Paris, France to London, England

We were out of the hotel at 7.30 am to walk down to meet the bus at Three Ducks Hostel for our ride back to London. The bus leaves another miserable Paris day half an hour late (8.45am).

The bus ride to Calais made two service stops before meeting up with the 1.30 pm ferry. One of the service stops was a huge Cash & Carry, so we bought some cheap wine and chocolates to take back to our hosts at the New Mansions at Streatham Hill – now known as Barcombe Castles. The ferry crossing was a little rough, but not too bad. We spent our time on the boat just having lunch and reading the paper. We got through customs relatively quickly at Dover and headed onwards to London.

We arrived at the Porchester Hotel just after five pm., and after a quick phone call, we were on our way to Reggae’s. This was a mammoth three train effort which took us the best part of two hours, but we arrived to a much nicer place than what they had at the Mansions. There’s a spare room for us dossers. The place is about 20 minutes away from the tube via British Rail, but everyone seems happy with the place, even though they are out of the middle of London.

We went down the road and had some take-away for dinner before joining everyone for an evening of television – in English.

Avignon, France to Paris, France

Today couldn’t be more different from yesterday if it tried. The sun is shining and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen when we got out of the tent this morning.

It was back into town again to see it in leisure today. We started off at a café beside the church where a coffee and a coke cost us AU$12 (won’t be racing back there).

Me, Cathedral Notre, Avignon, France

We then headed up to the gardens, which gave us a great view of the Rhone River and the surrounding area of Avignon. We also had a view of Pont d’Avignon – a bombed bridge spanning only half the river, and a quarter of its original size, made famous in a French nursery rhyme, (apparently).

Pont d'Avignon & Rhone River, Avignon, France

After this we just wandered around town aimlessly, going from street to street checking out Avignon until we came to the internet place again. Today it was working better so we spent an hour sending messages and catching up on news.

Lunch was a couple of sandwiches at the park behind the tourist office. 

From here we decided to head back to the campsite to start packing and to prepare for the night’s trip to Paris. All our wet stuff had dried and we spent most of the afternoon cleaning the tent and playing cards. We also had one last cook tent meal – fettucine with tomato, onion and capsicum – before burning off the last of the gas and throwing away our camping utensils that we won’t need from now on.

We spent the evening talking and playing cards with others from Eurobus before the bus arrived at 10.30 pm (an hour and a half late).

The trip to Paris is ten hours and I was so uncomfortable on the bus that I only got three hours of intermittent sleep – even with the help of a sleeping tablet.

Nice France to Avignon, France

We checked out of the hostel at ten am and went to dumped our backpacks at the drop off / pick up hotel.

Today is our last day in Nice so we decided to make the most of the weather and head back for one more day on the beach. It was just beautiful today, as it has been all the others we have been here. We swam at the beach and lazed around in the sun for four hours – a length of time neither of us could handle back at home.

At three pm we packed up and headed back towards the Eurobus pick up point, stopping on the way at a café for a late lunch (cheese and tomato panini) and a McFlurry.

We got our bags out of the hotel and waited out the front for the bus for the next hour. Surprisingly, the bus was on time and we started our trip to Avignon at 5.15 pm. We made one stop at a servo along the way, where I rang the New Mansions to check on our accommodation in London. All is sweet, and we can even stay at Benno’s if we need to. The bus pulled into Avignon at 8.45 pm. The camp site is on the river, outside the town’s walls and as we pulled in, a full moon was just above the town’s huge church, on a perfectly clear night. It made the place look pretty spectacular. We went to our lot and pitched our tent. I can’t believe it’s going to cost us AU$8 a night each, compared to the AU$25 the hostel people are paying. So glad we bought the Taj with us.

We went to the camp’s restaurant and had a small pizza for dinner between us, before retiring early for the night.

Barcelona, Spain to Nice, France

Up at six am for the preparation of our trip to Nice. We made it to the pick up point half an hour early, only to find the bus running two hours late.

Yet another relatively uneventful trip, although we saw Luvo, Jo from Albufeira and Andrea from Sudoeste. We made stops along the way, including at the Spain-France border.

We arrived in Nice at seven pm and saw Johnny, Jen and Karla getting on the bus. They referred us to a hostel around the corner from the drop off point, which was cheap and where Kern and Beck were staying. When we turned up the owner said that Troy and Beck had actually checked out that morning. We were in a room with Andrea and Matty from New Zealand, and they went to a Chinese restaurant that they’d been to previously, so we went along with them for a feed.

Afterwards, we walked down to the beach and sat and watched the water. It’s a tough life! After a hot day on the bus, sitting on the beach’s promenade with a slight breeze was a blessing. Matty knew of a place that sold cheap beers, so off we went for a couple of drinks. This place had an internet café, which turned into a nightclub, but we left when happy hour was over.

We walked back to the hostel via McDonalds, to try a new desert discovery, as made by Andrea – the McFlurry. A whipped sundae, blended with peanut M&Ms. A definite winner. While standing out the front of McDonalds we ran into Julian from our Contiki trip. He has completed the northern and central circuits of Eurobus and was about to join the southern route, so we spent the best part of an hour giving him tips from what we’ve done.

We finally got back to the hostel at two am and who should be asleep in our room – Troy and Beck. So, obviously, we woke them up to surprise them. It will be good to spend the next couple of days with them.

Madrid, Spain to Barcelona, Spain

We had another fairly late start today, and checked out at eleven am. Fortunately, we can leave our backpacks stored at the hostel, so we can spend the day wandering around before the bus picks us up at 11.30 pm.

A ham and cheese roll for breakfast, before walking one and a half kilometers to Museo del Prado. This museum is full of art from 15th – 19th centuries, created by mainly Spanish and Italian artists. The half hour queue to get in was well worth the wait. The three floors of mainly religious art were both spectacular and fascinating. It was also great to compare each artists’ view on the history of Christ from birth to resurrection. Amongst those artists were the Spanish El Greco and Goya, whose works we’d also seen in Toledo, and the Italian Raphael. In all it took us four hours to go through the entire exhibition. It would have been longer had one floor not been closed for renovations.

We walked back into the center of Madrid, having a 4pm lunch on the way. We wanted to see a movie to kill time, but the next session is not until 7.25 pm, so we keep walking to Plaza de Espana to find a shady spot and have an outdoor rest.

Armageddon was the movie we saw, with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. It was a good movie, full of action and plenty of “America saves the world” cliches to laugh at.

When the movie was over, we picked up our bags from Josephina’s and waited downstairs for an hour until the Eurobus arrived. It was funny to see the looks from the locals we got, while waiting in the street. Considering how many homeless people there are in Madrid, you’d think we were a gang adding to the problem. You’d think they’d be used to the odd Aussie traveler.

After our first service stop, I took a sleeping tablet to get me through the long night’s drive.

Salamanca, Spain to Madrid, Spain

We left our luxurious hostel at eleven am and headed to a café for breakfast.

After this we did the second walking tour of the town, from the tourist map. Our first stop was Casa de las Conchas, a 15th century mansion, with its inner staircase and patio being the highlights, with a blend of Moorish, Gothic and Italian design. Most of the other sights were closed, but we walked south to the Rio Torres, which is crossed by Puente Romano, a bridge well over 500 years old. Also, down by the river, was a local market, which we took our time strolling through.

We walked back up into town and had lunch at a café near Salamanca University.

After lunch we, we walked out to Campo de San Francisco, a park, where we read and wrote in diaries to kill time.

We walked back to Plaza Mayor to go to the internet café to email for a quick half hour.

We then returned to the hostel, picked up our backpacks, and walked over to the Eurobus pick up, where we had to wait an hour before the bus arrived. We departed Salamanca at eight pm and stopped only once in our three-hour drive to Madrid. We went straight up to Hotel Josephina again, to find Roberta’s Spanish had worked and we have a room for the next two nights. Before going to bed we ducked downstairs to Burger King for a quick bite as a late dinner.

Porto, Portugal to Salamanca, Spain

After checking in for the next two nights, we went out for dinner. Literally around the corner from the Pension were dozens of outdoor dining areas. We found one and had us a good, cheap meal. We finished there at 11.30 pm and came back to our room, after a quick walk around the block.his morning, except get a quick breakfast, before catching the bus back out to the youth hostel where Eurobus will make their pick up to Salamanca. I wish we were staying here for another couple of days, as two was definitely not enough.

The bus departed at 12.30 pm, with our guide being M. Tatum, a guy a couple years younger than us at The Entrance High. Johnny also got on the bus, as the last standby. We also caught up with Rohan, who is making the Lisbon to Barcelona trip starting today (24 hours on the bus).

The bus made one last stop at a roadside servo in Portugal before we arrived in Salamanca at seven pm. The drop off point was a bit expensive, so we headed to a cheap place that was suggested in the Lonely Planet – Pension Estefania.

After checking in for the next two nights, we went out for dinner. Literally around the corner from the Pension were dozens of outdoor dining areas. We found one and had us a good, cheap meal. We finished there at 11.30 pm and came back to our room, after a quick walk around the block.

Seville, Spain to Albufeira, Portugal

We got up in time to check out of the hostel and hang around in the courtyard until Eurobus turned up at 11.45 am. In the meantime, we ate breakfast and wrote in diaries.

The trip to Faro was an uneventful one, but at least the bus had air conditioning (a first for Eurobus on this trip).

We made a couple of sandwiches for lunch before getting on the second leg to Albufeira.

We arrived at three pm, check in and then set about putting up the tent. This was a huge mission, as there was nothing but rock in the campsite, and having no hammer made putting the pegs in extremely difficult.

After this we headed up to the bar for happy hour (two pints for P$350, or AU$3.50). It seemed as though the whole of Eurobus was in this campsite, which was great, as we met heaps of people. We left the bar early, ten pm, with pizza in hand for dinner. I think the last two late nights have caught up with us.

La Linea, Spain to Seville, Spain

This morning started in the dark. A 7.30 am take-off.  Another good opportunity to take a photo of the Rock, except the fog was twice as bad as the night before.

Our trip to Seville took in one service stop, where we came across our first celebrity. Of all people, Les Murray, who seemed to be known by only a few of the Aussies, had finished his World Cup duties and was heading to Lisbon via the Spanish south coast. Poor bloke was never expecting to be recognized in the middle of nowhere in Spain. It was bizarre someone famous, especially considering he could have been every other Spanish person.

We arrived in Seville at 11.30am and immediately went for a walk into town via the tourist office.

We had lunch at a sandwich bar before going to Seville’s cathedral. This cathedral is said to be the largest in the world, and definitely the most spectacular we have seen thus far, just pipping Toledo’s. The most famous monument in the church is the tomb of Christopher Columbus. The 12th century cathedral, originally a synagogue, also has a tower, La Giralda, which gives you a great view of the city from 35 floors up.

Cathedral, Seville, Spain

Christopher Columbus Tomb, Cathedral, Seville, Spain

La Giralda, Cathedral, Seville, Spain 

We caught the bus back to the hostel to check in and do some washing and have our siesta.

Tonight is going to be our Spanish culture night, seeing the ultimate, a bullfight. 9 pm on the dot was kick off time at Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza. Three matadors were on tonight’s card, and each had a go at two bulls. What happens is the bull is released and it chases a few extras around, getting all fired up. The, when the two trumpeters do their introduction, two people, including the matador for that fight, get two little spears and charge at the bulls (one at a time) and lodge the spears along the spine, just below the neck. When the bull has 5 or 6 of these spears in his back, the matador gets his, or in tonight’s case, her (Spain has only 2 or 3 female matadors and tonight we were lucky enough to see one of them) red capes and the real battle begins. Sometimes these matadors begin by throwing their hat in the air, if it lands the right way up, it’s good like and if it lands upside down, the crowd gasps, as it is considered bad luck for the matador. After the matador has performed their tricks and the bull is worn down, the matador drives a sword into the area where all the spears are, which almost kills it. Within a minute or two, the bull collapses and is killed. The bull is dragged around the arena behind three horses and the crowd goes nuts for the matador (waving white handkerchiefs, throwing roses, etc.). This happens six times in the night. This blood thirsty sport is pretty intense, and while I’m glad we went, I don’t think I’d go back for more.

Bullfight, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville, Spain

Bullfight, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville, Spain

Matador Carmen Torres, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville, Spain

Roberta, Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, Seville, Spain

After the bullfight we met up with Matt & Jen, from Brisbane, and fellow Eurobus travelers, and went for drinks, getting back to the hostel at 2am.

Granada, Spain to La Linea, Spain

Earlier in the trip I said I’d never complain about the Pacific Highway again. Well now, I will never whine about Australia Post. This morning we posted some stuff back to Australia in order to lighted our backpacks. Granada’s post office does not have post packs, sticky tape and, of course, and English-speaking staff (to be expected), but they do have a dozen forms to fill in, and they will tell you each, every time you go to the window, but not all at once. So, after two and a half hours, our package was, hopefully, on its way.

The afternoon consisted of a walk through a mall, some lunch, and the purchase of a book to read on the bus, before going back to the hostel, buying an Alhambra t-shirt, picking up our bags, and catching the bus back to the hostel where Eurobus takes us to La Linea at 5.30pm.

When the bus hadn’t arrived by 6.30pm, someone had the sense to call Eurobus and they found out the problems meant it wouldn’t be arriving until 9pm, so its off to the pub we go. Roberta and I found a bar with Sharon and some new people – Adrian & Debs, from New Zealand, and Kirsten from Victoria.

We got back to the hostel at 8.50pm to find the bus waiting for us.

Four hours later, after one stop along the way, we arrived at La Linea. We pulled over near the hostel to see the Rock of Gibraltar all lit up. We stayed in a room with two others – Sharon and Rochelle, from Sydney, for the sake of saving money.

Toledo, Spain to Granada, Spain

We left Pension Castilla at nine am to head up to the pick-up point, to see if we could get on the bus to Granada today. We are booked for Saturday, but I think two days were enough in Toledo. Fortunately, there were a lot of people booked on the bus who didn’t show up, which left plenty of room for the 20-odd of us on stand-by.

The trip to Granada took six hours, including a 45-minute lunch stop. We arrived at Albergue Juvenil Granada under the promise that everyone would have accommodation, only to be told, once again, that this is not the case. Roberta and I were the first in the door and got a twin room. The trip down was hot again and it would have been at least 40 degrees when we arrived, so we stayed in our room and showered and rested until it was cooler before we went out.

We got on the bus into town at eight pm and met up with John (today’s Eurobus driver). He had a map of all the tapas bars in the city, so we stuck with him in search of a feed.

Our first stop was Casa de Pepillo, where we ran into a Tina, from Sydney, who was also travelling via Eurobus. Tina had been at this place the previous two nights and said the food was good, and Pepillo loved having everyone in. We stayed there for a few drinks and were fed all kinds of tapas, before moving on.

Tina, John, Roberta & I, Granada, Spain

In all we went to six bars, drinking and trying local food, before catching a cab home at two am.

Madrid, Spain to Toledo, Spain

This morning we left Madrid for Toledo. I took in as much scenery of Madrid in before writing some postcards. By the time I’d finished two postcards, Toledo was in sight. Toledo is a beautiful old town, once Spain’s capital, situated on a hill in the middle of nowhere.

Toledo, Spain

We got off the bus at 10.30 am and set about finding accommodation. We went and found a cheap pension that was recommended by the Lonely Planet, but we went too far. Fortunately, we found the tourist office and got a better map, only to find our desired pension full. We walked back to the Eurobus suggested hostel, checking out some places that were too expensive along the way. When we arrived, the owner didn’t want us staying there because we were Eurobus travelers. Me and my big mouth. There was a hotel around the corner, which was too expensive, but offered us a cheap room, once it become vacated. So, we went and had some lunch, and upon return found out that the room had been rebooked for another 2 nights. The owner, though, went ahead and booked us into a pension just down the road. As it turns out, this place was beautiful and cheap, and literally around the corner from our first choice.

After checking in, we headed straight to Museo de Santa Cruz, which looks like it may have been an old monastery. This museum is filled with two floors of religious art, furniture and tapestry. There is a lot of paintings by El Greco here. El Greco is a Spanish artist who actually lived in Toledo between 1577-1614. His two most famous paintings here are La Asuncion (Assumption of the Virgin) and La Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family). This painting was restored during the 1980s to reveal an undisclosed Joseph, after many centuries.

When we finished at the museum, we went back to the pension for our siesta.

We got ready later, and walked around town, before meeting Alison, Carolyn, Anna from Melbourne, and Sharron from Birmingham, to go out for dinner. We ended up at Ludena, a restaurant listed in the Lonely Planet, which had a 3-course meal for 1200 pesetas.

After the filling dinner, we walked down to Plaza de Zocodover to have a couple of drinks at an outdoor café. It was great here – sitting outside, drinking, and chatting in the evening heat.

San Sebastian, Spain to Madrid, Spain

We checked out of Pension Lizasto at ten am to head to the Eurobus pick up point for our seven-hour drive to Madrid. Of course, we couldn’t get off without a hitch. The bus was half an hour late, then found out they had left three people at a different pick-up point. We ended up about two hours behind schedule.

The closer we got to Madrid, the hotter it got, and air conditioning on the Eurobus means opening the emergency hatches. The scenery between San Sebastian and Madrid was arid and mountainous, with lots of eagles.

Once again, we used Eurobus to help us with accommodation to be told everything was sweet. We arrived in Madrid at eight pm in 37ºC heat to find, once again, that there was not enough room for everyone. Fortunately, Roberta and I raced up two floors to Hotel Josephina and got the last double room. It is on the seventh floor overlooking Grand Via and the city’s south. Simple enough, but most importantly – clean.

We went out for dinner to a café just up the road. I love the Spanish pricing system i.e., my lasagna would have cost 675 pesetas had I have eaten it at the bar because I sat at a table, it was 870 pesetas. A table outside would have made it 1100 pesetas.

We ran into Kate from the Gold Coast and Kirsten from Melbourne who were on the bus today. We went looking for the rest of the group, but gave up after half an hour and ended up having a couple of drinks at the bar. We were home at midnight, with the temperature still at 34ºC.

Bordeaux, France to San Sebastian, Spain

We left the hotel at seven am this morning, for a quick walk up to the Youth Hostel, where the Eurobus was picking everyone up to go to San Sebastian. After a minor hiccough, one passenger leaving her passport in her room, we were on our way.

We were stopped briefly at the France/Spain border for a quick inspection of visas and arrived in San Sebastian at midday, only an hour late.

We found a room in Pension Lizaso in the heart of the old city.

After a quick phone call home and hamburger lunch, we walked around to the “beautiful people” beaches at Bahia de la Concha, before walking east of the city to the surf beach, Playa de Gros, to laze the afternoon away.

After our swim, we came back and got ready for dinner. We walked around the area where we are staying (Parte Vejia) and found a Spanish version of Pizza Hut that served some traditional food in a fast-food style. Both of us ended up having paellas, mine being chicken.

After this we went to a nightclub called Zibbaba, where a whole heap of Eurobus people were meeting. We spent the night there, drinking and watching France win the World Cup until 1.30 the next morning. It was a great night. We met heaps of people and all swapped travel stories. It’s a bit different to Contiki in that because you travel at your own pace, it’s harder to keep constant contact with people and build friendships, but it’s good in the sense that nearly every time you step on the bus, you meet new people.

Ile de Re, France to Bordeaux, France

Unfortunately, we have to leave our little campsite today.

We met a young English couple last night and ran into them again catching the bus back to La Rochelle. They had hundreds of questions to ask about Australia, and we were only too happy to oblige. They may move to Australia at Christmas to work for a year or so.

From La Rochelle train station, we trudged back to the Youth Hostel, dropped off our bags and kept walking around the marina to the restaurant area where we had been on Saturday and had lunch.

Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and waited for the Eurobus. Our name was marked off the list and we boarded the bus to Bordeaux.

We arrived at 7 pm and because there are only 13 places in the hostel available, and 45 of us on the bus, we didn’t stick around for long, as we raced for a place to stay. We found a hotel 500 meters away called Hotel Deux Mondes, which had cheap, reasonable rooms.

A quick take away dinner was had before going to bed, because we want to cram in as much as possible in our next two days in Bordeaux.

Paris, France to La Rochelle, France

We left the hostel this morning, on the bus to La Rochelle. We are on the bus with Todd, Reggae and Jason.

We made two service station stops before arriving at our hostel. Roberta and I are in separate rooms and most of my room mates don’t speak English – but I’ll survive. The hostel is relatively new and quite comfortable.

As soon as we checked in, we headed into town to find the local tourist office. We also found a pub that was playing the France vs Italy game. When France won, the place, as you’d expect, went berserk.

From here we went to an Italian restaurant around the corner for a cheap meal. The food was fantastic!

We decided not to walk around town, due to my stinking headache, and went back to the hostel instead, where we watch another World Cup match in the hostel’s bar. Brazil beat Denmark 3-2.

London, England to Paris, France

Today sees the start of Holiday Part II. We left at 6.30 this morning to get to the Porchester Hotel, on the other side of town, to leave on Eurobus.

We left here and drove out to Dover for the ferry crossing. Here we ran into Julian from the Contiki, who is doing the northern circuit of the tour (we’re doing the western portion).

The ferry arrived at 1.30pm and we made a stop just after Calais to stock up on food.

The drive into Paris was a long one. We arrived at the drop off point at eight pm and wandered about half an hour trying to find the Aloha Hostel. When we did find it, we dumped our bags and went in search of a meal.

We ended up at a Chinese restaurant because it was a relatively reasonable price. Paris, we found out early, will be really expensive for any Australia.

After dinner we kept walking to the Eiffel Tower. It was lit up and looked magnificent. We contemplated going up, but decided to wait for when we get back. We saw it from the park in the south-east, the Champs de Mars, where everyone was either having a picnic dinner or playing soccer.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

We then walked to the Trocadero, northwest of the Tower, for another round of photos. They should be great – night photos of all the lights.

Trocadero, Paris, France

We then walked 45 minutes back to the hostel and went to bed. Doing our best to keep quiet as our unknown roomies were already asleep.