21/07/2012 – 25/07/2012 – The Grand European Finale

Edelweiss, edelweiss... You know the rest

Made it! All downhill from here...

Glorious colours accompanied
our journey

Got to a remote campsite on the footsteps of the Pyrenees, where we had a captive audience during the erecting of our tent (don’t worry – we’re not going to go over the allotted boundary. Some people!). An added bonus was that someone had kindly put their underwear to dry right in our eye line – a perfect way to enjoy the mountain view during our dinner!

At the foot of the Pyrenees

Fortunately no undies this
evening meal!

Relief all round – the undies were still there in the morning! After somehow breaking the language barrier to order jam and toast, we were off on our merry way to explore the mountains by foot. The first hour and a half was pretty tough going – a multitude of switchbacks with a harsh gradient – we were propelled forward by enjoying overtaking a variety of plebs on the way. The views at the top were fantastic, and made even more special by being surrounded by hundreds of edelweiss – M&D Sturge would have loved it! It was only during the gentle walk down and around back to base that we appreciated how much we’d ascended, and following the river and its variety of waterfalls was very picturesque.

I say a little prayer for you...

Sunset at San Sebastian

Kept near to the Pyrenees the next morning, deciding that we’d head into France as we were so close. Said a prayer or two at Lourdes, where we also eased our ailments with some holy water. Not wanting to socialise with the French too much, we were back in Spain that afternoon to soak up some sun in San Sebastian (which is what everyone knows the city as, but they call it Donostia – go figure!). Pintxos and txikito (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pintxo) were calling that evening, not just for us but for the masses – bar etiquette isn’t quite the same there!

Pintxo time - and some wine to wash it down!

Hectic bars - gave up after waiting
at this one for 10 minutes with
no hint of being close to being
served - my bar presence has
obviously reduced!

Looking back over San Seb

Beach time

Got a full appreciation of the city from the nearby lookout, then rewarded ourselves with some beach time – didn’t want to overdo it on the exercise! We were definitely in the minority being ‘rare’ on the sand – there were quite a few mediums and some people were excessively well done. Why some people go on tanning themselves is beyond me…

Quite a feat, this path!

Bit of a strange lean going on here - must have been
near the end of the walk!

Spain’s most popular walk – la Ruta del Cares in the Picos de Europa – was to be our final daytrip prior to the ferry back, and it was easy to see why it was so popular. Not the same diverse scenery as in the Pyrenees, but incredibly striking jagged peaks enclosing you on all sides of the stone walkway took the breath away.

Holes cut into the cliff -
seeing is believing

Completed the walk in double quick time, so there was no rush for the ferry. That is, no rush until we realised it was setting off in 45 minutes and we didn’t know which road we were on. Not ideal – perhaps the burger king wasn’t such a good idea after all! Ended up being the penultimate vehicle to board, something we vowed not to repeat (until it happens again – we need to follow your example Jumbo!). Bikies galore on the boat, which was fairly intimidating, especially when a member of the group on a table next to us showed a disturbing propensity to expose his rear end and display the injury sustained on his trip. Thanks mate.

Good to see by day,
annoying to hear in the night!

Impossible to describe how glad we
were to get aboard!

Key Learnings:

1. Cows wear bells in the Pyrenees and are known to walk through campsites at 4am.

2. Even when only 5 minutes from the ferry you should leave enough time to allow for getting lost in the confusing road systems…

17/07/2012 – 19/07/2012 - Car troubles...

The view of Granada from the Alhambra

The delights of cooking on a proper
stove in the cave

Crossed the border back into Spain without incident, where it was a beeline to Granada. After deciding to treat ourselves to a couple of nights out of the tent, our first experience of Airbnb appeared to be a great success – we had our very own little cave in Sacromonte for staying cool in the searing heat of the south of Spain.

Another classic Granada view

A relaxed start to the next morning was quickly interrupted upon getting to the Gorge – Tony’s initial comment of “You’ve left it in quite a mess” was quickly altered to “$#*&! and @(%^!” [insert your own four letter words here], due to the car having been broken into and thoroughly turned inside out. Bugger. After a huge initial panic, we realised that we did still have our passports, and hadn’t lost anything major. Pretty gutting though – we both felt like someone had been searching through our used underwear and far from ideal that one of the Gorge’s locks was thoroughly mashed up. Tried to be clever and lodge a police report online, but that failed miserably and the telephone number we got was only giving a recorded Spanish message, so no joy there!

At the top of Veleta

Looking back at the Sierra Nevada range

After taking stock, and choosing to head to a police station that evening, we spent the rest of the day in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was also getting seriously hot by this time (40 plus), so we needed to get in the air con of the car anyway! A brisk walk to Veleta (the third highest mountain on the Iberian peninsula at 3,396m) cleared our heads, and offered slightly more reasonable temperatures.

The cave where the magic
Flamenco happened

Showing a bit of style and
panache

That evening, an impromptu walking tour round Granada determined that all police stations closed pretty early, so a bite to eat in the cave was followed by a late night Flamenco session, again a good tonic to forget about earlier misfortunes.

The intricate stonework at the Alhambra was amazing

The Palace of Charles V

Another impressive Alhambra building

The waterways in the Generalife
area of the Alhambra

The un-operational
Fountain of Lions

Another trip the next morning to the police station was similarly fruitless –they had zero time for non-Spanish speaking folk and pretty much laughed us out of the building. Not our most pleasant experience! Went a-wandering in the Alhambra, Granada’s iconic building, where we enjoyed the varied architecture, even if the Fountain of Lions was non-operational.

It may be late, but any time
is good for a bit of tapas!

Key Learnings:

Managed to get this photo
before she dazzled us with
the killer stare...

1. Carry a bottle opener with you at all times in Spain and Portugal - screwtops have not yet taken off, and you never know if a fully equipped kitchen carries a working one. When you only have the screw element, and a leatherman (minus corkscrew add-on), no amount of willpower and effort will get the cork out!

2. Flamenco dancers come in all ages – the older ones are not always keen on having their pictures taken.

3. Only in Spain would you order a beer at 1.30am and get given a large plate of ham coleslaw for free to go with it!

19/07/2012 – 21/07/2012 - Sampling the local produce...

We'd heard good things about Spanish wines - the scenery definitely lived up to expectations!

Where are the windmills again?

Our campsite view of Toledo

Headed back into the heart of Spain, where instead of having a rushed experience of Madrid we kept to the more rural towns of Consuegra and Toledo. The former was a windmill breeding ground (see photo), and the latter a home of Spanish kings.  Enjoyed a cerveza at the camping bar looking out at the city as the earth turned away from the part of the sky the sun was in (for those of not up to speed on this terminology, refer http://themelbournetolondondetour.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/140512-dino-spotting.html).

Toledo's art museum

More impressive architecture

Wisely chose against attempting to get the Gorge into Toledo, using buses instead. TGAB (tour guide Annaliza Balfour) was on duty this morning, taking us round the highlights of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish quarters. Managed to grab a bit of famous marzipan, but no time for the El Greco museum.

Just a small starter...

And a light main as well
please!

Almost cultured out, it was time for something a little different... Our stomachs. First stop Burgos, a lazy little town where manchego cheese and cordero asado (slow roasted baby lamb) were not to be missed (although perhaps we didn’t need to do them both one after the other!). We then decided to go for an old favourite, wine. Luckily, we were close to La Rioja, but unfortunately we only got there when the cellar doors were closed. Had to settle for popping the cork on one we’d purchased earlier…

Dinasto Vivanco - now we were talking

Lots of promise, but closed!

Leaving the region without sampling some local produce was not an option, so the next day we headed to Dinastia Vivanco, the most expansive wine museum you could ever hope to visit. Fortunately decided to use the English audio guides, otherwise it would have been a long walk around a variety of wine paraphernalia. Instead, it was a guided walk around a variety of wine paraphernalia – massive difference!

No joke - there were millions of
corkscrews!

By the time we got to the corkscrew section, almost 3 hours later, we were gasping for a drink, and luckily for us one came inclusive of the tour price. We treated ourselves to a variety of tapas as well (not included, but required!), and left well sated.

Marque de Riscal's equivalent of Bilbao's
Gugenheim - just don't try and get
into the grounds or a security
guard will get you!

Key Learnings:

1. A mallet is a necessity when camping in Spain, given the arid ground!

2. Tea in Spain is not standard and is not a safe option to order

16/07/2012 - 17/07/2012 - Beach hopping

Belem Tower, the "Castle of Sao Vicente" - thanks to the guy that took this shot for cutting some of it off...

Belem from above

Dipping the feet in the sea at the Algarve

From Belem in Lisboa it was on to the Algarve, which was deep in the full swing of resort holiday season. Stopped off at Quarteira (not recommended) where you could barely breathe for the multitude of holidaymakers lined up head to foot on the beach! On reflection, we were very glad not to be involved in a package holiday… The campsite was a much calmer affair, where the sandwich heavy diet continued along with an epic game of Carcassonne via lamplight (and heavily restricted table space). Tony’s losing streak continued…

Carcasonne by torchlight

Having comprehensively learnt our lesson, our camping location planning prior to setting up the tent was rewarded and meant we could have our first lie in for a while – simple pleasures! We stopped off at one of the more pleasant Algarve beaches on the Ilha de Tavira, but after an hour’s roasting it was time to move on.

Key Learnings:

Toasting time on the Ilha de Tavira

1. Mcdonalds is by far the quickest and easiest way to get WIFI access, you just need to exercise willpower to avoid getting a Bigmac meal/McFlurry every time you enter!

2. Peage/Toll/Duande is annoying wherever it is, but particularly harsh on the wallet in Portugal!

13/07/2012 - 15/07/2012 – Optimus Alive!

Annaliza and Tony with Redfoo and Skyblu of LMFAO fame. Can't believe we bumped into these crazy dudes!

Got the ticket - yeeeha!

LMFAO'ing

Timed our arrival in Lisboa to coincide with rush hour, a real bonus! Efficiency and organised were two words sadly lacking for collecting tickets to the Optimus Alive festival – had to talk to 4 different people before finding out that we needed to go to the festival entry point to get our tickets, then back to the campsite to pitch the tent before heading back and being allowed into the festival...

Alfama from above

Not the best idea to drive in these conditions...

The impressive arch
(yep - don't know the proper
name for that either!)

Rude awakenings to the baking Lisboa sun were par for the course – to the uninitiated make sure you set your tent up with morning shade in mind, schoolboy error! Again, after foolishly taking the car ‘downtown’ (where you have to play dare with the trams), we plodded the cobbled streets round the highlights of the various city districts.

A pre-festival warm up

A quick refresher

The main square, but no wine tasting

Getting on the free stuf

Annaliza would do anything
for a free T-Shirt... Not sure if
this made it to National TV though!

Timed our trip to the wine tasting centre in the main square poorly, so missed out there, but made up for it once in to the festival that evening. Poked our noses into a random stand and got invited to the top deck where free beers were flowing. Ker-ching! This eased the disappointment of Florence and the Machine not playing (hope the throat’s better Flo!) but Morcheeba provided a fun flashback to our youths.

The Moorish castle at Evora

Sintra

Sintra, a fairytale village an hour out of Lisboa, was next. A lovely place – picturesque houses, more cobbled laneways (where we couldn’t resist tucking into an assortment of tapas) topped off with a Moorish castle providing awesome views over the surrounding countryside. This was an Eastern European’s dream, and we couldn’t avoid the assortment of potential models striking ridiculous poses on the ramparts – don’t call us, we’ll call you!

A perfect post festival pick me up!

There were a few wine snobs about

Can I get a shout out to Torquay?

Radiohead time

The last day of the festival was the one that drew us to it in the first place - Radiohead headlining - they didn’t disappoint. Was also a bonus to see part of the act from the Martini rooftop (following an underground cinema-esque entry process! Annaliza LOOOOVES Martini!). Pushed on through the night (ably assisted by a couple of chicken donna kebabs!) to see Metromony perform the last set of the festival, where Tony’s shout outs to Torquay and the English Riviera were either unheard, or ignored…

Bye bye festie - thanks for the good times

Key Learnings:

1. LMFAO go off as do the crowd when playing live. Party Rock was definitely the song of the festival, being played pretty much on repeat at the campsite over the next 3 days.

2. Supermarkets in Spain and Portugal have a delightful aroma of dried fish – mmmm! They are also generally MASSIVE so bring your walking shoes!

3. Stalls with viewing galleries at festivals are not always exclusively for VIP’s – it is worth a shot to get up there and you never know what you might get. The count at the end of the festival was free beer (multiple), t-shirts (ended up with 5), a bag, personalised badges (x4), a ‘professional photo shoot’ (actually just 1 photo), hats (x2) and martini cocktails…