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Chasing the last of the sunshine

There were many, many highlights in Spain including camping only 15 kms away from Africa, hiring an apartment in Granada with beer/free tapas just around the corner, a Flamenco show, watching pilgrims arrive in Santiago de Compostela in the pouring rain and freshly cooked mussels galore in San Sebastian.
 
My pilgrimage from the carpark to Santiago De Compostela

Alhambra, Granada
The hills of Morocco in the far distance. Tarifa, Spain
 
Tarifa, Spain
The devastation as Brad realises Geelong's finals hopes are gone
 
In Barcelona we were lucky enough to witness an attempt at a world record human chain which ran from the French border to the bottom of the Catalonia region of Spain.
 
 

Human Chain, Barcelona

We decided to watch from a nearby restaurant over a beer. Before we knew it, we were all cleared out of the restaurant by a bunch of riot police (without even any time to pay for/finish our beers). From behind the police, we watched a peaceful protest march involving hundreds of Catalonian residents who want independence from Spain.


Protest, Barcelona


 
In the north of Spain we found a national park to do some hiking in. One of our hikes would take us 900m up in altitude in 7 km...Or so we thought after reading the signs with our limited Spanish. There was a cable car from the top to take us back to the bottom.

 
 
Before we began our hike...
 
Picos De Europa, Spain


We kept passing people going the opposite direction who kept looking at us with a confused look. We soon realised why they were looking at us strangely. The path just kept...on...going. Up and up.... And up. When we finally reached the top we read the sign again and realised it was actually 14 kms long and highly recommended to descend rather than ascend!

 
 
 

There was snow! When is this road going to end?!? Picos De Europa, Spain
 
 

We were exhausted and very happy to see the cable car still open to take us down. We were convinced we would have to walk the 14 kms back down. It was definitely worth it though - the views were beautiful.
 
 

Finally made it to the top!
Cable car back down to the bottom!

 

Portugal was an unexpected surprise packet. We ate freshly grilled fish on the southern beaches, drove to the western most tip of Europe, visited the old Royal holiday house in Sintra, drank sangria in Lisbon, watched the sun set over the ocean in Porto and were rained out of our campsite in Geres national park.

 

Portuguese Coast

 
Beers in a Lisbon alleyway

Sunset in Porto, Portugal
Western most Point of Europe
Freshly grilled fish, Tavira Portugal
Lisbon, Portugal
Western most Point of Europe
Sintra, Portugal
Not a bad view for a 10 Euro campsite Sesimbra, Portugal
 

The camping was cheap, the people were very welcoming and our favourite beer so far has been Portuguese!
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Comments

  1. Anonymous12 October 2013 at 21:36

    Well you say we can now leave comments so I'll have to try it :)
    Love reading your blogs. It's so cool how you can add so many photos. Had a deja vu when I saw the photo of Brad listening to the Geelong match (that was my first introduction to footy, no wonder I love the sport).
    Hahaha funny about your hike. Good to hear those things don't only happen to us.

    Enjoy the last bit of Europe. When are you flying to South America?

    xx Inge

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous13 October 2013 at 03:17

    Oh and could luck with chasing the sunshine.. Mum and dad were saying it is absolutely horrible weather.. they feel very sorry for you being in a tent at the moment.

    ReplyDelete

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