Andorra la Vella, Andorra

We are on the ferry back to Spain, sitting in the car waiting to disembark, and we turn the GPS on and she says “Proceed 80m before exiting the ferry”. You can’t get anything past The *****!

We were staying there for one night and had booked a room in a hotel, via http://www.booking.com, and had a very comfortable room, with breakfast included for only €30, and for an extra €10 each, we also had a three-course meal with a drink for dinner. Great value! While Nick was unpacking the car, he met an Australian couple who were heading over to Morocco for a couple of weeks, so we had the chance to chat (in English) and passed on a lot of tips we had picked up in Morocco. I even managed to pass on my Moroccan SIM card (2 weeks of phone calls and 1.5Gb of data still available!

Does anyone remember the Monty Python skit about the Travel Agent and Eric Idle droning on and on about British tourists who went to Torremolinos? I also remembered that years ago, when my parents had their first trip overseas – it was a combined work/holiday trip for Dad, they were travelling down to Almeria and they met two young New Zealand girls (Dawn & Felicity) who stayed with them. That meeting many years ago lead to some great friendships for us all.

But at least there were not Brits or Dutchies there avoiding winter! What can I say about Granada? The weather – we encountered our first proper cold day in ages. Architecture – as Granada was a major centre of Muslim occupation during the period that the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by the Moors for about 500+ years (900 – 1492). Anyway, Granada was the place where the most glorious palace was built. It is called “The Alhambra”. After the Reconquista was completed, in 1492, the palace was seen by Charles V who fell in love with the palace and moved there, making Granada the ruling centre. It wasn’t until the mid-1500s that Madrid was chosen as the capital of the newly combined Spain.

One of the things that we liked about the Alhambra, after visiting a variety of royal palaces and cathedrals, was the fact that the Moorish architecture is so clean and uncluttered. Also the Alhambra isn’t furnished, so the beauty of the architecture has an opportunity to stand out and dazzle you.

Another interesting thing about Granada is the way the city has grown. There is a huge gypsy population who live on the edge of the town in caves. In fact, this area is deemed to be the birthplace of flamenco. The sad thing is that you see lots of groups of tourists walking about Granada wearing red hats that they got when they went to a tourist Flamenco show! God! Do they look twee! In the past, I’ve visited Westminster Abbey and other places where British Kings & Queens were buried. I’ve also been to Saint Denis (Paris) where the French royals are buried, so it was fitting to visit the Royal Chapel in Granada and see where Ferdinand & Isabelle are buried, and Joanna (the Mad) and Pedro the Handsome (!) are buried there too.

From Granada to Cordoba (or Cordova as it appears on some maps) was a pretty good drive and we arrived in Cordoba by the mid afternoon. Our campground was close to the centre of the city which meant that we could get the bikes out to do some exploring. Some of the attractions in Cordoba are the Roman Bridge and the Mesquita Cathedral. No, that is NOT a cathedral for mesquitos! It is a major Mosque that was converted to a cathedral after the Reconquista. Traditionally, Cathedrals (& churches) are oblong-shaped but Mosques are square. Also, the decoration is aptly more sedate but glorious – also not as much of a dust-gatherer as traditional Christian decorations. The Mesquita also gives you the chance to see the two styles of decoration side-by-side.

Another highlight of Cordoba was the opportunity to experience another Hammam. Sadly, it was nothing like our first Hammam in Fez. We had to wear our swimsuits and the washing and massage was for a very short time – only about 15 minutes. But the setting was in an traditionally designed and decorated Arabic Bath so we got to experience a number of different temperature pools, as well as a sauna. But after two hours, it was a real let down to be told to get out of the water. And, it was VERY expensive!

It is now time to head to Madrid and see what the Spanish capital is like. Only about 60 kms south-west from Madrid is Aranjuez (or “Orange Juice” as Pete Postlethwaite called it in “Brassed Off”) which used to be a closed city. Yes, you could only go there if you were royalty or worked at the palace. Actually, in Spain, it is really strange – whilst they currently have a king & queen (Juan Carlos I & Sofia), the current king & queen only came back onto the throne after the end of Franco’s rule in Spain, which was in the 70’s. The previous royals went into exile in the early 1930s. Though, if you have a quick read on the history of the Spanish Royal Family, it has never been very strong – I think it’s heyday was back in the 15^th – 16^th Centuries!

Apart from the rubbish, we did visit the Royal Palace in Madrid. Can I just say how disappointing it is to visit something so interesting and to be told that you can’t take any photos! Also, both royal palaces (Aranjuez & Madrid) had Spanish-language guided tours and the Spanish language is a really LOUD language, so if you are trying to listen to an English Audio guide or read the descriptions in each room, you find the Spanish-speaking guides really distracting! In both instances, we hung back until the guide was at least two rooms ahead of us. Apart from the noise, their groups didn’t see any problem with pushing you out of the way, so they got the best view. And, yes, the weather was starting to cool down in the evenings, so we were back into the winter sleeping bags! Nice and warm but oh, so hard to get out of in the mornings!

I know that I did a separate Blog post about the weather in Segovia (yes, it did snow) but I have to just say how much there is to see in that town. There is a fantastic example of a Roman Aqueduct which was built in the 1^st Century (BC? AD? Conflicting information) but the aqueduct continued to be used until the end of the 19^th Century! The Aqueduct was built to bring water from the nearby mountains to the castle, though I do like the myth where a water carrier (a girl) made a deal with the devil that he would get her soul if he found and built a way that she didn’t have to carry water up the hill in the town, before sunrise. And just before he put the last stone in place, the sun rose! In fact, there are a couple of niches that myth says were added to hold a couple of holy statues to keep “bad vibes” from the aqueduct.

Other great things to see are a walk through the old town, the Alcazar which sits on the high point at the junction of two rivers and was where Isabelle was crowned as the Queen of Castille. From the Alcazar, you have a view of ‘La Vera Cruz’ which is a church that was reputed to have been built by the Templar Knights and was supposed to have been a reliquary of a piece of the true cross (‘vera cruz’). The church is now owned by the Knights Hospitallers, or the catchy title of the Knights Hospitallers of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta! Whoever built it, the church was built in the 12^th Century and is fascinating! And, when you are down visiting the church, you get the chance to get an amazing view of the Alcazar from below and it is a awesome sight! Lots of great photo opportunites!!

Our last stop in Spain was Zaragoza but because my back went out, we didn’t do much. We did manage to get into town, but it was a really cold day and I was a very unhappy little vegemite, so I shuffled back to our accommodation at the campground – Nick managed to walk quite well, thank you! Sadly, we feel that we missed some opportunities because there are some interesting tributes to Caesar Augustus!

So now we are out of Spain and in Andorra. Why did we come to Andorra? Because it was there and we wanted to include it in the list of countries we were putting onto the back window of the Troopy! What is there to do in Andorra? Shop, visit the Spa, go shopping, go skiing, go shopping again! Yes, because of it’s reputation as a tax-free zone, there are lots of shops but not a lot of variety. But if you are interested in cigarettes, alcohol, perfume, cameras, small electronics – then there is lots to look at but it is the same thing in each shop! But we had heaps of laughs at some of the things on sale that are classified as “prohibited” items in Australia – crossbows, tazers, pepper spray, extendable batons, all sorts of knives, replica firearms and swords!

Two things that stood out in Andorra were the Caldea Spa which is a very modern-looking complex with a variety of pools and Jacuzzis, as well as the opportunity to try all types of treatments, and the cheap fuel. We managed to fill up both tanks of the Troopy (140 Litres) for the price of €1.12 per litre of diesel – that’s about $A1.63 per litre. Yes, I know that is more than the price at home but it is between 30 – 50 Euro cents per litre cheaper than France & Germany!

So now we are ready to start our trek to Southern Germany for the Christmas Markets!