Hola from Spain

Monday 1st June

Hola Amigos

We have now been in Spain for a week – we crossed the border last Monday. It was a real non event and we keep saying are we in Spain yet? We then realised that the old border control areas are still in place but not in use.
The contrast in scenery is very noticeable, in particular you can be driving on a main road similar to the drive into Motunau and you come across a lady sitting on a plastic chair…………
The first three nights in Spain were spent at Platja d’Aro on the Costa Brava. It was a camping ground although I would call it a resort – just had everything from bars, restaurants, beach, swimming pools so we enjoyed 3 days relaxing and soaking up some Spanish sun.

After Platja d’Aro we drove into Barcelona – oh boy don’t know which was worst Paris or Barcelona – Rae did scream once on a roundabout that was unmarked, had 4 lanes driving into it and then the cars seemed to make about 6 lanes – the car in front of us had stopped and Brent was looking the other way with foot still on accelerator!! Of course he had seen the car, he just thought he would go round it with the 7 metre camper?? All good he just stopped in time!! It took us about 45 minutes in traffic to get to the camping ground and after choosing a site right by the sea we had a well deserved drink.
Back to the ladies?? In the plastic chairs… well in the middle of nowhere, at a roundabout or layby there are “ladies” sitting on plastic chairs. They seem to be enjoying the sun, some having umbrellas for shade. We think they must be the Spanish welcoming senoritas as they seem to be very friendly, especially to men in cars that stop and say hello, one guy was obviously very kind and took her for a ride .. or maybe she took him for one. We feel these Spanish welcome ambassadors think they are models as they “work” through daylight hours when we think they should be out at night under the cover of darkness. Anyway Rae managed to get a shot of 2 of these hostesses, in a layby miles out of town, with a couch to keep them comfy, they must have a very good employer to supply them with such luxuries. Mum and our girls would have liked to see these hostesses, better than the ones we used to see on the Manchester St run!!! (photo of Hostesses welcoming everyone, one taking rest on sofa).
The next day we were up early and on the bus into Barcelona, we once again took a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour – these really are the best way to see a place when you have limited time. Barcelona is a real mix of old and new buildings – one of the most famous old ones being Sagrada Familia a big church that was built by Gaudi starting in 1883 until he died in 1926 and is still under construction today – one of the most famous new buildings was the stadium for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The buildings both old and new are mainly built from stone with great creative use of ceramic tiles and wrought iron. Barcelona is now also a popular stop over for cruise ships and there were 6 very large ships in on the day we were there. We had lunch at a restaurant and obviously our Spanish needs much improvement as Rae ended up with a plate of peas for entrée and Brent still not sure what it was that he ate – the mains were as we expected but we couldn’t help laughing at the entrees. After replenishing our energy we headed for the cable car that took us up to Castell de Montijuic which had the most spectacular views over Barcelona - the Castell itself use to be a military prison and is surrounded with wide moats. This is where our camera decided to have a flat battery!! After tapas and a beer with the hoards of tourists, locals and football supporters we arrived back at camp exhausted about 9.30pm.

We always said to each other if anything was untoward in our part of the world we would immediately let our girls know we were OK, however that is easier said than done when we haven’t heard or understood any news since we left home – this came true for us when we got a text from Brooke asking if we were OK as she knew we were in Barcelona and had heard about the riots there – we didn’t even know that Barcelona were playing football or had won or that there were riots. We had heard fireworks the night before and driving through towns people were flying flags over their balconies and we heard one car load of guys yelling – ah oblivion is great although we do miss the morning paper and crossword.

Saturday was another hot day so Cambrills was the place chosen off the map, a pleasant drive down the coast – wow what views of the Mediterranean we got!! (Photo of us looking down the Costa Brava coast towards Barcelona)We also stopped for a bit of a stock up at the supermarket, we really like the Spanish prices more than the French prices – for $50NZ we got a bottle of wine, bottle of Bailey’s, bottle of Sangria, bacon, sausages, yoghurt, loaf of bread, mayo, chocolate, water, lettuce, tomatoes etc. As you can see we are eating a very balanced diet!!
Sunday we decided to head inland for the day and went to Montanejos which is a small village that has natural water springs – the river we swam in was suppose to 25 degrees but Rae reckons it was a cooler 18 degrees – a beautiful peaceful place! We walked up (way up) to the village where they had a medieval market day so sat in the sun and had a beer with the locals – the way they live in their tiny narrow streets without any outdoor living unless you call sitting on the road on their chairs outdoor living, they need to move when a car drives up. Rae was thankful we were on foot in the village not in the camper!
Today we are heading to Valencia and a look around the port where the America cup was held.

Adios Amigos