Emily and I are now in Rome! Finally, we have made it to Italy! We have our own apartment in the middle of the city with a little kitchenette where we can cook all our meals. By the end of the tour we were both glad never to see that bus again, we met a lot of nice people and made some friends too. The distance we managed to cover in only three weeks was extraordinary. I feel like I´ve seen so much of Spain, Morocco and Portugal and now I know all the best bits to come back to! I have recovered from my illnesses and am feeling a lot better. The last week of the tour Em and I took the time to relax which means we didn´t do as much sight seeing as other weeks but we still covered a lot!
Last Sunday we saw the beautiful palaces of Sintra, the Palacio de Pena and Palacio de Monserrate outside of Lisbon. Than we arrived in the Portugese city of Porto where we did a walking tour of Porto seeing the Gothic Churches, main train station and town square. We went on a river cruise which was lovely and sunny until a storm came over and it started raining. The cruise gave us a great view of the seven bridges of the city.
The next day we travelled to Mardrid, stopping at the University town on Salamanca along the way. Salamanca is a lovely University town with a gorgeous cathedral. Just outside of Madrid we also stopped to look at the Valley of the Fallen, a huge Basilica built by the losing army of the Spanish Civil war. The army were forced to build the Basilica by the winning army in the 1950's and it is an incredibly moving place.
The next day was our free day in Madrid. It was the best day! I saw three of the main art galleries, (and loved it!) as well as the Royal Palaces of Spain. That night Em and I watched a Flamenco Ballet version of Carmen the Opera, which was amazing!
Next we travelled to San Sebastian via Segovia; a quiet little village which contains the castle that forms the inspiration for Snow White’s castle. That night we arrived in San Sebastian, where we were surprised to find our accommodation was less than perfect but we managed to survive it for the next few nights!! The hadn't even finished painting the walls and some people didn't have beds to sleep in!
The next day we awoke early to get to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. The whole experience of running of the bulls was great and it was interesting to see that side of Spanish culture. The run itself takes place at 8am and then the bulls run into the stadium (where we were seated) followed by the crowd. The crowd all stay in the arena and then they release younger bulls with their horns taped. You may feel bad for the people still in the stadium, but don’t... they’re the ones who then taunt the bulls into charging for them, which I thought was rather cruel. That afternoon we went back to San Sebastian and walked along the beach to enjoy the last of the Spanish sun’s rays.
By Sunday night we were back to Barcelona and had a fantastic dinner with our tour group as our last celebration. So that's all the action from the past week I hope everyone is going well back home. I'm having a great time but looking forward to seeing everyone back in Australia very soon!
Love Sarah.
