Hotel Real Ciudad De 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 ...

... a caravan of eligible Spanish women are shipped in to meet the local men! Upon reading this, I immediately decided to move to a small town in Aragon; any one will do, as long as the caravan pays a visit there. Or maybe I can convince the caravan to make a stop in Calgary?

Seeing a number of windmills and vast fields of solar panels as I rode on the bus, I remembered a David Suzuki documentary I saw several months ago, about renewable sources of ...

... the way for Canada, there is a squiggly over the n.

The GPS won’t accept the address I had for a campground so when we get to Zaragoza so we decide to go into the town. We see 4 spires, it is either a church or a mosque, I think the first. Lucky choice of turn-offs as we end up right at the Church.

We find a parking spot and walk back across the river to look at the beautiful church ...

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.

... were luke warm but was great to have a wash. Next proper camp site will be Marrakesh and not to many after there. On the way to the campsite we stopped at the camels and I had a camels ride which was a little scary but great pictures. Everybody in our trip: Everybody doing the 43 weeks from London to Istanbul unless stated Rob - New Zealand Ben & Sarah - Australian Brad - Australia (Getting off in Cameroon) Lene - Norway Heather - Australia Martin - England (Getting off in ...

... more than 1% who are living this matchpoint version of London but for the majority of us its just one big party fuelled through exciting stepping stone jobs in every sector hence being a compete play ground for 20 somethings but from there on, who really is "having it" and not looking a knob over 35... maybe i am wrong but thats how i felt. Hence Madrid gave me everything i wanted, not too big not too small, the best nightlife par non (that i have seen it least and i ...

... years old built of dry fit stone and stil standing: From Zaragoza we travelled ,ore easterly toward Lleida Catalan. Amongst the ochre coloured rocks and mist blue with mountain ranges were immense wind farms. Turbines and tozers several hundreds of feet high. Onward our lovely 1 litre Fiat Punta purred toward LLieda.

... started by spending a long time gazing at Aljaferia Palace, which I had actually already passed several times walking to and from the train station. It was originally built at the Moorish Muslims who ruled here at the dawn of the second Millennium. Zaragoza served as capital to one of the many taifa or petty Islamic kingdoms, that ruled most of the peninsula following the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba. Time for another little tangent. Basically, the ...

So I relcutantly left Barcelona and headed west to a cmall city called Zaragoza. I really only chose the city cause it sounded pretty interesting and it was one of the few places I could find with a youth hostel. And I soon figured out why. Turns out that the World Expo was just held in Zaragoza and the hostel was created to accomodate the hoards of young people flocking to the city. Now the hostel is pretty deserted besides ...

... English what the occasion was and he said it was a certain time of the year in their history and it only happens once a year. The fact that Anna and I were only here as a stop off on this certain day of the year was lucky to catch the celebrations. The weather is boiling again and we are looking forward to jumping in the sea in Barcelona. We wont write for a few days................promise. Matt and Anna