From the heights of Montserrat we head to the coast and sea level. We plan a route along the southern coast from Barcelona to Valencia. We encountered several issues along the way. We were in search of lovely beach places along the coast but found mile after mile of Gold coast like apartments lined up along the beaches several rows deep. None of them were quaint places like Cadanques, having lost any local charm they may have had to the holiday seekers (apparently a lot of British have apartments here) from Europe and the Britian. We stopped for a coffee at a place that, for all intense and purpose, was a ghost town with houses shut up, restaurants closed till mid June and golden beaches deserted. Not wanting to drive into Valencia we had decided to find a place to stay in Puig, just out on the coast, and bus in. Well there was apartment after apartment and no hotels to be found and camp grounds with cabins were closed. By this time it was 6pm so we decided we needed to push on toward Valencia. Next thing we are in rush hour traffic in Valencia and parking is simply not to be found except in parking buildings. However the first one we tried was full but luckily Tom found us a second that charged $40 per day but beggars can’t be choosers.
Getting here was the first step. It was now after 7pm and still no where to stay. We tried a couple of Hostels we found along the street close by but they were pretty disgusting so after a beer and pastie for strength, we walked a little further and found the perfect place. We have not had to work so hard at finding a place to stay as here, but Valencia was going to make us work for more than just parking and accommodation.
So, having gone back to the car to get our gear, we set about exploring the city. Now all Mark wanted to complete his dinner was a bread stick. However this is not France and Boulangers/patisseries are not located at ever corner. So we needed to explore quite some distance, but as with the accommodation, having found a Boulanger they had the best bread of the trip so far (a bonus as the last baguette bought in Spain was the worst).
In the morning we explored the normal aspects of a city as one does; the squares, churches, markets, gardens and shops. As with all other churches in Spain the ornateness of Valencia’s church alters continues to amaze. We found interesting things hiding behind the façade of Valencia. A food market that had seafood we had never seen or heard of before, housed in an octagonal shaped, mosaic tiled building. It was full of fresh meat (pig trotters being a favourite I think), fish and seafood (live and dead) and fruit and veg, spices, nuts, olives etc.
Wandering past the Archeological museum, built on an actual dig site that was viewable from the entry plaza but was shrouded by a thin veneer of water that formed a pool over the top. This was part of the entrance feature. Further along we found the drained river bed that runs through Valencia but has now been turned into a recreation area (gardens, cycle/walk tracks, statues etc). Why a city would want to divert a large river from its centre we could not discover, but it was great to see that they had used it for things other than apartment blocks.
One of the major features built on this land is the Science and Art Centres. There are art and music museums, Aquarium and Oceanographic Display, Science Museum, Astonomical Observatory and Hemisphere with Imax Theatre. While this sounds interesting, we were there to see the architecture of the buildings as they are truly something different (see pictures). However, as with other things in Valencia, getting there was not simple. First road works and one way streets unknown to Tom meant that he couldn’t get us out of the city for ages, having to recalculate the route time after time as we were unable to follow his instruction. Then we missed a turn that had us on the motorway to Madrid with no exit for 4 km putting us further away than when we started. But we got there in the end and it was worth the effort to take in the wonderful structures?
Whilst we were there we took the opportunity to walk across to a shopping mall that the locals used. We were after another hat for Mark as he lost his other in Montserrat somewhere. It was also 1pm so we looked for lunch in a local restaurant but had to wait till 1.30pm when they opened for lunch. Mark wanted to have a Paella as Valencia is the home of Paella. Well we found this amazing buffet restaurant that was packed with locals and did some awesome dishes including Paella.
Having feasted, we found the motorway to Madrid (the one that we had already been on temporarily). Our plan was to head to a lake seen on the map but that we had no information about other than that there was a Parador (a Spanish Historic Tourist Hotel) nearby. We drove along km after km of Orchard, vineyard and crops. In particular close to Valencia, not surprisingly there was km after km of citrus trees (Valencia Oranges I wonder). We now know where the wine areas are hiding – on river flats and surrounding slopes from Barcelona south and west to Valencia and beyond.
On our way, we passed a variety of farms and the patchwork effect on the countryside of all the different colours was quite delightful to see, particular the contrasts produced by the deep red soil (similar to Pukekohe Colours). The most unusual farm however was the sun farm “Hundreds of large rotating solar panels” covering acres of land.
We found the little village called Alorcon where the Parador was, and it was in an old village built on the ridge over a river canyon. The Parador was in an old Castle but we opted for a room in a local Rural house called “Casa Rural”. We had views down the valley below but the downside is that having had two beautifully hot days, we are now in the cooler high country with the prospect of rain for the next few days. Spain continues to struggle under inclement weather for the time of the year.
And rain it did – all night and the next morning (in fact our room leaked). So we were not able to do the 8km walk in the surrounding park where we had seen a shepherd herding his sheep along a rocky hillside and heard the bells around their necks ringing. Or go down to the little lake where the locals fished as we could not afford to be carrying wet clothes and shoes. Not having stayed anywhere for a while we are low on clean clothes and underwear. In fact we are now buying undies/socks and cheap Tshirts to tide us over until we either find a Laundromat or stay somewhere long enough with fine weather.
Our next port of call, now on our way to Madrid, was the area city of Cuenca-a medieval centre built on a rock with houses over hanging. Quite a unique site. We walked to an old convent now converted into a hotel and across to old city with views up the valley. We then made our way to the centre of town and stopped at a bar for lunch at 1.30pm. But it did not open for lunch till 2pm – we still haven’t got our timing right on these. So we ordered a beer and found that we were given nibbles free – interesting things like little sausage pieces, pork crackling and savouries. A nice idea.
Not understanding too much of the menu and with the staff knowing no English it was an interesting exercise ordering our meal. Largely we got what we though we ordered but the quality was average. However it was another experience where we continue to learn more about customs and the language.
Driving through the countryside took us through a large valley of rich red soils. Here the land was heavily cropped with cereals as far as the eye could see, and interspersed with some grapes and olives. This would appear to be a very productive part of Spain. I do wonder how they pick all those olives though – do they have mechanical pickers these days?
From there we drove to a town called Chinchon which was close enough to Madrid to get a bus in. However this is a boutiquey type town where people from Madrid came for the restaurants situated right around the town centre and the historic buildings including a palace as well as the boutiquey shops and wineries (we are back in wine country). And there was a big wedding on and all accommodation was booked. It was a traditional Spanish wedding and the Matriarch looked splendid in her traditional red dress and head gear.
We decided to continue skirting Madrid heading north and find a place for the night before parking our car up and going into Madrid by train or bus. Well once again this was easier said than done and we struggled to find a Hotel or hostel at two places along the way. Finally as we were about to leave a third place, we saw a sign advertising a hotel in an industrial area that would do.
Off to Madrid by train the next morning, where we emerged in the centre of Madrid only to find that the city was under threat of a terrorist attack – or so it seemeds There were police everywhere many of them armed with a variety of riot gear, but with nothing seemed to be happening to justify them being there. Many police and vehicles came and went with nothing actually happening. The only thing we could conclude was that they were simply making there presence known ( A Basque bombing in the noreth ahd happened a couple of weeks ago?).
We explored the central city finding it like many other many other cities here – Great old buildings, Churches, Museums, Squares with statues and Fountains and a clean kept city, not the big ugly metropolis I had expected. One interesting thing that we saw in Madrid that we had also seen in Barcelona was a number of very ornate living statues.
We passed up the Museums and the Churches (having seen more than enough already) in favour of investigating Madrid’s equivalent to Central Park – The Retiro, a lovely large park – many hectares, filled with families and people just enjoying a day out. Interesting features included what seemed to be the biggest bookshop in the world, 360 odd sheds in a row each selling a specific type of book – we are not sure they were all open but they stretched as far as the eye could see. There was a lake with row boats, puppet show, incredibly manicured trees and a photo exposition as well as a number of restaurants and playgrounds. And that was only in the portion of the park we explored.
We considered attending a bullfight at the Plaza del Toros but when we got to the stadium we found we would have to wait three hours in inclement weather. To watch something that is quite barbaric, three hours was too long to wait. The bullfight is more a ritual killing than a sport and we were only going to see it to get a feel of how it fitted into the Spanish psyche. Plus it would have been a unique experience. In the end we saw the bullfight on television in a bar in Segovia that evening. Bars in this part of the world are interesting in that you seem to get a free bar snack when you buy two beers, people still smoke in them and even worse all the cigarette butts and paper rubbish etc gets just dropped on the floor by the bar and sits there all day.
Another feature of the bars is the hanging smoked hams. They are in heaps of bars and often have garlic or chillies next to them for flavouring and a small drip tray underneath to catch the fat.
Getting here was the first step. It was now after 7pm and still no where to stay. We tried a couple of Hostels we found along the street close by but they were pretty disgusting so after a beer and pastie for strength, we walked a little further and found the perfect place. We have not had to work so hard at finding a place to stay as here, but Valencia was going to make us work for more than just parking and accommodation.
So, having gone back to the car to get our gear, we set about exploring the city. Now all Mark wanted to complete his dinner was a bread stick. However this is not France and Boulangers/patisseries are not located at ever corner. So we needed to explore quite some distance, but as with the accommodation, having found a Boulanger they had the best bread of the trip so far (a bonus as the last baguette bought in Spain was the worst).
In the morning we explored the normal aspects of a city as one does; the squares, churches, markets, gardens and shops. As with all other churches in Spain the ornateness of Valencia’s church alters continues to amaze. We found interesting things hiding behind the façade of Valencia. A food market that had seafood we had never seen or heard of before, housed in an octagonal shaped, mosaic tiled building. It was full of fresh meat (pig trotters being a favourite I think), fish and seafood (live and dead) and fruit and veg, spices, nuts, olives etc.
Wandering past the Archeological museum, built on an actual dig site that was viewable from the entry plaza but was shrouded by a thin veneer of water that formed a pool over the top. This was part of the entrance feature. Further along we found the drained river bed that runs through Valencia but has now been turned into a recreation area (gardens, cycle/walk tracks, statues etc). Why a city would want to divert a large river from its centre we could not discover, but it was great to see that they had used it for things other than apartment blocks.
One of the major features built on this land is the Science and Art Centres. There are art and music museums, Aquarium and Oceanographic Display, Science Museum, Astonomical Observatory and Hemisphere with Imax Theatre. While this sounds interesting, we were there to see the architecture of the buildings as they are truly something different (see pictures). However, as with other things in Valencia, getting there was not simple. First road works and one way streets unknown to Tom meant that he couldn’t get us out of the city for ages, having to recalculate the route time after time as we were unable to follow his instruction. Then we missed a turn that had us on the motorway to Madrid with no exit for 4 km putting us further away than when we started. But we got there in the end and it was worth the effort to take in the wonderful structures?
Whilst we were there we took the opportunity to walk across to a shopping mall that the locals used. We were after another hat for Mark as he lost his other in Montserrat somewhere. It was also 1pm so we looked for lunch in a local restaurant but had to wait till 1.30pm when they opened for lunch. Mark wanted to have a Paella as Valencia is the home of Paella. Well we found this amazing buffet restaurant that was packed with locals and did some awesome dishes including Paella.
Having feasted, we found the motorway to Madrid (the one that we had already been on temporarily). Our plan was to head to a lake seen on the map but that we had no information about other than that there was a Parador (a Spanish Historic Tourist Hotel) nearby. We drove along km after km of Orchard, vineyard and crops. In particular close to Valencia, not surprisingly there was km after km of citrus trees (Valencia Oranges I wonder). We now know where the wine areas are hiding – on river flats and surrounding slopes from Barcelona south and west to Valencia and beyond.
On our way, we passed a variety of farms and the patchwork effect on the countryside of all the different colours was quite delightful to see, particular the contrasts produced by the deep red soil (similar to Pukekohe Colours). The most unusual farm however was the sun farm “Hundreds of large rotating solar panels” covering acres of land.
We found the little village called Alorcon where the Parador was, and it was in an old village built on the ridge over a river canyon. The Parador was in an old Castle but we opted for a room in a local Rural house called “Casa Rural”. We had views down the valley below but the downside is that having had two beautifully hot days, we are now in the cooler high country with the prospect of rain for the next few days. Spain continues to struggle under inclement weather for the time of the year.
And rain it did – all night and the next morning (in fact our room leaked). So we were not able to do the 8km walk in the surrounding park where we had seen a shepherd herding his sheep along a rocky hillside and heard the bells around their necks ringing. Or go down to the little lake where the locals fished as we could not afford to be carrying wet clothes and shoes. Not having stayed anywhere for a while we are low on clean clothes and underwear. In fact we are now buying undies/socks and cheap Tshirts to tide us over until we either find a Laundromat or stay somewhere long enough with fine weather.
Our next port of call, now on our way to Madrid, was the area city of Cuenca-a medieval centre built on a rock with houses over hanging. Quite a unique site. We walked to an old convent now converted into a hotel and across to old city with views up the valley. We then made our way to the centre of town and stopped at a bar for lunch at 1.30pm. But it did not open for lunch till 2pm – we still haven’t got our timing right on these. So we ordered a beer and found that we were given nibbles free – interesting things like little sausage pieces, pork crackling and savouries. A nice idea.
Not understanding too much of the menu and with the staff knowing no English it was an interesting exercise ordering our meal. Largely we got what we though we ordered but the quality was average. However it was another experience where we continue to learn more about customs and the language.
Driving through the countryside took us through a large valley of rich red soils. Here the land was heavily cropped with cereals as far as the eye could see, and interspersed with some grapes and olives. This would appear to be a very productive part of Spain. I do wonder how they pick all those olives though – do they have mechanical pickers these days?
From there we drove to a town called Chinchon which was close enough to Madrid to get a bus in. However this is a boutiquey type town where people from Madrid came for the restaurants situated right around the town centre and the historic buildings including a palace as well as the boutiquey shops and wineries (we are back in wine country). And there was a big wedding on and all accommodation was booked. It was a traditional Spanish wedding and the Matriarch looked splendid in her traditional red dress and head gear.
We decided to continue skirting Madrid heading north and find a place for the night before parking our car up and going into Madrid by train or bus. Well once again this was easier said than done and we struggled to find a Hotel or hostel at two places along the way. Finally as we were about to leave a third place, we saw a sign advertising a hotel in an industrial area that would do.
Off to Madrid by train the next morning, where we emerged in the centre of Madrid only to find that the city was under threat of a terrorist attack – or so it seemeds There were police everywhere many of them armed with a variety of riot gear, but with nothing seemed to be happening to justify them being there. Many police and vehicles came and went with nothing actually happening. The only thing we could conclude was that they were simply making there presence known ( A Basque bombing in the noreth ahd happened a couple of weeks ago?).
We explored the central city finding it like many other many other cities here – Great old buildings, Churches, Museums, Squares with statues and Fountains and a clean kept city, not the big ugly metropolis I had expected. One interesting thing that we saw in Madrid that we had also seen in Barcelona was a number of very ornate living statues.
We passed up the Museums and the Churches (having seen more than enough already) in favour of investigating Madrid’s equivalent to Central Park – The Retiro, a lovely large park – many hectares, filled with families and people just enjoying a day out. Interesting features included what seemed to be the biggest bookshop in the world, 360 odd sheds in a row each selling a specific type of book – we are not sure they were all open but they stretched as far as the eye could see. There was a lake with row boats, puppet show, incredibly manicured trees and a photo exposition as well as a number of restaurants and playgrounds. And that was only in the portion of the park we explored.
We considered attending a bullfight at the Plaza del Toros but when we got to the stadium we found we would have to wait three hours in inclement weather. To watch something that is quite barbaric, three hours was too long to wait. The bullfight is more a ritual killing than a sport and we were only going to see it to get a feel of how it fitted into the Spanish psyche. Plus it would have been a unique experience. In the end we saw the bullfight on television in a bar in Segovia that evening. Bars in this part of the world are interesting in that you seem to get a free bar snack when you buy two beers, people still smoke in them and even worse all the cigarette butts and paper rubbish etc gets just dropped on the floor by the bar and sits there all day.
Another feature of the bars is the hanging smoked hams. They are in heaps of bars and often have garlic or chillies next to them for flavouring and a small drip tray underneath to catch the fat.
No comments:
Post a Comment