The Long Way Home: "I told you, Baxter, I don't speak Spanish!"

Quote: Ron Burgundy

Three glorious weeks have flown by since we crossed the Pyrenees into beautiful España. Or is it two weeks? I can't be sure. I've lost all sense of time!

We spent the first few nights in San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque), a lovely small seaside city nestled between three mountains. The old town is centred at the foot of Mount Urgull, although in 1808 the entire city save one street was entirely burnt to the ground during an assault by British and Portugese troops after the city had been captured by Napoleon, so much of it was rebuilt. We spent our time eating and drinking our way through the maze of cobbled streets lined with tabernas, sampling many of the amazing pintxos on offer (including at a Michelin rated bar). For those who aren't aware of the concept of pintxos, they are essentially canapés or bar snacks beautifully displayed along the bar - basically you walk into a bar, order a drink and a plate and then take what pintxos you want, show the bar man and then pay the bill at the end. It's a great idea, but the selection can be a bit overwhelming at the start!

I'm not convinced the idea would work in New Zealand, but I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on that one!

We stayed at a nice camp ground on Mt Igeuldo, with great views over the mountains and small villages of the Basque Country.

First things first, local beer!

View from the camp ground at sunset

View over San Sebastián from Mt Urgull

Beach Football

The only street to survive the fire in 1808

Then there was the battery debacle... It actually began a few nights before in Bordeaux when we went to leave and discovered the battery was flat. Assuming that it was probably something we'd done, we got a jump start and carried on our merry way. However, when we went to leave San Sebastián, we discovered that the battery was dead once again... Another jump start later, and we were back on the road towards Madrid. Our spirits were soon dashed when after stopping for a quick toilet break at some services, the car would not start. Being Sunday, there wasn't much we could do but roam the car park with our jumper leads and a pleading look on our faces in search of someone willing to help two hopeless tourists in a brightly painted piece of cr*p hippy van...

We ended up making it to a camp ground in Segovia, a small town north of Madrid where we parked up before taking it to the garage in the morning. We had actually intended to stop in at Segovia anyway, so it wasn't so bad. This town has a huge Roman aqueduct, ~900m long and 28m high that ran right through the city. The view of the town nestled at the foot of the snow capped mountains was breathtaking.

A new day and a new battery saw us happily on the road to Madrid, our port of call for the next few nights. We stayed in a camp ground conveniently located a short walk to the metro station, and next to an interesting sculpture park where we even went for a run one morning.

Madrid doesn't yet seem like a major tourist destination, but all the better for those who take the time to visit. We had GREAT tapas, hung out in lovely parks and went on an interesting walking tour. We also caught up with Steph, a friend of mine from university who has just moved to Madrid - it was lovely to see you Steph!

Plaza Mayor

Statue of Don Quixote in Plaza Espana

Parque del Buen Retiro

Changing of the guards

Around Madrid (including the Palace, top left, and the worlds oldest restaurant, bottom right)

Sampling tapas down Cava Baja - including the most delicious thing we've ever eaten - a tapa with foie gras and bramley apple, melt in the mouth (middle left)!

I can't remember all of the things we learned about Madrid on the walking tour, but I did learn that it was originally a muddy swamp and wasn't the original capital of Spain (Toledo was). I also learned that Spain has a complex, and also at times sinister history. Through the ages Spain has been occupied by Iberians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Christians; I don't even know where half of them are from! However, many of the cities (particularly in Andalusia) still have areas where there architecture has a distinct Islamic influence, as well as preserved Jewish quarters and of course impressive Cathedrals. The period known as the Reconquista or Spanish Inquisition in the 1400's was where in order to consolidate power across the Spanish kingdom, the Catholic rulers gave the population the choice to convert or to be exiled, and then set about brutally executing those who chose neither. A lot more people also died of starvation in the period following, because guess who grew and made the food?... Smart move!

It sounds like Franco wasn't exactly Father Christmas either, and joining the euro has apparently been a big blow to the economy as well. Nevertheless, things certainly seem on the up in Madrid, and we got nothing but positive vibes from the place.

From Madrid we carried on towards Córdoba, and into the region of Andalusia. On the way we stopped at the historic capital of Spain, Toledo. Toledo is also a UNESCO world heritage site and like many other places in Spain, has a curious mix of Christian and Islamic architecture. The 13th century gothic cathedral is quite spectacular with amazing stucco work, sculptures, El Greco paintings and a lavishly decorated retable. It is thought that there has been a church on this site since the 6th Century (and for a while in between, a mosque).

The city of Toledo (looking at the Alcazar)

The stunningly decorated retable

Looking up at the organ

We then visited the windmills at Consuegra. We decided to walk up from town and ended up getting rained on. I sheltered in the small gift shop inside one of the windmills, where I'm pretty sure the lady mistook the camera under my raincoat for a baby bump, and she got the seat out from behind the desk for me! She did well at masking her realisation when I took off my coat...