marino & booked in. It's costing us 500$/night for B&B(24ukp). It's not far from the main city centre & the room has a bathroom, phone & TV! (CNN and other channels) - we'll be able to find out what's happening in the world! Went for a wander and decided to eat in a 'workers' cafe where they were BBQing chickens over coals. We had a half chicken (frango) between us, chips, 2 cokes, 1 wine & bread - cost 5ukp. Then meandered around the Xmas-lit up city square & did a bit of window shopping. The leather handbags don't seem to be as good a buy as in Spain - neither the shoes, so we'll be waiting to cross the border again. Back to our room about 9pm for a book read & collapse.
Up 'n going with the 8am alarm & had a very good night's sleep.. B'fast is from 8 to 9:30 and we were there 8:30ish - only to find the lights off and no sign of life. Twas about half an hour before we got rolls & coffee & tea and gobbled them down. Organised ourselves to do Porto, first walked into the Turismo - a very helpful lady there told us all sorts of things & we were on our way. Bought a phone card (875$) & phoned Mick (a fellow student from my TEFL course in Edinburgh) - only to find out it was an hour earlier than we thought. Portugal is same as UK time ie. 1 hour behind Spain! - so we were out for breakfast at 7:30am! Organised to meet Mick at noon at the train station, so walked down to San Francisco kirk (750$). LG says it's covered in 'orgasmic gold' - not far wrong, its inside is very busy & ornate, and gold. We tried to get into the Bolsa (old stock exchange) on the way back up the hill at 11:30 but decided we'd be late to meet Mick. He arrived on his bike and we went for a quick cafe then tried to get into the Se Cathedral but couldn't find an open door.
Decided to have lunch instead - Mick took us on a Riberia tour - lots of small shops and stalls on the riverbank. We had pizza slices and cokes for lunch (700$) then back into the Bolsa at 2pm (1000$) - it has some very grand ornate rooms including the 'Arabic Room' which took 18 years to decorate.
Time to hit the port houses across the river - we had the choice of walking the high level across the bridge or the low level - we wimped out and went the low way. There's quite a few port houses there and over the next few hours we 'did' three - Calem (tour & taste), Pinto Ramos (taste only) and Sandeman (tour & taste). They were quite hefty tasting glasses and we had a white & a red port in each house. At Sandemans the tour guide left the bottles on the table and disappeared, so we just refilled our glasses a few times...until we got booted out at 5:15pm (closing time) and staggered back across the lower level of the bridge. We took Mick to the same place we'd eaten the previous night and had pork, chicken and fish (salmon) and chips, topped up with a bottle of wine. We strolled off for a promenade after dinner & Mick took us up to the Majestic Cafe, an ornate art deco cafe (also recommended by LG). After another bottle of red is was pelting with rain outside so we ordered a second bottle (700$ each). At this time the cafe began filling with students, parents and teachers from some school, out on a speech night or something. The teachers began to give speeches, the rest of us customers at 10pm Mick was about to carry Lizzie home had no choice but to sit back and listen. We sat through 2 and had finished our wine just as the 3rd speech started - thankfully the rain had stopped. We made a noisy exit. By the time we farewelled Mick & strolled/staggered home it was about 11pm.
Considering the amount we drank yesterday afternoon/evening we're remarkably hangover-free this morning...still threw down a Vit B & C though! It was bucketing down outside (a bit inside too) so when the rain cleared at 10am we were off to the train station and bought tix for our trip up the Douro river (1480$ each) and jumped on the 10:48 train to Regua. The trip takes 2 hours - the first hour trundling thru countryside, then it hits the Douro river & meanders along its side. The banks are full of stepped terraces & at the moment have bare vines hooked up to the stakes. There are small falling down houses dotted up the banks, combined with huge well-kept houses. It was quite a misty, wet day so instead of catching a bus up into the hills and then catching a branch-line back onto this line - we decided to head back on the next train. Got 4 rolls from the station cafe (940$) and lunched on the 13:14pm train back to Portr. It meant getting back here about 3:30pm with the chance to climb up the Clerigos tower (200$) for an aerial view of Porto.
Back home for a collapse via the cafe downstairs for a cafe, coke & cake (340$) & collapsed - well until Mick rang 10 mins later informing us he was at the 'British Club' with girlfriend Lizzie et al. I sort of made excuses but when off the phone we decided we really should go around. It's not often we mix with the British abroad and could be quite a giggle. So we set off walking - intending to catch a cab on the way--but none were free! - so we ended up walking the whole way. By the time we got there (as she was very drunk) but insisted on putting her into a cab home and staying for a bevvie with us. We insisted otherwise so when the cab arrived we took it (700$) and they drove home. Oh well!
After paying the Pension 16,500$ for the 3 nights B&B we raced off to the station for the 11:05 Intercity to Entroncamenta (3500$) - bought a fresh loaf of bread for munchies - the Portuguese do make some nice bread! We jumped on our train for the 2 hour trip - it wasn't without interest as a mangy dog jumped on and made a complete (dusty/filthy) mess down in the smoking section until it decided to get off . We got of at Entronc. and munched our bread in the park in the sun. The wait was longer than expected as the connecting train we planned to catch doesn't run on weekends. Maybe that's why the policeman wandering about the park looked so closely at us as he went past. Caught the 14:50 train to Tomar (420$) and rolled in at 3:30pm. Found Pension Uniao & checked into out double room with bathroom and b'fast for 5000$, then ran off and explored. Found the synagogue and saw their small museum and wandered to the Knights Templar castle at the top of the hill - they open at 9:15 in the morning so we'll be there. Found a supermarket on the way home and bought 4 mandarins, figs, biscuits & deodorant (1110$) and collapsed back in our room 7pm-ish then it was time to head out and get dinner...but first stop to ring a Lisbon pension. However after trying the phone at the train station & others--& none worked, we decided to hang the expense and use the phone in our room instead, so we went and had dinner instead > one from LG, Rest. Estrello do Ceu-on the main square just up from our pension. Mal had swordfish and I splashed out on veal cordon bleu; after some of the local(ish) goats/sheep cheese & bread. We had a litre of their house red & Mal had a choc. mousse - all for 3400$. I was really hangin' out for some vegies & the waiter did say they came with vegies, so when mine turned up with chips I wasn't impressed..but then Mal's came with vegies so we swapped some bits. Phones Lisbon when we got home, no problem - we have a booking for 3 nights! Picked up the diary and ordered a couple of ports from the bar of this very civilised hotel. I wrote this while Mal played with the big screen TV and read up on Lisbon. There's an 11am bus & train, but also a 1pm train which we may catch, so we don't have to race around in the morning. Oh, we got the battery replaced on my very expensive Tag Hueur watch, for a whole 350$.
One of the best night's sleep so far was ended by the alarm at 8pm. We had b'fast packed up and paid 5840$ (5000 for room, 600 for ports, 240 for phone call) and left our packs there & hiked up the hill to the castle - built by the Knights Templar many centuries ago (1320). We hiked up the footpaths and struck it lucky - instead of the 600$ each it was free on Sunday mornings! Not all of it is open to visitors but we spent more than an hour investigating all of its bits...long corridors with bedrooms/studies off them, lots of cloisters dotted around. Bought 4 postcards (100$) and the lady in the shop told us where we could get up onto the surrounding walls. Went for a wander around the walls and saw the end of the 6km long aqueduct that sprawls across the countryside.
Wandered back down thru town a found a copy of yesterday's Daily Telegraph (550$) - bliss for Mal - it'll be a week's reading. It's quite amazing that yesterday's London paper could turn up in provincial Tomar the following day - but we weren't complaining. We lugged our packs up to the station and Mal went to search for a sandwich for lunch. It was such a sunny morning & quite warm (not for the locals though) that we couldn't resist a couple of Magnum ice-creams (440$) - after all we had been rather energetic with all the climbing around the castle. The train chugged out of Tomar at 1pm and we cruised into Lisbon at 3:15pm (1800$).
Following the trusty LG we negotiated our way into the old town and found our hotel by 4pm - then he gave us a choice of 3 rooms (maybe they're not so busy). We choose the one at the back of the building (7000$) per night but no b'fast. We've got 2 big single beds & a huge bathroom (but no plugs!). We dumped our gear and hit the thronging streets - it's on a pedestrian precinct & was full of people. The tourist office gave us maps & ideas and we chugged up the hill on one of the funiculars (300$). There was a fab view from the top and we meandered down thru the streets - there were small trams screaming up the hills and around tight corners. Had a quick wander thru the still packed streets and back to our room about 6pm. Hunger called about 7:30 and we wandered out and found a pizza rest. not far from here - 2 small pizzas, bottle of red & 2 desserts cost a mere 2900$ and we crashed home - exhausted.
Another hotel where we need to forage for b'fast - so we trekked up the street and found a cafe - cafe, tea & 2 cheese/ham pastries - 600$ - There doesn't seem to be quite the same manicness of the quick cafe drinkers here compared to Spain. We went in search of the Ascencor de Sanat Justa - the gothic tower with lift rides, the ride up was 150$ each and we were planning to catch the #28 tram from where the walkway joins the street level, however the upstairs exit is closed so we jumped back in the lift for the down journey & wandered down to the post office to send postcards. The PO is near the waterfront so we checked that out then found the #28 tram and jumped on it in the direction of the castle. It's quite a tiny tram & trundles along some almighty hills & down narrow streets & around some even narrower corners. On the approach to some corners the tracks take the tram right across to the other side of the street so it can get around- heaven knows where we jumped off after going past the castle and all the way thru the 'Alfama' - the medieval part of town. We crossed the road and joined the queue for the return journey, and really pissed the driver off by giving him a 1000$ note for the 300$ fare. This time we did jump off at the castle and wandered up the hill to the entrance of the Castela de Sao Jorge - it holds a prime place on the top of the hill & is now just a ruin - with lots of gardeny bits to wander around. We wandered back down thru the Alfama - following tram lines so as to limit the chances of getting very lost - ended up down at 'ground' level and found a Chinese Rest recommended in LG - for lunch. Had a feed of wonton soup, spring rolls, chicken and almonds, squid chop suey & washed down with a bottle of vino blanco de casa for 3000$. The rest. was full of working people having XMAS lunches and handing out presents to each other. The rest. was handing out presents with the bill - a mini chinese folding screen (8ft high). We may have to leave it behind!
On the trek home we found a wee supermarket with a stack of ports & just had to buy a bottle of Tawny port for 1070$ (4ukp) - it'll go down well with the blocks of choc. we have in stock. Gulped down an apple juice (160$) then crashed out for a couple of hours in our room.
Decided to go back for another pizza/pasta at last night's restaurant and had pizza & lasagna, half litre of sangria, 1 dessert - 2400$ Then home for a choccy nightcap and port.
Out fo b'fast at the usual - 700$ then back (in the rain) and packed ourselves up for the day-trip to Sintra. Caught the 10:22 train - a modern commuter affair - and rolled thru the fog and into Sintra 45 mins later. (720$ return for two). We walked around to the Palace Real & the trusty ISIC card got me in for 200$ while Mal paid the proper 600$. It was bucketing down outside and the inside was soaked with condensation. Wonderful tiles all over most of the walls, some of them 3 dimensional. There were a couple of 'bird' rooms - where the swans painted on the ceilings were wearing gold & diamond necklaces - and the magpie room. We'd done the Palace by 12:30 & lunch seemed a good idea - we had some swordfish & pork washed down with water for 2500$. We tried for the 2pm bus up the big hill to the castle but it must have gone early, so we waited in the rain for the 2:30 bus - it's a criminal fare for 500$ return for the 10 min drive. The bus dropped us at the castle and we had to walk the last half-mile to the other palace, my ISIC got me in for 200$ while Mal paid 400$. Lots of the Palacio Pena was undergoing restoration, but the rooms were stunning - incredibly ornate. Room after room of ornate woodwork - the ballroom with 5' high turks holding huge candle-bearing torches.
By the time we left the Pena and back down to the castle we'd missed the last bus down (by 5 mins) so had to walk the 2-3 kms down to Sintra - just as well it was downhill. It only took us half an hour to get back thru the town to the train station. On the train every effort was made to stay awake until Lisbon. On arrival back to the hotel Mal's shoes and socks were so wet he set about drying them with the hotel supplied hair-drier. Treated ourselves to Frango Asado (BBQ chicken) at a joint round the corner from the hotel - then home for port and choc nightcap. In the rest. we were 'entertained' by a local lad and his mate who had managed to pick-up two Japanese girls - it was their last night in Lisbon & the lads were determined to show them a 'good time' - food, wine and lots of crass jokes.
We've decided not to extend our stay in Lisbon as we had planned before arriving. It's too big and bustly a place to be pleasant and there's not enough of interest to make it worth staying. So tomorrow we're off to Evora on the 9:30am bus.
Yep, we made it. Raced out of the hotel and paid our 21,000$ bill by 8:15 and then caught the tube (140$) up to our bus station - fairly hectic peak hour traffic. Found the bus station via 3rd hand directions from a local and bought tix for Evora on the 9:30am bus. We'd got there in plenty of time so had time to hunt for b'fast - oj, cafe and ham/cheese rolls before we jumped on the bus. Us 15 or so passengers were put on a huge 'bendy' bus - quite bizarre! & trundled out thru Lisbon, over the huge bridge & thru the 'burbs - with bloc upon block of housing springing up. The trip took 3 hrs (not bad for 5ukp each) and we got into Evora at 12:30pm. The Turismo had just closed so a few old gents standing idly around pointed us in the right direction for our chosen hotel.
Again - as in Lisbon - choice of rooms so we chose the 7500$ per night (inc b'fast) room with bathroom & corner balcony - Residence Diana. It's on a wee quiet street and we're on the 1st floor. Dumped our packs and headed off for a bite to eat before we did Evora - 2 ham/cheese rolls, cafe, cordial & croissant (820$) - gave us the energy to check the place out.
After the bustle of Lisbon, Evora is a wonderful little haven of 45,000 people. First on our list was the chapel of Bones in the Kirk of San Francisco - for 150$ we got in and with photographic passes. The chapel is gobsmackingly full of all sorts of human bones, and even a skeleton hanging from the wall. Three Fransiscan monks ransacked about 4000 local graves for the 'wallpaper' - the theme? 'We bones here lie awaiting yours'. After the chapel we wandered thru and around the sights - Temple of Diana, university cloisters and Se Cathedral. We thought the museum in the cathedral didn't have much gold stuff - until we walked into the next room - the vault! There were some impressive bits there, including something really important enclosed in a glass cabinet - but they weren't telling us what it was. After that it was time for siesta.
By 6:30 we were stavin', so headed for a Frango Asado joint just outside the city walls - but when we got there we found they were only doing take-aways, and we couldn't have one for a picnic as it was drizzling rain. Found a more up-market joint and had vege soup and a couple of local specialties - me, Alentejana; pork cooked with clams, toms and onions - Mal, Feijoada (Brazils national dish) black beans with bacon, pork and sausage. As it turned out, Mal's was butter beans with squidy bits and mine was pork with creamy-ricey stuff - edible but. Dodged the rain on the way home and nearly finished off the port.
Well, we did finish off the port last night, very nice it was too - Ferreira. We both slept badly, there must have been a pub nearby and they (screaming people) seemed to be coming and going at all hours. Together with the church bells, it wasn't peaceful. Thankfully I was able to have a warm shower this morning (unlike Mal who could only get cold water last night) and we were across the road in the cafe having b'fast be 9am - both with clean sets of clothes on!!
Decided we would leave today on the 12:35 bus to Elvas, so did a spot more sightseeing and posted postcards. Checked out the local food market - pigs heads 140$ /Kg, we preferred bread rolls , cheeses and ham for lunch later and bought tix for the bus journey (1580$). Made up our lunchtime rolls back at the hotel and paid the 7500$ bill. The bus trip was about 2 and a half hours for the 80 Kms! as it was a bit of a milk run, and had to change buses half way thru. Thankfully the Elvas bus station is right on the main square, so is the Turismo but they didn't have any maps of town. I got touted for a room as we got off the bus, and her mother must have been waiting there too coz as soon as we walked around the corner from the square she grabbed us and brought us here. Its a basic room with shower and toilet for 4000$ paid in advance. We went for a wander and checked out tix for the next leg of the journey, Merida tomorrow, 945$ each for the 3 hour journey by what's described as a 'luxury coach'.
Elvas is quite a pleasant little town - lots of small winding alleyways and every building has about 3 TV aerials. We wandered up a hill to a kirk - round with octagonal pillars inside, and covered in bright tiles. Then up to the castle at the top of the hill - looking rather desolate and not a lot happening. The city walls skirt off below and further round you can see the huge aqueduct - the largest in Europe - loping across the countryside and zig-zagging into town.
Such strenuous activity saw the need for a cafe, pineapple juice, and choc cake (310$) then got enough money from the bank to pay for bus tix, b'fast, lunch and other munchies before we leave Portugal tomorrow. Went in search of Rest. Canal7 (from LG) which does good Frango Asado - found it and had a good feed of spinach soup, frango, pork and fries, then choc mousse - all washed down with a very potable Canal7 vino de casa. on the way home stopped in at the local sports club for ports - got shown their 'hall of fame' - their colours are same as Celtic (Glasgow).
Hardish old bed with really bobbly sheets, but slept reasonably. Raced off in the pouring rain for b'fast at the local cafe - had a bit of a pigout and spent 890$. Raced back in the rain and decided to wait in the room for a while to see if it died down. It didn't. Finally had to leave and raced out to the main square and got a few lunch supplies and jumped in a cab to take us to the bus stop - at a hotel outside town. Still pouring rain when we leapt out of the cab (750$) and ran into the Hotel Don Luis at noon...1 hour to wait. The hotel staff said we could sit anywhere so we found a nice TV lounge and they turned on the TV for us. I went for a wander when the rain stopped and spent the rest of our $escudoes - port 927$ and biscuits & crisps 140$. Then Mal went for a stroll and got 2 hot chocs (200$) & 3 Kit-Kats with the small change, The bus screamed to a halt at 1:30pm and we were on our way back to Spain.
No border controls, just wizzed thru the bus lane and on into Spain - who needs visas! Had half hour stop at Badajoz & jumped back on our luxury bus for the remaining 45 mins to Merida. Luxury bus had only three seats across, comfy leather seats and headphones - if only airline seats were that comfy. Got deposited in the rain at Merida bus station and trotted across their new bridge (old roman bridge is just along the road) and thru town. Eventually found the tourist office and the very helpful chappy gave us maps and info. (and info on Seville) and we trotted out into the rain to find a pension. Found Hostale Salud - not too bad - 2 single beds and a bathroom for 3500pts.
At 7pm it was raining again but we had to find eats, so headed off into the deluge and walked around looking for something that took our fancy. Nearly about to give up when we found a place in town and ended up there for an hour or so...6 vino tintos (750pts), 1 racione calamari (750), 1 racione tortilla and a tapas of local cheese (2175pts). The owner (we think) tried the hard sell with the expensive bits but we gracefully declined and headed off into the rainless evening. Dropped into another bar - an old place full of character and old characters - bull-fighting pictures all over the walls and sawdust on the floor. 4 more vino tintos, wonderful olives, a racione of artichoke & ham (hot in a garlicky clear sauce) yum. 3500pts for a yummy varied dinner.
Did a little investigating in the street around the corner from the hotel and found a vast array of cafes and bars - all open and mostly with empty rooms and bored staff.
Merida is the Roman city of Spain - full of aqueducts, amphitheatres, roman bridges & even a temple of Diana (1AD). Somewhat of a sleep-in this morning, finally ready to hunt out b'fast at 9:30am. There is a cafe-bar under the hotel so it seemed the obvious choice - lots of smoking, vodka-drinking locals here - but very slow service, manic barman, microwaved tea, etc etc. Mal decided to forget his 2nd cup of cafe but we did get toasted bread with red jam (400pts).
Then it was off to do Merida & all its Roman bits. First stop was the amphitheatres where we bought our all day ticket for most of the sights - as EU citizen & ISIC card holder we got in for 300 pts each. As we wandered around the theatre (15-16 BC) seating for 6000 & amphitheatre - seating for 15,000, it was starting to rain again - so twas time to visit the Nat Museum of Roman Art across the road (600 pts) & wander around inside. They have a huge collection of roman artifacts and the originals of the great statues from the theatres (we presume the ones on the theatres are the copies). There's a roman road running thru and under the museum, still in quite good nick - we went down and into the crypt, there's a very limited are down there with foundations of roman houses and some coffins. Best part of the museum was the huge murals that they'd got from various parts of town. By this time the sun had come out again so we raced off to the house of Mithraeus - well it's the foundations of the casa - under a huge canopy and you wander around on walkways - some fabulous murals still in their original spots. It's just next to the bullring, which they suspect is built on top of the temple of Mithraeus. Next stop was the alcazabar - the remains of the Arab castle, it was built to guard the entrance to town over the roman bridge and to help keep the Christian inhabitants of Spain in line.
By now it was 2pm and everything was closing for siesta so we followed suit and headed home to hang some washing up at the window and find lunch. We decided on Chinese, but the charge for chinese tea was outrageous, a piddly little teapot that was refilled once cost 500 pts ($5). The food wasn't that good either - can't wait for Chinatown in Melb. I was so disgusted with the price of the tea that I even took the 15pts change. Dashed around to the train station to check out trains for tomorrow - only one and late in the day. After a mini-siesta we continued on our Merida monuments and headed off to the 4pm opening at Santa Eulalla - a little kirk just near our hotel where they'd recently discovered roman foundations under the church, plus ruins of a Visigoth Basilica, Christian cemetery and 16thC chapel. Unfortunately all that bit wasn't open as a funeral was in progress - so we only saw the mini-museum. We were going to dash across town to see the roman circus but rain was threatening again so we went to the Roman house at the Amphitheatre and saw the uncovered mosaics in their original roman house. We'd seen just about all of Merida - trotted across the huge old roman bridge - in the rain, and bought tix for tomorrow's 9am bus to Seville (3150pts). Had a quick cafe & beer (220 pts) on the way home, plus bought some cheese and tuna for sammys on the bus tomorrow.
Tapas started to call about 8pm, so first stop was Rest. Luci where we got quite a bargain with fish, pot. salad & baby squid, 3 glasses of vino tinto and bottle of water for 1130 pts. Next stop wasn't such a bargain, he didn't have much so we had a racione of jamon & queso and 2 vinos for the same price, 1130 pts. Tapas sized portions seem a better deal than the raciones, half the size for about a third the price. Alarm set for 7:30am for our 8:15 departure.
Made it to the train - up and showered and lunch made by 8:15 and out the door. It was raining at 7:30 but had stopped by 8:15 so we made it to the bus station pretty dry. Bus trip was just short of horrendous - foul rain all the way so we couldn't really see a great deal & then when we arrived in Seville our packs in the underneath were soaked. Rang hotels from the bus station, our first few choices where either closed for Xmas or being renovated or full! Starting to worry a bit but then one of them suggested ringing Hostal Goya's name (which was also in LG) so we tried them and bingo, have a room. Jumped in a cab (700 pts) & arrived 1pm & checked into room 37 on the third (top) level - about triple the size of last night's room with 2 single beds, big bathroom and a heater - so can dry clothes! This will be home for the next 5 nights so thank goodness its a nice room. Undid our packs and surveyed the damage - not as bad as we'd feared.
Collapsed for a while and then went out for a wander and a bite to eat - 2 hot chocs., 1 croissant and small tortilla roll (825 pts) across from the cathedral - but the hot chocs are still of the custard variety. Even after adding more hot water to mine it's just too stodgy & was donated to Mal. Within 5 minutes we had found the two laundromats in town then because it was starting to rain again we thought we'd take off to the cathedral (inside) but we only got down the street and the rain became torrential, so stayed put inside a doorway & watched the gargoyles on the cathedral (just across the street) doing their job & everyone else getting soaked.
Must've been 20 minutes before it lightened enough to cross the street, down the orange-tree lined street & into the cathedral (600 & 200 pts), first stop was up the tower (La Giralda) - up the ramps (for horses to walk up) & up to the bell tower. Twas hellishly windy up there but the rain had stopped and sun was out! The coloured houses and orange trees everywhere looked great in the sunshine - even a few rooftop swimming pools. Wandered around the rest of the cathedral - it's the world's 4th largest cathedral and took over a century to build and contains the tomb of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus). Then out into the sunshine & made a beeline for home while the sun was out. Whipped the heater into life and pegged various socks, knickers etc onto the curtain above it...and they have dried beautifully - yahoo! clean knickers and socks tomorrow!
Stomachs were rumbling 7:30ish so armed with a map and a list of possibilities from LG, we set off. The pizza joint was just around the corner but rather shut (at 8pm) so we promenaded past, did a few blockies, had a vino tinto (and got no nibbles - huh!) at a bar just down the road (300pts) & then returned top the pizza joint - it was open!! So we sat down to a spicy carbonara & seafood - washed down with a litre of red & followed by a (shared) chocy dessert. The restaurant is in an old (15thC) Moorish bathhouse - quite interesting.
Slept very soundly. Eventually woke up and dashed down to Bodega Santa Cruz - just down at the next corner - for b'fast. Last night we passed it and it was very busy pub/bar with overflow onto the street; this morning it's a cafe bar serving breakfast. 2 cafes, tea and bread & Jam - 550 pts. Then it was down to the serious stuff - sorting out our washing and finding the laundrette again. They are not self-service here so we dumped the stuff off and it'll be ready at 7pm tonight - two very large bags for 950 pts. With that done it was off to sightsee along 'one of the most beautiful streets in Europe' - Sierpes - it's a narrow, pedestrian shopping street with beautifully painted bits, lots of expensive shops & somewhat busy at the moment. We wandered around a few of the surrounding streets, all of them are rather charming - lots of colourful tiles etc.
We decided on a meal for lunch, rather than a snack, so dropped into Bodegon Alfonso XII - a pub/rest. for their menu del dia - paella, followed by seabass (breadcrumbed & deep-fried) and bread and wine (800 pts each). Back to business -wandered down to the bus station near the bridge to check out busses to Ronda & Granada - no luck. Andalucian buses leave from the other bus station - the other side of town. Twas now siesta time so the busy shopping streets were now quiet (shops closed) - perfect photo and video moment. Eventually got to the other bus station and there are lots of buses each day to Ronda & Granada, so now we just need to make our plans.
Wandered back via Plaza de Espana - its a really fab. huge semi-circular building, with tiles alcoves and benches - each one showing a different area of Spain with something about their history. Took lots of photos of them > the sun was out! We got home eventually for siesta - interrupted by some noisy yanks moving into the room next door. Raced out for our laundry about 7pm, dumped it back in the room, then headed out for a tapas crawl - 1. the b'fast joint, 3 vino tinto and 4 tapas (patatas with salsa, meatballs with salsa, flamenco (ham/cheese roll deep-fried) & some hake) - all rather nice and good value for 935 pts, Mal was quite content to stay but we hit the road and wandered around the Alfalfa area where there were lots of tapas bars, 2. a wee place on the corner with a huge range of hams, chorizos, olives, capers and cheeses behind the bar, we had 2 vinos, 2 cokes bowl of olives and 2 cheeses (900 pts) nice little pub with great cheeses (large jamon legs for 10,500?), then next stop was up around the corner and nowhere near as good as the first two, 3. I relented and had a rioja and we both had a toasted roll with tuna and salsa - twas OK (600 pts) but not great.
On our wandering home we got lost a few times and while backtracking we came across a bubbling little joint - they didn't have any port but did have an olorosso sherry - so we had a couple (350 pts). It was a crowded tiled pub with lots of locals and good tapas selection, maybe next time. Past our bedtime now.
Oh, stopped off at a little supermarket between 1. and 2. and were gobsmacked at the price of Dom Benedictine (1400 pts), Drambuie (1700), & Kahlua (1200). It's now midnight and pouring rain outside, hope it stops by morning...please!
Off to our favourite Seville b'fast bar again for cafe, tea & toast...saved some butter for our Xmas picnic. Then back into tourist mode & off to the Alcazar, just near the cathedral, I got in for free while Mal paid 600 for the privilege. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the fab. rooms and gardens. There's no furniture on display - its just the tiles - floor, wall and ceiling and carvings on walls and ceilings. It's all very Moorish - Arab, looking. The walls were from 9th C. At the back of the palace are lots of gardens - all very particularly manicured and all with different themes.
Wandered home and left my day pack there for the days activities - lunch and shopping. Found a fried chicken joint off Sierpes and had a minor pigout - half chicken, chips & salad, bread & vino tinto - 750 pts each, it will be our Xmas poultry. By the time we left at 2:30 the place was filling up..even in the alley outside where he sold bits of chicken and beers out a hatch. Oh forgot, when we had breakfast this morning, a health freak next to me had decaf. coffee with sweeteners instead of sugar, he then had toast with half a bucket of olive oil on it.
Wandered down Sierpes to El Cortes Ingles - a big department store, they're everywhere in Spain and have food departments in the basement. We had to do our XMAS shopping for tomorrow's picnic..came out exhausted but with lots of bits for tomorrow to get us thru the day. Mal bought 2 sets of Spanish playing cards (1250 pts) but I couldn't find a handbag. Straggled home for a mini-siesta, the streets were all but bare.
Our hunt for tapas dinner this evening did prove a tad elusive - but we were still rather full from lunchtime, so not really wanting a great deal. Last night's first two haunts were both very closed, so we wandered on and found one - it looked as though they were about to close, the lads had cleaned the kitchen and the cafe machine was being wiped down. However the manager had other ideas & got more food out. We had 2 tintos and a tortilla sandwich each (700 pts) then saw a plate of calamari come out for someone else. I was very tempted but we had had enough so we paid up and wandered down the very empty streets back home. There were lots of bars/rests. open near the cathedral so we stopped for a muscatel each (350). Got home and the mob that were in the lobby drinking whisky when we left had gathered numbers & were down to the last bits & noisy. Had a quick chat and left them to it -> we had port to tackle upstairs! and chocolate to munch on!
Sun shining - alarm set to go off at 9am meant we eventually got up about 10am and made our b'fast - huge cups of hot tea, rolls, butter and jam, followed by a couple of yoghurts. Still sunny and blue skies so we wandered off for a pre-lunch promenade down to the river near the bull-ring. The streets were littered with empty bottles - it looked like there'd been a street party last night. Yep - lots of locals promenading along the riverbank in their Sunday best. Walked along the river and then back round the alcazar - Mal stopped for a cafe (125 pts). There were quite a lot of rests. open & I suspect they'll do a decent trade today - there's lots of tourists around to be fed. Came home for a sit down and to organise our picnic bags - vino tinto, pate, cheese x 2, bread, pulpo (baby octopus) and biscuits were on the menu del dia - trotted off to Plaza de Espana in the blazing sunshine -> 20c according to the guages in the street. We set ourselves up on one side but the sun was too bright so we packed up and wandered around the plaza to Murcia - just along from Madrid & Malaga - which was in the shade and re-set up for lunch at 2pm. There were lots of promenaders out - the children in some very prissy dresses and coats and the lads in long shorts. We had a very relaxing munch on our goodies as the promenaders and strollers wandered by - by 3-ish we were back in the sunshine and had more or less finished - so we packed up & went for a promenade in the park across the road - it's full of huge trees & would be extremely pleasant in the summer heat. Did a huge lap of the park and by 5pm it was only 15c. Wandered home for a siesta.
Just as well we were awake at 7pm when someone's alarm went off, coz they weren't there. The manager had to come up and get into the room to turn it off. We wandered out for a tapas nibble..lots of places were open and lots of people were wandering out from church. Had 2 tintos and tapas at a bar - 900 pts, somewhat of a rip-off, the calamari was only 4 rings, the cazon (fish) was only 2 small pieces, the other dish was garlic ganbas (prawns) which wasn't too bad. Still, it was all we wanted so we wandered home, ran a hot bath, and each had a hot soak with port and chocolate.
We've decided to stay here tomorrow night then head off to Ronda on Friday for 2 nights. Just need to finish XMAS day by writing some postcards and washing some knickers.
Really, really felt like a lie in this morning, so even though the alarm was set for 8am we snuggled and dozed until 9am. Eventually went down to Bodega Santa Cruz for usual b'fast (550 pts) and watched more customers pouring bottles of olive oil on their toast - and some even added salt. We raced off to the post office and spent 1872pts on postage stamps - some to send the postcards written yesterday and some more to see us through the next 10 days.
En route we dashed into the East Indies building - it's full of documentation from the Spanish settlements & travels (eg. Chris Columbus) & has some amazing Mexican/South American documents from when Spain 'found' them. Next stop was to wander up to the bus station and buy our tix for tomorrow - 2 tix for the 10am bus to Ronda -. 2475 pts.
No more business to attend to so we wandered over the bridges to Los Remedios & Triana - there is a 'big suburb' feel to the main shopping street - lots of locals about and a busy & diverse range of shops. Found a pair of shoes that weren't too bad and decided to have lunch & then go back and try them on -- trouble was we got back there at 1:45 & they'd already closed for lunch! Oh well, we had a good pizza for lunch & a couple of tintos (1450 pts) while watching the locals doing their touch/push/shove parking out in the street. The thing to do is to leave the handbrake off and car in neutral so that cars can be pushed along a bit for other cars to fit in or out. Oh well, missed out on the shoes but made sure we didn't miss out on the sweeties - a couple of 'marshmellowy' fridged cake thingies. My strawberry one was too sickly rich so got left but Mal finished his choc. one - of course. We wandered off looking in the closed shops of Los Remedios & Triana. Up and over the bridge & up to El Corte Ingles to suss out their shoe supply - not impressed, lots of crappy shoes so we wander off empty handed and home for a siesta.
Set the alarm for 6pm so we'd catch the shops in their afternoon opening - but still no luck with the few we tried. Back to business, got 40,000 pts from the autobank to pay the hotel and tried to ring a pension in Ronda but no luck. Spent an hour or so in Bodega Santa Cruz - sipping and sampling tapas. Ended at 7 tintos & 8 tapas for 2000 pts - calamari, flamenco, gambas, cazon, chicken wings and a couple of monteditos (toasted sammys) and prings (still don't know what it is but it's minced meat of some kind) and jamon. Packed our packs ready for the morning and finished off the cheese and port - next 'traveling' bottle will be sherry! I've lost my denimy shirt somewhere along the way, it was clean so I hope whoever gets it appreciates it.
The alarms worked for the 7:30 and 7:45 calls - but we were awake before then with a few noisy guests moving furniture & leaving rooms. We were ready by 8:30 so decided on a last b'fast as Santa Cruz - teeth brushed & really ready to go at 9am so we trotted round to the bus station and were followed by the 4 Canadians from the hotel who were off to Malaga for a day or two. The journey to Ronda is only 125 Km but it took 3 hrs to get there via about 10 villages on the way plus a few slow-downs for minor diversions where the highway had slipped away or had been covered by landslides - they've had a lot of rain lately. Some fairly impressive scenery along the way - flat agricultural land, then up and over the mountains - olive trees growing way up the sides.
Finally pulled into Ronda at 1pm & we left the Canadians to catch the next bus to Malaga. Wandered into town with the intention of finding the Turismo and then a hotel. Bingo, eagle-eyed Mal spotted the hotel we'd been trying to call from Seville and we checked into one of their en-suite rooms for 5000 pts a night.
Raced off to Turismo before it shut at 2pm and had to pay! for a town map - 100 pts; had a quick look over the new bridge into the huge gorge, then went to find lunch. In one of the side streets we dived into a little cafe for their menu del dia - gazpacho, then pork stew with vegies (well, a couple of mushies and a piece of courgette) & chips with a bowl of grapes for dessert - all washed down with, you guessed it - vino tinto (1800 pts). A group of cockney/souf Londoners came in while we were eating - we presume they'd come up for a day trip from Malaga or Marbella - the guys looked like ex-cons with face-scars etc, & very dapper holiday dressing. We zipped around the corner & up to our room, switched on the Spanish TV and the weather forecast was on - rain tomorrow and Sunday. Since it was brilliant sunshine today (3rd day in a row) we thought we'd better do most of the walking round town today and do inside bits tomorrow. So, armed with camera and video we wandered off and checked out the gorge from various vantage points. In the sun it was glorious - but when you got into the wind it was really icey cold.
The old town is up and over the huge 'new' tall bridge, so we crossed it and wandered down thru part of the old town to the other bridges further up the gorge, then back up the new town side thru the gardens that layer up the side of the gorge. There are some steps at the back of the houses on the other side of the gorge leading right down (100m) to the bottom of the gorge - where the servants used to go to collect the water.
Still sunshine so we went back into the old town & did a wee circumnavigate of it - most of which we'll do again tomorrow and came home via a sweetieshop. Couldn't resist the choccy covered orange bits (600 pts for 250 g) for later, & an apple flan & choccy bun for now (250 pts) - home for siesta - set the alarm for an hours kip, to wake us at 7:15pm. By the time we'd kipped thru the noise of bikes etc. & cold room (the heater is on now) we really couldn't be bothered to head out for supper, so supped on chicken noodle soup, the crisps we'd bought 24 Dec., dry biscuits, mandarins (from 24 Dec) & the choccy bits & caught up on the Spanish news & the weather forecast again -> it's still going to rain this weekend.
It wasn't actually raining when we got up this morning at half 9-ish, but it had been and soon started again. We had b'fast downstairs at the cafe, tea, oj, cafe & toast (500) - not as good value as Sevillian b'fast. Decided we'd better go and do some inside bits, very thankful that we'd done the walk around town yesterday in the sunshine, we trotted back over the new bridge to the House of Salvatierra, we'd been here yesterday & admired the 4 naked Peruvian Incas on the doorway (11am) and the doors swung open for the 8 of us waiting in the rain (600 pts). We got a guided tour of the house in Spanish - but did race thru the rooms - they're all quite small & nicely furnished with antiques. Got a great view out into the gardens - over the smallest of the 3 bridges & outlying farmyards - before we were shoved out the side gate into the street! Wandered in the rain thru to 16thC Santa Maria kirk (300 pts) - it was full of Brit. tour groups (up for the day from the coast). We tried to listen in on their guide to find out where the Koranic verse was hidden > the kirk used to be a mosque and that is the only trace of the original mosque - no luck, couldn't find it. Enough of kirks, so we went off to find the Palacio de Mondragon, & stopped off at the smallest cafe/bar we'd ever seen. It would fit about 6 people, plus one in the tiny loo. Mal had a grand cafe con leche (cafe-150 pts) & we hit the rain again. Found Mondragon (300 pts) and spent an hour or so wandering around is courtyards & rooms & watched a video on the glories of Andalucia & Ronda. Yep, still raining when we left - so down to business - ring Granada hotel, lunch, bank. We had bought our train tix this morning for the 9:03 train tomorrow (1560 pts) each to Granada. Our first choice hotel didn't have any en-suite rooms but the second did so we're booked in for 3 nights - it's near the cathedral.
Had a couple of good pizzas for lunch then round to the sweetie shop for cafe and cake (325) before having a wee promenade in the empty streets (3:30pm) in the rain. It wasn't long before we headed back to the hotel to watch Star Trek (in Spanish) and paid hotel for 2 nights (10,000 pts). Pouring rain again after our siesta but we had to head out for tapas, first stop was a very lonely barman watching junior footy on TV, we just had to give him something to do - 2 tintos, 1 sherry (fino) & 4 tapas (2 small chorizo snags on wee bread rolls, a wee hamburger & wee kebab, all cooked on his mini-grill behind the bar. This wee feast set us back 625 pts before we set off. Don't know why we were solo diners, perhaps business picks up later. Across the road and into another bar - sawdust on the floor, 2 fat barmen smoking, 3 old-gadgie customers - 'si' he did do tapas so we had 2 tintos and I ordered calamari which came just as the bar was inundated with the barman's family - wife, 3 chn (one with boyfriend), baby and his mother. Mal decided to order a tapas too but nothing seemed to be 'on' except calamari so he gave in and had some too. They did have some salads behind the bar but they looked like they'd been there for a week! We were a tad gobsmacked when we got the bill - 400 pts, but we weren't going to argue! Out into the rain again and there was a lively joint up the road - Bar Setenil. We still had a few hours to go before we would be able to get to sleep (over the noise of the bar beneath our room) so in we went. A lucky find, there was a guy in the corner playing his guitar and lots of locals clapping and singing along. The barman - Pasquale, was the size of mighty mouse, quite drunk and had his shirt undone to the waist. We decided on a few tintos and tapas but the only food we saw was a plate of bread and cheese coming from the kitchen, so with the help of another drunk lad behind the bar who spoke some English, we got some bread and cheese. The price list gave the price of tapas as 50 pts! The tinto was slopped into a couple of glasses by the very merry barman & the bottles left up on the bar. Most people seemed to be helping themselves from the bottle and no tally kept. The guitarist and various singers were all having a fabo time until one of the ex-singers said something to Pasquale which he didn't like. They were both about to jump the bar for a fight but one of the ladies came out from the kitchen and calmed them down and convinced the bloke to go home. The ladies out in the kitchen were having a busy time cooking something - at 10pm out came the proceeds - bowls of soup were put out on the tables and bar. One was thrust in our direction so we did the right thing and devoured it. I thought it may have been bull's tail soup (a local specialty) cos of all the bones in it - but our sign language soon discovered it was pig's knuckle soup with huge butter beans. A huge jug was passed around the pub a few times - we thought it was a hat for the guitarist but it turned out to be payment for drinks, food, everything! just throw in enough for what you've had. At one stage the ladies passed us another tapas - but our investigations deemed it to be liver - so we passed it down the bar to a scrawny looking bloke who needed building up. 8 vino tintos, 5 tapas and soup later we thought we'd try a sherry. Pasquale poured us a couple from a 15lt cask which was emptying rather quickly since he was filling empty bottles with it and selling them to the crowd. We had a good chat with the 'Bilboa brothers' - the photographer, his drunk 'photographer' brother and the chap who was helping Pasquale behind the bar when we arrived. Apparently we hit an annual celebration on 28 Dec - they kept saying it was 'idiots day' - it turns out that an old gadgie who was doing a bit of singing earlier on used to run the bar (and lives upstairs) is a bit of a local hero. During Franco's time as dictator this guy used to hold secret meetings with his mates in this bar - the Bilboa brothers used to come along as did a few of the other oldies. Twas a pity we didn't understand more of what they were trying to tell us. Before we could get out the door - at about midnight - we had consumed 5 sherries between us. We asked Pasquale to tot up what we owed - he said something silly like 173 pts, we reckoned it was more like 1000 pts so that's what we gave him - we won a friend for life (except he wont remember a thing about it next morning). We managed to stagger home and the bar downstairs was still going - so we didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 - and the alarm is set for 7:30am -> eeek
Just as well both alarms were set this morning - red and bleary eyed we got up and trekked around to the train station at 8:30am. The cafe opened so we were able to get b'fast - cafe, tea and nibbles (450 pts) & jumped on the 9:03 train when it arrived at 9:10. It chugged out thru the very wet countryside and into Bobadilla by 10am where we jumped on the connecting train to Granada - thru lots of olive groves that stretched up into the hills and mountains.
Walked into Granada city - about 20 mins from the station and an early wrong turn managed to bring us out right where we wanted to be - right at Plaza Carmen with our hotel - Lisboa staring directly at us. Checked in, waited until they finished cleaning the room, then trotted off to find lunch. We were still feeling somewhat seedy so went in hunt for pollo asada (bbq chicken) Rest. Rincon de Pepe was just up the road and one of their del dias did the trick - soupa Picadillo was a fabo chicken noodley soup with meaty bits in it, then the pollo asada in olive oil, with chips, washed down with tinto and coke followed by flan (creme caramel) for Mal and an orange for me - 2200 pts. We had sussed out that the Alhambra was free to enter (instead of 625 pts each) after 3pm on Sunday, so we promenaded up there after lunch & got tix. The alcazaba is more or less in ruin but has great views over Granada. It was raining on and off all day, especially when we walked up the see the Generalife (sounds like an insurance co. but is in fact the summer palace) about 1 km up the hill - has some beautifully manicured gardens and ponds. On our wander back from there about 4pm it was torrential rain - the kind that soaks, shoes, socks, feet and jeans up to knee level.! Everyone was attempting to find shelter - some people didn't even have brollies! By 4:25 it was nearly our allotted time to get into the Palace of Nazaries - we were first of the 4:30 crowd in and hordes followed us - we wandered thru the various courtyards and rooms with incredibly ornate ceilings and walls. From its reputation we had been expecting a lot more. There was no furniture to speak of but the ceilings, walls, arches and fountains were quite spectacular - perhaps our disappointment is due to already having seen the palace at Seville - which is similar. By 5 we were out with cold, wet, tired and unhappy feet, we wandered down the hill and looked into the occasional shop full of touristy stuff - every shop had exactly the same stuff - couldn't find the olive bowl we'd seen in Merida and should have bought when we had the chance. Just had to have a sweetie cake (Mal had 2!) for 350 pts then home for an hours siesta.
On the hunt at 8 for a spot of tapas - the guy at hotel reception mapped a few places nearby for us and we were off. First stop was La Castellana - a newish trendy place with well-dressed families; 2 tintos, plate of nibbles & a veleta roll (lomo (pork), gruyere and jamon) was gobbled down - 760 pts. Next stop was up the road and around a few corners to San Remo - with our vino we got patatas (350) but decided against any tapas as they seemed a tad pricey. Next stop was La Mar near Plaza Carmen where our 2 vino tintos came with crisps with fresh anchovies in olive oil (yum). Again their tapas were a bit pricey so we called it quits and headed home. As we haven't bought a supply of sherry yet we had to have our choccy solo, but we coped.
Considering the position of our room, at the front overlooking the plaza - we did sleep well, although not until midnight. However, it turns out that the main new years eve celebrations in town will be in Plaza Carmen, right outside our room - cranes and special effects vans started arriving during the morning. Raced down to the Turismo and she pointed out two landrettes for us, both nearby, and then around the corner for b’fast - 2 cafe, tea and 2 toasts for 320 pts - bargain. Now we’re at the laundrette watching the washing go round. Mal’s been insearch of a British paper -no luck. Washing mach. 400 pts, powder 100, dryer 300. At 1pm we were all clean again, except for my jeans which are only partially clean - poor things. I went for a wander around the shops while Mal did the dryer management, no shoes or handbag.
Twas siesta time for the locals so nothing was open, so we decided on a ramble up thru the old Arab part of town - the Albaicia. On the way we bought a breadstick and some cheese at a wee shop and made sandwiches to munch as we walked. The Iglesia de San Nicholas is at the top of this hill and has great views over to the next hill with the Alhambra on it. Wandered back down alongside the river, very small and very brown, to Plaza Nueva. It was now post-siesta time and the cathedral was open (500 pts) - huge vaulted ceilings & amazing chapels. The Chapel Real (500 pts) held the bodies of Isabel & Fernando (who frred Spain from Arab rule) in the crypt and some fairly impressive 15thC artworks.
The hombres were still working in the plaza when we got home so we decided a siesta would not be possible - so we headed to El Cortes Ingles to get supplies (sherry) and came out with a tad more - all necessities of course; I couldn’t resist another can of pulpos and Mal found the chocolate. Came home and siestad from 6 to 7 - when they stopped testing the sound system downstairs. They have even erected fake-snow machines on the roof of the buildings across the plaza.
Siesta over, it was out to find tapas - we decided to look for Campo Principe - where LG says there are lots of tapas bars. We got lost and ended up back at the hotel - oh well, tried again. This time found Principe - twas a tad quiet and we went into Bar Principe - a wee one in the square. The lads in the bar were getting flaming chorizo and black sausage on a kebab with their drinks. We eventually ordered 2 tintos & gor olives & 2 small rolls with tuna/seafood filling...then ordered a couple more vinos & Mal ordered pinchitas (chicken skewers) and me calamari (600 pts). then 2 of the chorizo kebabs arrived and Mal downed them, then his pinchitas arrived and we downed them, then olives & bread -> what a pigout for 1550 pts. We wandered off and decided against any more tapas bars at Principe and wnadered back towards the hotel and see what we found - Cafe Europa Meson and with our 2 tintos we got 2 hot half-tatties with peppers and mayo (350 pts). By then it was half-9ish and the sherry & cheese & choc was calling us, so back thru the noisy Plaza Carmen to our room.
Today has been sanctified as a shopping day - as well as checking out the busses for Cordoba. Another sleep in then raced around the corner for b’fast - same as yesterday but this time she charged us correctly - 530 pts. Twas 11am so we only had a couple of hours before the siesta closing - so set off to find shoes and handbag - tried a few pairs of shoes on but nothing really grabbed me.
Found a vege restaurant in the fringes of the Arab quarter - rest. Naturi Albaician and settled in for lunch. We had a couple of menu del dias for 850 pts each, some fabo pureed vegie soup, vegie paella, vegie cous-cous & dessert & water (2200 pts). Very nice meal, twas good o get some vegies.
Siesta hour when we left so the streets were empty, went down to the bus station or where it used to be. It looked very closed but they still parked the buses at the back so we were able to ask - there is a new bus station out in the burbs and the bus to get to it is just round the corner from our hotel, so back into town and caught #3 bus from Grand via (200 pts). 10 mins later we were there& collected timetables, prices, checked out b’fast possibilities etc. Caught bus back to town for siesta time - disaster, couldn’t find any sweetie shops open - had to go without.
We needed to get as much sleep as possible as it will be a late night. so had 4-6pm siesta. Mal was chaffing at the bit by 7:30 so we went out in search of last night’s bar -- but it was severely shut when we got there, as were all the others in the square. Plan B - raced back toward the hotel and stopped at a coupld of mini-markets for supplies just before they closed. Got vino, queso, dry biscuits, pate, & sweet biscuits(1300 pts all up) and were back in our warm hotel room by 8:30pm. The bells have just rang for 9pm and it’s rather quiet out there -> they’ll let loose later we thinks!
Later - well what a night, the crowd got rather excited when some celeb. kept popping his head out of the building beside us & waving to them, we’ve no idea who he was. The crown was really hyped up over the next few hours & so was the rain, although it did have the decency to stop for a few hours around midnight. The plaza was packed to the gunnels& more were pouring in when the 12 bells tolled - they went wild! All sorts of lazer lighting sprayed onto the walls of the building beside the plaza, then the band started playing just after 12. Fireworks, loads of balloons, fake snow and special effects were used to see in the new year. The band, sort of salsa, jazzy rocky kept the crowd entertained until 2am - > we got no sleep. I think it was about 3-ish when the workmen got into the square - after the crowds dispersed & worked till way later. It sounded like they were smashing up a glasshouse piece by piece, but they were dismantling the stage etc. I looked at 5:30am and they were only half way thru & the ground was littered with bottles etc etc. We didn’t really get much sleep at all & when the alarms woke us at 8am the square was completely clean.
Eyes held open by sheer magic we trekked off to the bus station - we’d paid the 14,400 pts last night, so just jumoed on the #3 bus & got to the station by 9:20am -> time fopr a decent b’fast - tea, cafe, toastadas, & chocy croissant was 600pts.
Tix for Granade - Cordoba bus were 3530pts for the two, twas quite a full bus & a ‘direct service’ so the 160km took a mere 2 and a half hours! As we drove out of Granade the Sierra Nevada was huge & snow-capped above the city - very impressive. Rolled into Cordoba at 1pm and we trekked off to find our hotel...theu the maze of the Juderia (old town) & eventually found it after doubling back to the YHA to get directions. Got a double bed...gad, when was the last time? & bathroom for 4500pts - includes b’fast, per night. It’s a small room on a pedestrian street - San Basilio (Hostal Alcazar) - just near the Alcazar, so there shouldn’t be too much noise& we hope to get a good night’s sleep. Our host informs us that the cathedral (the Mezquita) is free tomorrow morning, so we raced off to the tourist office to get map, info. etc. - but thewy were shut, so we headed off for lunch. Not a great deal open, but eventually found a rest. outside the old town walls. Got a very uninpiring meal (platos combinados - were they throw everything onto one plate) though the menu made it sound like a menu del dia. I had ham omeltte and veal steak with half a bottle of tomatoe sauce, Mal had Spanish omelette with quarer chicken & real tomatoe & vino tinto -> 900 each. Back home for a well earned siesta and set the alarm for 2 hours away (5:30pm) - we eventually had he energy to get up about 6pm. The tourist office was supposed to open about 7pm - so we raced around there in pouring rain but it was still shut. Trekked onwards and upwards into the old town in search of eateries (without map) and lo & behold found ourselves in the wide boulevards of the new town - and the shops. Had a meander thru the shops but didn’t find a bag or shoes that really grabbed me - lots of people out promenading in the pouring rain. Couldn’t find any tapas bars but did find a rather busy pizza joint Twas 7:30pm and not a sole in there was eating anything - all sitting on drinks chatting away. The chef must have been pleased to get our order - 2 pizzas - not too bad either. We did manage to find our way home thru the wee alleys & pouring rain--for a mandarin, chocolate & finished off the olorosso sherry! Should get a decent night’s sleep, so we can properly do Cordoba tomorrow.
Well what a surprise - it’s raining. Both had a very good night’s sleep - desperately needed one after the last 2 nights in Granada. Although we didn’t really need the lukewarm showers that we both got before we headed downstairs for b’fast at 8:45. With cafe, tea, bread and jam it’s not too bad considering it’s pouring rain outside and there are no cafe’s nearby.
We were off to the tourist office by half 9 and bought a map (100 pts) and were informed that if we got to the Mezquita by 10am - when mass was being said, it would be free rather than 750 pts each and ou could then stay & check it out while it opened for paying customers. SO off we ran & were in the doors (when we eventually found them) by 10am. Yep, there was a Catholic mass on but the place is huge and there were lots of tourists wandering around - even whole bus tours being guided thru.
We stayed for about an hour - somewhat gobsmacked by the wonderful arches all through the building - about 900 columns and every one a different length. The mosque was built about 780AD and added to over the centuries. Then the catholics came along in the 16thC and transformed some of the central bit into one of their kirks! Catholic masses are now said in it...no calls to prayer. Having exhausted the Mezquita we called in on the Alcazar - decided against it seeing as it was pouring with rain, came home for another pair of socks (fry ones) & scarves and headed over to the Torre de la Calahara - wher (for 400pts each) we got headphones and pointed in the direction of the taped entertainment (the history of Cordoba and it’s famous sons) and eventually made it up to the roof for a look at the ever so muddy river - the same river that runs thru Seville.
Time for lunch so attempted to find (and succeded) Taverna Sociedad de Plateros - had a couple of tintos, olives, a huge flamenquin (deep fried roll of ham - no cheese) and some fried anchovies (looked and tasted like whitebait) - very yum! We’ll be back this evening to chase up more of their tapas. Wandered up to the new train station to get times and prices for tarains back to Cordoba - Toledo tomorrow, but there is no direct connection - must go to Madrid then catch another train back to Toledo. Just had to have a sweety on the way back to town - choccy eclair and manzan tart - 245pts. Yep, still raining so we came home & collapsed here soaking wet. A quiet few hours while writing postcards and deciding what to do tomorrow. Decided that rather than going to Madrid then heading back this way to Toledo for two nights we’d go straight thru to Madrid and check back into the hotel we were in at the beginning of our trip for Fri/Sat nights, then move across to our ‘treat’ hotel for Sun night. We will still zip out to Toledo - but as a day trip from Madrid as the Toledo hotels listed in LG dont sound crash hot.
So at 7:30pm (still raining) dashed out and rang the Madrid hotel - no problem. Then wandered up thru Juderia trying to find a couple of the old tapas bars that sounded OK - no luck so headed to the joint from lunchtime - had a bit of a pig-out - coke & fino sherry to start, plate of olives, some calamari (yumo), hake pieces, lamb in tom. sauce, a garlic and tomatoe dip - finished off with a racione of queso - all washed down with vino tintos - all while it absolutely poured down outside - it lessened a bit at 10am so we reced home and left our brollies downstairs to dry off.
Well our wee hostal in Cordoba may be quiet but it certainly doesn’t have much of a supply of hot water. Had b’fast and found that Mal’s brolly had disappeared and been replaced by a cheap crappy made in china one - oh well, it was getting quite old (7 years!). Headed off to the train station by 9:20am, by 10am we’d bought our tix (4800 pts each) and were in the cafe having out hot te & cafe (245 pts).
We had pre-booked seat numbers on the train for the first time and had quite a comfy express journey to Madrid (10:50 to 13:00) - thru lots more olive groves and lots of unfarmed land. Cruised into Madrid at 1pm and it’s snowing! - apparantly it has snowed here twice in the last 5 years and they had a bit of a drop at the new Year which blocked lots of mototrways - just a few days ago. It’s forecast to snow here again tomorrow. The wind was really bitter as we headed up to Hostal Aguilar on Calle San Jeronimo and back into the same room we had 5 weeks ago (#116) - just what we wanted!
We really needed a hot lunch inside of us so raced off to a hot bocadilla (sandwich) joint just across the road from our old b’fast joint - had their menu del dia - chicken and pork bocadillas and drinks for 550pts each. Next on the list was to hit the tourist info. to find out about buses to Toledo - so we headed along Gran Via to Plaza Espana to find the main Turismo closed! Dropped into a few shoe/bag shops along the way so the journey wasn’t entirely wasted. Hoods on in the freezing wind and snow (thank goodnes for gloves) we backtracked over to Plaza Mayor for the ever-so-friendly second Turismo office and got our details - he even pointed us to a good bag shop near Plaza Sol, so we wandered back that way, stopped off for hot chocs. & churros (pastires that you dip into the choc. - 410pts) and an El Cortes ingles hunt for olive dishes, hats and shoes - and the bag shop eventually opened after siesta about 5pm. -- I struck lucky. They had three designs for my needs -- eventually I came away with a bag for 5750 pts - then Mal dragged us back into a shoe shop we’d been in looking for my shoes and found a pair of shoes for 7950 pts - at which we were rather knackered (and cold) so headed home for a sit down and thaw out in our warm hotel room.
Our evening tapas tonight has been wonderful!. Out about 8-ish and dropped into Los Cagrieles - just around the corner at 17 Echegeray - it has about 4 or 5 rooms with huge tiled pictured walls - some old posters & other wonderful scenes. However they don’t do tapas after 7pm and only give out a few olives with their rather expensive rioja. Worth a drink for the chance to look at the decorations though. Tapas 2 was at Plaza Sanat Ana & was one we had tried before, we’d found it from the in-flight mag. on the flight to Madrid - we had some boqueronies in vinagrette (600) and calamari (700) - both yummy - and 4 vino tintos (2050 all up - they were going to undercharge us but Mal owned up). The barman does try the hard sell a bit, the good thing was that our calamari was ordered just before a fresh lot came from the kitchen.
Tapas 3 was the newish bar up the road - La Moderna - another one we had been to before. They offer tapas out of the ordinary, and our order of pollo de AVE (chicken breast on bread bits) and smoked/dried venison with almonds was delicious - both 350pts each. Full by now, it was just a trek home and decisions to be made for tomorrow.
We had a good night’s sleep but awful trouble getting a hot shower - we don’t remember it being like this before. We were out and about after 10 and we’d decided to give Toledo a miss and do two museums and shopping today. Along to our usual b’fast joint and had toastadas - the Madrid version is two fried fat slices of bread (others were eating the sliced rolls of bread that were called toastada in Seville, what are they called here?) 2 cafes, and te - 520pts. Bought a British newspaper for reading later, then found Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (Convent of the Royal Barefoot Ones). It’s a still operating 16thC Fransiscan convent and gained its huge art collection from the widows who moved in there in 16-18th century. Unfortunately you can only get in on a guided tour and they’ll only fo so in English for 25 people or more. We went for the Spanish tour but only coz I got a discount (250pts while Mal paid 650pts). It has some incredibly ornate rooms & chapels with Rubens etc hanging around, plus some great tapestries. After that we headed south of the city to an area we’d read about in a local English newspaper - Lavapies, supposedly some interesting historic workers cafes etc, these cafes turned out to be extremely expensive, but we did go to the supermarket while there for some supplies to take back to London - Malaga Virgen (sweet sherry) 860pts, and cans of pulpo.
On our way back to the hotel the queues for the underground car parks amazed us, everyone drives here and we can’t figure out why as the public transport is pretty good. We stumbled upon a little ‘Dan Murphys’ and bought more supplies - bottle of Dom Benedictine 1670pts, and fino sherry 775pts and stumbled home laden down. Snacked on a bio yoghurt - just to keep those stomach bits working, then proper lunch - 2 bocadillos on the move while wandering toward the Prado. There were a couple of gift shops near the Prado and they had a couple of varieties of olive dishes, but not exactly the ones we want - bought two small handled dishesanyway as we are not going to find the dishes we want.
Eventually made it to the Prado for its free Saturday afternoon session and revisited the Goya and Valasquez collections. Checked out the collectibles collection as well, which we’d missed last time. Tired and knackered we headed home and stopped in our b’fast joint for hot chocs and churros (570pts) and then collapsed for siesta. Mal had a that was an ‘almost orgasmic’ hot shower after this mornings disaster and is now reading in The Times about the big freeze in England.and Southern Europe.
Rang Lesley to remind her that we’ll be on her doorstep on Monday (and put in a request for some broccoli) and spent the evening in La Moderna. They recognised us from last night and gave us extra special treatment, some free drinks and loads of nice nibblies. One of the advantages of this place is that you get some nibbles with each drink you buy, at others you only get nibbles with the first drink - which is why the locals move around so much. Anyway, we had; artichokes & pimentos, monchego queso, anchovies, blue cheese (yummo) - all free with our 8 tintos (1400pts) plus we had two frre ones. We bought 6 tapas - Ventresca de Bonito (tuna & peppers), embutidoes (local sausage), Pechuga de AVE (chicken on toast), Cecina de Ciervo (venison & almonds), smoked salmon, and chiperones. The locals were really getting stuck into the Vermouth on tap, we were talking about it and the next thing we knew the owner gave us a glass - quite nice, very dry.
By the time we left at 9:30pm (full!) the place was beginning to fill up.
Another cool shower - I’m desperate for a long hot shower. Raced off to our b’fast place only to find it closed so into the one across the road from the hotel. They have loads of legs of ham hanging around the walls - the master-ham man was getting stuck into trimming the fat off one and getting it ready for today’s sales while we had our 2 cafes, te, and toastada (fried bread again!) and a bacon sammy - 800 for the lot. It was snowing ourside, parked cars were covered in snow, but it wasn’t settling any more. First task for the day was to pack up all our goodies, thenpay the hotel (10,000 for 2 nights) and head across to Hotel Monaco for our last night. Our room wasn’t made up yet so we just dumped our stuff and dashed off to El Cortes Ingles to buy more goodies. 1750 pts later we’d stocked up on a can of anchovies in vinegar, bottle of pimientos (red peppers) and garlic, and two bottles of Solerno 1847 (sweet sherry) and headed home with our booty. We’d also decided on a ‘nice’ restaurant for our last lunch and after looking in quite a few near the hotel we decided on ‘Chocalateria-Comedor’ just a few doors up the road.
Their menu del dia was expensive compared to others we’d been having but still cheap by Britisih standards. We were the first ones there at 1:45 and studied the menu, with book in hand for translations - first course was fabo, 2 poached eggs with a cheese and spinach sauce & grilled cheese on top. My main course was pescado (fish of the day - a sort of bream) while Mal had solomolito (tenderloin steak) -> both were yummy, but even more exciting was that they both came with sauteed tattys, carrots and peppers. Bothe meals were delicious and we completely cleaned the plates. Dessert was a more humble affair, I had banana and Mal had a lemony moussey thingy. The bill was 4195 pts. - well worht it. The place was full when we left - full of fur coats and it was still snowing outside. We wnadered around to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and spent a couple of hours wandering around their collection of El Greco, Tolouse-Latrec, Monet and lots of Flemish works. Back out into the snow - the 12th night (Epiphany) is a big deal here and there was a parade from the big park to Puerto del Sol and thru to Plaza Mayor, so when we got out of the museum we wandered around the corner and smack-bang into the huge crowds lining the streets in the snow.
Raced around to our favourite tapas bar but stopped in Cerv. Alamena for more calamari (1100pts) but it had been micro-waved and was chewwy and not a patch on the fresh stuff the other night. Round to La Moderna for the good stuff, starting with tinto and vermouth. By the time we left 9-ish we’d downer 3 more tintos each (include one free round), 4 tapas - smoked salmon, solomolito, lomo (pork) and bonito (tuna and peppers), plus numerous nibbles with the tintos - 2500 pts total. The snow had finally stopped but it was still bitterly cold. Hot baths to round off the evening.
Woken up at 5:30 by revellers but got back to sleep until 9-ish. B’fast in the hotel was pretty poor - lukewarm te/cafe, toast and jam for 500pts each. The shower was hot but almoast blasted me out of the room, huge puddle of water on the floor. Paid the bill (11770 pts) then headed off with our packs and goodies to catch the bus to the airport - 740pts for two. Checkin was very crowded, the Gatwick and Manchester flights were delayed for hours due to the weather, thankfully ours was not. We had 6000 pts left so into the duty-free; bottle of Laphroiag whisky for Dougie, chocs, and playing cards.
Flight was delayed a little bit but arrived in London at 15:45 - the immigration queue was huge, it took about half an hour to get through - our baggage arrived on the roundabout just as we got through. Caught the tube (how long since we’ve been on that?) and camped at Cleo’s wine bar in South Kensington to wait for my mates from Au Pair to meet us. Got through a couple of bottle of vino blanco with them and the three of us caught a cab to Lesley’s and got stuck into Delia’s recipe of brocolli and 3 cheeses. Ate about 10pm (between lesley’s phone calls) with Madeira and vino tinto. Unloaded a couple of bottles of our booty (sherry) at Lesley’s.
Lesley was up at the crack of dawn - earlier, it hadn’t got light when she left at 7:15am to head off to work -- I put on my old Au Pair hat when an interviewer rang from Poland. We were up at Kings Cross for our 10:30 train -- rolled into Edinburgh about 3pm. No 1 duty was to race around to the camera shop and put 5 rolls of film in, and then cabbed to Juliet and Dougie’s place. Collapsed for a while then I raced off to get my gorilla legs waxed while Mal hung out the washing. We raced up to Mrs. Mac’s (our downstairs neighbour) for a chat and tea and cake - she gave us a pressy, a book on Marchmont before we raced back, then out to our favourite Edinburgh rest. (La Phonecia). There were 9 diners in the restaurant and only Dougie, Juliet and J’s sister Pam were not Aussies. Very pleasant dinner then cabbed home for dessert of frozen choccy cake I had left in their freezer.
J & D gave us a beautiful framed picture of downtown Edinburgh and Dougie was very pleased with his bottle of Laphroiag.
Not a good sleep in the single bed, lots to do today. Raced into Lloyds and sussed out a statement etc. M&S for Mal’s sox and jox and new brolly. Quick lunch then home by 2pm. Taxi to airport booked for 3pm for our 4:40pm flight. Suitcase and 2 packs were 48 kilos, kept the smaller bag and 2 day packs with us as hand-luggage.
9pm MAS flight stopped at Dubai which we weren’t expecting but it’s fine as it shortens the tedious stop at KL airport - where we spent all our ringgits from our stop there in 1994. Flight was full the whole way - into Melb 7:30ish then a 4 hour wait for our flight to D’port.
The End