Aug 12
I’ve only ever made short stops in Madrid, and this was another one. The end of the road for our Spanish expedition.
Sadly due to bad planning on our part, but having to be back for the start of the new school year, we had to take our leave before the solar eclipse, which was in totality up in the Basque country. The Madrileños were getting very excited for it, although it was ‘only’ partial from the city.
Please click for moreThe quintessential white village or pueblo blanco of Mijas Pueblo is surprisingly quite high, sat at an altitude of 436 metres (1,476 feet). It is majestically shoe-horned into a steep verdant cliffside overlooking the rest of the Costa del Sol.
Although most of Spain is at a higher altitude, this beautiful little town with its moorish architecture deserves to lord it over many of its bigger rivals.
Please click for moreDon’t judge me, but we went searching for the rich and famous this afternoon. A Mick Jagger burger on the menu at our hotel isn’t enough. Jagger almost lived in the Mijas hotel we are staying at in the 1980’s.
From Mijas we taxied to Puerto Banús, which I hadn’t been to for 40 odd years. It was old money then, and now it was very much new money.
Please click for moreSeville, the sun-drenched capital of Andalusia. The birthplace of flamenco, home to the largest gothic cathedral in the world and the breathtaking Royal Alcázar palace, which took just the 1,000 years to build.
Tapas dishes can take a matter of minutes to appear in front of you and the need for elasticated trousers is real.
Please click for moreStill full.
We ate ourselves through San Sebastián, deeply routed in Basque culture in this gastronomic capital of well, the world.
This rugged part of northern Spain, a stone’s throw from France, but they are generally ignored other than the array of pastries sat in bakery windows.
Please click for moreI’m sat on a train going to Sheffield at the moment. That was no mean feat. St Pancras resembled a greenhouse packed with sweaty and confused travellers due to long delays. This on the back of being delayed over two hours on my flight last night from Tampa into Gatwick.
Still, mustn’t grumble as I look out of the window at this fine and pleasant land. Just passing Loughborough at the moment.
Please click for moreYesterday’s World Cup final was as long as any Super Bowl. Thankfully in the first ever football Super Bowl football eventually won.
Argentina became more and more contemptible as the tournament went on, and how their players acted at the final whistle was deplorable right up until them turning their backs on the Spanish team, who had given them the guard of honour, when they went up to collect the cup from the camera shy President(s).
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