Viva Espana & G'day Portugal!

Barcelona was the last stop before freedom again in the form of a car. Nice city beaches and parks were had as well as a few too many Mojitos! All in all I think a little bit of wee was coming out of both of us as a result of our excitement of being on the open roads again, as although ‘Barca’ was nice we didn’t think it was as good as it is cracked up to be... Horses for courses. Maybe it was because we didn’t get to see the main sight - Elephant Man. Google it if you are over 18 and don’t know what we’re talking about...

Booking - check. Licence – check. Car - Car. Oh sorry we don’t have a car for you. Just the words we wanted to hear before we drove around the coast of Spain and Portugal! We were offered a little van that had the logo of the rental company to be fair but we’re not in the 1940s.... Sure enough after a few dirty looks and questions about using their phone a car was lined up. Literally we got the car I think we were supposed to get but the cheeky little Spaniard wanted to give us a dud. Anyway Citroen c3 Picasso was away, the black beauty.

Stop one was Valencia to clearly do what Webber couldn’t and win the Grand Prix. However, the navigator clearly passed macronavigation but not micronavigation. As we rolled into Valencia do we know how to get to our accommodation? Two hours later and feeling dizzy we finally find our accommodation on one of these roads that crosses a highway. One side hotel, other side – the Bronx. We took the other side. Anyway it wasn’t to be our last time lost in Valencia. Number two on the list (and number two in every Spanish city) was to check out the old city. They are always filled with a plentiful supply of cerveza (or gunea in Basque) and delicious tapas (or Pintox in Basque). Great stuff.

Beach time was next on the list and a visit of an old Moorish Castle (the Moors being Muslims who ruled in Spain and Portugal for nearly 500 years – interesting fact) was in the way - Alacante. Post the castle visit was a nice couple hundred kilometre drive to Mojacar. From the outset we aimed to stay away from the tourist haunts such as Costa del Sol and did we ever. Mojacar was the Spanish equivalent of the Greek Islands – only this time we were the only ‘whites’. Party time on the beach and we should have stayed longer!

A one night stop in a mystery campsite (although we were pleasantly surprised!) was required due to navigator and driver fatigue whilst driving through the desert. Numerous secluded beaches were enjoyed as well as Bee trying her best to tease a bull by posing in nothing but her swimwear in front of one! The road was hit again to Cadiz the home of surfing. Ahh windsurfing. If we had of thought about this a bit more we would have realised that for windsurfing you need wind. And wind and lounging on the beach don’t mix! When I say wind I don’t just mean a light breeze. I mean wind turbines rotating fully in about one second. So after staying in the Spanish version of Nimbin we were rescheduling our bookings forward a night or two...

Seville. Hot. 44 degrees but it is amazing how clean and beautiful they can keep a city where you would think that it would be barren and lifeless. Deserved our two night stay as the Alcazar, Plaza Espana and the Cathedral were as grand and exquisite as we have seen (except for Madrid).

Portugal, finally and did it live up to what we needed and expected! South coast of Portugal was amazing. The rock formations surrounding the beaches were grand and something that we don’t often enjoy with the long white sandy beaches of Oz. Hate to harp on it but days spent snorkelling (yep they paid for themself in Greece – value buy) , beaching and swimming were in order and we truly wished we had weeks on end down in the South. Accommodation was at Pera for Gerard’s birthday and let’s just say we celebrated in style!

The other town we stayed at in Portugal was at Lagos which raised the tourist flag a little but none the less we found ourselves a beach where we had to climb down a ladder made from drift wood, then lower ourselves down the rest of the decline (Uluru style) with a rope. Well worth it when there were only about five other people on the beach...Mind you this was after we had just walked past a nice little nudist beach and caught a perv, peering through the bushes in the cliffs above!

Sad to leave would be an understatement but Sintra was calling. Mind you it was on a Portuguese national holiday so things were a little busy. Another Moorish fort was calling as well as age old gardens. All this aside the highlight still had to be the The Sintra Palace Hostel that put on a great dinner for all there. A great way to get to know fellow travellers and have a crack at the English ones who were there!

North of Portugal was next on the map and Rio Alto near Viana do Castelo was a nice get away for a few days. This time instead of being surrounded by tourists it was surrounding by farm land namely lettuce which was a pleasant delight as it once again brought home how few tourists visit this area. Surfing was on the cards and glad to say the rust is slowly flaking off... The dilemma came ‘where to next?’ Well as Gerard had already sampled the delights of San Sebastian he decided it would be well worth the 800km drive but not before a stopover in Vittoria.

Best way to describe old mate who owned the caravan park we stayed at in Vittoria would be an uncle who cracks the jokes. Difference is this guy is 80 and Spanish. After a good night on the town sampling some Pintxos, it was time for an early morning slog. After 30 minutes of churning it out I returned to the campsite only to be told in Spanish by this fellow to go and run it again! If I had some breathe I would have laughed too like all the others sitting down for breaky! Finally we reached San Seb and I think Bee can explain her feelings of relief that we had not driven all this way for nothing!

Very cruisy and easy going place, is San Seb! It was again such a relief to have 4 whole nights in the one place and just relax and put the feet up.... well, for a little while anyway! We spent some quality time at the beach, strolling around the streets and finally cracking the watermelon that Gerard HAD to buy a week earlier (because “we will definitely eat it!”). Gerard, having been here already and practically a local, had the good knowledge on the Pintxos – boy was he right! He was also right about the camping grounds, spacious, clean and a delight to have stayed there despite the hilly road there (meaning a lot of bus rides back and forth, and also some exercise at 3.00am). Two other highlights included our mammoth 16km walk into town via said hills and up to the statue overlooking the city and also the Fiesta which we timed well, meaning fireworks over the beach and street performers. Good times!

And our final stop Bilbao or Bilbo for the locals. Gerard has already delved into Bilbao on his first trip here but little did we know that there was another Fiesta in Bilbao. Can we just say, no one does a Fiesta like the Spanish. Rock focussed music, fishing demonstrations and buskers were the points of attention. However it was the token at the frog game which stole our attention. Contestants stand about three metres from a stone frog and try to trow tokens into its mouth. At the end of each person’s turn of throwing about five tokens the announcer tells their score. You guessed it – zero. Pretty much every time! Finally we experienced a bull fight and let’s just say it was eye-opening and while traditional not exactly a sport we’ll follow intently...

A Greek Salad and Gyros in the Greek Islands

After such a ‘stressful’ time in London, relaxation was a must and where better to achieve that than in the Greek Islands with Jamie and Melissa - our Autumn House counterparts....

First stop, Santorini. A great, cheap hostel (best value in the accommodation stakes by far – less than 10GBP per night each, pool, clean rooms... cannot go wrong!). We pretty much spent our days there lounging on the black sandy beaches, sipping cocktails, eating gyros and swimming in the pool. Oh, the day trip to the volcanic islands and mud springs with the whole London crew was also a nice touch – not to mention zooming around the island on quad bikes, now that was awesome! Pretty sure Bee was a super driver – may have reached 50km/h... watch out!! Highlight of Santorini: Sunset at the winery. Breathtaking!

Ios it is... and camping in 35C heat... Hmmmm. We were set for a few sleepless nights on the so called ‘party island’. The Far Out Camping Village where we stayed was pretty cool, with a big pool party scene and the beach right across the road. Again, we spent our days by the pool, dozing and reading. Nights out in Thira, the main town. Have you heard of a Flaming Lamborghini Only at Flames? Special mention to Rapha and Mitch! Very cool atmosphere....

After a 3 hour ferry journey we were at our last Greek Island destination, Mykonos. After bussing and hiking in to town, trying to get to our accommodation – we figure out they were waiting for us at the Port the whole time, we finally made it to Platys Gialos beach. Mykonos has such a very cool vibe, the beaches are amazing – Paraga, Paradise, Super Paradise... Mykonos Town also is beautiful, all white buildings and amazing sunset views. It was really nice to spend the last few days relaxing, if we weren’t already!!

We took the high speed ferry to Athens where we had 2 days to explore the city. Now we had heard mixed reviews about the ancient city, but overall it was very nice. Not exactly pretty, not fake, just it is what it is. And that is hot! After not doing much for 10 days it was good to put the walking shoes on and go... What visit to Athens is complete without venturing to the The Acropolis and the Parthenon, and it was pretty impressive. Other sites also taken in: The Temple of Zeus, The Agora, Olympic Stadium, The Library of Hadrian, the list goes on... Loved Greece!

It’s time to say goodbye to London

The last few months in London were spent organising travel ventures, furiously booking flights and hostels, tying up loose ends and discussing the road ahead...

Oh, we did however manage to squeeze in visits to the much acclaimed Royal Ascot races (if you call trudging around in the general admin tent, still muddy and balancing your bag, drink, tickets and form guide highly regarded – then that was us). A super day, that aside. No winners.

Wimbledon was also an event high on our to-do list and although we were not hard core by camping out the night for tickets, we did arrive there at 6.00am and stood in line for 5 hours. Believe it or not but the time flew by (caffeine and some old backyard cricket with a wooden pale bat did help). What a great day, full of tradition, strawberries and cream, Pimms and oh, some fine tennis too. Great get to line up for ‘second hand’ tickets while in there too – Bernard Tomic will be a fine player!

We had such an amazing time in London, mixed experiences with teaching but overall a massive learning opportunity and were very grateful for the time we had. Always something to do, somewhere to go and fun to be had. Oh, and the charity store downstairs from us was also very grateful for pretty much all the possessions we had in our Autumn House pad... Now it is literally only the clothes on our back.

Bye London, been a pleasure and let the next 3 months begin....

Family Reunion in Torino!!

Bee was lucky enough to have her parents in the same hemisphere again – attending an archery event in Turin – a perfect excuse to duck over to Italy for the weekend... It was so wonderful to see Bee’s parents and grandparents again, who also flew in from Vienna. Now, to say that Bee just made it would be an understatement – yes there is a story...

So the alarm was set for 2.30am Friday morning. It failed to go off and Bee awoke at 4.30. STRESS! She had obviously missed her 3.30am bus to Stansted and now was on a race against the clock to make her 6.20am flight. A taxi to Liverpool Street, and the Stanstead express train – arrival at the airport at 6.00am. Stress, run, frantic, just made it to the gate when they were calling ‘Flight Closed’. 10 seconds later and it would have been all over..... Phew!

Anyways, now in Turin – lots of dinners out (pizza and pasta, red wine, Tiramisu, gelato, who can complain?). It was nice to take it easy for a few days and check out the sites – The Royal Palace, Cathedrals, Museums – nice city but nothing super special.

It was the company that made it very special...

Running (hiding) for your life in Pamplona

Well, Jamie’s 30th called for a boy’s weekend and a week of relaxation. Yeah right. Bilbao was the first port of call and it wasn’t long before the first beers were being poured – more than anything to cool down. As we timed it the glorious Guggenheim was about the only attraction open – sure enough it was another Spanish holiday. This didn’t last long as art, according to this museum, is an annoying cube of lights that surges at random intervals. If this is art I could have just laid on my bed and paid someone to flick the lights on and off! Anyway we fell into a nice little plaza near our one night old hostel and needless to say that was the start of a night on the hunt for a bar showing the Haye v Klitshco heavyweight fight. Ten bars later and exhausted from our marathon charades effort (trying to explain what we wanted without the bar owner thinking Jamie and I were actually fighting each other) none other than a fellow name Jose would come to our rescue...

San Sebastian was next on the list as the prelude to Pamlona – sun, surf and a few quiet beers were on the men. After spending the morning travelling, dehydrated from the previous night’s activities and in searing heat we got to within 20 metres of the campsite only to be told it was a caravan park and didn’t have any tents. So we turned back to board the bus into town. Sure enough 2 hours later we were back at the same place and committed never to listening to an Aussie again.

Tuesday – it was time. Bus to Pamplona. Enter campsite. Sorry tent city. Anyway, stage was set for Wednesday opening day. It didn’t disappoint. If you could have a stampede without anyone getting seriously hurt, this was it. You literally had to boost yourself a foot above everyone else’s head to get a taste of fresh air; partly due to the sheer number of people in the square, partly due to the engulfing fumes of sangria drying off the previously white and now drenched pink costumes. At 12.oopm the honoraries did their thing, the people held their red scarves and San Fermin was started. Lost, yes - but it doesn’t matter it’s San Fermin, everyone is a friend.

Next day, it was up at 4.30am and on the bus ready to do what we came for. After all those unlucky enough to be selected (no shoe laces, cameras, orange hair etc) were booted it was firecracker time at 8.ooam and the bulls were on the loose. Blink and you miss it. Hug the wall and get to know someone. That was my mindset. Elation is running into the arena in one piece. No scratches – check.

Finally it was time to see the bull run from a different point of view. Bags packed for the 24 hour trip to Turin via Santander and Milan for an Airport sleep, a stop is called for to watch the run from the stands. It gave an amazing and such a different view of the spectacle – once done, no second thoughts will creep in... San Fermin has it all, great people, awesome street parties, excitement and who can forget those patriotic Americans chanting U-S-A.... Ahh Spain.

Snowdonia – Walk like you mean it...

So then it dawned on us that we actually hadn’t done anything overtly active while overseas (the laziness of London Life kicking in!) – so a last minute camping/trekking weekend was organised. Wales and Mount Snowdon was just the doctor ordered! Backpacks -check, tent – check, walking gear – check! The weekend weather was forecast for rain, but as seasoned adventure travellers (hahaha) we were embracing it with open arms!!

So we set off on Friday evening and caught the train to Bangor, right on the foot of Mount Snowdon. The last bus of the night took us to our place of rest right next to a lovely flowing creek in the town of Tregarth. After a good night’s sleep and an early rise we were ready to tackle the might of Snowdon, the highest in Wales. We began walking in the slight rain on the Miner’s Path, one of most tricky paths (of course) and took in our beautiful surroundings. After a couple of hours of slogging away we were at the top – and couldn’t see five metres in front of us it was that misty! Wow, had we walked all that way for nothing? Not to mention, it was freezing! What more could you want than a nice cup of tea and a massive Welsh Oggie to warm yourself up on the top of the mountain? Then, just like we were in a film, the clouds cleared and the sun shone – giving us the most spectacular view of the lakes below and surrounding mountains! Needless to say, the cameras came straight out and we started snapping!!

What goes up, must come down. And let me say it was much easier coming down than clampering up.... The Llanberis Path took us to, funnily enough, Llanberis, where we were camping for the night. Gerard romantically took Bee on a small row boat on the lake as a reward for her effort on the trek but Bee may have upstaged him on the rowing side of things – sorry! After a hard day walking, we were so exhausted and struggled to keep our eyes open while eating dinner outside by the lake. Even a beer didn’t help..... straight to sleep! A special mention to Frank Brick for carrying 20kg mammoth pack up the mountain (was at least 30kg) – well done. You’re a true star.

The next morning we had organised to go Coasteering with a local adventure company. Now, this is when the real rain started to hit, but with the nature of our morning program, it didn’t matter – we were getting wet regardless! For those of you not up with the lingo, Coasteering pretty much just means clambering and climbing along rocks and cliff edges right on the coast – then jumping in to the water from small rock ledges (the highest was approx a 7m jump). Donning wet suits, helmets and jackets we set off with our instructor (yes, we were the only ones going) and jumped straight in the water... brrr it was COLD! After a while the temperature didn’t bother and we were climbing and jumping and climbing – it was actually a lot of fun! And no, Bee was not anxious at all!!!

A train home and a good night’s sleep again – wow we had satisfied our active pursuits for, lets say, another little while! I am tired....