Homer heads home

From the Spanish coast we drove through France via the Rhone Valley and Dijon and through Switzerland and Germany to Munich. After a few more days at the Camping Site in Munich, we drove Homer out to a farm, where it is safely stored until next summer.

Costa Brava and the Dali Triangle

The Costa Brava can get a bad rap but we found some very nice quiet parts, good beaches and great views. It is a little quieter than in high season, I guess. We got our surrealistic fix, visiting Dali's Theatre Museum in Figueras, Dali's beach house in Port Ligat and Gala's castle near Girona.

Barcelona vs Madrid

Whilst most people rate Barcelona as the best city for tourists in Spain, we loved Madrid a little more. Barcelona is wonderful; busy and vibey with loads of interesting areas and plenty of tapas bars and restaurants. The Ramblas, a wide pedestrianized street running uptown from the waterfront is busy all day and night. Gaudi and the modernista architecture is quirk,y to say the least. We had late nights; the locals never eat dinner before 10 or 11pm and found such a great old grill house, we ate in the same place 2 nights in a row. We sampled more than our fair share of Rioja with Dom.We chose the city campervan parking as opposed to a suburban campsite, wonderfully located, but rather like living in a truck stop.
In Madrid Helen joined us and the tapas tasting, late night dining and Rioja sampling continued. Madrid has a laid back feel for such a big city and I think there are more bars per street than any other place I have ever visited. The Art Museums are world class; we visited 3 and each day we suffered from art overload!

Salamanca, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada

We collected Dom in Madrid before heading south, to see some of the historic highlights of Spain.
Salamanca is a wondeful old university town, with beautiful sandstone architecture and great tapas bars. Toledo has an amazing old Cathedral and is famous for Spanish swords and knifes. Cordoba was one of my favourites in Spain. The Moorish Mosque, now the Cathedral, is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. You can really get lost in the old town of narrow cobbled lanes and tiny bars and restaurants. Jerez, a sherry-like wine is a speciality from here, as well as bull's tail ( oxtail ) stew. The whole Alahmbra Complex on the hill above Granada is a World Heritage Site and the Palace is another building one just has to see. There were too many tourists but it was still really worth seeing.

More Portugal

The rest of Portugal was good too! We visited amongst other places, Coimbra, Braga, Evora, Sintra and Cascais. We dropped Denise back in Lisbon and headed slowly for Spain.

The Algarve

We spent a few days on the Algarve. We started on the western side, which is far less developed,with a wilder coastline. The downside is that the Atlantic is very cold. The Med stretch has a warmer ocean, but parts have really been ruined by overdevelopment; with loads and loads of villas and apartment blocks as far as the eye can see. We enjoyed the town of Lagos, which has a quaint old centre, plenty of nightlife and some pretty coves and beaches. We spent a few good hours soaking up the sun on the various beaches. We did find the famous Piri Piri Chicken place in Guaia. BTW, Piri Piri originated in Mozambique and was taken back to Portugal by the colonists. We also visited an amazing sand sculpture expo.