On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - Page 42 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wow what a great experience! I've seen some sites like that in France, but nothing so well preserved! Can't wait for more! You guys take the most amazing trips!
Thursday 16 September – part five: Donald and Piglet are safe...
We found the Basilica St. Nazaire along one of these streets, a Romanesque and Gothic cathedral.
Along another street, we came across the Porte d’Aude that we’d seen earlier on the Petit Train with its superb views across the city below.
It was while here that we came across a very loved-up couple and, as Mark observed, she was very fond of posing for his camera. She wasn’t exactly what I’d call appropriately dressed for this. A nightclub or meal out but exploring a medieval city? : I managed to get a back shot, so you could see what I meant....
We started making our way back to the square with all the restaurants, still taking photos as we went.
By now, we’d pretty much explored the city and it was getting a bit later and we were hungry. What a difference an hour or so made! By the time we got back to that square, it had emptied out considerably and we were able to easily find a table at the restaurant I’d picked. The irony was it turned out to be the oldest in the walled city, which I had no idea of until we sat down. I just liked the look of the place.
We both went for the local menu, which was €15.90 ($20.70) each, which I thought was excellent value. Mark perhaps didn’t share my view, but I’m getting ahead of myself....
For appetiser, I got the goat’s cheese and nut salad, which was wonderful:
Mark went for the Serrano ham, which was a lot more flavoursome, shall we say, than he expected it to be:
My main course, and the main reason I went for this place, as it was one of the few places to have a set menu with fish as the main course, was cuttlefish in tomato sauce and this was lovely.
Mark was very daring and got the wild boar stew, which also came with Donald and Piglet, as he described it. Well, both of them are safe for a while, as he didn’t exactly love it, shall we say. I don’t think it helped that it was scalding hot (you could see the steam coming off it) and he burnt his mouth early into eating it, but he was no fan of the wild boar. : Even worse, the stew was made up of French beans, which he can’t stand.
Bit hot for you, dear?
His favourite part was the dessert, which was crème brulee.
My favourite part was also dessert – you only have to take one look at these profiteroles to know why!
I didn’t enjoy that at all.... :
We took our time with this meal and weren’t hurried at all. When we were finally done, we wandered up to the soap shop I’d seen nearby to get a couple of soap. I’d been delighted to see this place, as I loved the soap we bought from Marseilles on our Disney cruise around the Med three years ago. It’s got amazing staying power, as it just doesn’t go down at all. I got another two for €5 ($6.50), which should see us through the next few years, if the first bar was anything to go by!
Next: if we get out of this intact without hitting someone, it’ll be a miracle!
ok, it has taken me a good bit of 2 days to read through this and i am loving every second of it! spain is #1 on my bucket list with Girona and Roses on the top of the list. now, i have other areas i know i can't miss such as Valencia and Granada. I think i am beginning to develop a plan in my mind now thanks to your report. oh, do you rent yourselves out as guides? he he he....and the food all looks so splendid! i loved seeing photos of some of the more traditional local fare from spain. can't wait to read more!
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ok, it has taken me a good bit of 2 days to read through this and i am loving every second of it! spain is #1 on my bucket list with Girona and Roses on the top of the list. now, i have other areas i know i can't miss such as Valencia and Granada. I think i am beginning to develop a plan in my mind now thanks to your report. oh, do you rent yourselves out as guides? he he he....and the food all looks so splendid! i loved seeing photos of some of the more traditional local fare from spain. can't wait to read more!
Hey, if you're prepared to pay, we're happy to be rented out as guides!
Valencia is a beautiful city - we went there a couple of years ago and I'm desperate to get back to their aquarium, although we haven't made it on the last couple of trips out to the villa. The villa's about an hour and a half's drive from Valencia.
Granada is somewhere I want to go back to. I went with my parents when I was about 10 or 11 and I still have vivid memories of how beautiful it was. That's about a four hour drive from the villa, so that's a possible on a future trip one day....
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Thursday 16 September – part six: if we get out of this intact without hitting someone, it’ll be a miracle!
We headed out through the main shopping street, checking out various shops. I really wanted to get everything in one shop, so I could put it all on a credit card and finally I found somewhere. It was a little freaky in there, as they sold swords and as I was looking at the kitchen items, when a guy picked one up and started to wave it around.
I moved away quite quickly from that, but managed to find what I wanted, a book about the place, the obligatory fridge magnet, a vase and a utensil holder.
Armed with our purchases, we headed back to the car and paid our €5 ($6.50), which I thought was good, as that’s the price up until you’ve been there six hours. It had been a wonderful place to visit and I’d willingly come back here again.
We timed it perfectly, as there were a few spots of rain just as we got to the car. We made it on to the toll road and saw that there were some wonderful views back to the medieval city. We noticed that there was a rest area coming up that was promoted as having great views, so we stopped and got some shots.
Literally, just a couple of miles further down the road, Mark made a good spot and saw that the traffic had ground to a halt and so we got off the toll road and headed down the ordinary roads. It was lovely, with vineyards and sunflowers, well and truly past their past now on either side of the road.
The windscreen wipers got a bit in the way!
The downside to the ordinary road was that we found a lorry, then got past him, then acquired a tanker, which turned off – and guess what was waiting ahead of him? You got it – another lorry. This was also where we met the very old and very impatient Audi, who took every opportunity to overtake, no matter how dangerous.
Finally, we got back on the toll road and it was all clear, although the traffic worsened as we approached Toulouse. By now, it was raining quite hard, so it was very hard to get any photos.
We seemed to take ages to reach the centre of Toulouse, then I made a BIG mistake of suggesting that we follow the directions from the hotel, rather than Tim. Not a good idea! : It probably added 20 minutes to our journey and led to some very hair raising incidents. As Mark said more than once, if we get out of this intact without hitting someone, it’ll be a miracle, but miracles were on our side and we did escape unscathed. I have to say that I was very relieved when we got into the main square where the Crowne Plaza is located.
okay i have to ask...I don't think I asked you yet with all your reports I've read.....How many fridge magnets do you have...or should I ask How many fridges do you have for all your magnets???
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but exploring a medieval city? 
: I managed to get a back shot, so you could see what I meant.... 
I don’t think it helped that it was scalding hot (you could see the steam coming off it) and he burnt his mouth early into eating it, but he was no fan of the wild boar. 
Holly: 
this guy - so neat! 
This was also where we met the very old and very impatient Audi, who took every opportunity to overtake, no matter how dangerous. 
Katie's graduation
I'd love to know the answer to this too! 
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