A spot of sunshine

Holidays, no matter how brief, have an amazing ability to relax you. It's as if the world resets for a while and all the stresses and worries dissipate. Last weekend we disappeared off to the southern coast of Spain for a few days, and it turned out to be just what I needed.

Here's a flavour of what I did:

I managed to pack a reasonable amount! For once my "write a list, ponder for a couple of days on it, pack in the shortest amount of time you can" method really worked for me. Hand luggage only, including several pairs of shoes, all under 10kg :)

I spoke Spanish lots. We went to an area that isn't very touristy (especially not for foreign visitors) and managed to get by with almost no English being spoken. I usually get very nervous about speaking French or Spanish, but I seem to be growing in confidence and actually remembering key language (sometimes even at the point were I needed it!)

I walked on the beach, paddled in the sea and swam in an outside pool.

There were lots of churches and parades (it was Holy Week after all), a couple of castles and a lighthouse.

Procession of the paso through the streets. This one was on Palm Sunday so it depicted Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem.

The amazing gardens at Real Alcázar in Sevilla. I have so many pictures of this beautiful place that you may get treated to another post all about it!

Breakfast was tostados con tomate; lunch and dinner were tapas. What else does a girl need?

I arrived home with a slight tan and a smile on my face, even though our flight was delayed. Six days later and the smile hasn't gone yet!

Road Trippin'

As you've probably gathered, I went off exploring for a couple of weeks. It was soooooo much fun and I'm a little disappointed to be home (the holiday blues is normal - right?).

The plans for the trip were pretty sparse: the only things that were booked were the ferry crossings and a hotel in one of the cities we were visiting. Everything else was planned and organised as we went (including a bonus trip to an extra country!).

It looks something like this:

With our major stop points being:
Biarritz/Hendaye (beach, a particular favourite restaurant, surfing and dinner with friends who live in the area)
Madrid (for the pandas at Madrid Zoo, and also the non-camping portion of the holiday)
Barcelona area (city exploration, beach, hopefully meeting with friends - unfortunately we didn't manage this meet-up)

On the way home, we also spent a night in Andorra (why visit two countries when you could visit three?!), met with friends who have recently moved to France (somewhere in the region south east of Bordeaux) and managed an afternoon in Paris.

Beautiful and exhausting :)

PS: I promise some better quality photos to follow - these are mostly quick clicks from my phone!

Hidden spots

A few gems of London that I've recently discovered:

Borough Market - not far from London Bridge tube station. Some great food stalls and a fun atmosphere. We visited a wine bar where the bartender offered us samples before choosing, and also served us an amazing cheese board...

I also enjoyed paella from a very Spanish establishment, where one of the staff paused to discuss the best places in Spain to visit - apparently San Sebastian is the place to be (seeing as it's where he's from!).

I also ventured further East to Greenwich. I'm sure I've visited the observatory here before, but I've never really done Greenwich. And I still haven't - I need more time to explore the shops, market stalls, eateries and cafes! Did get to see the Cutty Sark and the Royal Naval College at least.

One of the many impressive Royal Navy College buildings.

A trundle around the Olympics

It's sad that the world is such a scary place nowadays; I remember visiting the Barcelona Olympic stadium when they were still building it and being allowed inside. However, in London in 2012 you can barely get near any of the Olympic venues due to the worry of terrorist attacks.

We showed a couple of youngsters around London to see some of the Olympic "bits", starting with a trip down to Thames to see the Olympic Rings on Tower Bridge.

The picture doesn't do them justice - it's actually a rather impressive statement!