Marseille France (August 19th 2016)

We took the hour and twenty minute train from Nimes to Marseille on August 15th. I was surprised by the size of the city. I didn't realize it was such a big place. After getting over this initial shock we made our way to the very large Marseille HI Hostel. From there we took a short walk down to the beach.

We hung out at the beach for the rest of the afternoon. We took a swim and made plans to go to Les Calanques which was our main reason for coming to Marseille.

These beautiful steep-walled inlets surrounded by limestone cliffs are found along this area of the Mediterranean coast.

We were told at the hostel reception that going to the Calanques depended on the weather conditions from day to day. At 6 pm each day they get the report on the accessibility for the next day.

Access is classed according to three levels of risk: Orange: access for hiking is authorised for all day . Red: access is limited between 6 am to 11 am, along a 200 m coastal strip
Black: hiking is prohibited all day. Apparently this system has been put in place for safety and sustainable tourism reasons.

Anyway the colour coded report came back orange so therefore we were cleared to go.
The next morning we got up early, had our hostel breakfast and headed out to try to make our way to Calanque de Sormiou.

After two city buses, the second one took us to the last stop. From there we followed the road, which was about a 45-minute walk to the entrance of Parc National des Calanques.

This is where the real fun started. We were out of the city. A break from crowded cathedrals, museums and castles. It was just us, fresh air and incredible scenery.

At first the hike was fairly straightforward and also fairly up hill. When we finally reached the top the view was spectacular.

 

From there we started the 4.6 km trial along what is basically a cliff and eventually down to Sormiou which is considered one of the most beautiful Calanques near Marseilles.  The trails were quite rocky and not always the easiest to negotiate. There were a couple of times when we started to wonder if we were lost or maybe had bitten off a little more than we could physically chew.

The altitude combined with the heat, wind and dry conditions gave us a challenge that took us pretty much to the limit of our middle aged capabilities. Luckily we had lots of time, good shoes, sun cream and plenty of water.

Eventually we made our way down, at times quite awkwardly to the brilliant-turquoise Mediterranean water. There we once again joined up with other people many of whom had made their way by boat.

There we were rewarded with lunch on the beach and cooled off by taking the most glorious refreshing swim you could ever imagine.

After a nap in the sand it was time to make our way back to the city.

Without a doubt it was a very long day, a day of spectacular trails and incredible views. It was a day we pushed ourselves both figuratively and literally to the edge. It was a day we will both remember as one where we lived life to the fullest.

Nimes - Avignon France (August 17th 2016)

We arrived in Nimes early in the afternoon on Saturday August 13th. We headed to the Nimes HI Hostel which is located within a botanical garden about 4km away from the town centre. It would become our very relaxing and peaceful home for the next two days. 

Arriving early in the day gave us a chance to take care of some laundry and make plans for what to do in the area.

We got up bright and early the next day and took a bus back to the Nimes train station. From there we explored around Les Arėnes, the Roman amphitheatre which was built around 100 BC. It was originally used for gladiators and public executions; however, apparently it is still used for concerts and bull fights.

After that we were able to catch a short 30 minuite train to Avignon.

Avignon is a very scenic place full of shops and cafés and like many other older European cities its buidings and beautiful architecture are surrounded by a wall.

It wasn't hard for us to find our way to Pont Saint Benezet where we did our little "Sur le pont d' Avignon" dance.

After we did our time on the famous bridge we moved on to the nearby Palais des Papes which is supposed to be the largest Gothic palace in the world. It was built in 1309 and was the papal seat for 70 years.

After a very pleasant day of bridge dancing and Catholic history in Avignon we took our train back to Nimes. 

Carcassonne France ( Aug 15th 2016)

We arrived in Carcassonne, France at 9:00 pm on August 11th. Our first impression of the place was it seemed like a nice little place. It felt good to be back in France again and it was certainly very quiet and peaceful compared to Barcelona.

Anyway, without any information about buses or taxis we decided to try and navigate the 3km hike through the new town and on up to the medieval fortified La Cité 

High on the hilltop with stone walls and pointy  towers the fortified city of Carcassonne looks like something out of a fairy tale. It also looks like the quintessential medieval castle.

This fascinating place has been inhabited since ancient times. It has been used as a defensive stronghold for over 2000 years. Still very much functioning, the interior is now a maze of cobbled stone lanes and courtyards, lined with shops, cafés, restaurants and luckily for us our HI Hostel.

It's the type of place you can spend hours just walking around thinking about days gone by and imagining if these walls could only talk.

We spent the next couple days wandering around these little lanes getting lost and finding ourselves over and over again within the walls of 2500 years of history.

We cooked our own supper at the hostel; however, we did treat ourselves to ham and cheese crêpes.

It was a lovely spot to eat, people watch and simply soak up the incredible old medieval atmosphere. 

As you can tell we truly enjoyed our medieval times event here and it was well worth the steep hike to spend a couple days. 

This particular fairy tale came to an end for us on the morning of August 13th. We said Au revoir to La Cité of Carcassonne and made the hike back down to modern day France.

Spain # 2 (August 13th 2016)

VALENCIA

We took the train from Madrid to Valencia early on August 8th. It felt great to feel the sea breeze and a slightly cooler temperature on the coast.

We stayed at the Albergue Colegio Mayor Galileo HI Hostel which is located in a student dormitory on campus of a very nice, new university. Our time here consisted of only one day and that was pretty much all spent at the beach.  

 

In the evening we ate paellea on the promenade. It was a nice mixture of seafood and chicken cooked on rice. 

It was a great meal that ended off a nice relaxing day at the beach.

BARCELONA

Our train pulled into Barcelona just after 2:00 pm on the 9th. We walked up Avenue
Numancia to the Pere Tarrés HI Hostel and then went for a long walk down Avenue Diagonal to La Bodoa Flamenco where we bought tickets for the next nights show.

After this we walked on to the massive La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. This incredible structure inspires awe by its sheer size and over the top design. This medieval Cathedral is still under construction after more than a hundred years.

Then we moved on to the old gothic centre of the city and headed down La Rambla, Spain's most famous Boulevard where we finally settled in at a nice little Irish Pub (apparently where U2's Bono hangs out in Barcelona) to eat and rest our weary feet.

The next morning we took the Metro back to La Sagrada Famila. Although we were unable to get tickets to go inside we were very impressed by the outside. It is really something even for European church standards.

In the evening we went to the Flamenco dance show.  Dance is Jueun's thing and it was she who insisted we go to this, must see Spanish spectacle .  Well, I am very glad she did. It was unlike any other dance show I'd ever seen. 

The Spanish guitar player was an amazing musician and the distinctive sound worked in harmony with the singer and dancers. It was truly a foot stomping, body pounding, hand clapping, Spanish yelling time. It was a passionate and powerful dance that says so much about Spain and its spirit.  It was really incredible to witness such passion and emotion on stage and in the audience. All I can do is clap my hands high in the air and at the top of my lungs shout ole!

After the show I learned that Rock n Roll dreams do come true as we dug into a  delicious meal of chicken and ribs at the Hard Rock Cafe and switched musical genres to AC/DC's "Who made who."

Early the next day we took the Metro to Drassanes station at the end of La Rambla. This area was full of life and lined with artists and street venders selling everything under the hot Spanish sun.

Close by, the Barri Gotic was waiting to be explored. This old medieval area which is filled with narrow lanes and tranquil plazas offered Kodak moments at every turn and the main Cathedral which is the city's central place of worship seems to be the heart of the whole place.

We walked around the Marina Port Vellum on our way to Platina de la Barceloneta. Here we could see  the cars and yachts of the rich and possibly famous.  

After a morning of walking and sight seeing the beach felt like the ideal place to chill out and spend the afternoon. Yes indeed... this is the life!

Although it has absolutely nothing to do with the temperature I now understand why Barcelona is known as one of Europe's coolest cities. I would have loved to have had more time here in this vibrant Spanish "rock n roll" kind of place. Ole! 

Spain #1 (August 9th 2016)

CORDOBA

After a nice little stopover in the English territory of Girbralter we started to head north into Spain. We took a train from Algeciras to Cordoba on August 5th. At about 6:30 pm we arrived in what was once one of the most enlightened Islamic cities on earth.

Although we didn't have much time here and the temperature was a blistering 45°C we did manage to explore a little around the huge Mezquita Mosque and some of the winding streets that surrounded the area.

Like the French, the Spanish seem to make an all night event out of their meals which often don't start untill about 10:00 pm. On this particular night we decided to eat at a restaurant called Tiuaja next to the Guadalquivir River. It is known for its Cordovan cuisine. Some of the many courses of this meal included soups, creamy sauces, rolled pork and serrano ham known as mazamorra, salmorejo and flamenquin. By the end of it all I wasn't sure if I was more stuffed or exhausted

As we tried to walk off some of the feast the views of the river area and the Roman Bridge topped off our evening in Cordoba.

MADRID

According to the Lonely Planet travel guide (the "other" bible) no city on earth is more alive than Madrid. And yes, alive it is.... Alive with energy, culture, food and nightlife.

It is also supposed to be Europe's sunniest capital city and I would venture to guess...one of the hottest.

 

We arrived in the Spanish capital at 5 pm on August 6th. We took a short taxi ride from the train station to the very trendy, full of energy, HI Hostel. It was located right next to Plaza Mayor in the heart of the city.

Our two days in Madrid included a walk around the Parque del Retiro which ended with a refreshing cool smoothy and churros at one of the cafés.

We also took in a few of Madrid's more popular plazas like Plaza Mayor, Plaza Isabel and the " Times Square " of the Spanish world, Plaza Puerto Del Sol. Here we posed for pictures in front of the famous bear statue and placed our feet on the Spanish Km zero spot and watched some of the many buskers busk their hearts out to the crowds. When the heat became too unbearable we took refuge in the holy and thankfully very cool, San Miguel Basilica.

We also found some escape from the heat by taking advantage of the cool mist making machines located at most of the outdoor cafes. It was nice to hang out, have a drink, and feel a blast of good old rain, drizzle and fog for a bit.

We also spent some time in the square between the Palacio Real and the Cathedral de La Altmudena and listened to a violinist play the Italian song "Con te Partiro" or in English, "Time to say Good bye", as it would soon be our time to say good bye to Madrid.

Highlights of our time in the city would have to include the location and atmosphere of the Hat HI Hostel, our anniversary meal of tapas on Plaza Mayor and simply surviving the sunniest and likely hottest capital city in Europe

Out of Africa - Into Gibraltar (August 5th 2016)

OUT OF AFRICA

On Thursday August 4th we took the first train out of Fes in order to be able to catch the last ferry to Europe.  It was a long hot, five hour train ride from Fes to Tangier.

After arriving in Tangier we realized that there is more than than one Port in Tangier and the one we needed, called Tangier Med was 50 km away. A taxi ride got us there with lots of time to spare. As it turned out our boat was three and a half hours late leaving. Our 5:00 FRS Ferry finally left Morocco to take us across the Strait of Gibraltar at 8:30 PM.

The hour and a half ferry cossing was very comfortable. It gave us a chance to get something to eat as we watched the sun set on the Mediterranean Sea.


THE ROCK

Gibraltar's strange looming physical presence of its giant rock has resulted in the place being known simply as "The Rock." 

Having spent much of my life living on another rock called Newfoundland and The ROK (Republic of Korea) I figured this Rock was worth a visit. Also, considering the fact we would be in the neighborhood it was only right to drop in on one of Britain's last remaining colonies. 

Girbralter is one of those unique little places that has always captured my interest. Places like it, Singapore, the Vatican City and St-Pierre et Miquelon seem to defy the usual norm of place and nation.

A flat white coffee at a cafe in the morning and a stroll around the streets downtown made for a refreshing little "English" break. 

We walked through some interesting tunnels and some windy roads right along the coast.

 

We found some great views of the Mediterranean Sea, the Costa del Sol and then walked on to the most southern point where we could see North Africa where we had just left. 

Our only problem with our day in Gibraltar was we wished we had a little more time there.