Guatemala

Sorry Guys I'm Guatemala at the moment and WIFI is a problem , as soon as I get sorted I will catch up.

I picked up the Tiger and are running up some KMs to get the first service before I can move on

So Sorry for the delay but I will catch up very soon .

I'm in a Mcdonalds at the moment and on my way up to some place that starts with P north of Guate City

Lisbon to Ronda 25 09 11

Firstly
 I am  writing this blog , sitting in a Wicker lounger chair on the verander of the most beautiful hotel ever (  Husa Reina Victoria Ronda , Google it ) . The view is out through a palm fringed garden , out onto a Mountain back drop .  Looking down to a most beautiful valley below ( I would say approx 1000 meters below) . If i were wearing a Panama Hat a white suit , I could well be Earnest Hemingway writing this blog (he did frequent these parts )

Anyway back to Lisbon

Lisbon as a city was quiet good really , there were a lot of people but there was room for them

He says hi to Charlie , Basil and Gugie , I couldn't beleive he mowed in English 

The Castle in the middle of the city

 

In side a huge Monastery

More coffee and pastels , we are having to many pastels and way to much coffee , but it is so good that we can't keep out way from them .

Next on down the coast to Zambujeira Do Mar 

Population bugger all , just great after 3 days in the big city 

The weather is perfect

Then to Serville 

This has to be my most favourite city in all of Spain and Portugal 

The Cathedral is the biggest in the world , it took us ages to look through it .

They have a lot of Gold  trinkets on display ,  I always wonder how much pain and suffering went in getting the gold to make them  . Having been to South America (where the Spanish got all the  gold  back in those days) , and read about the way they treated the Indians back then . One can but just wonder how many lives it took to make these trinkets . 

But I suppose the world can be a cruel place at times , and I guess this is just one of those times .    

The Tomb of Christoper Columbus

Oh No not another church

Yes another Coffee and Pastel

After 3 days we could have stayed for the rest of our time , but on we must go and To Ronda we went 

A Castle on the way to Ronda

Ronda is hill top village 

Great Views

More about Ronda and where we are staying next post  , it is just too good to sit here pretending to be Hemingway . But hell I could get used to this . 

Still no stories to tell , all has been good . I haven't even fallen out of bed lately . 

Well I'm on  my third beer and you know , I  think I even write better than Hemingway , two more and I even mite think I can sing too !!

San Sabastian to Lisbon 18 / 09 / 11

The first stop after San Sebastian was Santillana which was a beautiful medieval  town up on the northern part of Spain . It was rainning a bit and not that warm but it was really worth the stay for the night .

The drive to Santillana was very hilly and a lot of bush cover , but nothing to write home about .

Next we were off all the coast to Ribadeo , A small fishing village with a of charm . Above is the only picture that I have , so it couldn't have been that great .
Below is just out side of Ribadeo , a few rocks on the beach that they thought were pretty good .

Next about 200 kms down the coast heading for Portugal, we stayed out at a small beach village called  Proba , this was really pretty and we really enjoyed it there .

Above is the  little hotel on the beach at Proba that we stayed in , below a beer on the beach

The weather here was warm during the day cold at night

Above and below Viana do Castelo Portugal , we had to turn our clocks back 1 hr

This would have to be one of the best Towns since leaving S Sebastian , it had a great feel and the people were really friendly . One thing we have noticed is that the towns are usually a little away from the beaches . Viana had a long history going back to the stone ages 

Then  to Peniche approx 300kms , on the way we stopped in the small seaside village of Nazare  (below)for lunch . Because it is getting out of season , all these little villages are quite empty of people (which just suits us down to the ground )

The dog is Guarding the Chicken in Peniche 

Peniche just another small fishing village out on a point , again very nice 

The old Walls of Peniche

I actually never took any pictures of the Peniche village , sorry 

just videos , I will have to smarten up my act . When you have been to so many villages I guess they start to look all the same anyway . 

Above  photos of the Peniches wall built back in the 1500s .

 In saying that I really like being there and our little hotel was one of the best so far .

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened , so not a lot to report , I will say though that the Portuguese people are a lot friendlier than in Spain and they seem a lot happier .
But the Spanish have it all over Portuguese when it comes to Pastels . The pastels in Spain are the best ever ,  even better than Italy .  I also think that the Spainish have the best Coffee in the World as well

We are now in Lisbon , but more about that in the next post in a few days

San Sebastian And the Lost Chicken

The trip from Madrid to San Sebastian (approx 450kms)was pretty uneventful and the country side pretty much the same all the way until about 20kms from San Sebastian , then we entered the mountains and some very beautiful scenery , very much like Switzerland or Northern Italy.

Once we were in San Sebastian and parked we were off to the Information Center to find somewhere to stay .


Next the Story of the Lost Chicken


We were in the Information Center and I say to Ruth I'm off to put some money in the parking meter . Well I arrive to where I think we left it and it's gone ( I can tell you I was gutted , I even thought about crying ) . I run up and down the street looking and was completely beside myself with worry  (thinking , what about all the motor bike gear , and everything all our clothes etc what now!! ). So off I go almost running ,  back to Ruth (with my bottom lip quivering ) . I get there ,  throw my hands up and say its gone , she says no way , I say yes its bloody gone I tell you . So Ruth say I will go have a look ( well I think , go all you bloody like  , its gone and we are screwed ) . I rush back into the Information Center and say to the staff , our car is gone . They all look at me with such concern , and say are you sure , I say yeah its bloody gone . Next they are on the phone ringing the Police , Car Tow Companies , Army , Air Force the bloody lot . After a little while they come back and say sorry its not at any of the Car Tow Companies , and we can't get the Police . I go back out side (still beside myself with worry) and wait for Ruth to come back  , from her wasted trip ( it was bloody gone , shit I had looked every where ) .
Two minutes later Ruth comes back ,  I say well i told you so ,  she says well it's right where we left it . I said are you sure ,  she says yeah right where we left it . Well I have never been so happy in my life,  even though I have just made a complete idiot of myself .  I had to go back and tell the ladies , to call off da Police and Army (which had been put on Red alert ) and that all was good . The Chicken has been found , right where we had left it  .

So the Chicken was found and all was well . Apart from my Pride, what a bloody idiot !!!!!!!

Mountain Top Hotel and below the guard dog, making sure no one is going to steal da Chicken 

Anyway there was no accommodation in San Sebastian at all for Saturday night (there was football games and rowing competitions on , the town was full to the top ). So we booked a hotel out in the Mountains about 40kms from SSebastian  it was the best so far . Fantastic views for kms over the valley below , and so quite after the big noise of the Cities (we loved it).
Next day Sunday we were off back to S Sebastian for 2 nights , again a great place by the sea beautiful , with surf beaches and lots of people , but I could live there no problem very very nice .

View from our window 

Tomorrow we are off up the cost heading  East and who knows where , just the 3 of us Ruth , Me and the Chicken ( I love my Chicken ,remember its a VW Polo one L short of a Chicken )

San Sebastian , it is just a bit foggy I suppose from the heat , it was about 25 degs