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Our Plan: Our plan was to rent a car in Madrid and drive the following route: Toledo, Granada, Ronda, Sevilla, Cordoba, Salamanca, Avila, Segovia, Leon, Santiago de Compostella and drop the car off in Bilbao. Then take the train to Barcelona. But since we had such a good time driving, we just kept on driving from Bilbao to Barcelona. All this in a bit over 3 weeks. Our group was just me and Cristina and her brother, Jaime.
General Impressions of Driving: I recommend doing Spain with a rental car. Came to about $17/day. We ordered a compact but the Avis people in Madrid gave us a free upgrade to a Renault Senic diesel 5-speed. Great car! Diesel was about 112 pesetas per liter. (about $2.66/gal). We drove 2,455 miles. So diesel came to a total of $175. I got 37.7 miles per gallon. The Senic was higher off the ground so we all got a better scenic view. It had a 110 volt plug also! It was small enough to fit down the narrowest of streets, too. We drove everywhere. The roads are excellent. We tried to stay off the autovias (main highways) and use the secondary, more scenic, routes. More time, but worth it.
But the Spaniards drive like a bat out of hell. So if you are doing the speed limit of 120km. hr, they will come right up to your tail and insist that you let them pass. But they usually have a third lane for passing when you need it. Very well maintained roads. The bad part of driving is their signs stink! Especially for getting in and out of cities. They don' t put North or South on signs so sometimes we were pointed in the opposite direction. Get a very good map. Some of the roads we were on, I swear, were not on our map. But eventually we got to where we were headed!
General Impressions of Spain: Spain is very, very clean. Don't think we saw one billboard. Litter was virtually non-existent. Only Barcelona had some problems but it is so dynamic and packed with people, it is barely noticeable. Our big problem with Spain is the smoking. They smoke in banks, in airports, in subway stations, in restaurants, during flamenco shows….everywhere. Unfortunately, it is bad enough to make us not want to return. Really bad. We had to walk out of many restaurants because we just could not breath. One guy struck up a big fat cigar during a flamenco show which was in a very small room with a stage.
This is in such contrast to everything else. We were amazed at their glass windows. They were spotlessly clean. Spain a country of beautiful balconies with clean glass! We were impressed with not only what was in their museums, but also how the exhibits were presented. Their workmanship and attention to detail in the lighting and exhibit cases and the rooms for the exhibits were just as amazing as the exhibits themselves.
Disappointments: I am an avid photographer. Most of the cathedrals and museums prohibited photography. Those that allow picture taking were so dark, that even the use of flash did not let you get what you wanted. And some did not allow the use of tripods, even though the feet had rubber tips. So unless you had 1000 ASA, photography had its limits. The ultimate problem is that I now have so many visions of different cathedrals and museums in my head, I can not figure out which and where they all are from.
If you are a vegetarian, you will be have a problem. When we would as if there was a "vegetariano" restaurant around, they invariably thought we meant "italiano" restaurant. Their concept of a vegetarian meal is a salad. We did find a couple vegetarian restaurants…but not without great determination and walking
Wonderful Recollections: The café con leche was superb. We were not ourselves until we had our morning cup(s). The hot chocolate was inspirational. It was more like hot pudding--thick and delicious. The churros and hot chocolate was sinful. I had to fall off my vegetarian wagon a few time so I would not faint due to lack of hot food. So I had the white beans with some chorizo. Simply divine. About 2 out of 3 stores was either a restaurant, pastry shop, bread or cheese shop. I like driving because Cris would feed me sandwiches of fresh bread with fresh cheese and avocado, etc. Damn, was that good.
I mentioned the roads. I like driving. When we drove to Ronda from Granada, you get to test your driving skills on the very windy of roads. This drive was just a warm-up for the drive around the Picos de Europa.
(More later...)
The End-
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(I will have some images of Spain soon, I hope....)
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