Sitges - A holiday from travelling

Well this was definitely my holiday from my traveling. The combination of sun, surf, sand, pumping house music , good food and drink meant I had an amazing week here.

Sitges(only 25 mins from Barcelona) is a mediterranean resort town where everything you need is in walking distance. The hotel Subur had been done up since my last visit too. So the accommodation was better than I had planned too !

Whilst the beach is great - it is also a very sociable place. I met many people from all around Europe including Alberto (Italy) and his mate Pablo (spain) above – but also ran into Aussie friends such as Drew who was there with his friends matt and Peter.

This is my favourite holiday destination.

Onwards to Barcelona

To finish off the intrepid trip was two days in Barcelona - still my favourite international city.

We ate so well - the El born/ La Ribera area east of Las Ramblas - is home to so many great restaurants. I will recommend one called origen - a catalonian restaurant. But so much more there too.

One of the days i saw a wedding near where we stayed - With the big puppets one could be confused with being back on the set of "IT's a knockout - a fantastic aussie show from the 1980's" . But everyone seemed interested. Is bigger better ??? hmmmm i leave that with the readers..

I wandered with our cool tour leader Monica one day through El Raval - and ate lunch at the fresh food markets.

And another day I just hung out at the Beach. This city continues to get better and better - and the weather perfect.

Above is a group shot - sad to see everyone go.. but I was also exhausted and so in need of a rest. The pace of the two past weeks had been hectic.

Where better to head than the beachside resort of Sitges.

Not enought time in Valencia

The only down side to the tour was that it tried to fit too much in - so after an overnight train ride (with seats too uncomfortable to sleep) we were all exhausted and very OT (over tired).

We trekked around the streets and markets of valencia - smell some terrible smells too!! (long story)

Note to others - do not stay at the Expo hotel in Valencia - so very bad service.

Kate(from Chicage) was on fire all day ! She was so funny ! Everyone was so OT that many silly pictures were taken this day and night.

Valencia is a beautiful city - but I just couldnt get to enough of it in one day. We did have paella - but it was not the best here (poor choice on our part) - even though it is the home of the dish!!!

Valencia - and our trip to the Bullfighting

Firstly - I apologise to anyone who views bullfighting as inhumane. But, on arriving in valencia our tour group finally found a bull fight on the night we were actually in a city. Given the significance of bullfighting in the South of Spain it was something we had to see.

As you can see - huge numbers of people (young and old) turned out on this Wednesday night in late July for the Bullfighting (part of a week long festival in Valencia)

I went with an open mind - and yes after seeing it - it is gory and gruesome - but its also artful and a true performance spectacle .

I was amazed also at how serious the crowd take these events - the group of locals next to us - were yelling criticism of the size of the bulls (being too small) and the inadequacies of the matedors.

Truly a Spanish experience that I wont forget in a hurry!

Granada - A fantastic bohemian city - I could get lost here for months - Please come and find me here !!

Granada - I can't do this place justice on my blog. I could fast see why our tour leader Monica loved this place. From the small arabic styled streets to the alhambra's palace and the city's overall bohemian flavour ( and thats not just in the air) Granada is a place to lose yourself.

I figured that out very quickly here.

It has a blend of cultures - still ever present today. Moorish, Jewish, Spanish... all who have coexisted for centuries together.

But with many universities today it also it has a young crowd - as well as lots of art, music and sport...

It has great restaurants, cafes, tapas bars - I did not find a bad place to go. There were thriving bars and clubs... even mid week ..

It has hippies too ! And It is bohemian in every sense I even saw people taking drugs in the streets.

This is a place not to be missed - Some time in the future I will return here...

Cordoba in 24 hours

This was a rushed part of the tour - i was left wanting to see more. We had less than 24 hours to see this place. Our lunch on arrival was sensational - a chance recomendation by a stranger in the middle of this old town - when most things are closed over the weekend,

This city had a dazzling array of old Moorish buildings (including a mosque in great condition, as well as a fantastic Palace and gradens), a cute spanish village atmosphetre, some old roman relics (such as the bridge above) and brand new streetscapes.

Like Seville it doesn't have the number of people you expect in such a grand town. You really have to make your own fun here. I always try to do that anyway!!!

I haved a little catchinhg up to do

Well I have just landed back in Barcelona after Amsterdam, a week in Torrevieja and a week in sitges - way behind with the blog - lets just say i had a holiday from the blogging - back to it now and will do my best this week to update you all on what I have been up to :-)

Miss you all ,

Dan