Day 22 - Barcelona

Gelati: 2, Beer: 3 glasses, Tapas: 0

I let Vanessa and the others sleep in this morning.  We arranged to meet at 1pm instead.  I spent the morning wandering around the centre of the old city spotting parts of the old Roman walls.  Then, once the city museum opened I visited that (I just can't get the hang of Spanish time).  The city museum is underneath the current episcopal palace.  It is built on the remains of an earlier Visigoth episcopal palace, which in turn is built on top of the Roman city of Barcino.  You could see parts of the base of the original Roman walls, along with a winery, salted fish (and fish sauce) factory, dye works and laundry (rather more upmarket than Lenia's).  In the winery were remains of their equivalent of barrels for fermenting the wine.  I manage to drop my leaflet with the museum map into one of these while leaning over the railing to take a photo.   I suspect I wasn't the first and won't be the last.  I imagine it is the job of some attendent to go around after closing and pick them all up.

I just had a snack for lunch.  This was a paper cone of jamon off-cuts with a packet of breadsticks from one shop and a gelati (pistachio and raspberry) from another.  I then headed back to my hotel to meet up with Vanessa, would showed up at 1:40pm which is late even by her standards.  I didn't mind too much.  I'm on holiday (still!) so I was in no rush.  While I was waiting a group of young Brazilian men put on their busking act.  They are all experienced at the Brazilian martial art of capoeira and put on a display of mock fights and acrobatics (tumbling and human pyramids).  They were all good looking and wearing nothing but track suit pants low on their hips so they drew a big crowd of mainly women.  I actually got elbowed and had my feet trodden on by some who wanted to get closer to the front to watch.  The part of their act that got the biggest cheer was when the pants of the one on top of the pyramid fell down around his ankles.

After finally catching up with Vanessa the two of us meet up with Rachele and Generoso and went to Montjuic Park on the outskirts of Barcelona.   To get to the top we first took a funicular halfway up and then a cable car to the very top (which turned a corner!).  At the top is a castle which had fabulous views.  We rode the cable car back down to the halfway point and then went in search of another theme park aka Poble Espanyol like the one I went to in Palma.  It turned out to be further away that it seemed from the map so Rachele and Generoso waited for us in a park while Vanessa and I went on.  It wasn't as good as the one in Palma.  I didn't recognise any of the supposedly famous buildings.  However, each building housed the shop (and often workshop) of a local craftsman so we had an enjoyable time browsing around.  We also had a gelati (pistachio and mango for me this time).  It turns out the man selling the gelati was from the town outside Bergamo where Vanessa used to work so they had an animated conversation.  I really must learn more Italian that just words for food.

After our gelati we collected Rachele and Generoso and headed off to dinner.  This was at the Moritz brewery, which has a restaurant on site.  It is built on top of some more Roman ruins so it was worth going to just to visit the loos in the basement and see the ancient walls and pavements.  The beer was ordinary and the food was German-inspired but we had a pleasant time all the same.   Finally I said good-bye to Rachele and Generoso but not Vanessa.  She rushed off to see a concert with friends but has promises to meet me at the airport bus stop tomorrow morning at 7am.  I said she'll oversleep but she promises not to go to sleep at all but just stay up all night.  She insists she'll show up, but makes no claims about her sobriety at the time.  We'll see.

Day 21 - Barcelona

Gelati: 0, Beer: 5 glasses, Tapas: 3

Spent the early part of the morning pottering around, getting my bearings.  When we are out with Vanessa she guides us and I don't get a chance to look at a map and find out where I am.  I think I have a rough idea now.  I also visited the cathedral which is opposite my hotel (not the Sagrada Familia).  Churches have gone hi-tech now.  Instead of lighting an actual wax candle, you put a coin in a slot below a bank of electric "candles".  One coin lights up one candle.  The length of time it stays lit depends on the value of the coin.  I put in 10 cents to St Mark to see how the system worked (he needed dusting).

Since finishing the hiking tour my breakfasts have not been included in the price of my hotel room.  My hotel in Seville had a reasonably priced and well supplied buffet for breakfast so I just ate there.  All the others either haven't provided breakfast or charge too much, so I've been choosing random bars and eating there.  My Spanish has improved to the point where I can be confident of getting what I order.  Unfortunately, to achieve this means limiting myself to coffee with milk and either toast or a croissant.

Around mid-morning I met up with the others and we went to the chocolate museum.  The entry ticket was printed on the wrapper of a small bar of (dark) chocolate.  Inside were many displays, 3 short movies on the history of chocolate and lots and lots of sculptures made in chocolate.  There was also a gallery of famous chocolatiers being honoured.  However, they were being honoured for their ability to make chocolate sculptures, which I think is a fairly useless skill.  I would have been more impressed if they were honoured for their advances in the making of chocolates and chocolate bars.  After buying carefully chosen samples from the gift shop (mine were black cherry, spices, almond milk, and ginger) we reluctantly left.  The smell of the place was wonderful.

We then headed off to a shoe museum but stopped along the way as Generoso wanted to buy some souvenir t-shirts.  He haggled in one shop for a soccer top but they couldn't agree on a price so we moved onto the next.  He haggled even more vigorously there and got the item for what he considered was the right price.  He spoke Italian and they replied in Spanish but both seemed to understand one another.  Vanessa and I each bought t-shirts after that.  We got offered good prices for both.  I think they were worried we'd sic Generoso on them if they didn't and they make an even smaller profit.  It would never have occurred to me to haggle in one of those souvenir shops but they were clearly expecting it.  Just as clearly Generoso had the most fun of this holiday doing so.

Next on the itinerary was the shoe museum.  Generoso skipped it and sat in the plaza outside, which earned him some odd looks as it also doubled as the playground for the local primary school and it was their morning break.  The museum is quite small and obviously doesn't get many visitors as the man running it was thrilled to see us.  He kept popping in to the museum itself from the ticket counter to explain things to us.  This was a lovely gesture but largely futile as he spoke Catalan and none of us do.  Vanessa could follow some of it but Rachele and I just smiled and nodded a lot.  What struck me most about the displays was how small people's feet used to be.  Not just short but narrow.  Either that or else  shoes were very badly fitting and everyone had horrible bunions.

After this we stopped for lunch at a randomly chosen place and had the menu of the day.  To start with Generoso and I had broad beans cooked with chunks of jamon and blood sausage, Rachele had eggplant stuffed with (pork?) mince and topped with bechamel sauce and cheese while poor Vanessa had a mixed salad (the only veggie option).  For main I had meatballs in sauce, Rachele and Generoso had the pork chops with chips and Vanessa settled on fish and chips.  She's converted to being a pescatarian as it is impossible to be vegetarian in Spain.  Dessert was flan (aka creme caramel) all round.

After lunch we tottered off to see the Sagrada Familia.  It is supremely ugly but so ugly it is also impressive.  What as also impressive was the price to get inside and the enormous queue.  We marvelled at it from the outside, took many pictures and moved on.

Our next stop (all our travelling was by Metro today) was supposed to be a flea market that my guide book said was a "generous sprawl of trash and treasure".  What my guide book failed to say was that it was only open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  At this point Rachele confessed to being tired so she and Generoso went back to their hotel while Vanessa and I headed down to the port. We found a bar right on the beach with tables in the sun and settled in to drinking beer and people watching.   You can get anything at the beach in Barcelona.  Along with people wandering around selling water and hats and such like, there was also an Asian couple (Thai I think) selling massages.  However, our favorite were the men selling mojitos.  They had all the non-alcoholic parts pre-mixed and carried a bottle of rum.  You selected your flavour and quantity of rum and they made it on the spot for you.  Highly illegal but no-one seemed to mind.  Vanessa and I just stuck to beer from the bar.
We also snacked on hummus, guacamole with corn chips and a salad of cherry tomatoes, feta, pickled onions and olives.  Finally Vanessa tottered off to work while I tottered off to bed.

Tomorrow is the last day of my holiday.  Sigh.

Day 20 - Barcelona

Gelati: 0, Wine: 5 glasses, Tapas: 0

Ended up spending most of the day at my cooking class.  There were 6 of us at the start for the optional market tour.  A trio of women from Seattle (daughter, mother, grandmother) and a Romanian couple and me.  Our guide was a Spanish man with the improbable name of Kim.  The market was absolutely fascinating.  A lot of thought had been put into the displays of every item.  You felt almost reluctant to buy anything as it would mess up the symmetry.  The stands were also highly specialised.  You didn't have a fruit and veg stand.  Instead, one place just sold fruit while another just sold veg.  There was one that sold nothing but varieties of chillies.  On the carnivorous side of things, there were poultry and games stands, meats stands (which only sold beef and lamb) and, of course, pork stands which sold fresh meat and all manner of jamon and salamis.  There was also a stall that sold nothing but offal.  There were fresh fish stalls and also bacala stalls which sold nothing but salted cod.  These also sold pre-soaked bacala so you did have to do that tedious bit yourself.   We bought cuttlefish (the stallholder cleaned it for us thankfully), prawns, clams, mussels, 2 types of jamon, some pre-soaked bacala, fresh peas and some fresh strawberries and then it was back to the school to cook.

On the menu was romesco sauce which is a red pesto-like sauce made with dried (then reconstituted) sweet red peppers with hazelnuts and almonds and lots of garlic.  We ate it as a dipping sauce with calcots - which is a special type of Catalan leek/spring onion thing which we steamed and then fried.

Next was a roasted red capsicum and garlic soup with confit bacala.  To confit the bacala we brought oil to the boil and then added herbs and garlic.  The heat was turned off and the bacala added and left to absorb the flavours (since it has none of its own).  We had first taken the skin off, cut it into tiny slices which were then put in the oven to crisp.  These were used as a garnish (way too fiddly).

Main was seafood paella with the fresh peas.  This was cooked in an enormous pan that had its own special gas line as paella needs a broad, strong heat sauce to cook properly.

Dessert was crema catalan with the fresh strawberries.  This is basically a boiled custard flavoured with lemon and cinnamon.  It wasn't enough use a paring knife to get the lemon peel.  We then had to use the knife to scrape every last scrap of pith off the inside of the peel.  Kim is a professional chef and likes this to be done properly.

Kim was a good instructor.  Friendly and easy-going but clearly very knowledgable.  We had been joined by another woman from Seattle and mother-daughter pair from Connecticut for the actual cooking class part so we were 9 in the end.    Kim explained what and how we were to cook each dish and did some demonstrating but most of the time each dish was cooked by 2 or 3 volunteers from the class.  I did the soup with bacala dish.

One thing I've noticed about American tourists is that when you ask the where they are from they tell you the state not the country.  Another thing I noticed today is that they don't know how to cook.  The mother from the trio was half of the pair that made the dessert.  When she was given a balloon whisk to beat the eggs and sugar together it was clear she had never held one in her life.  She had to be shown how to use it.  All the Americans on the course were amazed at the sight of a stick blender.  Again, never having seen such a thing.  They were clearly not that used to using knives either.  When one of them was given the task of chopping capsicum for the paella into pieces she carefully and painstakingly cut it into slices and then just as carefully and painstakingly cut each slice (individually!) into pieces.  Both halves of the Romanian couple could cook.  All three of us have clearly chopped up food before at least.  While we can't do it as quickly, let alone as evenly, as a professional like Kim we could do it efficiently.  We ended up sitting down to lunch at 3pm instead of 2pm because of how long it took to make everything.

The food was actually quite good.  The ingredients were fresh and high quality and Kim had made sure we hadn't done anything too badly.  We each got to caramelise the sugar on top of our crema catalan with a giant blow torch which was a lot of fun.  Much wine was drunk except by those that preferred Diet Coke (shudder).

After finishing up at the cooking school I went out to see Vanessa at her place.  It is tiny.  I joked that my hotel room was bigger but it turns out I wasn't exaggerating.  Her entire flat is about 4 metres square.  One tiny corner has been partitioned off and turned into a bathroom (loo, shower, handbasin) and she has a tiny cooking area with a 2 burner cooktop and a single sink with a narrow fridge next to it.  Good thing she doesn't like to cook.  The rest of the space is taken up with a double bed and a small table with two chairs.  However, she loves it.  It gets direct light instead of looking out onto a central courtyard/light well as so many of the cheaper places do.  Also, it is the first place she has had all to herself.

Well herself and her cat Park.  He is fat and lazy and complacent.  Even more so than my pampered 2 which is saying something.  He has a good life and he knows it.

Vanessa and I then went up to Park Guell which is near her place.  This was supposed to be an upmarket housing development in the early 20th century that Gaudi was to be the architect for.    Only 2 homes were built.  Neither sold and Gaudi ended up buying and living in one.  The development failed and no more homes were built.  However, the vast majority of the estate was supposed to be gardens and this is what it is now, plus many statues and arcades and the like that Gaudi designed.  It is at the top of a steep climb but well worth a visit.

After this we went back down the hill and caught up with Generoso and Rachele.  We attempted to go to dinner at an authentic paella place in the district but because it was so authentic it kept Spanish time and didn't open for dinner until 9pm.  We decided to try another place in the centre that caters to tourists also and therefore keeps wider hours.  Vanessa said it would take about 20 minutes to walk into the centre so we set off.  We should have realised these were 20 Vanessa-minutes as it took us 1 hour to reach the other restaurant.  Poor Rachele looked about ready to collapse.  We finally got our paella - a seafood one and another with chicken and rabbit.  According to Kim this version (chicken and rabbit) is the original.  We finished with crema catalan, which was not as good as the one we'd cooked under Kim's instructions.  

Once we were done Vanessa rushed off to work (as she was late) and left the 3 of us to find our various way's home.   This was harder than it needed to be because the waiter mis-identified the place where the restaurant was but I eventually managed to find a metro stop for the others and the street where my hotel was for me.

Tomorrow we are off to the chocolate museum (for the obvious) and then the Sagrada Familia (for culture).

Day 19 - Cordoba to Barcelona

Gelati: 1, Beer: 2 glasses, Tapas: 7

Took the fast train from Cordoba to Barcelona.  Nothing much to report.  It was a train rather than a bus so I could read.  It went very fast (around 250km/h was its cruising speed) so it only took around 5 hours to go pretty much the entire length of Spain.

I meet up with Vanessa, Rachele and Generoso at the train station here in Barcelona.  Vanessa had been expecting me to stay at her house and had cleaned and tidied up, as well as arranging to stay with a friend so I'd have the (tiny) place to myself.  However, as her place is a little way out of the centre and up 5 flights of stairs, I insisted on staying at my central and spacious (pre-booked) hotel instead.  It was a sweet thought though.

We dropped my bag off at the hotel then went in search of food for me as it was about 3:30pm by that stage and I hadn't had any lunch yet as I'd run out of cash.  Vanessa had to go into her work (an Irish pub) for an hour so left me with Rachele and Generoso to eat.  This was a little awkward as Rachele's English is limited and Generoso knows none at all.  My Italian is even worse.  After my lunch (a rocket, cheese and salami focaccia) the three of us set off in search of Vanessa's work.  Given our lack of adequate maps and communication difficulties I was very impressed that we managed to find it at all.  We only went a little off course.

After collecting Vanessa we just went for a wander around the main streets and looked at a number of Gaudi apartment buildings.  These are simply incredible.  Imagine Salvador Dali decided to be an architect instead of a painter and you have an idea of what they are like.  Vanessa and I wanted to look inside one but the first we came across wasn't open to the public and the other wanted 16 euros per person to go inside.  We decided our need for culture wasn't that great so we settled taking photos of just the outsides and having gelati instead.

After this we sauntered around some more and then ended up at a bar Vanessa recommended for an early dinner.  We shared various tapas - olives, a bowl of hummus, another of that eggplant dip whose name I can't remember, toasted bread with tomato, olive oil, oregano & garlic topping, a dish of melted (goat's) cheese, a plate of whole goat's cheese pieces and another of jamon.  The final dish was a plate of small sausages in a BBQ sauce (forgettable).   For dessert Rachele, Vanessa and I shared a waffle with chocolate and condensed milk topping which had been sprinkled with cinnamon.  Generoso doesn't approve of the food focus of my holiday.

Tomorrow I'm off to my cooking course in the morning before catching up with the others in the afternoon.  I'm going to see Vanessa's place and meet her cat before heading out to Park Guell.  This is not far from her place and has great views over the city and is full of Gaudi's works (and is free).

Not sure what we should do for the remaining two days.  Vanessa and I want to visit the Chocolate Museum.  It seems obligatory to see the Sagrada Familia so we'll 'do' that too.  Vanessa also wants to take the cable car up to Montjuic park just outside the city.  I hope they maintain it better than the Arthur's Seat chairlift people.

Day 18 - Cordoba

Gelati: 2, Drink: 1 glass wine, 2 glasses beer, Tapas: 0

I got an email today from the Granada hotel saying they had charged my credit card for my stay and attached a scan of my receipt.  All well and good.  The email then went on to say I should have gone to the sister hotel which is staffed 24 hours a day.  I felt like sending back a rude email saying "didn't you read my original email?   The sister hotel was locked up and no-one was there either!".  I didn't in the end since, after all, what would be the point?  If I do go back to Granada, I'm not going to stay at either place.

I spent the morning here visiting the Mezquita.  It started life as a Christian Visigoth church before becoming a mosque.  Over time it became one of the largest in the world and was very beautiful.  After the Christian reconquest of Andalusia it was turned back into a church and wrecked.  All the arcades were bricked up and turned into chapels to various saints, complete with paintings showing them being martyred in gruesome ways, so it is now very gloomy.  They also ruined the symmetry of the building inside by plonking an ugly great cathedral in the middle.  Even the king who authorised the work thought it was a bad thing to have done.  Mind you, they've dug up part of the floor of the place and have uncovered roman ruins.  Apparently there was a roman temple on the site originally so there is precedent for pulling things down and building over them.

After this I visited the Palace of Viana which is famous for having 12 patios/courtyards and 1 garden.  It dates originally from the 14th century but has be modified and added to over the years.  The garden and 11 of the 12 patios were lovely (the 12th dates from about 10 years ago and may get better with age, it is just too stark and empty now).  Every patio had a water feature and many plants, most of which were in bloom.  I was amused to listen to other people raving over plants that are common in Australia but are obviously much harder to grow in an English climate.  Wisteria got them particularly excited.  I kept thinking that stuff is practically a weed.  If you don't hack it back regularly (weekly almost in the summer) it will take over your house.  I can't imagine needing to lavish love and care on it.

I then visited a much smaller, traditional Andalusian house.  Again, the rooms opened onto patios at the slightest provocation but it was just the size of a largish normal house.  Apparently, it was originally the house of a paper merchant and there were displays on how paper was made and many items for sale on handmade paper.  I was particularly amused by the horoscopes in various languages.  There were none for Leos in either English or Italian but I managed to find a French one that I could (mostly) read.  I'm not sure what the lack of Leo pages indicates.  Are we few in number so they didn't bother to print many or we just more credulous so we've bought them all?

On the way to this house I saw an amusing dog dominance incident.  Lots of people have dogs here and many have those silly rat-sized things.  I saw two friends, each with their dogs, meet up.  One had a real dog (an Alsatian) while the other had a rat dog.  The humans ignored their dogs and chatted.  The rat dog went berserk challenging the Alsatian.  It growled and barked and made little abortive lunges at the bigger dog, while the bigger dog just looked at it with a puzzled expression.  Finally, the Alsatian lost patience and put out one paw and flattened the rat thing to the ground, at which point it finally shut up.

I then had lunch.  I started with salmorejo (yes, there is a theme here).  It came with the usual trimmings (chopped egg and jamon) and also a drizzle of olive oil.  It was a bit chunkier than usual and very good.  Main was another traditional Andalusian dish - flammenquin.   This is a pork fillet with a slice of jamon on top which is then rolled up, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried.  There is a reason why this dish isn't more widely known.  Dessert was fresh strawberries - in theory.  Some were fresh, some were underripe and some overripe.  The coffee was good.

After lunch I attempted to visit the Caliphate's baths.  This is a traditional arab bath complex from the 12th century.  I tried to go yesterday but got there 10 minutes before closing.  Today I showed up 5 minutes after closing, so it was not to be.

Finally, I went for my own bath.  There are two modern bath houses here in Cordoba.  One sounded more authentic.  From my reading of their website you only do the warm-hot-cold-steam circuit once and then spend as much time as you like in the 'floating pool'.  However, as there is no time limit on how long people stay or any minimum age limit it sounded as if it could also be crowded and noisy.  Not really the self-indulgent, pampering experience I'm after.

I ended up going to the other baths that are run by the same crowd that manage the baths in Granada.  The layout here was a little different.  Again, separate rooms for each pool but the pools were larger and deeper.  The rooms were decorated with red and cream tiles and arches modelled on those in the Mezquita.  The ceilings had star-shaped holes cut in them but here they were skylights rather than artificial lights so this complex was the prettiest but I did like being able to swim from pool to pool in the baths in Seville.

To make this experience different this time I opted for the full Al Andalus 'ritual'.  This is the skin scrubbing from before followed by a regular massage.  I got to watch someone else have this done and saw how they cover you in bubbles.  They basically fill an enormous piping bag with bubbles and then pipe them all over you like you are a giant cake.  This time when I got the skin scrubbing they scrubbed my midriff too which didn't happen in Granada.  Made me wish I hadn't eaten so much for lunch.  However, the massage was very pleasant.  Not as firm as a therapeutic massage but more than just skin polishing.  The masseur clearly knew his stuff and kept trying to work out the knots in my shoulders and neck.  I didn't have the heart to tell him he's wasting his time and it will take more than a few minutes of massage to work out the stress from years spent hunched over computers.

One thing I've noticed with all this bathing is that you can tell English and American woman from European ones very easily.  The former typically wear one-piece bathing suits and generally keep themselves covered in their towels when not actually in a pool.  The European woman wear teeny tiny bikinis regardless of age, size, shape and quantity of cellulite and only use the towels to dry themselves.  I just use a towel for drying and wear a bikini but not a teeny tiny one.  Fitting given my half European half English background really.

Dinner was at a random cafe and was what a Frenchman would call a salad nicoise but was called an ensalada andalusia here.  It would have been much better if they had bothered to drain the water from the can of tuna before dumping it into the bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.  The disappointing food was made up for by the entertainment of listening to the American couple attempting to order their salads with dressing on the side.  The waitress only had minimal english and they had no spanish so communication was difficult.  What was more difficult is that it is standard practice here for you to get your own bottles of oil and vinegar to dress your own salad.  The idea that a salad would come pre-dressed was utterly foreign to the waitress so she had trouble understanding what on earth they were on about.  They were trying to order plain, steamed rice when I left (why on earth I don't know).

Off to Barcelona tomorrow to catch up with Vanessa and also, apparently, Rachele and Generoso.  Should be fun.

Day 17 - Granada to Cordoba

Gelati: 1, Wine: 2 glasses, Tapas: 0

My hotel went back to being lifeless.  My barricade (there is no chain) was not needed.  When I went to check out I couldn't find any staff member either at my hotel or the sister hotel.  Both places were locked up and reception empty.  I had to unlock the front door of my hotel so I could leave.  Admittedly  it was 9am on a Saturday but still it doesn't seem very professional.

I'm not sure how I'm to go about paying for my stay.  The website for my hotel is down but the one for the sister hotel is still up, so contacted them using an email address I found on that site.  They did swipe my credit card when I checked in so I assume they will use that.  I would have preferred to be presented with a bill and then signed or typed in my pin number and got a receipt.  This all seems rather ad hoc.

I got one of the last 8 seats on the "fast" bus to Cordoba so it was worth the early start.  We got seats that reclined, a little doggy bag with a bottle of water, a packet of biscuits and another of nuts and also an in-drive movie!  Unfortunately, it was a children's movie dubbed into Spanish with Spanish subtitles so I didn't watch it.  Since I can't read on a bus without getting car sick I spent 2 1/2 hours looking at the scenery.  Olive groves on rolling hills get boring long before 2 1/2 hours have passed.

I like Cordoba very much.  For one thing it is warm - we had a top of about 28C.  My hotel here is the best of all the ones I've stayed in (excluding those on the hike).  I have a big room with a double bed, not just a single, and it has its own carved and painted wooden ceiling.  Again, it is an old building with rooms around a patio.  However, this time it is rectangular with only rooms on 3 sides (both short sides and one long side).  All the windows face onto the central patio but have sensible frosted glass so you can keep the curtains open for light while still having having (visual) privacy.  My room is on the ground floor so I can hear everyone in the patio clearly and I assume they can hear me just as easily.

After getting settled in I went out for lunch.  I went to a rather upmarket place that specialises in salmorejo.  They do the traditional style - all by hand, the traditional style - but made with a blender plus a dozen other non-traditional versions.  I have the 'evolutivo' which also had in it  (according to Google translate)  green tea powder, tomato stems (?) and anchovies.  What I got had mushrooms on top and was sprinkled with truffle powder.  Very yum.  For main I had was vegetables (carrots, asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, capsicum) which had been pickled by being lightly salted and then fried in plenty of good olive oil.  This was topped with two slices of fois gras and decorated with 4 graduated blobs and one smear of aioli.

After lunch I wandered around the royal palace.  Part of the battlements have survived and the view from the top was worth the strenuous climb.  The rest of the palace is mainly empty rooms decorated with Roman mosaics that have been found in the area.  There is also an Arab bath complex that was found underneath which you can visit.  The main attraction is the lovely gardens with fountains and fish ponds.   As it is hotter here than in Granada the gardens are in full bloom and the scent of orange blossom is everywhere.

I've decided I need to do some renovations to my house.  I have the fish pond and the waterfall so that's covered.  However, I need to redo the bathroom so I have a mosaic floor.  Something simple.  Just a monochrome with a geometric pattern and perhaps a fish or two.

After seeing the palace I queued up to buy a ticket to see the horse show in the royal stables.  After 15 minutes they appear to have managed to sell tickets to perhaps 5 of the 20 or 30 people in the queue ahead of me.  The show was supposed to start soon and there was a rider on horseback in the street outside.  The horse was getting impatient which she (I think) demonstrated by frothing at the mouth (horse drool is disgusting) and farting a lot.  I decided my need for gelati was greater than my need to see dancing horses and left.

After that I just pottered around until settling on a restaurant for dinner.  It was in the main tourist area but down a little alley and around a corner.  I was the first to arrive (at the ridiculously early hour of 8:10pm) but by 8:30pm almost all the outdoor tables were full.  Us tourists ate dinner while the locals just had tapas.  For my dinner I had the super traditional salmorejo (not enough garlic), stewed bull's tail (I wonder how many times it just comes from a cow not a bull?) and flan (aka creme caramel).

Tomorrow I have to cram in all my Cordoba sightseeing and my bath.  I should have had the extra day here and only the 1 in Granada.

Day 16 - Granada

Gelati: 1, Beer: 1, Tapas: 0

You know how I said earlier that I thought this hotel felt lifeless?  I take it back.  Last night, just after I'd fallen asleep, the couple with the room next to mine mistakenly came into my room instead of theirs.  How their room keycard could open my door just as easily as the door to their own room is something I would like to know.   There is a desk in my room on the wall at right angles to the door and the door just clears it.  After the invasion I put my suitcase in the gap between door and desk so I can't get any more surprise visitors.  Mind you, if there is a fire I'll get burnt to a crisp since the doorway is blocked.

Woke late after the adventures of the night and just spent the morning pottering around.  I actually spent a little time in the cathedral attending mass just so I had somewhere indoors to sit.  It was bitterly cold this morning (around 10C) as it had been clear skies all night and then cloud rolled in at dawn so it took a good while for the day to warm up.   It finally got to around 22C by lunchtime.

One of the things I came across today was a convent that sells pastries to the public.   It seems to be a cloistered order as you never actually get to see one of the nuns.  Instead, you ring a bell and speak to someone over an intercom.  There is a hatch in the wall with a rotating plate which you can see half of at any one time.   You give your order over the intercom and put your money on the plate.  You then turns this so the nun can collect the money.  She puts your pastries on the plate and turns it around again for you to collect.  At no point do you actually see each other.  Extremely odd.

I lunched at some random tourist trap place.  OK food again.  I had the salmorejo, which came with all the trimmings this time (chopped hardboiled egg and jamon on top) and a decent amount of garlic inside it.  Very good.  Main was pan fried pork fillet with a pepper sauce and pan fried sliced potato (nicely crispy).  Dessert was custard with a layer of chocolate at the bottom.  This meal was washed down with a beer and followed by coffee.  After stuffing myself with all this I tottered back to my hotel for a siesta (after barricading the door).

After my siesta I had my latest arab bath.  Again, they made you wear little plastic booties over you outdoor shoes but didn't require to wear shoes in the bath area itself.  Instead, they required you to shower first and also after spending any time in the steam room.  The set up wasn't quite as atmospheric as the one in Seville, but they did have traditional star shaped holes in the ceilings.  However, unlike in a traditional bath, these weren't open to the sky.  Instead, they were just openings for lights but it was a nice touch.

All of the baths were in different rooms.  No swimming from one to another.  The warm bath was also smaller, but the hot larger (but more shallow).  Here the process was shower->warm bath (36C)->hot bath (40C)->cold bath (16C!)->steam room, then lather, rinse, repeat.  I did it all 3 times but made sure I allowed time for lounging on the hot stones drinking tea between circuits 1 and 2.

Between circuits 2 and 3 I had a 'traditional' kessa massage.   I've put traditional in quotes because I've never heard of it outside this chain of hammans.  It started with me lying on my back.  Hot water was poured over me then I was washed all over with a grainy soap.  I was then covered in a thick layer of bubbles before being firmly scrubbed.  More water was poured over me before I turned over and had the whole process repeated on the back of my body.  Once this was done, a scaling hot towel was draped over me and some minor pummelling followed.  I was then left for a few minutes to relax and that was it.  After all this, what was left of my skin felt wonderfully soft and smooth.

More gentle pottering followed before dinner and back to my room to pack (and barricade the door).  I have to confess that after all that food at lunch dinner was a chocolate pastry (rather like a pain au chocolate) and a gelati (raspberry and passionfruit).

Off to Cordoba tomorrow.  If there are seats left on the fast bus it will take 2 1/2 hours.  Otherwise it is nearly 4 on the slow one.  I tried buying tickets online but the site didn't like any of my credit cards.  There seems to be about 8 seats left on the fast bus so it should be OK but wish me luck.

Day 15 - Granada

Gelati: 0, Drink: 1 mojito, Tapas: 4

Spent most of the day at the Alhambra which is just superb.  I got there just after opening time (8:30am) expecting to miss most of the crowds.  Instead, I encountered hundreds of other people who had the same bright idea.  The place is actually made up of 4 separate areas.  The most important part is the Nasrid palaces - which is what everyone thinks of when the place is mentioned.   You get a time slot to enter this part of the complex as otherwise it would just get too disgustingly crowded.   They were as lovely as described but I would be embarrassed if their fish ponds were mine.  Way too much algae and just general crud on the bottom.  I wanted to clean them out.

On the very point of the promontory is the Alcazaba which is an old Moorish fortress.  The buildings inside are now just waist height walls.  The layout looks remarkably like some of the houses we saw in Ostia or Pompeii.  When I went through there was a tour guide showing an English group around.  He was proudly showing them where the toilets were.  I felt like pointing out this is also where the kitchen was and the bedrooms and over here are the communal baths with the three pools - tepidarium, caldarium and fridigarium.  All those Lindsey Davis novels have their uses.

Another part is the Partal which is another palace with its surrounding gardens.  Until relatively recently (100 or so years) this was a private home so it was severely mucked about with.  While it has been restored, most of it is closed to the public.  In a few weeks or a month or so the gardens will be lovely.   I've arrived a little too soon.  Gardeners were out in force weeding, tilling the soil and putting in plants.

The fourth part is the Generalife, which is the summer palace as it is a bit further up the hill and thus cooler in the summer time.  Again, its gardens are going to be lovely in a month or so.

In spite of being a bit early in the season I still enjoyed my visit very much and spent a good 5 hours roaming around seeing everything.

After all this, I tottered down the hill and parked myself at a cafe table on a terrace with views over the river back up the hill to the Alhambra.  I expected to be given a bad meal but the view was fantastic and the weather delightful (25C and no wind) so I decided my feet were worth it.  I was pleasantly surprised to get decent food at a sensible price.  I started with gazpacho, which was good but could have used a touch more garlic.  For main I had chicken with cous cous.  This came in a proper tagine - a ceramic dish with a conical lid.  The cous cous came with chickpeas, peas, beans, carrots, capsicum and eggplant, all flavoured with Middle Eastern style spices.  I think I had more vegetables in this one meal than I've had all week.

There is a big Middle Eastern influence on food here.  Lots of Moroccan dishes and lots of places advertising their food is halal.  I'm not sure why there is such a strong Moorish influence in this city.  I know it was the centre of the last Moorish kingdom to fall to the Catholic reconquest of Spain but that was over 500 years ago!

I had an afternoon siesta (such a civilised idea) before just pottering around.  Dinner was at a randomly chosen bar.  I had a mojito which will have to sufficiently cheesy and touristy to satisfy Annette, because I refuse to drink sangria.  For food I had a plate of sheep's cheese, another of jamon, one of salami and a final one of olives (do they count as a vegetable?).

I'm now back at my hotel (obviously).  This is a very odd place.  I've never seen anyone at reception.  There is no breakfast room so I've not seen any other guests here.  The only reason I know I'm not in the building all by myself is I've occasionally heard voices in the corridor.  Plus, someone made my bed today and gave me fresh towels.  I've never stayed anywhere so lifeless before.

Day 14 - Seville to Granada

Gelati: 1, Wine: 0, Tapas: 0

Slept in this morning - what a surprise.  Spent the rest of the morning having a leisurely breakfast before packing.  There is no way for a taxi to get to the front door of my hotel in Seville but one of the receptionists rang for one and had me wait 5 minutes.  When the time was up he escorted me (and my suitcase) to a nearby square where the taxi was supposed to be waiting.  After 5 more minutes, and 2 more phone calls, it turned up.  The hotel clearly uses a particular driver as two other taxis went by while we were waiting but weren't flagged down.  The receptionist gave my driver an earful for keeping us (him rather I suspect) waiting so I got the drive to the station for free.

My train to Granada was a "commuter" service so it wasn't very fast and made a lot of stops.  I had assumed there would be a snack trolley serving something horrible and overpriced on the train but there was only a Coke machine.  Lunch, therefore, was 3 peppermint life savers.  All I had on me that was edible.

My hotel here in Granada is yet another converted ancient building in the old part of town.  My Granada taxi driver had never heard of it but was familiar with the bar next door so we got here eventually.  Again, he couldn't drive me to the door but instead went the wrong way up a one way street to get me to within 10m of the place.

Once I got to the hotel I faced my first challenge.  It turns out the owners of this hotel have another on the main square nearby.   Reception here is often not staffed.  Instead you need to either phone or walk over there to get assistance.  I phoned as I wasn't sure where the other place was.  I shudder to think what my phone bill is going to be like when I get home.  On the plus side, the call was brief so I'm hoping it only cost $5 or so.

Again, this hotel has a central courtyard with the rooms arranged around it.  This time the windows, at least on my room, are onto the street rather than the courtyard so I can get natural light along with privacy.  Not a lot of natural light as the hotel is in a narrow lane with 2 to 3 storeys buildings all around.   The decor here isn't quirky.  Spartan is more like it.  Still the location is perfect and the central courtyard very pretty and pleasant to sit in with a drink.

Afternoon tea was a gelati - orange and dulce de leche.  Dinner, I have to confess, was a burger and chips and Coke.  I was starving.  I wanted something more substantial than tapas but couldn't possibly wait until 8pm or later for a dinner so I went to a fast food place - the Kabab King, not to be confused with their close rival Kebab Star.

Tomorrow I will be more cultured.

Day 13 - Seville

Gelati: 0, Wine: 5 glasses, Tapas: 9

Spent the morning at the museum of Decorative Arts, dodging parties of school children.  Only half of it was open so I was let in for free.  I suspect it was also partly because the guard couldn't be bothered selling me a ticket. EU citizens get in for free, so the guards generally don't have to do anything.  The best bit was the recreation of the house and shop of a local dealer in lace and embroidery from the late 19th - early 20th century, although each room was set out separately, rather than altogether as one house.  It put me in mind of Denise's uncle's shop from 'The Paradise' but in better condition.

After this I spent some time sitting in the Maria Luisa park watching the people and buskers.  The buskers are very talented here.  The first I encountered looked like someone had left three elaborate carnivale masks on a table.  I was surprised as I expected they would get pinched.  When I went closer I found it was actually one person under a table with two heads on sticks on either side.  All three were made up as elaborate, multi-coloured birds which chirped and burbled and bounced as you got near.  The closer you got, the more excited the heads became.  When you put money in his tin they became really shrill as they were just beside themselves with excitement.  However, as you walked away he would shout 'Thank you' after you, in a very deep voice.  Very entertaining to watch him as well as the reactions of people passing by.

Another busker was a young man dressed all in black with a glass ball around the size of a grapefruit.  He danced, while rolling it around in his hands and along his arms.  He made it look like a soap bubble that was about to fly away.  Very graceful.

The last that was worthy of note was a man with two dummies of a couple dancing on his back.  His legs were the legs of the male half of the couple.  When he bent over his head plumped out the female half of the couple's bustle, while his arms made her legs.  He then danced the pair of them around.  Even though I saw him get set up it was easy to believe there were two people dancing.  Can't imagine what it does to his back to be folded over like that.  He must have super flexible hamstrings.

After lunch I went to the 16th century palazzo of a local countess who would have been called a raving loon, except she was very rich, so she is merely eccentric.  She was widowed young, had no children but had pots of money so she did whatever she liked.  She was a keen amateur archaeologist, but I suspect she would make a professional cry.  If she liked something, she brought it home.  She particularly liked Roman mosaics so she had them dug up and brought to her home to decorate the floors of her palazzo.  Where necessary she had the walls moved to fit.  She also had a couple of Roman columns, because what else does a good dining room need?

Every room on the ground floor was full of cabinets with various bits and bobs.  There was one full of bone items from time periods spanning three centuries - sewing needles, buttons, combs and the like.  Another was full of coins from all periods, but mainly Roman.  Others were full of pottery fragments.  She doesn't appear to had made any real attempt to catalogue it all.

Some rooms were tiled with painted tiles pulled out of buildings of various ages that she had bought so she could plunder them for the fittings.  Upstairs, each room had a different theme - e.g. the Japanese room with Japanese ceramics and painted screens.  In the Arabic room, which was used for smoking and drinking tea, she had furniture and tapestries from the region.  She also had the (priceless!) ceiling painted to match the colour scheme of the cushions.

The library was about the only room in the house she hadn't adjusted.  She just filled it with books.  About 6,000 the guide told me.  I was supposed to be impressed.  I didn't have the heart to tell her I have around 1,000 at my place and that's not counting the 600-odd on my Kindle.

Lunch was the menu of the day as usual at some random bar.  I had salmorejo again, but it wasn't as good as yesterday's version.  This one had chopped jamon on top but no trace of garlic so it was a bit bland.  Main was fillet of some animal.  Not beef but it didn't taste like pork either.  Veal perhaps.  It was served with a tasty gravy (whiskey-based if you believe the menu) and chips.  What did cheap restaurants do before potatoes were brought back from the New World?  I had the choice between coffee and dessert and opted for coffee.

Met up with my tapas tour guide, Shawn, this evening.  She is a Canadian who feel in love with all things Spanish (but not a Spaniard) about 20 years ago, moved here and has never left.  An American couple from San Francisco were also taking the tour.  Another single, a woman from Canada, was also meant to join us but never showed.  We waited 1/2 an hour but ended up leaving without her.

First stop was the back room of a bar down a side street so narrow I would never had found it on my own.  The room was decorated with enormous clay jars (they reached the ceiling and could probably fit 4 people inside them at their widest).  The bar used to make its own house wine and kept it in these jars until EU regulations put a stop to it.

I had been expecting we would have a dish or two to share at each bar but we had 4 at this one.  They were pieces of sheep's cheese, venison chorizo, the best quality jamon on toast and bacala also on toast with a dollop of salmorejo on top.  Shawn raved about the bacala but I'm afraid no matter how you prepare it, it is either fishy and salty or unsalty white mush.

Next stop was a more easy to find place, again mostly populated by locals.  Here we had "mains" - that is hot dishes.  They were chickpeas cooked with spinach and spices, three sorts of pork in a bun (pulled pork, black pudding and chorizo), stewed beef cheeks and bacala again, this time in batter and deep fried.  The pork in a bun was the standout here.

Our third and final stop was at a place that served a more modern style of food so we would get a broad range of items.  Here we each got to pick something from the menu, rather than Shawn doing the selecting.  The couple had squid ink spaghetti and crepes stuffed with rice and black pudding.  They offered to let me have a taste but I wasn't interested in either.  I had (3) prawns dipped in breadcrumbs and fried, which were tasty.  I was a bit disappointed in this stop as the food wasn't as interesting but all in all it was a very entertaining tour.  For the first time I got back to my hotel in the evening at a respectable hour (by Spanish standards) - just before midnight.

Off to Granada tomorrow.

Day 12 - Seville

Gelati: 0, Drink: 1 glass wine, 2 mojitos, Tapas: 3

Went to the flamenco museum this morning.  It is an "interactive" museum so lots of short films and computerised displays with touchscreens (I managed to crash one - sorry).  Flamenco dancing turns out to have more rules and require more skill and technique than I realised.  However, given I am flat out trying to identify a front turn from a back turn, never mind a broken turn, it all gets a bit repetitive.  I guess I'm just a philistine.  The part I liked the best was the collection of home videos they had of people of all ages, sizes and skill dancing at parties and weddings and such like.  They might not have had the technique of the professionals but they seemed to be having a lot more fun.

I spent the afternoon lolling in the Arab Baths and getting my feet massaged.  They were very fussy about keeping your feet clean.  On entry you were given blue plastic booties to put over your outdoor shoes.  Once you had changed you were required to wear fabric booties with a rubber sole at all times, even in the baths.  The bath themselves were totally enclosed.  I think it is a modern construction but it was set up to make you feel like it was an ancient underground bathing centre.  The walls were painted dark crimson with high, carved wooden ceilings.  Everywhere was lit by candles in metal lanterns with elaborate patterns carved into them.  There were two huge ones suspended over the main baths.  A lot of the candles could only be accessed by wading through the pools.  This is doable since it never got higher than waist height at the deepest point, but I do wonder how they keep the matches dry.

The main area was the tepidarium which was about the size of a 25m swimming pool and was warm but not hot.  You swam through another archway into a smaller room which contained two other pools - the caldarium and the frigidarium.  These were much smaller.  Only 6 people at a time.  The caldarium was hot.  You were only supposed to sit in it for 5 minutes and you wouldn't want to stay longer as you'd probably pass out.  After cooking yourself the idea was to plunge into the frigidarium which, as the name suggests, was very cold.  There was an ice machine in the wall next to it which kept up a steady flow of ice onto the edge of the pool (which explained the odd rattling noise you can hear at the entrance to the baths).  I did the whole process 3 times.

There was also a salt water pool, about the same size and temperature as the tepidarium.  I floated in that for a bit too.  You are amazingly buoyant in salt water.  In addition to all this there was a sauna and a jacuzzi which I didn't bother with.  There was also an area of heated stone platforms where you could lie about, where the air was scented with various aromas.   My time was up before I got a chance to try this.

The foot massage was inoffensive.  I should have learnt the Spanish for "firmer please".  I guess they are used to tourists who aren't used to massage so they err on the side of being too gentle rather than too firm.

My only complaint was we were all issued with one towel each and some sod pinched mine!  I'm guessing it was a woman who wanted an extra one for her hair.  I pinched someone else's but did it in a hurry and it turned out to be sopping wet.  This was a problem because we only got the one so at the end of the visit I had to "dry" myself off with this wet towel before getting dressed.

I lunched early today (1pm) and ended up with more choice than yesterday but I still need Sarah's help because, while my choice was cheaper, the food was still ordinary.  I started with salmorejo which was very good - plenty of garlic and tasty tomatoes.  Main was a whole fish than had been imperfectly filleted.  It was still full of bones and served on a cold plate.  By the time I had gotten all the bones out it was stone cold.  Dessert was rice pudding flavoured with lemon and cinnamon.  With the exception of the disappointing main, it wasn't bad, just not up to Sarah's standards.

For dinner I had a few tapas at a nearby bar (and a few mojitos).  I ordered off the English menu but the translations turned out to be quite loose.  I thought I was getting a mozzarella and tomato salad, chicken and ham croquettes, and eggplant stuffed with tomatoes.  What I got was mozzarella balls threaded on a skewer with cherry tomatoes, olives and basil - very tasty.  Next was chunks of chicken threaded on skewers with slices of ham and the whole topped with melted cheese - a bit cheesy.  The final dish was eggplants chopped up and stewed with onions, tomatoes and capsicum.  All was good, if a bit too much cheese on the second, just not what I was expecting.

Tomorrow night I got on my tapas tour.  Time to find out how the locals do it.

Day 11 - Seville

Gelati: 1, Wine: 2 glasses, Tapas: 1

Spent the morning in the Real Alzacar - the Royal Palace.   Unlike most of the other tourists there I spent as much time pottering around the gardens as the palace itself.  The palace was in two parts.  The first was built by Pedro the Cruel in the Moorish style and was lovely.  The second part was built by later and was in the Gothic style and was just ugly.  The gardens were Italian style and were also lovely but not as fully in flower as I'd hoped.  However, all the orange trees are in bloom so everywhere around the city there is the scent of orange blossoms as it seems obligatory for every square to have at least one orange tree.

I lunched at a ridiculously expensive place in the square opposite the cathedral.  There was an explicit extra cost for sitting at a table outside with view but the view was worth it.  The people watching was generally entertaining but then a local bikie gang rode up on their Harley's and posed for shots in front of the cathedral which was an unexpected extra.  Also, partway through the meal a rather plump woman came up.  She was dressed in bright pink leggings and a slightly grubby, bright pink sweatshirt.  She started to clap her hands and sing in Flamenco style and she was fantastic!  She had a rich and powerful voice.  Our buskers in Australia aren't a patch on her for talent.

The meal was less entertaining.  First course was yet more jamon on a bed of (tasty) fresh tomatoes and salmorejo (the Andulsian equivalent of gazpacho).   This would have been better if I'd been given a spoon for the soupy bit instead of being expected to eat it with a knife and fork.  The alternative entree was 'selfish paella' - the typo is theirs.  Main was oxtail roasted with garlic, onions, carrots and capsicum which was very tasty but had way too much oil in it.  Dessert was a self-saucing chocolate pudding with clementine ice-cream.  This was just fine as is.

After all this I had a small siesta and then pottered around some more.  Dinner was at a tapas bar and was just a glass of wine and a plate of fried calamari.  Dessert was at another gelati place and was orange sorbet and lemon sorbet with what translated literally as 'good herbs'.  They tasted like lavender and mint and it was as peculiar as it sounds.

Tomorrow I am booked in at the Arab Baths for a bath, aromatherapy and a foot massage.  I think my feet deserve it.

Day 10 - Deia to Seville

Gelati: 1, Wine: 1 glass, Tapas: 2

Nothing much to report today as most of it was spent pottering around waiting for something to happen.  It started raining last night around 8pm (just as we were about to leave for dinner) and didn't really stop.  There were brief periods of no rain this morning but equally brief periods of hail!  Given that it was cold and wet I spent the morning packing and then pottering around the hotel in the company of most of the ATG crowd.   A taxi came to take me away at midday after hugs and insincere promises all round to keep in touch.

Once at Palma airport I pottered around waiting for my flight.   Once I reach Seville airport I pottered around waiting for my suitcase.  Once I reached my hotel I pottered around the centre of town before an early dinner and heading back to my hotel.  Not a very energetic day, particularly by the standards of the previous week.

I'm feeling a little exposed without my ATG protectors - Sarah and Stephen.  I'm having to plan my own itinerary and navigate my own way there.  I also have to pick my own restaurants and then my own food from the menu.  In one short week I've gotten completely out of the habit and have lost what little Spanish I'd managed to learn.  Neither my taxi driver or my waiter spoke a word of English so I'll have to learn again quickly.

Seville seems rather more run down than I remember.  There seemed to be quite a few shops that were shut.  While some would simply be shut because it is the weekend, I imagine a good few have simply gone out of business.  There is a lot of graffiti around too.  The core city centre is heaving with both tourists and locals though.

My hotel here (El Rey Moro Hotel Boutique) is nothing like the ones I've been staying in lately.  Quirky is probably the best description.  It is a 16th century manor house that has been converted into a small hotel.  My room (Room 27) is on the top floor with windows onto a small rooftop terrace.  This means if I want any privacy I need to keep the curtains closed at all times which makes my room a little gloomy.  Every room in the place is decorated differently.  For some reason my room has a Marilyn Monroe theme.  There are paintings and pictures of her on every wall.  However, it is the biggest of the cheap singles so I can't complain.

On to the food for the day.  I was self-catering so it wasn't a patch on what Sarah has been providing me with.  However, I've walked about all of about 2-3km all day and that all on the flat so I haven't been very hungry.  Lunch was a leftover muesli bar and small packet of biscuits from one of the packed lunches.  I also bought (what I think was) a fruit drink from a vending machine at the airport, more for the fun of watching it work than because I was thirsty.  A robot arm would rise to the row with your chosen item, the move along and take it from the shelf.  It would then move sideways and deposit the item in a capsule which would then rotate so you could take it out.  None of this dropping it into the bottom of the machine for you to fish out here.

For dinner I randomly chose a bar and had a glass of wine and some tapas.  It took a while to find a place to eat at.  Some places had crowds spilling out onto the pavement while another was totally empty.  I eventually found one that seemed to have a mix of local and tourists and, more importantly, some spare seats.  I had a glass of the house red (rough), a plate of pieces of salami (tasty) from pigs fed on acorns with some (stale) bread and then a wedge of cheese with mini toasts.  Unfortunately, the cheese turned out to be a blue cheese which I don't particularly like.  For dessert I had a gelati with a scoop of chocolate-orange ice cream and another of turron (which I this is nougat) from a gelateria near the hotel.  Not bad but I will keep searching for the best gelati place.  There are quite a few to choose from here.

Now to plan what to see and how to get there tomorrow.  Where is Stephen when I need him?

Day 9 - Deia to Valldemossa

Gelati: 0, Wine: 3 glasses, Tapas: 0

Distance walked: 7 miles, Time taken: 6 hours (including lunch stop)

I slept badly last night.  I'd taken so many cold tablets my heart was racing so it was hard to go to sleep - but on the plus side I could breathe.  Eventually I dropped off but ended up oversleeping.  When I looked at my watch it was 8:45am and the group was due to set off at 9:30am.  I flew into the shower, then into my clothes, then inhaled an inadequate breakfast (only 1 course) but made it to the meeting point on time.  

I severely disappointed the waitress in the breakfast room.  I was supposed to sit down, be greeted, order juice and coffee and then go to the buffet.  After that I was supposed to order eggs cooked in some way.  Immediately going to the buffet and helping myself was definitely low class.  I'm not sure I like this hotel.  I keep feeling I'm not living up to their standards.  I had a muesli bar, a packet of biscuits and the opened box of cold tablets on the coffee table.  When I got back from today's walk they were all neatly piled up by the chambermaid.  She had even put the foil strip of tablets back in the box and closed it!

There are advantages to staying here though.  I fly to Seville tomorrow with Air Berlin and got an email inviting me to check in online.  It makes things easier so I prefer to do it but I was worried about how I would get my boarding pass.  However, according to their website one option is to check in online but get boarding pass at airport so I went to for it.  Then, when I got to the final screen it said for people on my (lowly) class of fare picking up the boarding pass wasn't an option.  It had to be either downloaded and printed out or sent to my phone as link that I pull up in a browser at the airport (at $20 a MB since I'm global roaming).  In a panic I rang the, at least trilingual, receptionist (I've heard him speak Spanish, English and German) and he let me email it to reception and they printed it out for me.  I wonder what would have happened it I'd never read the email and just turned up at the airport tomorrow for my flight?

I did the full walk today and it was hard work.  We climbed around 950m and it took us around 3 1/2 hours.  I definitely was at the rear of the pack this time.  Lack of sleep and lack of lung capacity really told.  I now have a deep, personal appreciation of the phrase "toiling to the top of the slope".  When we got there we had our packed lunch.  I was almost too tired to eat anything but felt much more human once I had.

As we were sitting at the top we saw clouds boiling up from the valley we were to descend into.  We quickly piled on every piece of clothing we had and braced for a downpour.  However, the black clouds came overhead, let off one bolt of lightening (far away) and then poured down the slope into the valley behind us, leaving us in sunshine.  A very odd experience but a pleasant outcome.

After lunch we descended into Valldemossa which is the village in the next valley over from Deia where we were met by Sarah and the van.  The die-hards then walked on to a monastery while the rest of us pottered about the shops briefly before being driven back to our hotel.   I would have liked to potter longer but the rest of the crowd was keen to get back to hot baths.  The drawback of being in a group.

Tonight's dinner was the first I haven't liked.  It was strongly fish based which isn't really my thing.  To begin with we had a small vol au vent topped with some fish pate and capers which was a pleasant mouthful.  Next was an equally small mouthful of raw salmon chopped up with fish roe which was just too fishy for me.  Next was the official first course of fish soup, which this time was too spiced for my taste.  Too much paprika - it just swamped all the other flavours.  Next was turbot with an orange sauce accompanied by asparagus and two prawns.  This was good except for the prawns which had a slightly bitter taste.  I think I'm spoilt by Australian prawns which are better.  Dessert was pancakes with fresh strawberries and raspberries and vanilla ice cream.  The pancakes were too thick and had been pre-cooked so were cold and a little leathery.

Tomorrow I'm off to holiday on my own.  I really should have been practising my Spanish.

Day 8 - Soller to Deia

Gelati: 0, Wine: 3 glasses, Tapas: 1
Distance walked: 10 miles (officially 8), Time taken: 7 1/2 (including lunch stop)

Woke up with a nasty cold.  My head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton wool and I found it hard to hear.  I went on today's walk anyway and it cleared my sinuses.  My theory is that my body had only so much energy and it could use it either to power my legs or make my nose run.  Fortunately, it chose the former not the latter.  Still, I was very slow going up hills today.

Denis of the knee has given up walking.  He has finally accepted that even "easy" walks are not smart to do with a torn cartilage so we were 11 + Steven this morning.  The early part of the walk was along a waymarked route, the GR221, and it is a positive highway.  Lots of people going in either directions. Mainly English (-speakers) and Germans but at least one French group and a group of Spanish schoolchildren.  It is amusing watching the Germans and English greeting each other carefully in our best Spanish - "hola!".

We turned off the main route which runs down the spine of the mountain range around midday and Sarah picked the American duo in the van as the next bit down to the coast and along it was a bit steep and vertiginous.  We expected it to also be less crowded but it wasn't.   At times the path narrowed so much it was awkward for groups to pass.  More importantly, it made it next to impossible to find a discreet bush to disappear behind for a pee because you couldn't be sure you wouldn't be surprised by someone appearing from another direction.  Not that it is ever an entirely private event as you have to let someone know that is what you are doing so the group doesn't worry about why you've dropped out of site and come searching for you.  The end result is a lot of tactful looking in other directions while you hover behind the inadequate cover of a small bush.   This is the only time I regret not being a man.

Lunch was in a small rocky cove with a rather ramshackle looking bar-restaurant perched on the rocks over looking the water.   The water was a beautiful blue and the sun was shining so I took my boots off and went for a paddle.  It took a good 10-15 minutes to regain feeling in my feet.  The water was a bit cool.

We didn't each in the bar but had our picnic on the (stony) beach.  Again, 3 salads, 3 breads, 1 olive but 4 cheese and only 1 salami.  To make up for the protein deficiency we had a mackerel pate as well.  Wine of course and torrone and a pressed fig cake for dessert.

After lunch we went on an unnecessarily winding route inland to Deia.  It is a tiny place but very posh. There is a real estate agent here that is a subsidiary of Christies.  Their cheapest property for sale is 2 million euros and needs work.

Our hotel is huge!  It is actually a cluster of buildings spread over quite extensive grounds dotted with
art works.  These are all up one side of the valley and are on different levels.  To get to my room I walked down a colonnade from reception and then go up in a lift.  Once at the top I go around the upper pool and into another building where I take the lift to the top.  Again, once there I walk through that building into the ground floor of another one and up in the lift to my floor.  The views are superb but they have to issue guests with a map.

I don't think I'm sufficiently posh for this hotel.  I was lounging in my room before dinner and the chambermaid came to turn down the bed.  This involved not just turning back one corner of the bed covers, but removing some pillows and fluffing the others, putting a towel down (over the rug) beside the bed so I would have something clean to put my feet on  as I get in and out of bed.  Once she was finished in the bedroom she went into the bathroom and folded the end of the toilet paper roll into a point and folded my towels neatly.  This was rather embarrassing for me as I had rinsed out all my hiking gear and had it draped over the shower rail to dry.

Dinner was at a nearby restaurant.  They seated our group on the terrace.  I'm not sure why as it gets a bit brisk when the sun goes down and there is no view once it is dark.  We started with a trio of entrees - zucchini stuffed with mushrooms and spinach (tasty but why bother stuffing a zucchini), cuttlefish cooked in tomato, oil and garlic (chewy), a fry up of potatoes, capsicum and bits of pig including kidney.  Main was a chunk of roasted suckling pig with potatoes and apple sauce.  I got a leg (hock?) and was very envious of those that got a chunk of rib as they therefore got a big bit of crackling.  It was tasty but I thought a bit dry.  Dessert was a strawberry tarte tatin accompanied by an ice cream made from a soft cheese.   The ice cream was delicious but hot strawberries are an experience I do not need to repeat.

Tomorrow's walk is short - officially 8 miles, but quite steep.  I wonder if my lungs/sinuses will be able to cope?  It is another day where there is no opportunity for a pick up partway through so I will have to make my mind up at breakfast.

Day 7 - Orient to Soller

Gelati: 0, Wine: 6 glasses, Tapas: 0
Distance walked: 10 miles (officially - could be true), Time taken: 7 1/2 hours including lunch stop

Today's walk was in three sections.  Steven told us the first 2 hour section was easy but I would say moderate was a more accurate description.  We all walked this bit.  Sarah met us at the end with a drink and a biscuit and a packed lunch each as there was no point midway where she could reach us.  The Americans and Denis of the knee dropped out and the remaining 9 of us kept on (and on and on).

The second section started with what is politely termed a scramble.  That is a goat path up a very steep slope where you have to use your hands to help yourself up.  We climbed about 900m this way which took us nearly 1 1/2 hours.  You need a good sense of balance, a head for heights and a walking pole to do it comfortably.  Liz had none of these but made do with Steven in front and her husband behind.  I'm very impressed with her stamina and resolve.  I like heights and there were points that I found a little too exciting.

We had our lunch when we got to the top as we were blessed with fabulous weather.  Clear blue skies, a pleasant temperature (low 20s) and barely a breath of wind.  We could see for miles, both back down to the southern side of the mountain range to the main city of Palma and also over to Soller on the northern side.  Just spectacular.  The vultures circling overhead were also spectacular, if a bit of a worry.

Since we had to carry our own lunch the menu was a little different to what we are getting used to.  We each had a roll with jamon, cheese and tomatoes and also two flaky pastry/quiche things.  One with a spinach and leek filling, the other with cheese and ham.  We also had a piece of fruit each, a small packet of biscuits and a muesli bar.  Steven had not only brought up his own lunch but also extra bottles of water and bottles of wine so we had our choice of red, white or rose as per usual.  At least these had been decanted into plastic bottles but it must have still weighed a lot.  As we all like Steven we drank up the wine so he wouldn't have to keep carrying it.

After lunch we moved off rather more slowly along a ridge and then down (and down and down) into the valley towards Soller.  We joined an official hiking route at this point, which was originally a trade/pilgrim route so it was cobblestones all the way which are very hard on the feet.  The way down was a lot less steep than they way up but was very winding so it took us 2 hours to get down.  It takes 4 hours to go the other way.  We got to the bottom around 4:30pm and met a hiker (in jeans and sneakers!) heading up with a full pack intending to camp at the top.  We did our best to disuade him but failed.

Sarah meet us in the minibus at the small village at the foot of the slope and drove us into Soller.  Our hotel is on the edge of town but she drove us around the town so we could get an idea of the sights.  I was in the front seat of the van and could have done without the clear view of the oncoming traffic.  Minibuses are wide and the streets around here are very narrow.  They are about 1 1/2 lanes wide with parked cars and pedestrians and two-way traffic.  To get to the front of our hotel Sarah drove down a pedestrian mall and around a police car.  The policeman tooted his horn and waved at her but she just kept going.   She claims you can get away with just about anything with enough chutzpah.  I believe she certainly can.

To make up for our "meagre" lunch we have a 4 course dinner tonight.  To start with we had a slice of terrine topped with tempura vegetables.  Next was the fish course - black fish fillet with artichokes and mango sauce.  The meat course was beef fillet topped with fois gras accompanied by the Mallorcan version of ratatouille.  Dessert was tangerine mouse accompanied by mint foam.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to move tomorrow.

Day 6 - Around Orient

Gelati: 0, Wine: 5 glasses, Tapas: 0
Distance walked: 8 miles (officially but I'm beginning to have my doubts about the accuracy of the measurements), Time taken: 6 1/2 hours (including 1 1/2 for lunch)

The weather was lovely today and the walk much easier so 11 of us set off this morning - everyone but Denis of the knee.  We went up the peak behind the hotel to see the ruins of the Moorish castle on the top.   We then dropped down to a meadow just below the castle on the other side for lunch.  We were back to the official 3 breads, 3 cheeses, 3 salamis, 3 salads + 1 olive menu but with the addition of hardboiled eggs topped with mayonnaise (invented on the neighbouring island of Menorca) and sun dried tomatoes.  Dessert was a flaky pastry tart topped with custard.

We didn't make it to the lunch spot until 1:30pm in spite of setting off at 10am and only having 5 miles to cover.  The American couple might be steady but they are definitely slow.  However, as our guides point out they can't tell people they can't do the walk if they want to try.  My feet and knees didn't mind the slow pace and frequent breaks but some of the faster members of the party were a bit peeved.

After lunch Denis of the knee joined us for the walk back since his knees can cope with descents just not ascents but the male half of the American duo dropped out, so we were still 11 and still slow.  I was beginning to mind the pace as I was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and taking it easy by the pool since the weather was so good.  Steven had told us the route we needed to take to get back and eventually a couple, Andrew and Liz, and I got tired of waiting for the group to catch up and just went on without stopping which we are not supposed to do.  We can walk at whatever pace we are comfortable but we are supposed to stop whenever there is a fork in the path so our guide can be sure we are going the right way.

The route back was pretty easy.  Down all the way into the valley and then around the base of the peak to the hotel.  The three of us almost got it perfectly right.  We only went wrong about 1km from the hotel.  The path crossed a stream and headed up the right hand bank - and so did we.  However, the hotel is on the left hand bank and we were supposed to turn off the main path there onto a side path.  Steven hadn't bothered telling us that yet as we weren't supposed to have reached that point on our own or at least we were supposed to have the wit to stop and wait for him there.  We came to the point where we could see the hotel across the stream and weren't sure where to go.  The stream bed was dry so we could climb down the bank, across it and up the other side but the hotel was some distance up the slope and we could see a high fence along the terrace.  Liz and I were all for going back to the crossing and going up the other bank.  Andrew was all for scrambling across the stream and up the opposite bank.  As we were discussing this vigorously Sarah, the route manager, heard us from the terrace and came to our aid.  She showed us were to get across and up into the hotel grounds.  Steven showed up with the rest of the party about 30 minutes later and scolded us very gently.  Both Steven and Sarah are fabulous people.  They manage to stay cheerful and friendly and highly professional despite trying circumstances and trying customers.

I'm enjoying this holiday but I'm not sure if it is entirely a good thing.  Sarah deals with the hotels, right down to handing out room keys, and also makes sure we are plied with great food and drink at every opportunity.  Steven, when we do what we are told, does all the navigating so we don't have to think about anything.  I can see the attraction of having everything taken care of but it does isolate you from the places you are visiting.

Dinner was at the hotel again.  We were told by Sarah that the chef had insisted on serving us his leek and potato soup for starter.  She sound a bit dubious about this but had been assured it would be good.  However, we were given large bowls with a small piece of frittata in them which puzzle us all until the soup was poured over the top.  I had a second helping.  Main was roast pork with an orange and port sauce accompanied by roast potatoes and green beans.  Dessert was almond cake with ice-cream.  Again, we started with a glass of cava, then white for entree and red wine for main.  The unofficial motto of ATG is "Fitter but fatter' and it is entirely appropriate.

Day 5 - Lluc to Orient

Gelati: 0, Wine: 4 glasses, Tapas: 5
Distance walked: 16 miles, Time taken: 9 hours (including lunch stop)

Today we woke up to a wet and grey day.  It was the one day were we needed to good weather to get over the pass from the north side of the Tramuntana range to the south and so, of course, it was the first day in many that it rained.  However, it looked as if it was clearing by about 9am so we set off to attempt the high pass anyway.  I tried taking a photo out my bedroom window to show how grey and gloomy it was but my camera was too clever and adjusted the exposure settings to make it look much brighter than it was.

We were only 9 walkers + Steven today.  The American couple (who are in their late 70s!) can manage a long walk provided there aren't too many climbs and descents and the ground is reasonably firm underfoot.  Today's walk failed on all counts.  Seventy-eight year old Denis, of the dodgy knee from yesterday also gave it a miss.  It turns out he would normally have been fit enough - he took up marathon running in his 60s and has done half a dozen.  However, he went to a family reunion a week or so back.  He was a professional rugby player in his youth and was persuaded to play rugby with his grandchildren.  He tore a ligament in his knee so has bone rubbing on bone.

The 9 of us fit enough (and foolish enough) set off wrapped in every warm and waterproof item we had.  Luckily it really was clearing and by 9:30am the rain had stopped.  We still stayed rugged up as we were climbing quite high (about 1200m).  We climbed steadily for 3 hours!  When we got to the pass the clouds had descended so we were in them and the wind was fierce.  We briefly admired the ice house at the top, the pockets of snow in the corners and then hurried down the other side of the pass.   (There was a more impressive ice house just off the path but by mutual agreement we ignored it.  Ice houses are crevasses that have been roofed over.   Snow is shovelled in the top where it compresses and ice is chopped out from a door at the bottom.)

The other side wasn't a huge improvement as the rain had made the going very muddy and slippery underfoot.  I don't regret (yet) not bringing my heavy rain gear but I do regret not bringing my gloves.  Eventually we got down to a valley (but still fairly high above sea level) before following along an aqueduct along a ridge to an artificial lake where we were met by Sarah and the others with our picnic lunch.  We were a little slow and didn't get there until 2:30pm - still a good time for lunch by Spanish standards.

It was bitterly cold even down near the lake.  You could see your breath so it must have been about 10C at most, so lunch was a quick meal.  We had 3 sorts of bread, 3 salads, 1 lot of olives but only 1 salami today.  To make up for it we had the Majorcan equivalent of pizza and pork pies.  For dessert we had apple cake with honey yoghurt.  Again, we had the choice of red, rose or white wine as well as water.

After lunch the couple from Guernsey dropped out so we were down to 7 + Steven for afternoon hike.  This was around the shore of the lake, up over yet another pass and then down into the plains on the southern side of the mountain range.  Once we were over the pass, the wind dropped entirely and with the sun out it was actually pleasant.  However, it was a long slog, particularly after the morning and I was very pleased when we finally arrived.  According to the trip notes it was supposed to be only 13 miles but according to the various GPS devices carried by my fellow holiday makers it was closer to 16 miles.  My feet agree with the GPS.

The hotel here is gorgeous.  I have a large room with a large four poster bed.  My bathroom is about the same size as my room at the monastery yesterday.  This place officially has WiFi but the connection is so slow you can't actually do anything as it always times out.  It is free at least.

Dinner was in the hotel as we are some distance from any town.  We started with a glass of cava (which I could do without) and then moved onto white wine with our starter which was a selection of tapas - potatoes brava, tortilla, calamari, chicken and porcini croquettes and jamon on a crouton.  I ate all of mine but I noticed a lot of people just nibbled.  Can't imagine why as it was very good and I was starving after all the walking.  Main was fish fillets drizzled in flour and pan fried.  After much discussion we agreed the best translation of the fish variety was John Dory but no-one knows for sure.  Accompanying this was a timbale of rice with vegetables and squid.   Very tasty if a little fishy.  I was a philistine and drank red wine with this.  Dessert was pannacotta with fresh berries - mainly blackberries and blueberries.  There were mangoes on the table as part of the decoration and we were tempted to eat them but were promised we could have them for breakfast so we behaved ourselves.

Day 4 - Pollensa to Lluc

Gelati: 0, Wine: 6 glasses, Tapas: 0
Distance walked: 11 miles (officially), Time taken: 8 hours (including stop for lunch)

Woke at the ungodly hour of 6am today - by mistake.  We switched to daylight savings overnight.  I was using my phone as a clock and wasn't sure if it would switch time on its own so I moved it forward an hour before going to bed.  It then switched itself forward yet another hour which was a nasty shock.

After breakfast we were all supposed to gather at the main hotel so we could leave at 8:45am so we actually hit the road shortly after 9am.  Sarah provides back up support while Steven is doing the actual guiding.

There were lots of people on the trail today.  It was the busiest I've every seen as we must have passed 50 or so people.  Quite a few were Spaniards and I thought hiking wasn't a popular leisure activity here.  I guess we'll see if it was just the holiday that brought them all out when we set off again tomorrow.

I was worried I would be among the slowest and be forever rushing to keep up but I'm actually in the middle which is good.  We stop at intervals to let everyone catch up.  On level ground, this means the fastest get a 5 minute rest, I get about 3 minutes while the poor slowest people get 60 seconds if they are lucky because we generally head off again as soon as they join the group.  On the hills the rest time stretches to closer to 20 minutes.

The first part of the day was fairly level then we had a long but gradual climb.  Due to the terrain we weren't supposed to get to our picnic lunch spot until 2pm but we have 4 very slow people in the group and didn't actually make it until 3pm so we were all starving.  The slowest finally admitted defeat (and cramps and a dodgy knee) and got a lift instead of walking the afternoon section.  I'm glad we have our guide with us as the last little bit to the lunch spot was through a limestone labyrinth rather like Hanging Rock only more spread out.  We would have got horribly lost without Steven.

Lunch was very good.  We had 3 sorts of bread, 2 sorts of cheese, 3 of salami, 3 of salad and 1 (only) lot of olives.  Dessert was a traditional pastry with jam filling plus an chocolate Easter egg each because of the season.  We had as much wine (again white, red or rose) as we wanted plus water.  There was fresh fruit too which was generally ignored.  After all this 11 of us levered ourselves to our feet and set off for the last hour or so into tonight's stop at the Lluc Monastery.  We walked this bit a lot more slowly.

The accommodation here isn't as stark or as quiet as we were expecting although we have to make our own beds and we were only supplied with soap by special dispensation.  We are going out to dinner as I feel the meals here might be a bit spartan.  There is WiFi here but it is a paid service that only works on Windows machines so no joy for me (and they wouldn't refund my money when we couldn't get it to work - not very charitable or perhaps I'm expected to be the charitable one).

Everyone on this trip has done many ATG (guided) holidays before and are all keen on them.  I'm enjoying myself so far but I like the self-guided ones just as much.  I like be able to go at my own pace and eat lunch when I'm hungry rather than having to get to a given spot.  The company is pleasant but that was just the luck of the draw.  Most of the couples are very friendly.  They aren't joined at the hip but split up and there is general chit chat and movement between sets of people which is pleasing.

Dinner wasn't at the monastery but at a restaurant not far away.  We were driven there in shifts as the minibus can only carry 8 passengers at a time.  Something to remember if you want to get ride halfway through the walk.  We started with a glass of cava - the Spanish/Catalan equivalent of champagne or prosecco. Entree was dirty or ugly rice (depending on your translation) which is a soupy rice dish with meat chunks and vegetables and Moorish style spices (cinnamon and turmeric among others).  This was very good.  I must check if I have a recipe for it at home.  Main was roast lamb which was so tender you could have eaten it with a fork.  Sides were potatoes, onions and something orange coloured.  We couldn't decide if it was carrot or sweet potato.  All the veg had been roasted along with the lamb and all the flavours had blended.  Dessert was the not particularly Spanish chocolate and hazelnut brownie with chocolate sauce and (vanilla) ice-cream in honour of Easter.  We washed this down with white wine from the region for entree and a red for main.  After dessert we were offered two digestives - one sweet and one dry.  This seemed to be vodka based with many herbs.  I tried the dry which wasn't as disgusting as you might have expected.  We think the herb list included fennel (definite on this one from the taste), rosemary, tarragon, lime and chamomile but there were several other things listed on the label that we couldn't translate.

Finally we got bused back to the monastery and so to bed.  The people in the room above me seemed to be chasing each other around their room, jumping from bed to bed and calling out to each other.  I was trying to work up the energy to get up, get dressed and go upstairs to tell them off but decided to close my eyes first and went straight to sleep.

Day 3 - Palma to Pollensa

Gelati: 0, Wine: 3 glasses, Tapas: 0

I spent the morning browsing the shops and visiting the Arab Baths.  I didn't get to loll in these baths as they are ruins.  This site just seems to be in the rear of somebody's house!

I choose better for lunch today.  Again I had the menu of the day but this place was not as much of a tourist trap.  It was in a cellar and I could watch the main chef cooking on coals over a open fire place.To begin with I had cream of vegetable soup which was drizzled with olive oil and freshly grated pepper.  It was very good and not at all dull.  For main I broke my rules and ordered a dish I recognised but it was bacala.  I was curious to know if they could make it tasty.  It was fresh rather than dried and salted but cod is still a very plain fish.  It came with a parsley, olive oil and garlic sauce which made up for the insipid fish.  Dessert was a very, very thin crepe stuffed full of dulce de leche.  Coffee was the only let down - very ordinary.  All of this cost far less than my meal yesterday and I had one more course!  I drank a glass of house red with all of this.

After lunch I rushed out to the airport to meet up with my tour group.  I got there 10-15 minutes early and couldn't spot anyone from ATG.  I was beginning to worry I had the wrong day or time but then I spotted another woman waiting with an ATG tag on her bag.  She had flown into Palma from Dusseldorf so I assumed she was German and didn't approach her.  Turns out she is English and flying in via Germany was just the cheapest way to get to Palma.  About 5 minutes before the main group was due to arrive the guides showed up - Sarah and Steven so I wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There are 12 of us all together.  One American couple, one South African man, one Czech woman who lives in London with her English husband but the rest are English except me.  They are all 50 plus, again except me.  Four of us are travelling on our own, the rest are couples.  So far everyone seems agreeable.

We all piled into a minivan with our luggage and were driven to our starting point of Pollensa.  Most of us were in the main hotel but we were too many to fit so 3 were in an apartment one street away while the two guides and I were in another 2/3 streets away (1st left then 1st right to get there from the hotel but 1st left and 2nd right for the reverse journey - found this out the hard way).  The apartment was lovely but I was a bit disappointed to be sent to the annex.  There was no WiFi in the annex just the main hotel which was a nuisance.

After arriving we were taken to a brief walk around the town and then to the main square for a drink by Steven, while Sarah sorted out the luggage.  Then we all went back to our various rooms for a wash and brush up before dinner at the ridiculously early (by Spanish standards) hour of 8pm.

Dinner was delicious.  We started we 3 entrees - prawns fried in lots of oil and garlic, fried jalapeno peppers (only 1 in 5 were hot we were promised - I had 4) and then a fry up of potatoes, onions, garlic (of course), capsicum and various bits of seafood which was very tasty.  Main was an entire sea bream each! baked with spinach and potatoes.  Dessert was almond ice cream with a bitter chocolate sauce.  This was the only disappointment as the sauce overpowered the taste of the ice cream.  We washed this all down with as much wine (red, white or rose by personal preference) as we could drink.

We then tottered back to our respective rooms and off to bed.