Spain - Andalusia

CITIES VISITED

- Llafranc, - Barcelona (Ciutadella, zoo, Aquarium, Caravel, Gothic Quarter, Cathedral, Montjuïc, Plaça d'Espanya), - Caves of St Josep in Vall d'Uixó, - Sagunto, - Elche, - Granada (Alhambra, Generalife), - Seville (Barrio de Santa Cruz, Maria Luisa gardens and Plaza de España), - Cordoba, - Aranjuez, - Madrid (visit to the Prado, Guernica, Plaza Colón and its fountains, Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace: the throne, the medieval weapons), - Burgos (Cathedral and tomb of 'El Cid'), - Bilbao, - Andorra, - Limoges (ceramics)

TRAVEL DIARY

- Wednesday 1 August Departure from Milan at 6:00 in the morning, meeting up with friends with whom we'll share the journey. Motorway to Turin, then at Santhià a turn-off for Aosta. At the Aosta motorway exit a stop for breakfast. Mont Blanc Tunnel (14,000 lire toll). Motorway to Geneva, then a turn-off for Annecy and Chambéry and then Lyon. Exit at La Tour-du-Pin for Vienne: here we stock up on food for lunch. Back on the motorway to Marseille, heavy traffic as far as Orange, because of Parisians heading to the sea. At a service area after Valence we have lunch. Continuing on the motorway as far as the French-Spanish border and then on to Girona, then exit for Palafrugell: it's 5 pm and we've covered 1,100 km, so we decide to stop: Hotel El Paraiso in LLAFRANC. We stay 2 days. In the afternoon a visit to Calella and Palafrugell.

- Thursday 2 August

Staying on the Costa Brava at Llafranc. In the morning a swim at Aigua Freda. In the afternoon, a swim at the port of Llafranc but there are jellyfish.

- Friday 3 August

Morning swim at Llafranc. In the afternoon departure for Barcelona, entering the city, a visit to the Sagrada Família, a walk in Plaça de Catalunya and along the Ramblas. (Hotel Expo in Barcelona)

- Saturday 4 August

Visit to Barcelona; Parc de la Ciutadella, zoo, Aquarium, snakes and gardens. Columbus's Caravel, Gothic Quarter and the Cathedral. Montjuïc and the funfair, roller coaster, go-karts, little train. Plaça d'Espanya, dinner at a restaurant, concert and fountain and light show.

- Sunday 5 August

In the morning we leave Barcelona for Valencia. Visit to the beach of Benicàssim, a fashionable seaside resort. At Nules we found the Hotel Versailles, awful.

- Monday 6 August

Visit to the Caves of St Josep in Vall d'Uixó (my father is very disappointed: he had seen them in 1968 and they were beautiful, now they've widened them and removed many stalactites and stalagmites). In the afternoon Sagunto, where all the shops are closed for their day off. We spent the afternoon on the beach, very sandy, near Sagunto. We had lunch on the beach at a kiosk.

- Tuesday 7 August

Having left Nules, a visit to the Roman town of Sagunto, the museum and the theatre. Back on the motorway at Valencia, then Benidorm and Alicante. At ELCHE a visit to the 'Palmeral del Cura': dates and succulents. We continue the journey to Murcia, at Lorca an overnight stay at the Hotel Alameda.

- Wednesday 8 August

Departure in the morning for Granada; we've entered Andalusia; we visit dwellings carved into the mountains, but with television (funny, the antennas sticking out of the ground), the lady offers us fresh water and shows us the house. Mountains covered in cacti and plains with erosion canyons. Villages of white houses. A visit to one of these dwellings. We climb up to the Mora pass at 1,390 m, from where we command a view of the snow-white Sierra Nevada. In Granada we sleep at the Hotel Condor. We visited the Cathedral, the Royal Chapel with the tombs of the kings (Queen Isabella), the characteristic little streets around the Cathedral, a visit to the church of St Jerome and St Juan de Dios.

- Thursday 9 August

In Granada a visit to the Alhambra, splendid Arab buildings, and the Generalife: gardens full of water and fountains. Pomegranate trees and jasmine. In the afternoon departure for Seville: here we took the Hotel Sevilla. In the evening, during a service, a visit to the Cathedral: the splendid marble tomb of Christopher Columbus, with 4 Spanish kings carrying the coffin.

- Friday 10 August

In Seville a visit to the Barrio de Santa Cruz, then, by carriage, a visit to the Maria Luisa gardens and the Plaza de España. In some ways it recalls Venice. Earlier we visited the Alcázar and the Giralda, less beautiful than those of Granada. Departure for Cordoba. Here the Hotel Niza, where we had a close encounter with cockroaches among the sheets: an unforgettable night!.

- Saturday 11 August

Visit to the Cathedral: a vast Arab mosque disfigured by its conversion into a church, a Roman bridge. A visit to the city by bumpy carriage. In the afternoon departure for Aranjuez. Along the way, in the middle of the almost desert populated only by sparse cacti and scorched earth without even a house, we spot a bar that also has animals: the beautiful lioness Susy and two terrible monkeys.

- Sunday 12 August

Staying in Aranjuez at the Hotel Mercedes. After breakfast, a visit to Toledo, where we have lunch in a cellar of an old palace; return to Aranjuez, a visit to the Royal Palace and the Casita del Labrador, all surrounded by centuries-old plane trees.

- Monday 13 August

From Aranjuez, a visit to Madrid: Plaza de Colón and its fountains, Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace: the throne, the medieval weapons, the medicines. Return to Aranjuez.

- Tuesday 14 August

Departure from Aranjuez. In Madrid a visit to the Prado, the Italian section closed. The paintings by Rembrandt and Tiepolo are beautiful, and the whole 19th-century painters section. We visited Picasso's Guernica, where the checks at the entrance are very strict. In the afternoon transfer northwards. Visit to the Cathedral of Burgos: the tomb of 'El Cid'. At 11 pm we reach Bilbao: we sleep at the Hotel Duque.

- Wednesday 15 August

Departure from Bilbao, we did the Atlantic coast. Before San Sebastián a stop at the beach, for the whole morning. The sea is at low tide; after lunch we resume the journey into France. We stop at the Pau Hostellerie du Parc: a very nice hotel.

- Thursday 16 August

Departure from Pau in the rain, arriving in the afternoon in Andorra in the rain and fog. Pas de la Casa and Fra Miquel. At Encamp we found the Hotel Rosaleda, where my parents had stayed in 1970: the management has changed, now they offer half board: 360 FF/day. A visit to the shops of Encamp and Les Escaldes.

- Friday 17 August

Departure from Encamp in the sun. A stop at the Pas de la Casa for duty-free shopping. A queue at customs, about 1 hour. After a couple of kilometres we part from our friends, who head towards Perpignan and back to Liguria, while we go north. We arrive in Limoges at 7 pm.

- Saturday 18 August

A visit to the Limoges ceramics, then departure for home. Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Étienne, Vienne, Chambéry, Albertville, Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard, we reach Aosta now at night and decide to stop at my grandmother's in Piedmont.