Travelling in Spain – looking for a better weather, good food, wonderful people :). This is where we start our first rally: https://teamblue.online/our-first-rally-summary/
In between various tasks related to our Rolls-Royce we have travelled around South Spain and Pyrenees.
December 2021, February – April, 2022
Barcelona
Home alone…
After a very long period (the length of which neither of us remembers) in which we did not part for more than two hours, Yoav abandoned me in favor of a 72-years-old beauty – Rolls-Royce 1950… indeed it is practically impossible to compete with it 😊. The intention was to bring the lady in a truck to Barcelona, but the English bureaucracy won and Yoav’s patience ran out… so he flew to Wales today to take the Rolls-Royce and drive her to Barcelona. And I? I stayed in Barcelona (okay… you don’t really have to feel sorry for me…) and spend my time in a Spanish course and city walks 😊.
On the way to Barcelona we passed the Costa Brava, one of the most touristic places in Spain, amazing views but quite empty of people, and even a little sad during this lack of tourist season… and one would think that this is how it is at this time… until we arrived in Barcelona! Here they have not heard of winter and the Corona – the city is full of people and different languages. At all times of the day and night, the city is bustling and crowded with streets, shops, beaches, and restaurants – to the point of real crowds in the evening when Christmas lights are shining everywhere.
Zaragoza, Spain
We’re back to roaming! We are in Spain and now on our way to the origins of the Castel (Armony) family – Calatayud. On the way we stopped in Zaragoza – we loved the old town with its impressive churches and its Tubo quarter with many tapas bars. One of them had live music, indeed the Spanish know how to have fun 😊.
Sitges
Sitges, a nice city south of Barcelona on the beach… We were told that there is a carnival there this weekend and we have also heard that it is the most beautiful city in Spain and, in addition, it is also proud of its community 😊. Join the proud community members with a carnival and you will have a happy, colorful and bouncy event. The event commemorates Purim in the former State Square in Tel-Aviv (God bless its memory). Lots of beer and noise, people in very beautiful costumes – all in the alleys of the old town of Sitges.
Bolnuevo, Murcia
On the way to the south of Spain we passed through Valencia, apart from the beautiful street art we found nothing special… but further south we landed in a small town by the sea, a nice little resort, with a beautiful hiking trail and interesting rocks… so we stayed there for three days.
Andalusia
As we have said already, we don’t like much driving along the coast but rather much prefer the roads within the mainland, and the last two days have proved it again. Yesterday we moved to Andalusia, on the way to Granada, and were surprised by the amazing views that combine desert, hills of vegetation and colorful rocks, countless Almond trees plantations in pink blossom, water reservoirs in deep blue color and snow-capped peaks in bright white – all above 1000 meters. Our strong recommendation – avoid highways (Google Maps option), and then you get to particularly charming places. Other than that, we have a suspicion that Google knows that we are driving a 4×4 vehicle since it takes us on strange dirt roads so that we can discover some obscure and hidden corners 😊.
Granada
When you google what to do in Granada, there are many options… and they all have one thing in common – the Alhambra! Indeed an impressive site to me, but we enjoyed more the narrow streets and white houses of the Muslim and the Gypsy quarters.
Setenil de las Bodegas, Andalusia
In our wanderings in the south of Spain we came to a very special place. Many years ago, within a narrow glen a village was born. The village grew and developed until it filled the entire glen, so when they ran out of space, the village continued to develop into the surrounding rocks… and sometimes below them 😊. The village is called Setenil de las Bodegas. The streets are so narrow that you have to drive a Fiat 600 to take turns, and we are known not to have a Fiat, so at least twice we ran into a real problem where there was a real doubt whether we will be able to complete a turn or just move between houses with our car. In the house where we slept, and in the restaurant where we ate, the rooms are cut in the rock just like caves. The real Flintstone family… 😊.
Ecija, Sevilla
It’s final, we prefer the worn and unexpected secondary roads within the continent… not the fancy and always paved ones on the beach. We have been traveling in Andalusia for about a week now and it is surprising. From Granada we went down to the beach and immediately we went back up to the mountains. By the way, the storks arrived! Spring is officially here… It’s just a pity that the weather is not yet updated on the subject 😊.
Berga Resort, North Catalunya
We went for a short trip to the north, towards Andorra. We got some great recommendations from a local man – small winding roads on the mountainside that go up to the Pyreneans, lovely views! We also got very close to the snow that some of us would probably want to cross in our almighty jeep 😊, if not the sound of reason next to him 😊.
Pyrenees
If I had an impact on Google, I would have added two buttons to Google Maps next to ‘Avoid Highways’ and ‘Avoid Tolls’ – the first one would be – ‘Find the most scenic road’, and the second one – ‘Find the most winding road’.
Crossing the Pyrenees along the border between Spain and France, from Barcelona in the south to San Sebastian in the north, Google did not have to work hard. All roads are very winding and go up 1,000 meters (height difference) in a quarter of an hour, and we like that (very much). Even though it is already May, there is still snow on the peaks and still many blocked roads, the landscapes remind you of Switzerland, picturesque villages, lots of rivers and waterfalls, and everything is already green.
Bordeaux, France
France… French (only)… French people… Bordeaux… Wine… Food… We crossed the border into France and prices jumped by 50% but the food quality doubled. We found ourselves trying to communicate in Spanish, because French we do not know and English is not really an option, although it did not help. Two days ago, we were on a farm and the owner did not speak a word in English, and I mean not a single word, not even ‘yes’ or ‘no’… but he was really interested in our travel, was very amiable and really wanted to talk. So, we recollected from our memory all the limited words in French that we had acquired over the years of travel and with the generous help of Google Translate we were able to have a conversation, tell him about our trips and rallies, book a place at a restaurant and even get what we wanted for breakfast.
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