Diary for the period 29 July - 5 August

29 July - Aranjuez

We woke up today at a decent time and after our morning ritual drove to Madrid again.

After coffee we walked across that road to the Museu al Prado. It is apparently one of the best art galleries in the world, housing paintings from artists such as El Greco, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and many more. The paintings were mainly of a religious nature with some inspiring and others a pleasure to see. After an hour and a half we were visually exhausted, our backs ached and I was in serious need of a cigarette.

We walked back to Grand Via to find a spot for lunch and found ourselves in a Kentucky!

After our 'rounder and chips' we decided to be adventurous and take the metro to an internet café. This is where we spent the rest of the afternoon updating the diary.

With our update done we took an interesting route across town, through small back-streets, back to the bike.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to locate VW and Honda garages for all the bits we needed to fix our means of transport. We scored with bike but are still lacking a switch for the van's brake lights.

30 July - Aranjuez

We decided to spend the day at the campsite as John had some work to do on the bike and I was feeling like the van needed a really good clean.

We started off with a rather large breakfast and then did a bit of shopping. Back at camp we did all our chores and then went for a swim.

Late afternoon we had a braai and then showered and changed - we were heading into Madrid that evening to watch a bullfight!

I can honestly say that it was actually a lot worse than I expected!

The matadors (six of them) all come out and then the bull comes charging out, looking confused and already bleeding slightly. Then the matadors tease him a bit with brightly coloured (pink and yellow) cloaks. After a while the men on horses enter the ring. The bull rams the padded and blindfolded horse while the rider stabs the bull's back with long pole with a blade on the end. I had to look away, already on the brink of tears.

The matadors continue to tease and then two of them alternately run towards the bull sticking the brightly coloured spikes into it's back. By this stage the bull is frothing at the mouth and bleeding profusely. The main matador then comes on and gives a bit of a show although by this stage the bull often doesn't seem interested. Next the sword comes out and the matador attempts to kill the bull. Only twice did they manage to do this on their first attempt at which the crowd go mad waving white handkerchiefs while the matador walks around the ring with what looked to be one of the bull's ears.

One of the bulls was for some reason given a reprieve. Shortly after the horse bit, a group of trained brown and white bulls were lead on and the bull left with them. We left after the sixth fight. There were meant to be six but there was a seventh, maybe because of the reprieve.

31 July - Sagunto

It was another long driving day, so up early to get packed and then off to somewhere north of Valencia.

The journey took us longer than expected and we arrived at the campsite around 6pm. After getting set up we set off on the bike to find a supermarket. We got a bit lost and then there was a huge thunderstorm so we got totally soaked. We must have been quite a sight entering the supermarket - both dripping!

We got all we needed and left again in the pouring rain. Massive puddles had formed on the roads and at one stage the water was just about up to our feet while riding the bike! We got back to camp like two drowned rats but after a hot shower and a cup of coffee we were feeling wonderful - certainly a lot better than the people in tents!

1 August - Sagunto

We didn't get up to much today as it was a resting day between two driving days.

So, after a lie in we rode to Valencia and wandered around a bit through the old town, passing through a very busy flea market.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing on the beach and swimming in a very warm sea - out first taste of the Mediterranean on this trip.

2 August - Canet de Mar

We set the alarm for 6am this morning with every intention of waking up to watch the sunrise over the beach. We were both far too sleepy for that though but did manage to get an earlier start than usual for our long drive to Barcelona.

Things went fine until Barcelona where the signs didn't give us the information we were looking for. Eventually we found our way around to the northern side from where we thought that it would be easy but instead ended up going straight into a town with such narrow streets that it felt like the mirrors on were going to touch the buildings on either side of the road! Leaving town was just as scary because of the steep incline. Had it been just a little steeper the van just wouldn't have made it. It was so stressful that I wanted to get out and dissapear into a hole somewhere!

After that we just took the easiest road out of town and ended up here. It's a camping mecca round here - one campsite after another and very little else. On finding a campsite that didn't have a steep entrance we were lucky in that we got the last site available. It's tiny and a bit of a squeeze but we're both happy to be off the road and in a spot! The campsite is really quite nice with stunning bathrooms so we'll be here for a while.

After setting up camp we had a well deserved ice cold beer.

3 August - Canet de Mar

We started our day off with a long walk on the beach. Our intention was to run but once again the sand was too soft - excuses, excuses!

After breakfast and washing we took a long drive though steep and winding roads along the coast. The coastline was beautiful and it was a lovely day.Our plan today was to head for Palafrugell and then to John's childhood beach, Augua Blava. It seemed to take forever to get there but once we arrived it was time for John to relive some childhood memories and he was quite excited. Unfortunately he was disappointed - the beach was the same as he'd remembered it (only smaller now!) but it was so busy that we couldn't have even laid a towel out. It's a great pity because it really was a lovely beach.

We stayed for an ice cream and then left in search of a quieter beach. Everything was incredibly busy but on the way back along the winding coastal road we came to a spot where you had to walk down quite a way from the road to get to the sea. We figured that if you had to do that then it would be a quiet beach. We set off on our walk and in the bushes came across tents - weird! We finally got to the beach and yes, it was quiet only it was essentially a nudist beach!

As we arrived a man appeared out of the bushes and said '¡hola!' wearing only a moon bag! On the beach was just a family and the mom was only topless so it wasn't a problem. A short while later some more people arrived and stripped off completely. It was a bit uncomfortable so we just had a swim and then left.

4 August - Canet de Mar

We decided to catch the train into Barcelona today as a change from all the riding. It was an awesome train with excellent air-conditioning.

We arrived in Barcelona after about an hour and then made our way to a very busy i for a map.

The train had taken us to Plaza Catalunya which is at the top of La Rambla - a long shopping street with a wide pedestrian walkway down the centre. There were many street performers and also stalls selling birds (strange!) and souveniers. The central market was just off La Rambla so we wandered around the beautifully laid out stalls and bought half a kilo of wonderful strawberries.

After a coffee break we took the metro to Sagrada Familia - Gaudí's architectural masterpiece.

It is not yet complete but what is there so far is really impressive and visually startling. It would be very interesting to see it completed although this might not be in our lifetimes.

Back on the metro and this time, after a steep climb (with some escalators to help), to Park Güell - a large park designed by Gaudí too. One part reminded us of the Lost City and we stopped there for hugely expensive liquid refreshments. We walked further through the park and then headed back to the metro.

Back at La Rambla we bought some postcards, had a drink and then headed back home on the train.

5 August - Canet de Mar

It was going to be a beach day today so we set off on a very long mission to find a dive shop. We wanted to buy snorkel and fins but to find a shop took two hours of riding, with us eventually finding a sports shop in Badelona.

Loaded up with snorkeling gear we made our way back north to find a less than crowded beach.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach sun-tanning, swimming and a playing a bit of beach tennis. We didn't snorkel in the end because the 'vis' was too bad - you could hardly see your waist.

So it wasn't a bad day in the end and our tans our doing really well!