Getting ready

No problems with the journey , we even managed to arrived in Madrid airport with all our bags. We stopped in el Escorial for lunch and looked at the monastery/palace there. It's a huge, huge, buildingLue lisää
Segovia

We had a long lie in this morning and then spent the day exploring Segovia, which is a really nice compact city with lots of great buildings to see. It's greatest fame is the Roman aqueduct which wasLue lisää
Moving on to Avila

We left Segovia this morning and took a detour to see a 15C castle an hour away in Coca. It was built in 1478 by an archbishop using Arab craftsmen and so much of it is Mudejar style with geometricLue lisää
Food

We have been eating far too much in our first few days, wanting to try the local specialties. Last night's dinner was spectacular. We ate at a restaurant on a terrace just outside the walls lit up byLue lisää
Avila

Avila is worth the visit for its spectacular walls. Built in 1098 straight after the reconquest from the Muslims, to protect the city the walls totally enclose the whole city and are truly unique. WeLue lisää
Avila to salamanca

We had a gentle morning in Avila and then set off for Salamanca. It's just a hour and a half away and the roads, as they have all been, were very good and empty of traffic. We have rented an apartmentLue lisää
Salamanca

We have 2 full days in Salamanca so we decided to split our sightseeing into gentle bouts. This morning we crossed the Roman bridge into the centre of Salamanca and visited various buildings of theLue lisää
Saturday afternoon

After lunch we took a break from sightseeing to track the Barnet football and GB Davis cup tennis. Not a good idea. When both matches were at 1 - 1 after tense play we went back into Salamanca toLue lisää
Salamanca Sunday

Visit this morning to the museum of art nouveau and Art Deco which is housed in a fabulous art nouveau palace overlooking the river. It was built by a wealthy industrialist as his home which he filledLue lisää
Salamanca to Valladolid

On the way to Valladolid we made a couple of detours, the first to see another castle which we did not expect to be open - but it was. Castillo la Mota was originally built in the 12C by the Moors butLue lisää
Palencia - on the way to Burgos

It turns out that just around the corner from our hotel in Valladolid is the best churreria in town, so churros and chocolate for breakfast was necessary. We were then going on the Burgos but went toLue lisää
On to Burgos

After really enjoying Palencia cathedral we went to find our new apartment in Burgos, which was good and right next to the cathedral. So many cathedrals, maybe we should called this trip "cathedralsLue lisää
Seeing the sights in Burgos

Another cathedral - the cathedral in Burgos really does dominate the town so we started off there this morning. It is enormous, started in the 12C and added to over the centuries. It has some goodLue lisää
A trip 1.3 million years into the past

Woke this morning to thick fog, with even the spires of the cathedral barely visible. Thankfully it dispersed as soon as the sun came up and the day was clear and hot as usual. We drove out of town toLue lisää
Camino de Santiago

When we were in Segovia the road outside our hotel had brass scallop shells embedded in it, which are the symbol of the pilgrims taking the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. The story isLue lisää
Rioja

Fòr most of this trip we have been travelling through brown flat countryside- the massive high Spanish plain - that is used mainly for growing wheat, now harvested. Also mile upon mile of sunflowersLue lisää
Bodega visits

On our way into Laguardia we stopped to see the winery of Marques de Riscal, which is one of the biggest and most famous Rioja names. The estate is huge and I guess hadn't suffered much from Spain'sLue lisää
laguardia

We spent the morning wandering the narrow medieval streets of Laguardia, and walking around the walls. The town is so small and confined to a narrow hilltop that it only takes 20 or 30 minutes to walkLue lisää
laguardia archaeology

In the afternoon we visited two sites just outside of Laguardia. The first was the remains of a celticiberian settlement dating from 1400 BC to 400 BC. Although there are only the low remains of wallsLue lisää
Granny meets the dinosaurs!

120 million years ago the plain south of Rioja was a flat swampy wetland, home to many herbivore dinosaurs and so also the carnivore raptors. As these dinosaurs walked in the mud , it dried, wasLue lisää
Final day of road trip

We left LaGuardia this morning for a longish drive to Bilbao. Our first stop was at a viewpoint up the mountain but it was in the clouds and drizzling so we didn't get much view. So far this trip weLue lisää
Guggenheim museum

This spectacular building sits on the river front in the heart of Bilbao and was opened in 1997 to a Frank Gehry design, and is probably the reason most people come to Bilbao. We spent all morningLue lisää