Coach Trip Part 5: Spain

Spain: Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid and Bilbao

Barcelona
After settling into the hotel in the afternoon, we headed to the beach, about a 30 minute walk. The beach was packed and we claimed our 5 square metres close to the water’s edge. The sand was very coarse but the water was refreshing and got deep quickly. It was fantastic to lie on the beach and have a swim, it has been the only thing that we have missed doing this year. The crowd on the beach was predominately young (15 to 25 y.o). There were plenty of people selling drinks, massages, hair braiding, coconut, doughnuts, etc.. From the beach we walked along the marina at Port Vell to the Christopher Columbus monument and then headed up La Rambla (the main pedestrian walk in Barcelona). We had dinner and looked at all the people and headed back to the hotel.
Next morning was an organised bus tour of Barcelona. First stop was the Barri Gothic cathedral (I’m officially over cathedrals now!) and the surrounding “roman” streets. From there we drove up Mont Juic, the area of the Olympic stadium (first built in 1929 –they wanted the 1936 Olympics, but had to wait until 1992), and also panoramic views over Barcelona. As we drove through the streets we saw plenty of the uniquely designed buildings (see photos) and finished at the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that has been built for the last 150 or more years, purely by donations fro the public. It was originally designed by the architect Gaudi. There are supposed to be 16 towers (pillars?) of which only 8 have been finished. The front and the back of the building are magnificent (see photos).
After a siesta, we spent a few more hours on the beach. When we arrived back at the hotel and cleaned up, it was decided that boys would have kebabs for dinner. So we gave Billy and Declan some money to buy these at the Kebab shop diagonally opposite the hotel. 10 minutes later they returned empty handed, because they couldn’t find the shop!!

Zaragoza
The stopover on the way to Madrid from Barcelona was Zaragoza – lovely basilica, square, river, etc..

Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, 650 metres above sea level and bloody hot!! After we arrived late afternoon and settled in, we went for a walk around Madrid. Our hotel was situated close to Retiro Park (The Lungs of Madrid), so we walked through it and contained lots of fountains, trees, statues and a man-made lake. From the park we walk along the beautiful avenue which has the Prado Museum, Reina Sofia and magnificent fountains. We found something for dinner and then headed back to the hotel.
First thing Saturday morning we caught the metro to the other side of Madrid and visited the Royal Palace. The Palace also contained the Royal Armory & Pharmacy. Next door to the palace was the modern cathedral but like the people of Madrid –it wasn’t that impressive! We then walked down to the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. Declan and Billy went to McDonalds and played cards while Andy, Kristin and Lucy went in. There were lots and Picassos and Dalis, and the main attraction is Picasso’s Geurnica. We then had to get back to the hotel for the included sightseeing of Madrid – which included Las Ventas (bullfighting arena), Real Madrid’s football (soccer) stadium and the square dedicated to Don Quixote. We left the tour in the middle of Madrid and walked around the city centre and ended up at the Prado museum – free entry after 6 pm – the art pieces included works from El Greco, Velaquez and Goya.
After the Prado we had a few drinks in an Irish bar on the way back to the hotel.

Sunday, we had a long day’s drive to Bilbao (situated on the NW of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay). It was extremely hot (about 38 C) and dry. Our stopover city for lunch was Burgos, a lovely little town and one of its statues was of El Cid.

We stopped in the main centre of Bilbao for only about half an hour and took photos of the Guggenheim museum. The hotel had pool and many of the tour had a swim, except for Billy, Lucy and 3 others who went to the Bullfight in Bilbao. Billy and Lucy really enjoyed the experience.