Spain/Portugal

Thursday 1 September 2005

Sandy did a 2 hour recce then took Patsy for a walk to Plaza Espanya (escalators all the way up the hill which pleased Patsy). Saw the Olympic pool, the stadium where the arrow was shot to light the Olympic cauldron and the diving pool with the view of the city behind it. A stroll through the narrow streets of the old town (plus town square of course) and down the many boulevards (pedestrian inthe middle with parallel one way streets on either side). The rest of the day 7:30 pm onwards was spent in our luxury room with a view to the west and TV with CNN and BBC and a KFC supper.

View from the room

Olympic Diving Pool

Wednesday 31 August 2005

Returned to Salamanca at 00:02 and spent the rest of the night on the station platform with other younger back packers. We caught the 06:00 to Madrid. Bought a reservation for Barcelona leaving Madrid Atocha.
Put back packs in locker and off to see the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia where Picasso's ¨Guernica¨ is on display. Sandy has always wanted to see this. A great lunch in the Madrid Atocha area and a great train trip to Barcelona, service was like a flight. Got off the train at Barcelona Sants at 21:33 to see a sign on the station for Barcelona Sants Hotel, 70e. We took it and it turned out to be fabulous. We were really tired from staying up on the platform the night before so slept very well.

Tuesday 30 August 2005

Up at 3:45am to catch the 4:51 to Coimbra B (Portugal). Arrived 08:33 Portuguese time, and caught the shuttle to Coimbra A, then walked to Coimbra Parque to get the 09:39 to Maranda do Corvo (10:04). Phoned Major from Coimbra A at 9:30am and he said that he would meet us at the station. We duly arrived to be greeted by BB with Toby on an extendable lead. The Major has aged since 9 years ago, and walked very slowly back to his flat with us, stopping frequently for rests. He is still totally lucid with a slightly gravelly voice. We talked of the present and the past. We took him to lunch after a beer at 'his' cafe. He is suffering grief as he has lost his dear sister and Bill Baker in the same week. He is frail, it was really good to see him.


Monday 29 August 2005

Arrived in Madrid at 9:33am. The only way to get to Coimbra was the 11:00 to Salamanca and the the 04:51 Tuesday morning to Coimbra! Sandy found a cheap pension in Salamanka where the lady was happy for us to get up and leave at 3am in the morning. Salamanca was amazing. An incredible cathedral (Cathedral Nueva 1733) next to a smaller one (Cathedral Vieja 12th Century), a Roman bridge and numerous old 1400's buildings including a University founded 1218! Visited the Mathematics faculty at the university where a lecture was taking place. The buildiing was from the 1700´s.