When Lars and I still lived in Brussels, we sometimes jumped in our car on a Friday evening and drove abroad. Waking upon a Saturday morning in Freiburg im Breisgau is a real treat!
We celebrated our arrival with a breakfast with some champagne.
If it had been warmer we could have had breakfast outside! The Main church is worth a visit!
The loca lmarket was cozy as well
And what about tasting some wine?
I grew up with my grandparents and when I was six my grandmother introduced me to Lawrence of Arabia. Although I didn’t really understand the movie, thanks to the landscapes, the soundtrack and the enigmatic Peter O’Toole, this was the start of a lifelong affair with movies. Furthermore, When I saw the movie again in the fall of 2018, I discovered that part of the movie had been filmed in Spain! The next day we found ourselves in Tabernas for some exploring:
This small town is located not far from a desert, as you can see from the surrounding mountains:
Last Summer, we were back in Tabernas, for some further exploring.
On top of a hill, you can see the ruins of an 11th century castle. The local church is also worth a look:
There are picturesque villages nearby:
And there is of course the desert:
It was time to return home, This time we had a stop in Ciudad Rodrigo, where we stayed in hotel Yoanna. The big advantage of this hotel is not only that it’s cheap, it also comes with an Irish pub! When we arrived, we were not only tired, but also very hungry and thirsty! The Pub was therefore the first place we checked out! And we were not disappointed, because the pub sold Belgian beer!
Afterwards we had dinner, consisting of a German bratwurst and cake, a tasty multicultural meal.
Ciudad Rodrigo is a medieval town whose old center is walled, and that was our focus for sightseeing the day after.
In between all the festivities, we will publish the last post of the year with the best travel experiences of this year. Happy holidays!
During our day in the Pyrenees, we decided to follow a touristic route in the area, we basically drove from one village to another. In Valle de Villaverde we decided to take a lunch break, we had become hungry!
So we parked our car near the Santa Maria Church and made our way to the Posada Calera. As soon as we entered the dining room, we were welcomed by delicious smells coming from the kitchen and a very friendly woman presenting the menu del dia to us.
Lars chose chickpea soup with extra cabbage for the starter, and I had macaroni. Both dishes were incredibly delicious. The Posada has an excellent cook!
For the second course we both had French fries, eggs, and the best smoked ham we had ever eaten:
Dessert was Natillas (Vanilla custard), containing about a miliion calories! One of the best meals we ever had, we were in foodie paradise.
When we were back in the car, the explorers in us woke up, and we decided to go to Bakio (am small coastal town):
Huge change of scenery, and what a scenery:
it was the end of the afternoon and lots of people were soaking up the last sun rays on the beach with their pooch.
And after all the fantastic events of that superb day, It was time to return to Santander.
With its more than 170.000inhabitants,Santander is one of the bigger towns in the north of Spain. During our stay, El Figon was our temporary home. The hostel is spread over two blocks, one contains the reception, restaurant, and bodega, the other block further away from the very busy street contains the rooms. Amongst the interesting sights are the beaches, cathedral, Old Town and a center for contemporary art. And it’s close to the Pyrenees! After checking in, we had dinner; our first course resembled paella, and the main course -fish-was to die for. Just look at the smile on the Viking’s face!
A very good meal indeed, but it didn’t prepare us for the gastronomical adventure that awaited us in the Pyrenees!
Anyway, you can easily find this hostel on booking.com. And the adventure continues!
Lars had decided that during our explorations in the Pyrenees we would stay in Santander, but the drive from our hometown to Santander proved to be longer than expected, so we decided to stay in Guadalajara for one night. Via booking.com, we found hotel España, in general, we were very happy with the accommodations, except that there was no restaurant in the hotel. Moreover, there was a public holiday, and all nearby bars and restaurants were closed. Thanks to the GPS we found one: Puerta Gayola at the Plaza San Esteban. But our troubles weren’t over yet. The kitchen had just closed, and we would have to wait 4 hours before it opened again. And wait we did.
Finally, we could order some food! So far, our interactions with the waiters had been very limited, now we discovered that some of them were quite unfriendly. I was too hungry to pay attention to it, because I was so hungry. Finally, a big, juicy burger made its way to our table!
The morning afterwards, we went for a short walk, before leaving for Santander. Too bad we couldn’t spend some more time in Guadalajara, it looked like a really agreeable town.
Later this week, we will introduce Santander to you!
The town I am referring to is Colmar, located in the Elsas.
The artist is none other than Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, who delighted us with cinematic gems such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.it’s this last one where the cityscape resembles that of Colmar.
Im not quite sure why I converted almost all my pictures to b&w, since Colmar with its half-timbered houses, canals and flowers is very picturesque.
For the foodies amongst you, this is a wine region!
Have a look at the trailer:
About a month ago, my laptop broke down. That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t been very active on our site. Without a laptop it’s kind of hard to blog, and we have just returned from more adventures in the north of Spain. Anyway, without further ado, let’s finish our adventures in Murcia!
First up is Puerto de Mazzaron, a charming beach town. In the harbor, there are boats that organize trips during which you can observe dolphins.
Another beach town that won our hearts was Bolnuevo. Think Beach, Bars and Bays, and Rock formations. All the ingredients for a tranquil holiday!
Our next post is dedicated to some randonautica!
There are of course other coastal towns worth checking out
If you don’t program your GPS For a certain street in Los Alcazeres, itwill take you to the center of town, which is not particularly picturesque. Better follow one of the arrows to the beach!
Cabo de los Palos is another quaint town with lots of bars and restaurants.
And why not do some exploring in the nature reserve of Calblanq and its beautiful beach. With a bit of luck, you can find the remains of Portman, once a thriving mining and fishing village.
In the next post, we show you the 2 places that impressed us the most!
Murcia is the name of a region, province and town. Just like Andalusia, it is an autonomous region, located to the east of Andalusia.
When we crossed the border between the two regions, we were aware of the differences. The landscapes are greener in Murcia and there are far less white houses. During our trip, we really felt somewhere else. Lars and I stayed in the coastal region, more precisely in San Pedro del Pinatar, one of the biggest places at the coast. It’s not a picturesque place, I would call it cozy, and there are lots of bars and restaurants. Not to miss are the sandy beaches and Las Salinas, salt mines where you can observe a lot of wildlife.
In order to find Las Salinas, program your GPS on “avenida de las salinas”; there are 2 big parking spaces. Traveling on a budget? Keep in mind that tapas are no longer free here, but you can find a daily menu everywhere.
Travel Memories 