Bilbao

After 2 nights in Valladolid we hit the road again (well, the train tracks) and headed north to Bilbao, arriving about 3 1/2 hours later. Once again, our hotel was only a 15 minute walk from the train station, so we walked (thanks to our backpacks). Originally we were only staying 4 nights but due to a change in flights home, we are now here for 6 nights but there are lots of things to see and do, so we won't be bored.

Our first morning we met up with our Bilbao Greeeter Jose and spent a very pleasant 3 hours walking around his city and afterwards had a glass of wine with him. Jose has been to Australia a few times but not to Brisbane, so we have convinced him to visit, so we can reciprocate with our Greet.

Bilbao is in the Basque Country and everything (menus, street signs etc) seems to be printed in the two languages, Spanish and Basque, so that is confusing, just when we thought our Spanish had improved!

Jose showed us around the historical part of town and we saw the remnants of the old town wall. We walked along the Nervion river, which runs through Bilbao and discovered many bridges and Jose explained how the town was a major iron ore producer until the early 1980s. We revisited the train station again as there is a lovely stained glass window which greets visitors. 

                                                

                           

He took us into the old Municipal Library, a magnificent building and the market where the locals shop. Both had lovely stained glass windows too.

                          

                          

We found there was a real contrast with the old and the new buildings (some quite wacky).

                           

                                                                    

                                           

                          

Another day we went up the mountain by the funicular railway, the longest ride I have been on and the cost was only €0.95. Very reasonable and a magnificent view at the top.

                          

Bilbao is the home of the Guggenheim Museum which we haven't been into yet, we will discover the inside tomorrow. We have walked around it and viewed it from across the river. An extraordinary sculptural design with the main materials titanium panels and limestone blocks. 

                          

                          

                          

Sadly, our 9 weeks travelling through Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal, Morocco and Spain has come to an end. The time has gone really fast but we have seen and done so much in those weeks, met some lovely people and made new friends, taken so many photos, walked many kilometres (and wore out a pair of sandals), eaten many local delicacies and had too many beers and wine.

The sad news I got from home 10 days ago was that my 93 year old Mum had died peacefully at her nursing home and a few days later privately cremated. Before we left, I had spoken to my brother about the possibility of this happening while we were away and so arrangements had been discussed and I had said my goodbyes to her before we left. I thank Mum for always encouraging me to travel 'do it while you can' she would say. And I have.

     

                           

Valladolid

We left Toledo mid morning by train and within 35 mins were back in Madrid. Then another train to Valladolid took 2 hours and as our hotel was within walking distance from the station, we walked through a lovely park to get there. Beautiful gardens and peacocks and other birds everywhere! Once again, I had booked the hotel on line through Booking.com and it was extremely nice with such a good price. We were within walking distance of the Plaza Mayor and everything that surrounds it. One of the places that Valladolid is known for is the Sculpture Museum which of course we visited. Another lovely clean town, I don't think that they get as many tourists as other Spanish towns as we found not a lot of English was spoken here. Our Spanish has improved greatly though!

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

We found this fountain but unfortunately New Zealand and the Pacific Islands didn't make it onto the globe!

Toledo

The high speed train from Madrid to Toledo only took 35 minutes. Arriving in Toledo, we took a taxi to our guesthouse/B & B. The taxi could only take us so far and then we had to walk as the town is not meant for cars. Unfortunately, the taxi driver gave us the wrong direction, so we were a little lost until we heard another couple asking for directions to the same place and as they could speak Spanish, we teamed up with them and eventually found it. What a cute little place. The photos show the reception, the hallway leading to our bedroom (only 5 bedrooms in all), the breakfast room down in the dungeon, the roof top terrace and the view from the terrace. And yes, we did watch the sunset up there while drinking a nice bottle of red.

                         

                                           

                          

                          

                          

Toledo is on a mountaintop with great views on all sides. The Tagus River runs around it and of course, like most European cities, it has so many historical sites. We decided to take a ride on this little train which leaves from the central plaza, the Zocodover. The 45 minute ride took us over the river so we could look back at the city and what great views we had.

                          

                         

                         

This morning we took a 2 hour walk along the river as there are only so many churches you can look at. It seems that everyone in Toledo has a map as it's so easy to get lost here! Although by getting lost, you discover something new. Tiny narrow streets lead off in all directions, mostly uphill! 

                         

                         

I have loved Toledo and so glad we came here but tomorrow we head north with a train back to Madrid and then another to Valładolid. Our trip is coming to an end with only about 10 more days before we head home.

     

Seville and Granada

I loved both these cities!

We visited Seville after leaving Portugal and before visiting Morocco. If I lived in Spain, this is where I would live! After leaving Portugal, we travelled through the area where all we could see were cork trees on both sides of the roads. No screw tops here on the wine, only corks. We drove through beautiful white painted villages and lots of olive, fig and almond trees everywhere.

Seville was such a lovely clean city, we walked everywhere here. The lovely old 1929 Expo site is still here in all its glory. Then there is the modern structure that the locals call 'the mushroom' but I think the correct name is 'the parasol'. See below.

                          

                          

                          

It was here that we went to a traditional Flamenco show, I loved it but Rob was a bit bored with all the stomping of feet etc.

We had some lovely tapas meals here.

                          

After we caught the ferry back from Morocco, we travelled through the Costa del Sol Andalusia region and ended up at Granada where we stayed the night and wandered around the city laneways and visited their medina area. Very different from Morocco's Medinas.

                          

This was our chance to visit the Alhambra, a grand hilltop palace and fortress complex built by the Moorish kings. The buildings are amazing with the gorgeous mosaics and beautiful gardens.

                          

                          

                                            

                                          

Our Cosmos tour has now ended and we are again on our own in Madrid which is such a beautiful city. We went to the Madrid train station today to book the rest of our train trips through Spain, it was all very easy, one machine did it all for us. Tomorrow we head to Toledo for three nights.......

Morocco

It was hard to write a post from Morocco as the internet wasn't that great. But I can finally do an update on our tour now that we are back in Spain.

We left Spain by ferry and sailed across the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa, this took less than an hour. The ferries are never on time, so there is always a wait but fortunately, not too long. We then travelled by road to Rabat, the capital of Morocco where we spent our first night. The movie Black Hawk Down was filmed here and I was expecting it to be like the movie, fortunately, it was much better. Quite a modern city in many ways and during our visit, we visited a beautiful mosque. Part of the floor is made of glass so the worshippers can kneel directly over the ocean's waters.

                       

                                         

                                         

I was impressed with all the beautiful mosaic work in Morocco and loved seeing them close up and really appreciated the work involved.

On the way to Marrakesh, we visited Casablanca, a city that is not as romantic as the movie. The movie was filmed in a Hollywood studio, not in Morocco but there is a Rick's Cafe in Casablanca as someone has decided to cash in on the movie's popularity!

Marrakesh was interesting, I liked it and we had 2 nights there with a walk through the walled Medina which would be easy to get lost in as it's like a maze. The temperature was over 40C and the hotel pool was a popular place to be in the late afternoon.

The road to Fes where we also had 2 nights, was an interesting drive as the landscape was constantly changing with cedar forests in the mountains and sweeping desert. I liked Fes too, we visited the Medina, the old city with 9000 alleyways and this time we would have got lost if we hadn't a guide to get us through! 

There were stray cats everywhere in Morocco but hardly any dogs which was just the opposite of South America, where we encountered many stray dogs and only a few cats!

                           

                                              

                             

                             

I enjoyed visiting Morocco, it was interesting and similar to Egypt in many ways. It is an exotic country with all the smells and colours you would expect but of course, it is a third world country. You don't come here expecting the amenities and luxuries from home but that is the adventure of travel.

Portugal

Our tour left from Madrid and headed west through Avila and Salamanca in Spain. Beautiful places but on that day my camera decided that it didn't want to work. (I confess that I thought I had charged it up but obviously hadn't).

Then we crossed the border into Portugal and stayed the night at Coimbra. The university here was established in 1290 and moved permanently to this position in 1537 which makes it one of the world's oldest universities in continuous operation. After hiking up the hill to the university, we found this view of the city.

                           

It was a pity we didn't have more time here because our lovely hotel room had a huge balcony. (We could have had a party). But the next morning we did have a pretty sunrise.

                           

Leaving Coimbra we travelled to Batalha with a visit to the Monastery and then onto Fatima. This place is FULL of shops selling religious souvenirs to the believers who flock there. Sadly, very touristy.

Arriving in Lisbon early in the afternoon gave us a chance to have a quick look around this city and then we have had all day to wander around. We also bought a one day travel ticket and made the most of it by using the subway, bus, funicular railway and the streetcars. 

We visited all the tourist destinations and then some and of course had to have a Portuguese lunch. Yum!

                           

                                             

                                                                     

                             

                             

                             

Tomorrow the adventure continues......