Hotel Nh Sport Zaragoza

Spent another night on a parking lot near the city centre. When trying to find a decent place to park our van near all the sights, we got caught up in a lybyrinth of narrow streets, filled with cars (sometimes even in the middle of the crossings...). Well, Boštjan is a very good driver, but my nerves are not as good as I thought.

With the help of a security guard at a bank in one of the ...

... offer much more than that.

Though not really hungry, I needed to get something to eat, given that it was 17:30 and I still hadn't eaten lunch yet - feeling so ill, it would only be a matter of time before I passed out. After an extremely late lunch, I popped inside the basilica - many come here to honour a little statue of the Virgin Mary, kissing the sacred pillar upon which she rests. Countless people have kissed it, which has left a large ...

... short ones. We are on our way to Zaragoza on the west side of Spain.

We go through farm land, then fruit orchards, we couldn't figure out what they grown, but there are lots of fruit packing plants along the highway. I kept thinking there would be fruit stands somewhere, but they never materialized.

At lunch time we stopped at a rest area along the highway. It is quite warm, but the clouds are ...

Boring long day on the A23, highest col 1223m.

Looking for aire in Zaragoza when Brits James, Clare and Katie in their motorhome took us under their wing to the park they'd already stayed in. Left over from 2008 water based expo, with typically spanish rusty iron "sculpture".

35 degree C until light shower cooled us all off.

Bren washed her hair in the public drinking fountain, starting a trend with the other family.

... you get it for a lot cheaper than what we do when we are shopping. We headed back to his house through the Gorge which was great views and seeing donkeys and women carrying produce along the roads. We meet his family including mother, father, brothers and sister he comes from a family of 6brothers and 1sister so we sat in the reception room waiting for our mint tea, the room was not very big at all so all 28 of us squeezed in. Chris and Gary checked out his house as we didn't ...

... that i will do exactly the same for them and not for any kind of obligations but just to let the good times roll. I think i said from the start that i was going to treat this as more of a personal experience then an actual "travel blog" and so really the location should not matter that much to the content, but today it does as we are about to go and join our 2nd and 3rd birthday party of the day, and as Zaragoza has become an integral part of my life through Elena i am again ...

We said goodbye to our wonderful host Sylvia in Guadalahara. The morning light and warmth felt like late May back home. We took to the A2/E90 heading NE towards Zaragoza. One hour later we turned off the highway to visit an old Roman fort on the top of a mountain with a spectacular view, Mendinacellini. Structures ...

... behind the photo collage I never bothered seeing. I raced downstairs and took a look at the old torture chambers. The Inquisitions main role was hunting down and persecuting Jews and anyone else who looked a little shifty in the name of Christianity and these cells were a sinister remnant of that- although you can't get that close due to the fact they're roped off. (The Inquisitions last execution was in 1831 I believe, just over four ...

... was due to leave at 9.30pm was delayed and didn't leave until 10.50pm. Thus we didn't arrive in London until just after midnight London time. Stansted was a nightmare - it was incredibly packed and we were held up for a long time. Finally we got a coach back to Victoria Station at around 1.30am and - after yet another bus to Clapham Junction - got into Nadya's flat at about 3.30am.

... Canadians, but apparently there was an article in the Herald about it. The funniest thing is we are totally remote, no shops, no restaurants, and no cell phone coverage!! Considering half the group works for a telecom company it is driving some of them crazy already not being able to call home or work. Apparently if you go up the hill you can get reception, which is straight out of a commercial. Most seem to be coping well, but we will see how the week goes...