Almeria Plaza Suites

... of cheeses at the breakfast buffet. Had I known how the rest of the day would shape up, I would have had double.<br><br>I headed off to town. The morning had been a little cloudy but it seemed like the sun might break through so I opted for my swimsuit as undergarments. The town is teeeeensy. And most of the shops are closed for the season (aka 'personal rest'). So I quickly found myself on the beach, and much to my contentment the sun was shining. The water was cool but not ...

... had an American vegetarian in his Argentinian restaurant in Spain. I had some delicious vegetable soup and pasta. And after one glass of Rioja (typical Spanish wine) he suggested I instead drink the 'good stuff' some Syrah wine from Argentina. I am now on my 3rd glass of wine, my bag has been 'dropped' by my side for 2 hours and my friendly waiter, who also lived in Rhode Island for several years, snuck me the wifi passcode for the restaurant's office.<br><br>Life is good.

We had great intentions starting out the day. We planned to drive along the coastline to a town called Almeria. it's a 2+ hour drive. We thought spanish coastline, it's got to be pretty right? Not so much. It started out beautiful. Picturesque cliffs that roll into the crystal blue water of the mediterranean ocean. But once we passed the first few cities it became the plastic jungle. Every city after this, all the way to almeria, is a farming town. the hillsides are ...

... it turned into sand and stones. We could barely walk the bikes. This seriously slowed us down. Whats worse is that it meant that we ended up on the grotty outskirts of Almeria as it got dark. Desperate for a place to sleep we went to check out under a motorway bridge. Whilst we were down there we saw some kids needlessly kill a goat with rocks and sticks. Not a great site to be honest. I still thought it would probably be alright to stay. They were only kids after all. Quote ...

I had to wean myseft away from the area, and the next day just drove a bit up the coast, past more un(der)-developed beaches at Escullos and El Playazo, and ended up staying in Las Negras, another fishing village which is sleepy by the water-front but with massive construction going on behind it.

Returned to San Jose. Next day drove around to the town of Cabo de Gata, saw the salt-pans, went up the the "Cape", saw the incredible beach of Cabo de Gata, had great lunch there, then went around to the beach at Monsul. Eventually decided I HAD to leave!! 

... who told me that he only stopped if someone rang the bell!! I said it was obvious I was a foreigner and that I'd bought the ticket asking to go to the airport. He shrugged and dropped me off at the next stop where I had to wait another hour for a return bus. I rang the bell three times when we re-approached the airport. Picking up the car, I drove into the countryside hills behind Almeria through miles of urban sprawl until eventually finding the motorway heading towards ...

VENDREDI 01 MAI 2009 ESPAGNE on s4est arrete a l4hotel de la paz entre 9h et 15h pour manger, dormir, et ;anger bocatillo con jamon y tortilla reprise de la route poour almeria arrivee a al;eria vers 19h, on ne trouve rien d ouvert cause du 1er mai, la ville est vrai;ent pourrie, d enormes immeubles au bord de la plage et un port tout industriel....berkkkk du coup, on se ...

... food. We consider it a specialty to be organic and fresh, free of preservatives and these little hole in the wall places have it as the only option. It is great for us, we have been losing weight and eating very well. More ham and cheese than we are use too, but all good. We headed out deeper into the back alleys. We found a steep staircase dropping to the street below. It was good place to sit and scan over the the city area. We were ...

... dans un super endroit sous un grand arbre. On manger super bien avec apéro (et la salade de riz de Christine !) Arrivée à Almería à 16h15. Il n'y a pas trop de monde et on prend les billets sans problème. On attend une heure sur le quai avant de partir. A 19h00, le bateau démarre, et papa filme. Je ressens son excitation de loin, de très loin ! Sur le bateau, on commence à se sentir ailleurs. On entend du raï partout avec un m ...