Hotel Rey Fernando II de Aragon Zaragoza

... streets and some clear and sane mind, we found a camping site to park our RV in spend a night....

I found Zaragoza very quiet town. It's got a big cathedral and a square in front of it, statue of Goya and few other nice things.

But at night it's completely different. Lots of people on the streets, bars start filling at 7 p.m. and are full until 3 a.m. So, for us it was - Party time!!!

... the nap, I went for a walk through the old town, then down Paseo de la Independencia, through the newer parts, and eventually ending up back at the Plaza del Pilar. There was a cafe that earlier caught my eye with a nice selection of sandwiches, so I ended up back there for a light dinner. The plaza is almost too big, so it feels empty, since there's nothing taking place in the middle of it all, and seems a bit soulless. Sitting outside, I realized ...

... spires of various lengths with something different on top of each pillar.

The inside is incredible with extremely high ceilings, with paintings on the tops and plaster angels and cherubs all around.

The organ is huge and the choir area is wood chairs and walls with ornate carvings on the wood. The nave is incredible with so many carvings and niches to look at.

Around the corner there is ...

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.

... so a great hostel all around. Then for Faro which was mainly just for a stop over as didn't want to be on a bus for 6 hours back to Spain. Next day we headed back to Spain and this time no passport checking at all, just all of a sudden you start seeing Spanish flags so realise you are in Spain, we went to Seville where we went to watch a free Flamingo Show at a local bar but was it was people who were leering to Flamingo dance would come and dance in front of a audience, the pub ...

... you care about, with who you have had so many great times, that get on planes to come and see you (in Madrid/New York/Argentina/New Zealand/Australia/France) that go out of their way to get you gifts, that stand by you, that accept you and never judge you, well when you have an abundance of these people that are in the very place that you are leaving well its hard... but nothing lasts forever i guess and even if when i get back and some of them are not there, they all ...

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 ...

... stone and crossing themselves. I watched them perform this strange ritual for a while. I'm not even remotely religious myself but I like the fact that it provides solace and comfort to some people- even while inspiring others to do terrible things. I carried on walking around the cathedral until I came to a large table covered with fake plastic candles with bulbs inside, most of them lit. I noticed that it cost 50 cents to light one up, and so I lit two ...

... of the S21 prison in Cambodia and all in all it certainly has character. We try to go to sleep to the sound of the Village People in the room next door drinking, shouting and (clearly) showing off that they have a TV in their room. In the morning, I´m in the shower when Virg fuses the electricity in the whole building by switching a light on. We dress by torchlight, bringing back memories of Laos. A&Vx

After a few days in Madrid, we headed out into the unknown. As we had a few days to kill before meeting my brother and his family in Barcelona, we picked a town about half way in between. This town was Zaragoza. This just goes to show you that sometimes you just need to throw out the good old LP and do things the old fashioned way. By dumb luck. Zaragoza is a fantastic place. It´s a city of ...