Around Barcelona

Saturday, 7 January 2012

Around Barcelona

On 03.01. we went from Barcelona to Figures, visiting the Dali museum. Nice to watch, but unluckily much of his famous work is not to be found here. From Figures we continued to the medieval city Girona. Chruch bells welcomed us when we went through the old town and climbed upon the castle. Great atmosphere in this city! After enjoying the old center we found a Pintxos bar (Basque' tapas) and had an amazing dinner :D
For our second trip out of Barcelona (05.01.) we followed Eva's (Benni's flat mate) suggestions. From Barcelona to the volcanic region around Olot. Especially scenic Santa Pau was great. For lunch we stopped at Banyoles before we continued to the coast. With the Pyrenees in sight to Sant Pere Pescador and then the beach of L'Escala. An awesome sunset led us to Pals... never seen such a violet sky!
At the end of the day we watched Epiphanias (welcoming the three kings) in Begur. Caspar, Melchior and Baltasar, dressed like SantaClauss, rode into the city with a hord of Saracens... a speech at the church was held by them before the kids followed them with lampions through the city.
A great finish for our winter trip to Spain :)

Medival center of Girona behind the facade^^

Scenic Santa Pau

L'Escala's beach

Sunset from L'Escala to Pals

what a sunset over Pals :D

NewYearsEve in Barcelona

Thursday, 5 January 2012

NewYearsEve in Barcelona

Our trip to Barcelona started (29.12.) simply legendarily^^ Everyone panicked when I decided to pick them up a little earlier... Tobias rushed from breakfast to my car, Robin hasty left Grandma's lunch table and Ben just had to leave before delicious fest lunch was about to start. Their schedules were simply screwed :P Even Danny, who we picked up in Dresden, felt too short on notice.
When waiting for Robin, Tobias already decided to try one of my self-made happy-brownies :D At Benni's Robin and Benni joined him. Before Dresden, Tobi already was flashed. Danny joined the trip - both meanings apply - in Dresden... on the way to Berlin Schönefeld huge laughing flashs went through the car... dry throats were blessed with beer... right at the parking slot at the airport I could join them and we finished off the brownies. After check-in, while waiting for boarding, my flash started. In the plane we enjoyed the last row with a great view cross the plane. I enjoyed the view out of my window - a non-existing one, as I was told afterwards :D
Right in Barcelona we carried our luggage to Benni's flat and enjoyed some fine dinner with baguette, olives, cheese, ham, beer and a joint afterwards. Perfect start, hahaha. Only downer was Danny being sick :(
The first morning (30.12.) we were blessed with a sunny breakfast under blue sky on Benni's terrace.  We had to leave Danny at home and started to discover the city. A visit to parc Güell for a nice view over Barcelona and first impressions of Gaudi's architecture. From park Güell cross Garcia along La Rambla towards the seaside. Fully enjoyed the first day in Barcelona and finished it with our daily joint after dinner^^
The next day (31.12.) we visited placa reial before we took a walk along the beach, visited Benni's university and parc de la ciutadella, where we enjoyed the cascada.
At the evening we joined a Couchsurfing group for a pubcrawl and had the new-years countdown at placa de sant-jaume.
After we sobered up with a good sleep, we went to see La Sagrada Familia and the Beachside again. Benni needed some extra time to sober up, while Danny was up on his feet again. At the evening we enjoyed an awesome NewYears-BBQ. With self-soused steaks and a super delicious green salat and as well as noodle salat. Best start into the new year :D
The next day (02.01.) we went up Montjuic to see the castle and enjoy sunset at the Catalan art museum. Up the mountain we were chased by a 30min rain... but afterwards rewarded with a spectacular rainbow! And guess where it ended: at La Sagrada Familia!!! omg... big payment pope Benedict must have submitted to gain such a new years gift :P

View over Barcelona from parc Güell

our daily breakfast table

Beach front at Catalan's historical museum

Enjoying the beach :D

Cascada

Christoph Columbus guids the pigeon^^

lets play Battleships!

Rainbow over castillo

See where it ends/starts!!!!

Columbus after sunset

The way to Barcelona: Delta de l'Ebre, Tarragona, Sitges, Monistrol de Montserrat

Friday, 9 September 2011

The way to Barcelona: Delta de l'Ebre, Tarragona, Sitges, Monistrol de Montserrat

From Valencia we drove to the national park of Delta de l'Ebre. The delta of Ebro river is covered with rice field and small farms. Filled with birds and a lot of kitesurfers :)
After enjoying the nature, we continued to Tarragona where we stayed another night at the beach. A short walk through the city to see that even small towns own huge cathedrals in Spain. We then enjoyed our last hash from Lisbon, a bottle of whine and a starry sky to lull us into sleep. But... then again the much hated rainstorm made us fleeing from the beach and spent another night in the car :( grrr!
From Tarragona we visited Sitges (05.09.), which was supposed to be a beach-party-get-away from Barcelona...
the gay-friendly town turned out to be a gay-only place, male only... we met our hell on earth and all stereotypes about gay males were met in this town. Our hell seemed to be heaven to them :D At the end of the night we met three Belgium girls who seemed extremely happy to meet some straight guys :P
The next day (06.09.) we visited the monastery at Montserrat.  The monastery up the mountain offered some great views... but it was freezing up there :P
From Montserrat we finally went to Barcelona. We stayed with Ignacio and Alex from CS in Villa Victoria, where they just moved in a few days ago. They lived with Rie (Japan) and Sima (Poland). We enjoyed two great party nights with them in Barcelona and only visited Montjuic, as we are about to visit Barcelona again for NewYearsEve and Ben will study there the next months :)
A great finish of this journey!
- 29 days (8 nights couchsurfing, 5 nights regular camping, 1 night hostel, 4 nights wild camping, 11 nights sleeping bag at the beach - 2 ended in the car)
- 7100 km (2000 until northern spain, 1300 until Portugal, 1100 through Portugal to southern Spain, 2700 until Barcelona)
- 1 day without alcohol, but only 6 days too much :P
- 1 car accident, 1 time Ben was nearly hit by bus, 1 ticket for false parking
- Fiesta in San Sebastian, Castro Urdiales and Ronda

Tarragona

View from Montserrat

Museum d'Art de Catalunya

Sunset from Montjuic

Jaen, Granada, Almeria and Cabo de Gata until Valencia

Monday, 5 September 2011

Jaen, Granada, Almeria and Cabo de Gata until Valencia

After a night at Cordoba's camping area, we went to the town of olives - Jaen (31.08.). A road through olive plantations led us the way :D In Jaen we went into a Tapas bar and enjoyed an EXTRA large breakfast and amused the waitresses :P
Afterwards we strolled through Jaen's streets a bit and payed the cathedral a visit. After the short walk we made our way towards Granada. In Granada we struggled to get tickets for the Alhambra^^ then the day was already over again and we spent the night at a camping spot.
The next morning (01.09.) we went straight to visit the Alhambra. After all, everyone seems to make a big fuss about this palace. We've been a bit disappointed at the beginning... but to the end, the gardens made it an amazing place :) And a good view over the city from the towers!
The Alhambra was followed by a walk through the old city, where we visited the extremely huge cathedral of Granada. It was too big to have a comfy church feeling :( But looked pompous!
From Granada we went through Spain's desert Sierra Nevada with great views to Almeria where we wanted to sleep at the beach. It took us a while to find a suitable place... we met a Spanish Hippie who just came from the Hippie beach San Pedro near by. A beach we wanted to visit, but fall short on time to do so. Unluckily rain was chasing us in the night, while the Hippie stayed, we drove towards the next beach,  El Cabo de Gata, start of the same-named national park. But after a few hours the rain chased us again... what a rainstorm! :( So we drove right to the light house of Cabo de Gata national park. A nice good morning view (02.09.), once the rain stopped for a few minutes^^ Chased by the rainstorm we continued towards Allicante. On the way we stopped to have a sleep in the car at least. Then continued and enjoyed lunch in Allicante... 2 hours without rain, the car was faster than the rainstorm... but there it was again^^ Hence we went straight towards Valencia. Finally we left the rain behind us! Wild camping at a parking slot near the southern Pinedo beach :D
The next morning (03.09.) we enjoyed a nice swim and some sun before we went to see the "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" - the art quarter :) Some really impressive buildings but "our enemy" approached again: rainstorm... luckily just a small and short one. We continued to see the city center. Valencia really is a lovely city. Unluckily we were too exhausted to really enjoy it... seen too many cities the last days + Ben was sick. So we went back to our parking slot and camped there next to the beach again. A great BBQ before we went to sleep... and the next morning: big shock! someone stole our grill :S A used, dirty 5eur grill... and they even forgot the legs of the grill... stupid people :P
We then (04.09.) continued our way towards Barcelona, the final stop.

Jaen's cathedral

inside the Alhambra

View over Alhambra's garden

from Cabo de Gata's lighthouse

Rainstorm chasing us at Valencias art quarter

Fountain behind Valencia's cathedral

Continuing Andalucia: Tarifa, Gibraltar, Ronda, Malaga, Cordoba

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Continuing Andalucia: Tarifa, Gibraltar, Ronda, Malaga, Cordoba

At the beach of Zahara de los Atunes the fresh morning wind woke us up (29.08.) and upcoming rain made us leaving quickly. And 10min later the rain started, just in time^^
We went to see Tarifa Andalucia's southern most spot and Europe's closest point to Africa. Unluckily the small town looks just like a dirty forgotten place. Two signs with "Atlantico" and "Mediterran" indicate that at this place officially the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea are separated. The weather was too cloudy to see Africa, so after visiting the small Castillo we went on to see Gibraltar. On the way the clouds dissipated and we could see mountains of Morocco :D
In Gibraltar a trafic jam awaited us... the British were to check the passports/IDs... did you forget its Shengen you morons?^^ "The rock" is a stunning view... we took a drive around the peninsular and enjoyed the vistas. Unluckily we were a little too late to enjoy the upper national park... and unwilling to pay 50eur for a half an hour visit :/ So we continued from Gibraltar to Ronda, a white town inland and uphill.
Ronda seemed a laid back but extremely lively little town. Great views from the hill and streets filled with shopping people at 8 o'clock :D We enjoyed a small dinner and continued to Malaga to sleep at the cities less nice beach.
The next morning (30.08.) we enjoyed a quick swim before we went to see the city of Malaga. A nice small old town with a harbour that looks good from far :) Unluckily the old town is surrounded by industrial buildings. The Alcazaba gives the best view over the nice parts of the town^^
Next we went towards Cordoba. The students city of course is quiet during the summer break... but most interesting was the Mezquita-Catedral, a fromer magnificent mosque into which a huge cathedral was built in the 16th century. Absolutely amazing to see a mix of a mosque and a cathedral in one building... the most important parts of the mosque remained... the cathedral is bright and the feeling is simply from another world... there should be more places like this... after all both religions obey the very same god... they just struggle about the ways how to hallow the lord^^

the cliffs around Gibraltar

a mosque infront of "the rock"

views from Ronda over Andalucia

view from the Alcazaba over Malaga's port

the choir in Mezquia-Catedral

The Algarve, Sevilla and western Andalucia

Monday, 29 August 2011

The Algarve, Sevilla and western Andalucia

From Lisbon (25.08.) we made our way down to the Algarve having a sunset stop at Arrifana beach. An amazing coastline with raw and rough cliffs. And a good place to forget your towels while having making dinner... quickly gets dark after sunset^^
We then continued to infamous Lagos... party town was announced... first we were disappointed by all the teenagers running around. But after a couple of beers we found the right bars and at 2pm we met a midwife lady Portugese lady with her two daughters who invited us for the biggest beach party in town... free VIP entry is a good start into a party :P We quickly lost our entrance fairy and got lost in the half naked party crowds... awesome :D At six they were closing, we took a taxi to our car/beach and enjoyed breakfast at sunrise before having a sleep at the beach. Later we woke up, the beach was filled with sunbathing people. We packed our sleeping backs and left to with a hangover to pick up our forgotten towels^^ Back at Arrifana beach we enjoyed brunch and picked up our towels before we went to see Cabo de São Vicente, the southwestern cape of Portugal. More amazing cliff views... unluckily we couldn't fully enjoy them with the hangover^^ We then continued to Faro and strolled through it's peaceful little streets before we went to sleep at the tourist beach of little Altura. The next morning (27.08.) we enjoyed a swim and a sunbath before we continued to Spain.
Later the day we arrived in lovely Sevilla. Unluckily we struggled to find a camping spot and so had to postpone sightseeing to the next day (28.08.). A gorgeous city with many little streets, great squares... everything looks sooooo Spanish here :D The first city with an arena for bullfights... the spanish tradition. Unluckily bullfight months are only April, May, June and September. Hence we couldn't visit any yet :( But Sevilla has enough to offer to spend a couple of days here... but there is so much more we want to see on the trip :P The stunning cathedral and the amazing gardens of the palace (Alcazar) are the topping before we left for Cadiz.
Cadiz is interestingly located on an island before the mainland (you should check on maps.google.com)). Besides it's interesing location it offered streets off the tourist track and a good place to enjoy some seafood before we spent the night at Ancalucias west coast at Zahara de los Atunes.
 

The coast near Arrifana beach

"our" beach at Lagos at sunrise

Cabo de Sao Vincente - stunning cliffs

gorgeous streets in Sevilla

Garden of Sevilla's Alcazar

Sevilla's great cathedral

Santiago de Compostela and the arrival in Portugal

Saturday, 20 August 2011

Santiago de Compostela and the arrival in Portugal

After we woke up (19.08.) at the camp site, we enjoyed a warm shower and checked internet before we went to see the famous Santiago de Compostela. As the finishing spot of most of the Caminos de Santiago (Ways of St.Jacob) it is a popular tourist destination, especially at this time of the year. When walking through the streets we saw plenty pilgrims who wandered the Camino de Santiago. The town is amazing with its historic centre... filled with awesome buildings whereever you look. Crowned by the Cathedral de Compostela, the place where St.Jacob is supposed to be buried. But all the tourists make the place less holy... the great cathedral loses its charme when it is simply too loud and huge queues are waiting to see the grave. Thus we didn't stay too long and continued our way towards Portugal.

The first stop was Ponte de Lima, a picturesque small town which simply is how I expected Portugal to look like: charming, lovely :D
We simply enjoyed to stroll along the streets and river before we continued to Viana do Castelo. Students were playing music at a square... a nice town as well, but not as great as Ponte de Lima^^ We went to the huge Praia de Amorosa to enjoy sunset with a picnic. Then wild camping near the beach. What a start into Portugal :)

cathedral de compostela, filled with pilgrims

stunning neighbouring church was empty^^

picturesque streets in Ponte de Lima

idyllic little town

students playing music in Viana do Castelo

sunset picnic at praia de amorosa

Rias Atlas - Spains dramatic northwestern coast

Friday, 19 August 2011

Rias Atlas - Spains dramatic northwestern coast

Pics first, text later^^

Cliffs near the Lighthouse

quite a way down^^

stunning vistas

freely running horses around

superb coastline

what a view... couldnt get enough

woohoo... so awesome^^

Oviedo, Aviles and the Praya de Silencio

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Oviedo, Aviles and the Praya de Silencio

From Santander we continued to Santillane del mar (17.08.). It is the village of three lies, as it is not holy (santi), flat (llana) nor near the sea (del mar). It looked like a friendly village, but big caravans of tourists were there waiting to go to the nearby cave. So we decided no to stay here for. Instead we continued straight to Oviedo.
A lovely town we spent some hours strolling through the city, getting lost (as it was much smaller than we expected, hence we walked out of the area our map covered^^). Finally we got our hands on internet to get some news and answer some mails...
After Oviedo we went to see the new Centro Niemeier building in Aviles. Unluckily the building is not very pleasent. A huge square made from beton missing any charme. But that is what Brasilia is infamous for...
So we continued to Praya de Silencio, which was supposed to be an awesome beach. And indeed, the setting was great. We arrived late, enjoyed a bbq and went to sleep in our tent. Unluckily the next morning when we wanted to enjoy a swim, it was raining and temperatures dropped a lot. Thus we left to see the north-western coast of Spain.

chilling Oviedo

New opened Centro Niemeier building in Aviles

Praya de Silencio

Good morning view after leaving the tent :D