Moustache - HANDLEBAR, PENCIL, HORSESHOE OR TOOTHBRUSH.

After experiencing the wonders of Gaudi’s Barcelona we decided to see the city from a different perspective and climbed both Montjuïc and Mount Tibidabo. They are on opposite sides of the valley and the views give you an excellent understanding of the city’s layout.

We then drove along the coast to Tarragona, past the Roman aqueduct and on to Tortosa to start our Paradore experience.

The first Spanish Paradore was opened by King Alfonso XIII in Gredos, Ávilia, in 1928.

There are now over 90 of these luxury hotels spread over Spain and the Canary Islands.

There are even some in North Africa.

Many of the hotels are in former palaces, fortresses, castles, convents and monasteries.

Being built in either public or religious buildings, a large number of Paradores occupy the high ground.

Our first night was in Paradore Tortosa.

This hotel is in a converted 10th century castle, it dominates the skyline and sits proudly over both the town and the river below.

The Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Tortosa has a flat roof, this is very evident when you view it from the the Paradore above. Inside you wouldn’t know, as it has all the arches and vaults of a traditional Gothic Cathedral.

Apparently many churches were built with this flat roof style.

From Tortosa we drove via Valderrobres to Paradore Alcaniz, formerly a 12th Century Castle housing the convent of the order of Calatrava in Teruel.

We took the tour of the castle, not knowing it was only in Spanish, then tried as best we could, to understand what was going on.

It was a good lesson in what it’s like for tourists who don’t have a narration in their native tongue, or English as a second language.

We did learn, mainly from the leaflet that was in English, that these Gothic wall paintings are unique, in that they show civil scenes as well as conquests and religious themes.

The next day we went via Lleida to Cardona.

The Cathedral at Lleida also has a flat roof but again you wouldn’t know if from the high, lofty interior.

The Paradore ‘Ducs de Cardona’ is built in a ninth century castle with a tower dating from the second century.

It was the most spectacular of the three we visited.

There is a long, steep, winding driveway that takes you to the top of the hill and the Paradore. From there you have an commanding view of the town and the salt mines that have made the area famous.

It is estimated that the mountain of salt, that is opposite the hotel, is 2km deep.

We drove down into Cardona in the evening and were lucky enough to capture the sun setting on the Paradore high up on the hill.

On the way back to Barcelona we climbed the 9km of winding road to visit Monserrat.

The weather had turned stormy and the clouds hung low over the mountain, creating an erie backdrop to the monastery.

When we left Barcelona the heat had subsided and we were experiencing the comfort of temperatures in the mid 20s’, not mid 30s’.

It was still warm and humid but a lot more bearable.

When we arrived in San Sebastian, only 570km north, everything was very different.

Autumn had arrived.

The temperature had dropped 10 degrees, the skies were overcast and it was raining. This was something we hand’t experienced in 4 months.

We were on the road to England through North East Spain and France, so I guess this was to be expected.

After San Sebastian we headed into the famous region of Bordeaux. Apart from wine the area is also known for the city of Bordeaux, a beautifully preserved 18th Century, UNESCO World Heritage listed city.

Certainly not part of the UNESCO listing, but still interesting, is the remains of the German U-Boat pens in the old port area.

From the city of Bordeaux we made a slight detour east, to Saint Emilion. The vines were changing colour and the grapes were plump, ripe and ready to pick.

The next few days were spent touring around Brittany, visiting some of the famous French Chateaus like Trécesson, Josselin, Kergrist and Tonquédec. On the way we also discovered some interesting ancient churches like the Chapel at St Cado and the Parish Close at Guimiliau as well as the Enchanted Forest at Huelgoat.

The current chapel in Saint Cado was built in the 12th century on the site of the original Romanesque church built by Saint Cado.

Saint Cado was a Welsh monk and a prince of Glamorgant who came to Brittany in the 6th century. He later returned to Wales where he was martyred.

Its not surprising then that many place names around this area sound decidedly Welsh.

The Parish Close at Guimiliau, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, a is an elaborately decorated church surrounded by walled churchyard.

Apart from the historical wonders of Brittany and Normandy, there is one geographic peculiarity that make this area unique.

Massive tides play an important role in day to day life and have also had a big influence on the regions architecture, especially the ancient fortifications around Saint Malo.

At the end of the 17th Century, Louis XIV commissioned the famous military engineer, Marechel de Vauban, to strengthen the defenses around Saint Marlo. Vauban cleverly used the topography of the many tidal islands to build a series of fortifications.

And Saint Malo certainly needed defending as it was the main port of the Bretton Corsairs, who continually plundered British ships as they sailed into the English ports, laden with riches from the East.

In fact there was so much wealth in Saint Malo that Louis borrowed money from these Corsairs to pay for some of his exploits.

In more recent history, 80% of Saint Malo was destroyed during WW2 but has been painstakingly rebuilt. A walk around the 2.5km of ramparts gives you a wonderful appreciation of this wealthy pirate town.

These super tides have also had a big influence on another of the region’s landmarks, the famous island of Mont Saint Michel.

Another UNESCO Word Heritage site, Mont Saint Michel was at risk of losing its status as an island. Heavy silting from the damming of the canal, that was built at the end of the eighteen hundreds, had reduced the distance from the mainland to the island, from 1.5km to just a few meters.

Started in 2010 and due for completion in 2015, there is now a massive engineering project underway to restore the surrounding waterways.

The car park and causeway will be removed and a low profile bridge built, that will link the island to the mainland. Mega tones of silt will be trucked away, allowing the sea to surround Mont Saint Michel once again.

As impressive as the Abbey and the surrounding town is, the real feature of Mont Saint Michel is the way it dominates the landscape from many kilometers away.

“Goin’ places that I’ve never been

Seein’ things that I may never see again…”

In the spirit of Willy Nelson we are back touring.

This time it’s a shortish trip from our temporary home in Barcelona to Granada, the Sierra Nevada and Cordoba and beyond.

Our excuse was to drive Hayden to Granada, so he could spend some time there with Andrea and then bring them both back to Barcelona.

Granada is Andrea’s birth place so she was our guide, and a very good one at that.

We wandered the streets, enjoyed the tapas, which is free here, and visited the tourist attractions.

Granada is a beautiful city with a huge Moorish influence.

This is best experienced in the Alhambra Palace that proudly stands guard, high on a hill, overlooking the city.

The evidence of Granada’s Arabic and Muslim past also affects your other senses.

You can smell the spice bazaars all over the city and shisha pipes are still found in some tea houses.

The Alhambra is the most popular tourist attraction in Spain, with over 8,000 visitors a day during the high season.

It was the high season so we had to book days in advance to get an entry time, in the late afternoon, when the sun had lost some of its sting.

The Alhambra was built during the middle of the 10th century by the Berber ruler Badis ben Habus.

After the conquest by the Catholic Kings in 1492 some parts were used by the Christian rulers. Then in 1527 The Palace of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor was built into the centre of the Alhambra.

The sight of a Spanish Renaissance palace in the middle of the Nasrid fortifications is a little incongruous, but that’s part of the charm of the Alhambra.

After the heat and history of Granada we headed into the Sierra Nevada, via the Cabo de Gata, the largest terrestrial-maritime reserve in the European Western Mediterranean Sea.

However we stayed on land, so there wasn’t much to see there, except the sea.

We then travelled north, to the southern side of the Sierra Nevada, and the small village of Capileira.

This is the highest of three villages that cling to a steep mountain side.

Tourists and Spaniards alike come to these parts for walking, mountain bike riding and Flamenco dance lessons.

We opted for the walking, and at the suggestion of the hotel, did the 7.5 km Peña del Angel track. This gave us the opportunity to see the villages from higher up the mountain and also view the panorama that sweeps down the valley and out to the Mediterranean.

Apparently on a clear winter’s day you can see Morocco.

From the mountains we headed north again to the ancient city of Cordoba. There we visited the amazing Cathedral of Cordoba or as the locals call it Mezquita-Catedral, as it’s both a church and a mosque

Originally the site was a pagan temple then the Visigothic Basilica of San Vicente and in 785 the conquering Moors built the mosque.

When the Catholic Kings reclaimed Spain it became a Christian church again and later a Catholic Cathedral was inserted into the middle of the mosque structure. Even the minaret had a bell tower built around it.

On the way back to Granada we visited the historic cities of Baeza and Úbeda, both surrounded by hills of olive groves.

These cities are World Heritage Sites, built in a style known as Civic Renaissance. There is also evidence of Roman, Moorish, Romanesque and Gothic styles but it’s the beautifully preserved Renaissance buildings that this area is famous for.

The halcyon years for Baeza and Úbeda were during the 16th Century, as the 17th Century brought hard times and civic construction halted.

Because of this economic down turn, no new building were constructed, thus saving the Renaissance buildings from being plundered for building materials.

It was then back to Barcelona for a few weeks, so we could plan our next road trip.

A 4 star hotel, where a few of the stars have faded with age.

Frozen in time since the 70s’ this Spanish Mission style hotel reflects the Catalan origins of Alghero.

Stucco walls and arches, painted white and cream with brown timber trim, are set against the rugged coastline of the Capo Caccia Peninsula in Sardinia.

It’s all there, as it was 40 years ago, but a  little worse for wear. Successive owners have added their touch with art and furniture but nothing seems to have been replaced.

Then there’s the glass cabinets full of Italian shoes, that seems to be from the same era. They are all priced and for sale.

Surrounding the hotel are a number bungalows, nestled in the gardens, all in the same style. Now that summer is upon us, they are rapidly filling with Italian families here for their annual vacation.

Late in the afternoon of our first day at the Hotel Capo Caccia, we went down to the pool bar to have a drink and soak up the atmosphere of this time warp.

How appropriate then, that Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen was playing in the background.

Bucharest is full of magnificent Nineteenth and Twentieth century buildings, wide open streets and green leafy parks.

Everywhere you look there is another Neo Gothic, Neo Classical, Art Deco or Bauhaus inspired apartment block, palace or public building.

Bucharest is certainly not entirely an architectural nirvana, as they had their own version of Whelan, a dictator by the name of Nicolae Ceauşescu.

During his fanatical reign (1965-1989) he manages to have much of the old quarter demolished to make way for his obsession in Socialist Realist developments. The biggest of these is the Palace of the Parliament, a monolithic construction of 1,100 rooms and 12 stories high. Next to the Pentagon, it’s the world’s second largest public building.

There is more than just grand old buildings in Bucharest. You can also visit the ‘Dimitrie Gusti’ National Village Museum in Herăstrău Park. This is a large open-air ethnographic museum with houses, churches, mills and farm buildings from all over Romania.

Everything is made of timber and therefore in constant need of renovation. However the craftsmanship and detail in many of these old and somewhat primitive structures is amazing.

I still don’t understand why there is a red peddle car on display.