SPAIN 1- MAY 2004
Country

Sorry, this has taken so long, too many things to see and too little time! Palma, Mallorcas capital city, has an old city area surrounded by fotified walls with turrets on all corners. Inside is a medievil city with narrow cobblestone streets, stone buildings and modern shop facades; tapas bars and small restaurants flow their tables right onto the streets. Outside the walls and on the waterfront is the sheltered harbour mooring the most expensive boats in the world- those being owned by the Arabian oil rich Sheiks. Windy ashphalt roads took us to all extremes of the island to explore resort beaches, old hillside towns and the sheer high cliffs. It was strange to see Dutch style windmills scattered throughout the island that were once used for crushing grain and pumping water from low lying areas. There were hundreds, where there used to be thousands. We hiked to castles on mountain tops and treked cliff faced trails to catch sea views with Peter, Hella and the 3 Lea Muskateers!! The triplex are 3 years old, how could 3 triplets be so different in personality? After 2 funfilled weeks in Mallorca we ferried back to Barcelona to explore its Rambla (an open aired market) rambling the length of an old river bed full of live statues requesting money for immitating Pharoahs, Christopher Collumbus, to someone sitting on the toilet! You dare not take a photo without first depositing money. We saw one statue spring from its pedestal scaring the shit out of 2 young girls passing by. Barcelona is the home of such great talent as Picasso, Salvador Dali and the great architect- Gaudi. The Imax theatre was so real that Belinda got sick on one of its rollercoaster rides until she closed her eyes and realized she wasnt moving at all!! We were hosted by a young professional couple- Marta and Roger, who opened their home and their hearts to us. We met through the internet webpage- www.globalfreeloaders.com They welcomed us strangers into their home and showed us the sights of their home town- Sabadell. Heading south along the Med coastline the beaches were great with many rock outcroppings which have a huge castle on top to protect that part of Spain many hundreds of years ago. Our winding tour through inland mountains found many more castles perched on mountain tops with villages surrounding. We found a great classic hotel (brought up to todays standards) on the inside of the ancient wall next to the gates and overlooking the river that protected the walls of Valderrobres. Very picturesque. We spent hours wandering the narrow, cobblestone streets and many ascending stone stairs leading to the elevated castle and cathedral. Wherever we go in Spain the roads are great and even the "bad" ones are supreme compared to parts of Ruta 40 in Argentina. Everything here is so civilised, organised and well signposted. The Spaniards are very friendly when approached, but the Spanish Argentinians would approach us to invite us into their lives. Spaniards lead the life of late outdoor dining and it has taken us awhile to change our timeclock to eat at 10pm!! We love driving through the rolling countryside, through whitewashed villages and spotting the castles on all of the tallest hills. After having been in many castles we have decided that they look the best from the outside, so seldom venture in except for castles like Alhambra in Granada. We will tell you more about this in the next installment, coming soon to your screen!!