Hi Everyone,
We have a lazt day today, as we are catching an overnight train and have to just hang around the city until that time comes. So internet seemed like the logical choice, that is after some shopping of course. It is siesta time now, so the shops are closed :(
The last post told you all that I was heading off to Gibralta. It was a fly in and fly out, as we had to be able to catch the last bus back to where we were staying - Tarifa (Beach resort). As we were about to cross the border into the British Colony, we had to wait as a plane came in for landing right in front of us!! It has a sign when crossing the flight path to not drop any rubbish or any objects on the runway as it could cause an accident, and it said something like "It could be you on one of these planes in the future" :-) It was quite stange walking out of Spain and then walking into Gibralta - there are red double-decker buses, pomms everywhere, Marks & Spencer shops, Fish & Chips, and many other things very British. We didn´t have time to stop and look at any of the shops as we had to quickly make it to the Cable Car to take us up to the famous Rock of Gibralta. When we got to the top, there are warnings everywhere about not feeding the monkies and that they may bite if touched etc, so who forgot they had an empty muesli bar wrapper in the side pocket of her backpack? Me of course, as soon as we were off the cable car a monkey jumped straight onto my backpack and got the wrapper out!! It was hilarious - I could not think what the monkey was possible after, until I saw the wrapper. The funny thing is, I had 2 x in there and didn´t notice until after I got back to the hotel. LOL.
The next day we all excitedly left to go to Morocco. We eagerly caught the ferry in extreme wind conditions, but were quite happy that we were off to see the famous Morocco in Africa. When we got off the ferry, we were told to get back on and have our passports stamped and they guy who stamped them crankily told us that there were announcements in English during the journey, to which we informed him that ´no, there was not any english said´. Why else did he think that a heap of Australians and Americans have to come back for. We eventually got off the ferry, phew. We caught an english speaking bus for our tour, which took us up through the vrey elite suburbs of Morocco, with lavish mansions and beautiful gardens growing in such dry conditions. We stopped so people could take a ride on a camel (I opted out of that one), to which those standing and watching the camel rides were bombarded with hawkers offering to sell the most crappy things. We got back on the bus and then headed for the Kasbah - and yes, we were singing ´rock the Kasbah´!! The Kasbah is actually in some really dodgy looking streets, and the tour continued down these dodgy streets, were more and more hawkers of all ages continually asked us to buy there crap. I expected to have people come up to me selling me things, but these people don´t take no for an answer. One kid asked me 4 times if I wanted to buy some gum off him, to which I said no, no, no, no and then no again with a hand movement of GO AWAY, and so he departed by saying "Fu#¿ You" Lovely !!! So said the same back, cheeking little sod. We watched a snake charmer and then headed towards the resturant, as lunch was included with our tour. We walked through this alley where people we selling fruit and veg, and they were washing the fruit and veg in sewer stinking puddles of water on the ground´- mmm appertising. We turned the corner and there was out resturant - needless to say, I didn´t really eat anything. After luch we went to a rug shop where a fantastic salesman passionately told us about his rugs and the technique that they use, annd then we went to visit the pharmacie to be told about lotions and potions and spices, it was very interesting - they even sell viagra for both men and women - so the men can keep up with their 4 or 5 wives :-) By the end of the day, we were extremely sick of the dirty, stinky streets, and the rude and very persistent hawkers and couldn´t wait to get back onto that ferry and head back to Spain. We all agreed that it was something to definately do, and we did go on a Friday, so most of the better shops are closed for mass etc, but I don´t think any of us would go back again.
After our stay at Tarifa, we headed to the small town of Ronda (and yes again, we did sing "Help me Rhonda, help, help me Rhonda"). We all enjoyed Ronda, it has a famous bridge which is just amazing to see, and on day 2 at Ronda, Hollie and I went for a walk down the side of the cliff to see the waterfalls under the bridge and to get a better view of it - beautiful. The shops there were very quaint and sold some great items, it is such a bummer that I can´t carry anything that I buy, my bag is full and heavy enough already. They had some beautiful hand laced tables cloths and runners, and they a great quality range of leather goods. The pottery and oilk paintings were wonderful too.
We then travelled to Granada, another great place in Spain. Ronda and Granada brought about an appreciation for Spain, up until now, I hadn´t been that impressed. We visited the Alhumbra yesterday, which has lavish gardes, Muslim palaces and an old castle that was used as a watch tower and dungeon. The night we arrived in Granada, at 7 pm the temperature was 41 degrees (I even took a photo of the sign to remember it). It is very hot, but at least it isn´t that humid, so it is bearable. The hotest past of the day seems to be around 6pm, that is when the sun is directly above you - it is strange. The first night we went to a very friendly and welcoming bar for a dinner of tapas and drinks, it was fun. Last night though, a few of us went out for a ´normal´ meal - I loved it, it was the best meal I had had in a while.
Tonight we head off on our train to Valencia - the town for Paella (a scrumptous rice dish) and our tour leader has really talked up Valencia, so hopefully it lives up to it.
Of well best get going now. I will update you all again hopefully soon.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Seville - Spain
A quick hello again while I have the opportunity. I am now in Seville, Spain - a big city that has a great buzzing night life. Last night we had some early drinks and then went to a Flamenco Show - it was great. The music and dance has so much passion and power through both the song and movements, it was truly great to see live. We were in a small in-side pation type area, and there was only 3 rows of people on 3 sides around the performers, so it was quite an intimate setting which added to the effect of the hour long performance. Afterwards we had tappas for dinner (at 10:30pm) and then we went to a local club, under the trees and along the river. We had a great time dancing the night away - a group of American guys were happy to find some people that spoke english (and a group of girls!!!) and joined us on the dance floor. We partied on until 3 in the morning - it was great to go out and dance the night away - and most of the music was music we know, not Spanish.
Today I joined up with another girl in our group and we visited the Bull Ring (one of the best in Spain), and then went to the Cathedral and climbed the tower to see the awesome sky views of the city. It was 37 degrees today and very humid, but we kept walking around to ensure we didn´t miss out on anything! We also visted a few monuments, and palaces and enjoyed strolling through some gorgeous gardens that were built for siesta time! We visted the Alcazara (not sure of the spelling and I didn´t bring my map with me) which is a palace full of tiled walls and ceilings and amazing gardens all built within a large stone fence/wall.
Tomorrow we are staying in a beach resort on the southern point of Spain and I will taking a quick trip to Gabralta to see the ´rock´. The following day (Friday) most of the group will be doing a day trip to Morocco, so that should be great.
I best get going, it is late and we have an early start.
Today I joined up with another girl in our group and we visited the Bull Ring (one of the best in Spain), and then went to the Cathedral and climbed the tower to see the awesome sky views of the city. It was 37 degrees today and very humid, but we kept walking around to ensure we didn´t miss out on anything! We also visted a few monuments, and palaces and enjoyed strolling through some gorgeous gardens that were built for siesta time! We visted the Alcazara (not sure of the spelling and I didn´t bring my map with me) which is a palace full of tiled walls and ceilings and amazing gardens all built within a large stone fence/wall.
Tomorrow we are staying in a beach resort on the southern point of Spain and I will taking a quick trip to Gabralta to see the ´rock´. The following day (Friday) most of the group will be doing a day trip to Morocco, so that should be great.
I best get going, it is late and we have an early start.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Cordoba - Spain
Well hello to everyone again. I have been in Spain now for the last few days, we travelled from Sarlat (my last blog update) to Luchon in France. Luchon is a hiking area - in the Pyraneese Mountains, were we went for a hike up one of the hills. I chickened out and only went up half the mountain as I twisted my knee after the last bike bike ride and hill climb. The knee is good, as long as I don´t do too many hill climbs and walk back down steep cobble stone hills. Luchon was very cute - also a small place - mountail village. We ate crepes and waffles while we were there, and had a few drinks in a small pub. The pub was so cute, wooden tables and chairs, deer horns and that type of thing on the walls, with rugs and cushions over the chairs. The accomodation was really good too, I had a nice long hot bath after the hike to recover ;)
We then took a bus, 3 trains and then another bus to get to San Sebastian in Spain. San Sebastian was full of Aussies - they were absolutely everywhere. I suppose this is understandable, as the running of the bulls was near by and it is coastal city in Spain with some great beaches (one being a nudie one). San Sebastian is famous for its sunset over the water, the perfect view from the beach. We ventured out at 9:20pm to see the sunset, which happened a little after 10pm, to which we then went for dinner.
It is really hard to get used to the time people eat around here, and work around the siestas. The shops etc are open from 10am to about 1pm, and then they close, and re-open at about 4:30-5pm to 8 or 9pm. Most resturants don´t serve dinner until 9:30pm (the normal is 10pm), so all you can eat until then is pinxtos (tappas) at the bars.
The most random thing happened in San Sebastian. I was sitting at a resturant for lunch with Kirsten from our group, as we were leaving I heard "Haylee" - I turned around and in the same resturant were 2 x people I went to school with - Nadira and Sheridan!!!!! I had chatted with Nadira on Facebook prior to leaving for my holiday, and she had said that he would be in Spain around the same time as me and we might bump into each other. What were the odds of it actually happening!!???!!
From San Sebastian we went to Madrid. It is a city much like Paris in its party life and busy streets. We didn´t arrive there until after 10pm, so it was the perfect time for an orientation through the city. The cafes, resturants and streets were alive, and it was quite strange venturing out to the same place the following day, and seeing such a difference in the culture / feel of the city. I went to the Museo del Prado, wandered through the gardens and the city street for the afternoon, before getting reading for our final night dinner for the first half of the tour. Only myself and another lady booked the full tour from Paris to Barcelona, so all the rest are going home of off onto another adventure of their own. We went to the main square for our dinner and relished in the lively atmosphere in the terrace area. The meal was awesome - the best I have had so far. We had bread, and some type of spread and also olives for nibbles. I chose a beautiful vegetable soup for entre and then shared a paella for main. Paella is beautiful and so flavoursome, I am going to try and google some recipes so I can attempt to make it again some time. We all shared Sangria with the meal - delicious, and then after our meal the resturant gave us a bottle of some type of apricot liquer - a ´digestive´they call it. They served in an old style bottle filled with apricots with 2 x cinnamon sticks in it, it was so potent I could only handle one of them, but the table easily finished it off.
The next night we met the new group to continue on our tour. This leg is a full group - 11 females and 1 male, all Aussies, and we have a Spanish tour leader - Josey. The group is getting along really well, but I was ´blessed´with having a snorer for the first 2 x nights, so I have gladly got someone else to share the room with. We took a day tour to Toledo yesterday, a smaller town that has a lot of history to share. The town has grown since the beginning of AD with various religious groups taking it over. It has walls throughout the city, which highlight which religious group had reign at that time, and the arches are quite unique also. The largest wall which surrounds the old part of the city was built by the Christians, and is beautiful to see.
Today we left Madrid and are now in Cordoba. We had a delicious lunch today of a variety of traditional Spanish dishes in a tappas like style spread across the table, so we could all have a bit of everything. We have been for a tour around the town, and will be leaving early in the morning to go to Seville. The tour leader has given Seville very high praise and we will be staying there a few nights, so we should get to see alot there - and it is were we get to the Flamenco dancing!!!! It should be a great night.
I was glad to finally get the chance to update you all on my adventure. It really hard to find decent internet places, and at a good price. I am getting a little sick of having to lug my bag up and down stairs in the train stations, and through city streets to the hotel, but I get over it when I get there :)
I shall update again, as soon as I can. I am having heaps of fun, eating delicious food and meeting great people. I hope everyone else is having a good time too. I have often said, at times where I am wandering through a beautiful garden, or watching the best sunset I have ever seen "I wonder what everyone else is doing right now".
I won´t be able to update you all on any photos until I get back to the UK, so I pick the best ones out then for you all.
We then took a bus, 3 trains and then another bus to get to San Sebastian in Spain. San Sebastian was full of Aussies - they were absolutely everywhere. I suppose this is understandable, as the running of the bulls was near by and it is coastal city in Spain with some great beaches (one being a nudie one). San Sebastian is famous for its sunset over the water, the perfect view from the beach. We ventured out at 9:20pm to see the sunset, which happened a little after 10pm, to which we then went for dinner.
It is really hard to get used to the time people eat around here, and work around the siestas. The shops etc are open from 10am to about 1pm, and then they close, and re-open at about 4:30-5pm to 8 or 9pm. Most resturants don´t serve dinner until 9:30pm (the normal is 10pm), so all you can eat until then is pinxtos (tappas) at the bars.
The most random thing happened in San Sebastian. I was sitting at a resturant for lunch with Kirsten from our group, as we were leaving I heard "Haylee" - I turned around and in the same resturant were 2 x people I went to school with - Nadira and Sheridan!!!!! I had chatted with Nadira on Facebook prior to leaving for my holiday, and she had said that he would be in Spain around the same time as me and we might bump into each other. What were the odds of it actually happening!!???!!
From San Sebastian we went to Madrid. It is a city much like Paris in its party life and busy streets. We didn´t arrive there until after 10pm, so it was the perfect time for an orientation through the city. The cafes, resturants and streets were alive, and it was quite strange venturing out to the same place the following day, and seeing such a difference in the culture / feel of the city. I went to the Museo del Prado, wandered through the gardens and the city street for the afternoon, before getting reading for our final night dinner for the first half of the tour. Only myself and another lady booked the full tour from Paris to Barcelona, so all the rest are going home of off onto another adventure of their own. We went to the main square for our dinner and relished in the lively atmosphere in the terrace area. The meal was awesome - the best I have had so far. We had bread, and some type of spread and also olives for nibbles. I chose a beautiful vegetable soup for entre and then shared a paella for main. Paella is beautiful and so flavoursome, I am going to try and google some recipes so I can attempt to make it again some time. We all shared Sangria with the meal - delicious, and then after our meal the resturant gave us a bottle of some type of apricot liquer - a ´digestive´they call it. They served in an old style bottle filled with apricots with 2 x cinnamon sticks in it, it was so potent I could only handle one of them, but the table easily finished it off.
The next night we met the new group to continue on our tour. This leg is a full group - 11 females and 1 male, all Aussies, and we have a Spanish tour leader - Josey. The group is getting along really well, but I was ´blessed´with having a snorer for the first 2 x nights, so I have gladly got someone else to share the room with. We took a day tour to Toledo yesterday, a smaller town that has a lot of history to share. The town has grown since the beginning of AD with various religious groups taking it over. It has walls throughout the city, which highlight which religious group had reign at that time, and the arches are quite unique also. The largest wall which surrounds the old part of the city was built by the Christians, and is beautiful to see.
Today we left Madrid and are now in Cordoba. We had a delicious lunch today of a variety of traditional Spanish dishes in a tappas like style spread across the table, so we could all have a bit of everything. We have been for a tour around the town, and will be leaving early in the morning to go to Seville. The tour leader has given Seville very high praise and we will be staying there a few nights, so we should get to see alot there - and it is were we get to the Flamenco dancing!!!! It should be a great night.
I was glad to finally get the chance to update you all on my adventure. It really hard to find decent internet places, and at a good price. I am getting a little sick of having to lug my bag up and down stairs in the train stations, and through city streets to the hotel, but I get over it when I get there :)
I shall update again, as soon as I can. I am having heaps of fun, eating delicious food and meeting great people. I hope everyone else is having a good time too. I have often said, at times where I am wandering through a beautiful garden, or watching the best sunset I have ever seen "I wonder what everyone else is doing right now".
I won´t be able to update you all on any photos until I get back to the UK, so I pick the best ones out then for you all.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sarlat, France - the Cutest Village Ever
Hi again everyone, I am currently in the cutest little village I have ever seen - it is also on Frances Best Villages list. We arrived 2 days ago at night, and sat in a local resturant for some dinner and took in some of the sights of the village. Yesterday we went on a bike ride through the countryside and saw heaps of Castles and beautiful scenery. We rode all day, and there were 3 long hills that we had to climb - we had our bikes on the lowest possible gear, and just had to perservere - one of the hills was 4kms long!!!! By the time we got to the top I was stuffed, and luckily that was the last hill. We went for a boat ride too through a village that has been built into the mountain, and some of the houses were built out of rocks from a landslide in the village a long time ago. We visited only one of the Castles though, as it was becoming a long day with all the cycling. When we returned to Sarlat (were we are staying) we went to a resturant recommended by the locals and had one of the best meals so far on the trip. I think thz smaller the village, the better the food. I had a big sleep in to recoever from my bike ride, and then visited the local market that was on today and had lunch in a park up on the hill. Tomorrow is another long train ride to the next stop - Luchon, and the day after is the hike of the Pyranees - so I best rest for the rest of today and tomorrow to rebuild my energy.
I best go as someone is waiting to use the computer.
I best go as someone is waiting to use the computer.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Update to the world
Hi everyone again - I am now in La Rochelle, France. It is a coastal city that flurished from sea trade back in the day. I have to mention now that I may not get to right that much, as the keyboards in France are very different, and I really need to concentrate on where the letters and punctuation are.
Paris was a magical city, with crazy drivers and late nights. The traffice is caotic and there seem to be no road rules, well none that the people abide by. Bicycles and scooters are a very popular way to travel in Pzris, probably because there is nowhere to park - they bumper park here, it is hillarious to watch. The sun doesn't go down until around 10pm, so there are stores open, people busking, street parties and just noise from people out and about. They really take advantage of the summer nights. The stores don't open until 10 or 11 in the morning, so they all must be recovering from the previous night. The city streets are quite horrible though, they stink and are dirty, and have many beggers on them, but once I looked past that - the city is wonderful.
I have met some great people on my tour - most of us are Aussies !!! I have teamed up with one chick (an Aussie) and we have gone to see the sights together. It is great to have someone that I can share my thoughts with and share the experience with, and to have someone to take photos of me also (instead of just scenery or the 'self portrait' style photos'.
The Notre Dame is wonderful building, that has gargoile type figures surrounding the building - the protectors. The Eiffel Tower is just breath-taking, I actually said "oh my God" when I was standing beneath it, it is something that has to be seen to be really taken in. The Louve was tremendous - I spend nearly the whole day there, there are so many beautiful painting and other works of art to see, and art from around the world throughout many centuries.
Our group then ventured south to Tours, where we went on a bike ride for the day going past quaint farm houses and along a river to the Villandry - a Chateau with one of the best gardens in the world. It was beautiful. By the time we got back to the town my butt was ready to fall off - we had been on an uncomfortable bike seat to 4 & 1/2 hours in total!!
Next we ventured down further south to La Rochelle, where I am now and we are staying here tomorrow and then leaving at lunch time th efollowing day. The major cities are great but I am glad to be away from them and to actually see some countryside and markets etc that I can enjoy at a relaxed pace.
It has been hot & humid, but I have been careful to ensure I am 'slip, slop, slapping' so I hqven't really got sunburnt, my arms are actually starting to tan!
I best get going, I just though I would give you all an update of my adventure. I am missing everyone, but everyday is a new experience that I am thouroughly enjoying.
I will update you all again soon.
Paris was a magical city, with crazy drivers and late nights. The traffice is caotic and there seem to be no road rules, well none that the people abide by. Bicycles and scooters are a very popular way to travel in Pzris, probably because there is nowhere to park - they bumper park here, it is hillarious to watch. The sun doesn't go down until around 10pm, so there are stores open, people busking, street parties and just noise from people out and about. They really take advantage of the summer nights. The stores don't open until 10 or 11 in the morning, so they all must be recovering from the previous night. The city streets are quite horrible though, they stink and are dirty, and have many beggers on them, but once I looked past that - the city is wonderful.
I have met some great people on my tour - most of us are Aussies !!! I have teamed up with one chick (an Aussie) and we have gone to see the sights together. It is great to have someone that I can share my thoughts with and share the experience with, and to have someone to take photos of me also (instead of just scenery or the 'self portrait' style photos'.
The Notre Dame is wonderful building, that has gargoile type figures surrounding the building - the protectors. The Eiffel Tower is just breath-taking, I actually said "oh my God" when I was standing beneath it, it is something that has to be seen to be really taken in. The Louve was tremendous - I spend nearly the whole day there, there are so many beautiful painting and other works of art to see, and art from around the world throughout many centuries.
Our group then ventured south to Tours, where we went on a bike ride for the day going past quaint farm houses and along a river to the Villandry - a Chateau with one of the best gardens in the world. It was beautiful. By the time we got back to the town my butt was ready to fall off - we had been on an uncomfortable bike seat to 4 & 1/2 hours in total!!
Next we ventured down further south to La Rochelle, where I am now and we are staying here tomorrow and then leaving at lunch time th efollowing day. The major cities are great but I am glad to be away from them and to actually see some countryside and markets etc that I can enjoy at a relaxed pace.
It has been hot & humid, but I have been careful to ensure I am 'slip, slop, slapping' so I hqven't really got sunburnt, my arms are actually starting to tan!
I best get going, I just though I would give you all an update of my adventure. I am missing everyone, but everyday is a new experience that I am thouroughly enjoying.
I will update you all again soon.
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