Contiki Spanish Spree

Sangria, Sangria and more Sangria. Beaches, churches, Sangria, bulls and more Sangria. Our Spanish Spree was an incredible trip with incredible friends made. Salud and chin chin to my Spanish Contikiers.

Spanish Spree 'Family' Album - Finally Made You Tube

I got a little present via Facebook yesterday from my Contiki Husband no.2.  He has put together a family album of the 3 of us from our Spanish Spree trip in May.  Well done Andrew it is AWESOME.  I do know how much work goes into making the slide show!!

It bought a smile to my dial and a great memento!!!

Miss you guys and look forward to catching up next year xxoxox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_D2iOl-dU

ON THE 70TH DAY SHE DID SWEET FA

WEATHER: Who cares I was in my room all day 

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Sleep, TV, internet, sleep, TV, internet

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  Missing out on saying a final final goodbyes to people

BUYS OF THE DAY:  My BK meal was the only thing I bought all day

WORD OF THE DAY:  Adios Amigo’s

Day 70 today.  Nearly 2.5 months I have been on the road.  That time has just flown by.  I think I will need to sit down and really look at what I have done in that time for it to sink in where and what I have been doing.  I want to make sure I don’t get too blasé and take the travelling for granted, as this is definitely not the case so far.  I still need to pinch myself when I am standing at the top of the rock in Gibraltar, training it across Russia for 3 weeks, standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower or looking at the Parthenon in Rome that is 2000 years old.  These have been remarkable memories for me and meeting new and wonderful people, reminds me just how lucky I am.

Well after getting home at 3am and not having to get up for a departing coach to somewhere, I was looking forward to slothing around all day today.  I did get a phone call at 8am, and I think it may have been Marc ringing to say good-bye, but I just couldn’t get up – so a BIG good-bye to you Contiki Husband no1.  I was then to get to breakfast at some stage, so I could say good-bye to Contiki Husband no.2, but I didn’t make it to breakfast, but Andrew emailed me and said he was running late for his taxi, so I missed out on him as well – so a BIG goodbye to you too.  I was then going to try and catch up with E and Ash before they left, and had a hunch they may have been at the pool in the afternoon, but I also missed lunch and just didn’t have the energy to do anything – so  a BIG goodbye to you gals as well.  I was a real slacker all round, but I know I will see you all again next year, so stay tuned for dates.

So I slept till 12, did some ‘office’ work updating the blog not only the actual blog, but the Bernstar jumps, and the bits and bobs etc., so it feels good to get most of that up to date.  I watched the Discovery Channel all day (while I was awake) which is the only English speaking channel in Madrid.  I was planning on getting some washing done today, as I haven’t had a machine was my clothes for 24 days.  Hand washing is great, but you cannot beat a machine wash every now and then.  But I had to catch a metro to get to the closest laundry and the idea just didn’t appeal to me on the metro with a bag of dirty clothes so I am going to see how I go in Athens, and worst case scenario, I am sure that I can get it done on the islands.  So the 2 things I wanted to do today, I didn’t.  The other was to send a package home with all my Spanish souvenirs, but being a Sunday the post office is closed, so it all has to come to Athens with me.

So I thought I better get something to eat for dinner as I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, so I changed out of my PJ’s at 5.45pm – yes I was in my PJ’s all day, showered for my 5 minute walk to the Metro station where I ordered BK (Burger King) and enjoyed every last morsel before heading back to the hotel to re-pack my bags for airline travelling.

I had to get my bags out of storage and I combined everything I had on the bed and wondered how I was going to get it all back in.  I have decided to send some stuff home.  I figured if I haven’t used it in 70 days, I probably don’t need it.  Especially now I am on the last weeks of my Europe portion and then heading into Africa, I won’t need all my jewelry, dresses, and some bits and bobs, so I am sending this stuff home in my next package.  Speaking of posting, BIG thanks has to go to Julia, my Russian friend, who collected my jewelry that I left behind in Beijing in April and sent it home last week.  My 2 Tiffany rings and Tiffany earrings that I got for Christmas from my god-daughters are now on their way back to Australia.  I am super lucky and thanks again Julia for doing that for me – you are a gem xx.

So by 11.00pm, I am all packed.  My alarm is set for 5.15am for a 6am pick-up tomorrow morning.

Thanks again Spanish Spree-ers and hope to catch up with you all again sometime soon xx

GOODBYE TO MY SPANISH CONTIKI-ERS

WEATHER: The sun is out – all day – woo hoo

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY:  Pub crawl after final dinner

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Saying good-bye to my Contiki Husbands

BUYS OF THE DAY:  Pub crawl at 20EUR and all you could drink for 90 minutes at the first bar

WORD OF THE DAY: - See you on Facebook

Day song – Ave Maria by David Bisbal

Wake-up song – Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

Back up day song chosen by our Portuguese driver Jose – La Bomba by Azul Azul

It pretty much was a driving day for our last day of tour.  We left Seville at 8.30am and pushed through to our first stop after 3 hours.  From there we pushed another 1.5 hours to get back into Madrid at 1.30pm.  We had free time here till 4.45pm when we were collected and taken to the hotel.  After lunch we just walked around the city for a while and then I sat in one of the many parks and just read my book for an hour or so.  Sometimes you just need to rest the weary feet.

We met again at 7.45pm for the group that were doing the optional dinner to catch the metro into the city.  The hotel is only 2 stops, so we are in a pretty good location and the metro station is literally a 4 minute walk from the hotel.  The unfortunate thing is that it just started to rain before we left the hotel, so we waited 15 minutes, and it didn’t really ease, so we just had to make a dash for the metro and all our hair went frizzy, but the make-up seemed to survive okay! 

Getting into Sol, the rain had eased and we walked another 10 minutes to get us to our restaurant.  I have to say the food was delicious!  We had tapas for starters and we pretty much could have just had that and been done with the meal.  We had cooked capsicum, tempura onion, calamari and chorizo and then the main was the best steak I have ever tasted, I am not sure if it has something to do with that I haven’t  had a steak since leaving home 68 days ago, but boy it was good.  I would have preferred to have had it cooked a little more, but I ate it all the same and it was tasty!!

Due to the rain delay, we were late for the pub crawl.  But with 2 hours all you can drink beer and sangria at the first bar, I am sure we made up for lost time.  It was a professional pub crawl run by Madcat’s Pub-crawl and Elyde was great moving us between the 3 bars.  At 11pm, we moved to the second bar, at 1am we moved to the last bar and then at 3am Andrew, Rosa and I decided to cut our losses and headed home.  A lot of the crew had flights to catch today, with majority of them between 10am and 1pm.  So if I left at 3am, I wonder how they all pulled up for their flights this morning.  There are a handful of us staying an extra night in Madrid before flying out, and I am lucky I have the luxury to be able to do that. 

I have to get my bag packed for airline travel again.  I need to post a package home, but as it is Sunday the post office is not open today, so I am going to have to carry some extra weight till Athens and then post it from there.  I should have been more organized damn it.  I am going British Airways via London, so hopefully I won’t get any excess baggage charges.  Have I mentioned this is the bit I hate and stress about is my luggage.  If I could ditch one bag, I would.

So another tour done and dusted.  I will miss my Contiki Husbands, you guys were awesome and thanks for looking after me those few nights out.  Platha May-or will just not be the same without you!  Also made a bunch of new friends and hope to catch up with some of you again back in Oz and also in London.  I am lucky there are another 5 gals from this tour doing my Contiki Greek Islands, so we will be a posse before the tour has even started. 

A special mention to Rach our Tour Manager.  I have said this before, but I don’t think people realize how much work goes on behind the scenes on the Contiki tours, this also includes the driver.  They are forever making phone calls, running around getting maps, getting directions on how to walk to places, special meal requests, accommodating clients, always a smile on the dial, even when things get a little challenging – so this is a MASSIVE THANK-YOU to you and all the work that you have done for us.  You are one in a million Rach and I hope that we will get to see each other again soon.  PS:  I told you I wouldn’t mention the ear kiss on the blog xx

So this is farewell Spain and also Madrid.  Off to Greece and Athens tomorrow to get some Greek Island action and I think the main thing I am looking forward to is 3x3 night stays – so no packing bags each day.  I hope the sun will be shining and my Contiki cough thinks about leaving soon. xx

CONTIKI SPANISH SPREE 2011 – in no particular order………

Karen, Lillian and Stacy – USA

Ian – New Zealand

David – USA

Daniela and Bianca – USA

Cameron – USA

Bree – Australia

Russell – USA

Lisa and Dee – Australia

Amy and Matt – USA

Joe and Tim – USA

David – Canada

Raoul – Australia

Jean – USA

E and Ash – Canada

Anastasia – Canada

Hannah – USA

Priya – Australia

Leelah – USA

Cameron – Australia

Paul – Australia

Peter – UK aka Australia

Joanna – USA

Dominique – Canada

Kristina – Australia

Mark – Canada

Andrew – Australia

Andrew – USA

Nick, Rosa and Miguel – Australia

Jess – Australia

Kaitlin – Australia

Kylie and Dylan – Australia

Cherri – USA

Stephen – Canada

Alyce – Australia

SEVILLE – THE CITY OF BULL FIGHTING

WEATHER: Hot and 32C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Going to the bullfighting ring

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  It’s a hot one today – but is one ever happy with the weather

BUYS OF THE DAY: My shout for 4 beers = 6.80EUR

WORD OF THE DAY:  **cough – cough** - Contiki cough rears its head on the immune challenged after 2 weeks of drinking, lack of sleep and ‘other’ things…..

We got to see some of Seville today.  We had our walking tour this morning, and our guide Aurora was amazing.  We did a scoot around the city in the bus, and she showed us the 1929 World Fair and 1992 Seville Expo pavilions that were built for expos that have been held in Seville.  We then got to go to the most important Bullring in all of Spain The Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla it is the oldest bullring in Spain. It is the site of the annual Feria de Abril in Seville, one of the most well-known bullfighting festivals in the world and it was first used for bullfighting in 1765. 

To take you through how a bullfight works the Spanish-style bullfighting is called corrida de toros (literally "running of bulls").  In a traditional corrida, three matadores, each fight two bulls, each of which is between four and six years old and weighs no less than 460 kg.  Each matador has six assistants—two picadores, three banderilleros – who along with the matadors are collectively known as toreros ("bullfighters").  The modern corrida is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages or tercios ("thirds"), the start of each being announced by a bugle sound.

The participants first enter the arena in a parade, called the paseíllo, to salute the presiding dignitary, accompanied by band music. Next, the bull enters the ring to be tested for ferocity by the matador and banderilleros with the magenta and gold capote ("cape").  The picador stabs just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood. 

In the next stage, the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas, sharp barbed sticks into the bull's shoulders. These anger and invigorate, but further weaken, the bull who has been tired by his attacks. 

In the final stage, "the third of death", the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, or muleta, and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull, because bulls, in fact, are colorblind.  The faena ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. 

If the matador has performed particularly well, the crowd may petition the president to award the matador an ear of the bull by waving white handkerchiefs. If his performance was exceptional, he will award two, and in certain more rural rings a tail can still be awarded. Very rarely, if the public or the matador believe that the bull has fought extremely bravely, they may petition the president of the event to grant the bull a pardon (indulto) and if granted the bull's life is spared and it is allowed to leave the ring alive and return to the ranch where it came from. Then the bull becomes a stud bull for the rest of its life. 

Aurora then sat us ring side and explained all this to us in detail above, also including the preparation of the Matador, from getting ready to walking in the arena and how they select the bulls.  She really painted a vivid vision and to actually be sitting in the seats and looking at the ring, you could just picture it all as she was talking.  There are a lot of people divided on the cruelty to the bulls, but like any culture, it may seem strange to us, but they have been doing this for 100’s of years.  As Contiki like to put, it’s not wrong it is just different.

We got to visit the small museum they also have on site and it was pretty cool to see some of the actual costumes.  Going from the size of the outfits, they look like tiny men, a little like jockey’s I guess.  This has to be the highlight of Seville by far.

From here we got a drop into the main park area, walked through and got to the Seville Cathedral.  Officially named The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See.  It is a Roman Catholic cathedral and is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world.  At the time of its completion in the 16th century, it supplanted the Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world. Previously, the Hagia Sophia had held the title for more than a thousand years. The cathedral also serves as the burial site of Christopher Columbus.  We were going to go in, but the queue was too long, so we decided to have lunch across from it instead.  We are a little over Tapa’s so we have shared the love with our meals over a few countries.  We have had Italian (twice), Mexican, Burger King aka BK (not saying how many) so that covers America and Greek with our Kebabs.  This also doesn’t count Spanish of course and also Basque food.  So we have been very international and also not counting the Irish pub we went to.

The weather has finally agreed to play ball, on our 2^nd last day we got a hot, dry heat, but hot 32C.  Where was this weather for San Sebastian and Ibiza I ask you?  We left Seville around 2.30pm, and Aurora said that the temperature will hit 40C, but we didn’t have to worry as we would be in the road.  So back on the coach for the 2 hour drive to Cordoba.  I have been sitting mainly down the back of the coach, but Rach mentioned that the front seat was free, so I moved and it has so much more room up here, what have I been doing sitting down the back for the last 2 weeks?  Not to mention the view and extra ‘office’ space for me to use my notebook for blog entries!!  Another thing I find out the 2^nd last day!  DOH

We get into Cordoba at 4.30pm, and it is a quick hotel turn around as we had an included visit to the main attraction in Cordoba, the Mesquita.  It is the next most important visited Mosque in the world after Mecca and Medina.  This mosque was massive!!!!  Today it is a World Heritage Site and the cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba. The site was originally a pagan temple, then a Visigothic Christian church, before the Moors at first converted the building into a mosque and then built a new mosque on the site. Mezquita is regarded as perhaps the most accomplished monument of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. After the Spanish Reconquista, it once again became a Roman Catholic church, with a plateresque cathedral later inserted into the centre of the large Moorish building.  Since the early 2000s, Spanish Muslims have lobbied the Roman Catholic church to allow them to pray in the cathedral. The Muslim campaign has been rejected on multiple occasions, by both Spanish Catholic authorities, and the Vatican. In 2010 there was a violent incident over the matter. 

It was an independent visit, so we could leave whenever we wanted.  I was there for around an hour, it was just amazing inside, and it was nice to just sit in there and take a few minutes to soak up the significance, whether you are Muslim or not it is quite an experience.

Marc wasn’t feeling well, so he decided to stay at the hotel and I lost Andrew somewhere along the way, so I met up with Dee, Lisa and Rach and we went and had some brewski’s for a few hours, sitting outside and enjoying the cooler air and it was nice to not have to rush around and see what everyone else was doing, we just chilled and were happy to sit and chat.  It was a really nice evening, with a leisurely 20 minute stroll back to the hotel; it was a great way to finish the 2^nd last day of the tour, and all done and dusted and in bed by 12.30am – an early night for this trip. 

A VISIT TO A LITTLE ROCK CALLED GIBRALTER

WEATHER: Sunny and 28C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Driving to the top of ‘the rock’

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  Thinking I have left my Swarovski pen in Barcelona

BUYS OF THE DAY: 

WORD OF THE DAY:  Kebab again……

Well what a start to the morning.  After getting home at 5am, I was smart enough to set my alarm for 7am, what I failed to do was wake up when the damn thing went off.  First thing I know is that Marc is banging on my door telling me the bus leaves in 15 minutes, open the flippin door.  SHIT!!!!!!  Luckily I had half packed the night before, but I still had a mass of stuff lying around.  Marc is in a frenzy shoving everything into my bags and I was getting my make-up out of the bathroom.  It was like a frenzy!  I made it to the bus with 1 minute to spare and needless to say I was still drunk when I got on the coach.  Not a good way to start a day, but I am feeling okay, just a little tired, but I am alive.

We drove for 2 hours for a service stop and then a further 2 hours to get us to the boarder of Gibraltar to Spain.  The Rock is Crown property of the United Kingdom, and borders Spain. The sovereignty of Gibraltar was transferred from Spain to the Kingdom of Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 after the War of the Spanish Succession.^[3] In 2002, the United Kingdom and Spain were working on "ending the centuries old [sovereignty] dispute over the rock.  The rock is It is 426 m (1,398 ft) high. The Rock of Gibraltar was one of the Pillars of Hercules and was known to the Romans as Mons Calpe, the other pillar being Mons Abyla or Jebel Musa on the African side of the Strait. In ancient times the two points marked the limit to the known world, a myth originally fostered by the Phoenicians. 

Once Jose dropped us off, we had to walk through immigration; it literally was just a pedestrian path from Spain into the UK with a guy checking our passports visually, and walah, welcome to the UK territory called Gibraltar!  The rock just stands out against the sea and the blue sky and looks awesome.  We paid 24EUR for a taxi tour to take us to the top of the rock and I think it definitely the best money spent and well worth it. 

Our first stop was a panoramic view of the small city of Gibraltar and looking back to the coast line of Spain and in the other direction you can see the northern coast of Africa, Morocco – but our day was a little hazy, so it was too clear to see Africa.  Our next stop was St Michaels Caves, at a height of over 300 metres above sea level.  It is the most visited site of the island with more than 150 caves found inside the Rock of Gibraltar, receiving almost 1,000,000 visitors a year. 
Our last stop was to meet the wildlife of the rock, the 320 apes that live up the very top.  They were cute, and we were warned not to touch them, yeah right like I needed to be told that, but they are super friendly and they can come up to us.  Great.  Apparently they don’t carry disease these species, yeah whatever, you still aint getting a monkey on me.  They were cheeky buggers and were jumping from one person back to another.  The guides know the apes quite well and they could set you up with a photo – yep the answer is still a resounding no from me.  In their defence they did look cute, but that is as far as I will go.  The females have just had babies and we saw an ape that was 4 days old – she was super cute and I got a really good photo, it kind of looks a little fake it looks that good.  They are called apes as they don’t have tails, but they still look like monkeys. 

The view from here was AMAZING, it was hard to comprehend that I was at the top of The Rock of Gibraltar – insane.  I also got my Bernstar jump up there and it is a goodie.  Back into the car to take us back to the main square.  As it is a UK territory, the currency is the British Pound, but they accepted euros.  As we were officially in the UK, what better thing to have lunch than good ol British fish and chips.  We ordered the medium and I kid you not the piece of the fish was as big as my forearm!  It was MASSIVE, I would hate to think how big BIG is!

We got some free time to wander the streets, and the place felt, like fake?  Not sure if that is the word for it, but it felt like a Caribbean cruise ship stop.  It is hard to pin point it, but it was a little weird.  Not sure if I lost my passport if I would want to get stuck there.

To get back to passport control, we had to walk across the runway of the Gibraltar Airport.  I am not sure if there are too many airports in the world that firstly will permit you to do it, and to take a wad of photos as you do do it.  It was a pretty crazy notion we could do it.  Basically the traffic and pedestrians walk across until a plane needs to land, and then they close the road and pedestrian walkway, the plane lands and then you are good to cross again.  There must be some form of correspondence, as what happens if you are half way across and then the lights go on to not cross.  Ahhhhhhhhhh – funny, but I am sure that doesn’t happen – could it?

Back through dody passport check again and out through dodgy customs – meaning their care factor was zippo, a little bit of a farce really, but at the end of the day you are leaving one country and entering another.  I was lucky to be able to get a stamp in my Globetrotters book at the caves, so it is a pretty cool souvenir to get.  How many people do you know who have been to Gibraltar?

Back on the coach for the 2 hour drive to Seville ( Seviya ) in Spanish.  We were lucky Contiki upgraded our hotel, so we are now closer to town – thanks Contiki!  A few hours to chill, so I have finally got my photos up to date and now my blog is now also up to date – so the office is all running smoothly again.  I do need to update my jumps, drink costs and some tid bits on the blog, but I can start looking at that again now that the important stuff is done.  I do have to say I love this free Wi-Fi business!

We took a walk around the city to find something to eat, but Marc and I were beat, so we ended up going back to the hotel and eating across the road at the kebab shop for 5EUR.  2 more days of tour and I am going to miss this group.  Contiki Spanish Spree you guys are awesome xx

GRANADA IS SPANISH FOR POMEGRANATE

WEATHER: Hot and 27C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The Alhambra Palace and Mexican for dinner was AWESOME

BUMMER OF THE DAY: 1EUR beers and 4EUR vodka’s at the Tantra Bar

BUYS OF THE DAY:  1EUR beers and 4EUR vodkas at the Tantra Bar

WORD OF THE DAY:  Kebab – we all have a craving for these at the moment

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh – you think I would feel refreshed after an AFD day.  But I woke still tired.  Maybe some of the travel / drinking days are catching up with me? Maybe.  I do have to mention, the showers in hotels all around the world sometimes need a manual on how to turn them on or changing it from the tub tap to the shower head.  Well this morning I just could not get my shower to work.  There was no water at all coming out.  I pushed, pulled, turned and twisted.  I had to settle with a basin wash and water all over the place.  After reporting it to reception, when I got back, I still couldn’t get it to work and in a frustrated shove from the wall, I knocked the tap the only way I obviously hadn’t tried and walah – water came out!  What an idiot!!!

We had a walking tour this morning at 8.30am.  Paco took us around his beautiful city that sits at the base of 3 hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain.   The coach took us up one of them to get a great view of the city, walked around a local area for an hour and then got a lift back to the city ( thank goodness as the hill is like a mountain) and we went for a visit to the Royal Chapel where the Catholic Monarchs, his daughter Joanna of Castile and Philip I of Castile are buried.  The Catholic Monarchs chose the burial site the city of Granada, by Royal Decree dated September 13, 1504. 

We also visited La Charterhouse of Granada, a monastery of cloistered monks, which is located in what was a farm or Muslim almunia called Aynadamar that means Fountain of the Tears, and had a wealth of water and fruit trees.  The works were made in the first half of the 16th century.  The Monastery suffered heavy damage during the Peninsular War and lost considerable ground in 1837 as a result of the confiscations of Mendizábal. Currently, the monastery belongs to the Carthusians, reporting directly to the Archdiocese of Granada.

The tour finished at 11.30am – and I just couldn’t lift my feet and keep my eyes open on the bus, so Marc and I decided we would do what the Spanish do and go back to the hotel for a Siesta.  We didn’t even walk the 20 minutes, we caught a taxi and it was the best 5EUR ever spent.  So out next meet was at 3.30pm, so we got 3 hours sleep, in an air-conditioned room with the curtains drawn and it was HEAVEN!

Our 3.30pm meeting was to take us to the most visited Tourist site in Spain – The Alhambra Palace.  To get entrance tickets to this attraction is such a process.  3 months in advance tickets have to be pre-booked, and then when your tour starts, the numbers are reconfirmed and then the tickets you no longer need get released back.  They sell 8,000 tickets A DAY!!  AND they are always sold out by 8.30 in the morning!  Isn’t that insane.  You are then allocated a time to enter the Palace, they give you a few minutes either side of your time slot, but if you’re not there on time, you lose your spot and tough bikkies.  We got given ear pieces that we could hear Paco on without having to be right near him the whole time, this is technology working at its best, and they are super awesome. 

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid-14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus.  The Alhambra's Moorish palaces were built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court.  After the reconquest by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, some portions were used by the Christian rulers.  After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was "discovered" in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers, with restorations commencing. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions, exhibiting the country's most significant and well known Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the inspiration for many songs and stories. 

The gardens are also pretty impressive.  There are 300 full time gardeners to keep them all looking so great!  There are a lot of water fountains and flowing water in the grounds and they are most prevalent in the garden areas also called the Generalife which means Garden of Architecture. We got to spend 2 hours walking around this magnificent Palace.  It was a WOW moment for a few people on tour, and this was the main reason they came on tour, as the tickets were included in the tour price, they are that hard to get.  And we thought Bon Jovi concert tickets were hard to get!

Walkabout dinner tonight.  This means Rach points us in the right direction and we fend for ourselves for a feed.  We generally break off into smaller groups and then meet back up again for drinks again after the meal.  So a group of us had Mexican.  I have to say it was the best Mexican I have ever had.  I also need to mention the vodka ‘free pour’ here was half the glass, they were sooooo strong!  Great value for money at 4.50EUR a glass, but the liver doesn’t think so!!  Anyways we met up with the group again at 11pm and headed to an Irish pub for a drink, before changing locations and heading to a bar called Tantra.  I don’t know how Rach does it, but she got us a drinks deal of 1EUR beers for the first round and then 5EUR for 3 beers!  Well that turned my ‘home by midnight’ right on its ear.  The bar owner Oscar, also threw in a free shot that was 4 fingers high and the smell of the concoction just made my stomach turn.  I think if I had of actually drunk it it I would have made me instantly ill!!  Well we partied on here till 2.30am and then we got free entry to a club just down the road.  At this point in time, my Contiki Husbands had gone home, so it was just E and I the last 2 standing!  We left at 4.30am – getting home at 5.00am!  I am happy to report that there was no repeat of Barcelona ie: no driving the porcelain bus – so a successful night out all round and it was a lot of fun.

I like Granada – it is beautiful and the city has a great feel about it.

GOOD-BYE IBIZA – HELLO GRANADA

WEATHER: Sunny in Ibiza – Cloudy with rainy patches back on the mainland

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Waking up and feeling FINE!!

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  Sunny day when it is a travel day – why oh why?

BUYS OF THE DAY: 

WORD OF THE DAY:  Platha May-or again?  I need to get a new word

I normally try and pack my bag the night before to avoid the drunken pack and to not have to worry about it in the morning.  Well the last couple of stops this has gone down the wayside, but up at 7.30am to pack, breakfast and to try and get 2 of the blogs written uploaded to the web.  We had free Wi-Fi at the hotel, but only in the reception / lounge area, so haven’t had much access over the last few days.

We left the hotel at 9.40am for our 7 minute walk to the port and the ferry that is going to take us back to the mainland.  We left at 11am for the 2 hour journey.  It was a little rough in spots, but as ferry rides go, not bad.  The seats were like a business class seat on an airplane.  They had storage sections for the bags around the sitting areas and a shop and café open for the trip.  They also played the movie UP, the animation kid’s movie, in Spanish but we got English sub-titles and it was awesome.  I hadn’t seen it before, so it helped the trip fly by.

We arrived into Denier, the port back on the mainland, to have Jose and our home away from home awaiting us. All piled in, we hit the road for 1.5 hours before we got to stop for our lunch break.  We drove another 1.5 hours, break for 15 minutes and then drove for a further 1.5 hours before arriving into Granada at 7pm.  Massive travel day and to be honest we are all buggered from our time in Ibiza.

Dinner was at the hotel tonight, thank goodness, and then after dinner pretty much everyone went back to their rooms for a few quite beverages before going to bed.  There was a group of hard cores that went out and got home at 3am – I seriously could not have done that – maybe I am finally feeling my age?  GOD NO!!!!  But in my defence I have been Contiki-ing for nearly 30 days now – nothing wrong with an AFD (alcohol free day) now is there?

RECOVERY MODE IN IBIZA

WEATHER: Cool and RAINY!!!!  Oh no I hear you say – 17C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Not having any set plans

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  It’s raining in Ibiza bitch

BUYS OF THE DAY: 20EUR for a jug of Sangria – seems good value after 17EUR drinks at the club

WORD OF THE DAY:  Platha Mayor – again I know but it’s still funny

Well after getting home at 5am this morning, Marc and I decided to meet at 11am and get in some beach time.  He had a mankini he wanted to bust out down at the beach and I was happy to tag along for a laugh and official photographer.  Well you can imagine our disappointment when we woke at 11am to see grey skies and RAIN!  Our second, and last beach stop, and both times it rained the whole day.  Blast and damn it.  We missed breakfast, so we headed to BK (Burger King) and stocked up on some carbs to give us the kick start we needed to get through the day.  We took a walk around the old city, and of all places, we stopped in at the Crocs shop and I bought a new pair of crocs.  They are like a thong, but have a wedge, so I think I will be able to wear them as night shoes as well as day shoes.  It gives me another pair of shoes and it is nice to be able to wear something different after wearing 3 pairs of the same shoes for 2 months.  It is my first BIG purchase that takes up room in my bag, so hopefully when I add back in my Madrid stuff it will all fit in.  I really don’t have much room to make purchases like that.  We will have to see how that goes.

So I died in the arse around 1.30pm – so we headed back to the hotel, where I went back to my room to update my blog, which I was 4 days behind, and get some shut eye, I was dog tired, and Marc got another travel buddy in Cherry and they went down to some of the beaches to check them out.  The weather was really crappy and they all got stuck in a storm, so I am glad I just did the woo-ssy thing and went back to the hotel.  After 3 hours sleep, I felt like a new woman.  I got ready for 6pm, where Marc and I were going to have some pre-dinner drinks, but he had a medical emergency with his sinus’s so we had to get him ready and drugged up in time for dinner.

We travelled to the other side of the island for dinner at Sant Antonio, which was a 22EUR cab fare and around 20 minute drive.  The main purpose was to get a beautiful sunset picture from over there, as it is the western side of the island.  But with the crappy day we had, we weren’t sure what type of sunset, if any, we would get.  We ate at a café called Savannah that looked right onto the water and at 8.50pm, we got a small glimpse of an Ibiza sunset.  The rain held off, which was lucky as we were dining alfresco and the meal was awesome, the staff were awesome and of course the company was also awesome.  What a great way to end our 2 nights in Ibiza – a good meal and a glass of Sangria in the hand.

Back to the other side and by this time it is 11pm.  I am in Ibiza and I cannot go to bed, even though it sounded awesome and I could easily have done it, we headed back to the Street of Sharks with Rach, Marc and Andrew and then the rest of the group joined us after they had some drinks in their rooms ( way cheaper)  I left at 1am, and I was boarder line on staying, I was so close, but I figured with a 2 hour ferry ride tomorrow, I should cut my losses and head home for some sleep.  We did stop at a kebab shop on the way home, and I am happy to report that this one had no chance of re-surfacing and it was AWESOME.

I blogged and read till 3am – 6-8 hours’ sleep currently a thing of the past.  Apparently I only need 3-4 hours to make it through the day and be functional.  Thanks body for keeping up – just, oh and my liver.  I promise (hope and pray) that you will get a rest in approximately 3 weeks, when I hit Morocco.  Different place and a different kind of tour – if not then my 2 weeks in Portugal and London will be the next rest (give or take a night catching up with Contiki-ers) otherwise Africa – surely that won’t be a drink-a-thon?

Special mention today goes to Bree – who half blind walked into a tattoo place to try and get a tattoo. He replied she was too drunk, so she settled for a piercing in the lip instead.  Apparently this is acceptable to do blind drunk, but easily more reversible than a tat I suppose.  Being a Greek posse member and I will also be catching up with her in London in July and doing a show, I will keep her close to my side.

IBIZA NEEDS TO SEEN TO BE BELIEVED

Not really sure how I would feel being there in peak peak season.  There certainly were a lot of ‘different’ individuals walking around, and some of the dress attire was pretty special – but my mum always said if you got flaunt it, and that is exactly what some people did.

IBIZA WAS AWESOME  J

WE’RE GOING TO IBIZA BITCH

WE’RE GOING TO IBIZA BITCH      

WEATHER: Hot and 31C – I think this is going to be quite constant

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting into an Ibiza Club – amazing experience

BUMMER OF THE DAY:  Paying 17EUR for a vodka and coke

BUYS OF THE DAY: 5EUR taxi home

WORD OF THE DAY: Platha Mayor – term of endearment, personal joke with the husbands – no really it means Plaza Mayor  or town square.

What a way to spend a day in Barcelona.  Hung over like a bastard.  Actually I am feeling okay, I am just tired.  Not a smart move on my part, as we are heading to Ibiza this afternoon, so will need to snatch some sleep some-where to charge my batteries for tonight.

Our flight was not till 5.50pm – so we didn’t have to meet up till 2.15pm in the city.  We did have to get up to check out of the hotel and bags on the coach anyways, so we were up and out at 9.45am.  We took advantage of the free drop-off to the Sagrada Familia.It is a large Roman Catholic church designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.  Though construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882, when Gaudí took over the project in 1883 he transformed it with his architectural and engineering style. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project and at the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War.

We didn’t go inside as the queue to get in was really long, with the sun beating down and still a bit on the shady side, we decided to catch the metro into The Ramblas and spend some time down there.  We walked to the Gaudi houses.  His work is very distinct and really stands out from all the other buildings.

We then headed back to Cataluña and had lunch at the Hard Rock café and waited for the group and the bus to arrive.  We were then transferred to Barcelona airport, which was about a 30 minute drive away.  After saying good-bye to Jose (he is driving to Granada to meet us in 3 days’ time) we checked in with Spainair and got our seat allocation.  We were allowed 20kg for our checked baggage and I thought I would be well and truly under that, as I have left around 5kg at the hotel in Madrid, so you can imagine my surprise when my bag came in at 20.9kg!  The check-in agent didn’t blink an eye, so that is good, but heck how heavy is my bag going to be heading to Greece? 

Barcelona Airport is a great airport and looks fairly new.  The duty free shops are massive and there are plenty of food outlets.  No free Wi-Fi though, but the bag trolleys are free.  I got into trouble taking a photo of our gate TV that had Ibiza written on it.  They made me delete the picture off my camera.  Not sure what the big deal is about that?  The 42 minute flight was uneventful, I did get a window seat with the notion I could get some photos coming into Ibiza, but I was on the wrong side of the plane, so didn’t get too many good pictures.  WE ARE IN IBIZA BITCH!!!!!

We transferred from Ibiza airport to the hotel located in the Ibiza Town about a 15 minute drive.  There are a few main areas to stay in Ibiza but we were right near the port and walking distance to several beaches.  By the time we got to the hotel and checked in it was 9pm – so we had 1.5 hours to get some rest and get ready. 

The Ibiza party scene starts late May, early June and finishes generally the last week of September.  So some of the clubs don’t actually open till next week-end and some did open the week-end we were there including the club we went to which was Pacha. All the clubs have an entry fee of some sort.  The other club we could have gone to was Space but at 65EUR on a pre-sale basis and 80EUR at the door, most of us drew the line at 80EUR and went to Paccha at 35EUR.  This is to just get into the club.  Once in there, you then need to pay for your drinks, which get this are 17EUR a pop!!  OMG.  So hence the plan was to start drinking somewhere else before getting to the club, and the clubs generally don’t start pumping till after 1am anyways.  So we went to an area called the Street of Sharks, which is basically a street of pubs touting for your drinking business before you head to the clubs.  They also sell tickets to the clubs, so not a bad business all round for the pubs and clubs.  People go to the pubs to drink and get merry, and then the clubs get them and chew up the rest of your money till 6am in the morning.  La Beila was where we headed and they give you 2 cocktails for 12EUR and for Contiki they throw in a free shot.  So we stayed there till 1am and then hit the road and walked the 20 minutes to the Nightclub they call Paccha. 

Paccha holds 3000 people in the height of summer, and I rekon there must have been around 2000 people in there when we were there.  I was running on empty when we first got in, but after 2 vodka and cokes, Marc got me on the Vodka and Redbull’s and after 3 of them I missed the 3-4am slot and the next time I looked at my watch it was 5am.  We decided to leave then, as we wanted to miss the mass exodus at 6am when the club closed. Now I can see you are doing the math on the cost of money spent on our drinks, but Marc and I decided we would only be in Ibiza once, so flip the cost of the drinks and just add that onto the experience.  The amazing thing with the drinks is that the bars were always busy and people waiting.  So there were other suckers out there also paying the ridiculous prices we were.  They must make a KILLING!!!!!!  The funniest thing is that the 5EUR cab ride home was the cheapest thing for the whole night!  The club is broken up into different sections.  The main area is where the DJ plays and all the people dance.  There are a lot of VIP areas that are roped off, and I would hate to think how much one of those would cost and there was a rooftop terrace that was also the smoker’s paradise and a few rooms that off shoot from there.  The place was massive and the later it got in the morning the busier it also got. 

The music was very doofy.  I am not into ‘house’ music, but it was really hard to not get caught up in the beat as it was so loud that you could feel the vibration through your whole body.  After 5 hours in there, the songs started to all sound the doofy same, but it was fun and we just danced pretty much the whole time.  They also have professional dancers in there as well and we were stationed right below a beautifully buffed male dancer with his shirt off, so a little eye candy was also awesome.  So with the strobe lights flashing and the house lights coming up every few minutes it really was an intense experience.  For the record, there were male and female toilets, but the boys only had urinals, so if there was a boy standing in the girl queue, you pretty much knew he had to do a number 2!  Too funny!!!

So that was my first Ibiza experience and it was SUPER COOL. 

We’re in IBIZA bitch!!