Day 26 - Friday 19th May

Today we will be leaving Lisbon and travelling to Salamanca in Spain. Philippe told us we need to leave at 7:45am and have the bags out at 6:45am. I set my alarm for 5:30am and we had breakfast at 7am.

The first stop was at a little town called Fatima which has religious significance for Catholics. One hundred years ago, the Virgin Mary appeared in the sky above the town and was seen by three children. The Pope was here last week for a ceremony to commemorate the event.

Apparently about a million people were here then. It must have been quite a crowd. It's just as well the plaza is so big. There are religious buildings at each end of the plaza. We went inside the cathedral at the top of the plaza.

Our tour director had allowed an hour for this stop and so we had time to look at the shops and to get a cup of espresso coffee. This cafe had a large mural on one wall showing a previous Pope visiting the town.

For lunch we stopped at a roadside petrol station and cafeteria just before noon. The terrace area where we ate our lunch had a beautiful view over the valley and the river below.

A couple of hours later we crossed the border from Portugal to Spain. We had to adjust our watches forward by an hour. Soon afterwards we stopped at another roadside petrol station for a break.

It was about 5:15pm (Spain time) when we reached Salamanca. Our hotel, Alameda Palace, certainly looks like a palace. The foyer is a large area with marble floors and old-fashioned armchairs. IT has glass and mirrors everywhere.

There are plenty of mirrors in our room as well. Unfortunately it has twin beds and they can't even be pushed together. Initially the WiFi was good but then it slowed right down.

Insight were hosting drinks in the foyer at 6:40pm. Then Philippe led us a few blocks away to the plaza in the centre of town. He took us into a small cafe where he shouted us all a drink and our choice of a single tapas dish.

This plaza is surrounded on all sides by beautiful old buildings and colonnades. There are plenty of open air cafes. Philippe told us that it has the reputation for being the most beautiful plaza in Spain. It was very busy.

Six of us wandered around the plaza checking out the restaurants and we settled on one called Asador. We ordered a variety of dishes, wine and sangria.

Then we walked back through the cobblestone streets to our hotel where we ad a nightcap in the foyer bar.

Day 25 - Thursday 18th May

Although the options for breakfast were fewer than other hotels we've stayed at recently, there was still enough to have a good meal. Today we had to be on the bus at 8:30am.

The first part of today's outing was a tour of Lisbon. We had a special guide for the day called Julia. As the bus drove through various parts of Lisbon, she told us the history of Lisbon and Portugal including the earthquake, fire and tsunami that destroyed the city in 1755.

There were plenty of photo opportunities along the way. The bus stopped at a riverside location so we could take more photos and have a bathroom break. The photos were successful but the bathroom break wasn't. The water in the district had been turned off and so all the toilets were closed.

Instead we had a bathroom stop at the next destination near the cathedral. A surprise bonus of going to this cafeteria was that there was a museum for old planes at the rear of the cafeteria.

The cathedral was very crowded but it was well worthwhile because it is beautiful inside.

After the cathedral visit, there was an optional tour to the Portuguese coast. The bus dropped others back at the hotel and then headed to the coast and then north. This area is often referred to as the Portuguese Riviera.

The coastline has many beaches with golden sand but there were few swimmers. Much of the area is rocky and there were strong winds blowing off the sea. Apparently the winds are common which help to explain the low scrub rather than tall trees.

For lunch, we stopped at a delightful beachside town called Cascais. Our tour director told us that this is a town for the rich and famous. It has cute shops and restaurants and well-kept gardens.What's more, the weather was beautifully warm and sunny.

Together with Barbara and Russell, we walked down the main street looking for somewhere to have lunch and eventually decided on a bakery shop. Just what we needed. Then we strolled down to the beach and along nearby shopping streets.

After lunch, we continued our trip heading north along the coast. At one stage, we stopped to take photos of headland called Cape Rock which apparently is the most westerly point in continental Europe.

The route took us along windy roads in an area called Sintra until we reached the Queluz Palace. This palace was built in the 18th century and was the home of royalty. It is a large palace with large gardens.

First we had a guided tour inside the palace where we admired the large rooms, tall domed ceilings, artwork, chandeliers and other architectural features. Then we went outside to admire the gardens, statues and water features.

As it turned out, we were now not far from Lisbon. We must have been travelling around a circular loop. It only took about 15 minutes to get back to our hotel in Lisbon..

For our evening outing, the bus picked us up at 6:40pm and took us to a dinner and show at Cafe Luso. The restaurant has stone arches - lots of atmosphere. After dinner, there was music from a band and singers.

The evening was most enjoyable. On the way way back to the hotel, our bus group sang to the music played by the bus speakers.

We were too tired for a night cap and we went straight up to our room to go to bed.

Day 24 - Wednesday 17th May

It was another early start - we'd set the alarm for 6am. Soon after 7am, we'd placed our large bags outside our room and we went downstairs for breakfast. The bus left at 8:30am. It was good to have a slightly later departure compared with the last couple of mornings. Today we would be travelling to Lisbon in Portugal.

By law, the bus driver is only allowed to travel for two hours before taking a 30 minute break. So the first stop was to go to a small town called Jabugo where we visited a company called Montesierra who are famous for high quality ham.

We saw lots of ham bones hanging from the ceiling and were shown the steps in the process. Later they let us sample their ham and gave us a glass of wine. It tasted more like prosciutto.

All morning so far we had been travelling on rural highways. Eventually we  crossed the border into Portugal and got onto their north-south motorway. Soon after that, we stopped for lunch at a roadside cafeteria.

The approach to Lisbon was via a very long bridge over the estuary of the Tagus river. This is the same river that we saw at Toledo - except it was only a small river there. The bridge at Lisbon is 17km long.

One of the surprises about Lisbon is that the airport is so close to the city. We were driving down a street near our hotel and jumbo jets were coming in to land nearby or overhead. It reminded me of the old airport in Hong Kong.

There was a lot of traffic in Lisbon and so it was about 3pm before we got to our hotel, Turim Saldanha. We've got a double bed again (queen size this time) and a separate shower in the bathroom. This hotel seems quite modern, clean and efficient. Once again, the WiFi is very slow.

Suzy went to a nearby shopping centre to look around. I was feeling quite tired after the bus trip and all the activities in recent days.

There was an optional dinner outing in the evening. Only about two thirds of the group had decided to come. We got on the bus at 5:30 and it drove us through the peak hour traffic across town to the ferry wharf on the river. There were plenty of photo opportunities along the way.

We reached the ferry wharf at 6pm. This seems to be a shuttle service from one side of the river to the other. When the ferry arrives, they open the barrier and people clamber on board. At the other end, they unload their passengers and it quickly heads back again.

After getting off the ferry, we went to the nearby lighthouse to take photos of the city and the suspension bridge further up the river.

Our booking was at a seafood restaurant right next to the wharf. The waiter met us at the door and shoved a beer in my hand - wow. Any place where they give you a beer automatically when you walk in gets my vote.

There was already food on the table when we sat down - king prawns, croquettes, red and white wine. As we finished each dish, they brought us other dishes. We enjoyed the food and the quick service. At the end of the meal, they served dessert and a glass of port.

As we left the restaurant at about 8:15pm, the sun was setting over the suspension bridge. Fishermen were trying their luck along the edge of the river. The fruit merchants had packed up their produce and tables. In the nearby square, outdoor cafes were starting to serve dinner.

Instead of catching the ferry again, the bus was waiting to take us back to hotel. By this stage, everyone was feeling very happy. Our tour director, Philippe, turned up the volume on the music in the bus and we sang along all the way back to the hotel. There were more photo opportunities along the way.

Originally we'd planned to go straight up to our room to go to bed but our new friends suggested that we have a night cap in the hotel bar. It was a fitting conclusion to a wonderful evening. We had no difficulty in getting to sleep after another busy day.

Day 23 - Tuesday 16th May

We had a buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. This morning we would be going on an optional tour to Cordoba. The bus trip took about 90 minutes and we reached Cordoba at about 9:45am.

The bus dropped us on the road next the river near an ancient stone bridge. We crossed the road and headed into the town through a grand arch with columns on either side and then along cobblestone streets to a shopping area. There we took advantage of the bathroom facilities at the rear of one of the shops in preparation for our tour of the mosque.

The Mezquita Mosque dates back to the 6th century. Over the centuries, it has been expanded in size. It was taken over by the Catholic Church in the 12th century and it has been a Christian cathedral ever since. UNESCO has declared it as a World Heritage Site.

As we entered the grounds of the mosque, we were met by our guide. The courtyard contains rows of trees. At one corner, there is a large clock tower. Our guide gave us introductory information about the history of the mosque before taking us inside.

The interior of the mosque consists of large open areas with a tall ceiling supported by row after row of stone columns and arches. It is a fascinating mixture of Muslim and Christian architecture and decorations.

Suzy was particularly impressed with the mosque. She thought is was the best mosque she had ever visited because it had a warm, inviting atmosphere. She compared it with the Grand Mosque that we had visited in Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago which was certainly grand but cold, stark and unfriendly.

After we left the mosque, we had a guided tour through the nearby streets of the ancient town with its plazas and narrow cobblestone streets. In one street, the balconies are less than half a metre apart.

We were very impressed by our guide. She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She told us that her father and grandfather had also been guides for the mosque. In fact, towards the end of the tour we came across her father who was leading another tour group.

Suzy thought she was the best guide we'd had on our trip. We hadn't been in the habit of giving tips to guides but in this case Suzy gave her a tip and so did most of the other people on the tour.

Once the guided tour had finished, we were free to walk through the town to look at the shops and find somewhere for lunch. We found a cute restaurant behind the shops that had an open area with a pretty blue theme.

It was just before midday and they were just getting ready for lunch and so we were the first people there. It looked as though it would have been an entertaining place because there was a small stage at one end for a band. It was a nice lunch in a  pleasant setting.

Suzy visited more shops before we joined the others for the walk back to the bus. On the way back to Seville, we admired the green countryside and a tall glowing light tower in the fields that acted as a solar power supply.

For dinner, the tour group went to a 300 year old restaurant in Seville. Philippe introduced the current owner and, between them, they gave us a background to the history of the restaurant. At the dinner upstairs, we shared a table with the two blind ladies from the UK.

It was a multi-course dinner. I was getting worried because the first few courses were foods I don't eat but eventually they brought food that wouldn't make me sick.

After dinner, we went down into the plaza where a series of horse-drawn carriages were waiting for us. Once again, we shared a carriage with the two blind ladies from the UK.

This carriage ride was a big surprise because it took us through the streets of the ancient town and then past a magnificent palace and the associated gardens. It was an excellent experience.

Back in the hotel, we enjoyed a night cap with Barbara and Russell before retiring to our room after a long but enjoyable day of sightseeing.

Day 22 - Monday 15th May

After a buffet breakfast in the hotel dining room, we left Granada on the bus at 8:10am for the short trip to Alhambra.

Alhambra is a huge complex that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first buildings were constructed by Muslim dynasties in the thirteenth century. Over the years further palaces were built on the site. In the late 15th century, it was taken over by the Catholic monarchs.

They get thousands of visitors here every day and are well equipped for the crowds and the large number of tourist buses. This is a major tourist site.

As usual, there were local guides to take us through the site - two of them this time. They gave us tickets and emphasised that we needed to keep the tickets because we would need them to gain access to various parts of the site.

It was a long walk from the entrance pavilion to the main entrance to the complex. The path took us along the perimeter of the complex.

On the way to the main entrance, one of our group had a heavy fall which was somewhat surprising because the path wasn't nearly as uneven as other paths and roads we'd experienced in this part of the world. One of the guides took her to first aid before joining the group again.

I lost count of the number of buildings, palaces and rooms we went through over the next couple of hours. One of the most memorable areas had a reflective pool in a courtyard. Other courtyards had trees, statues and fountains.

Many walls had ancient inscriptions. Our guide explained the meaning of many of these and tried to give us an idea of the history of the buildings. Meanwhile there were opportunities to get a view of the town below and the ancient fortified walls on the hill opposite the complex.

The guided tours took us along a one way route through the main highlights of the complex. At the end of the tour, we had the option to go with the guide to look at the gardens. Some people opted to sit and wait while the rest of us headed off.

The garden tour was well worth while. The gardens were very pretty and well maintained. They also gave us a great view back to the buildings of the complex and down to the town. Another advantage was that it offered the last bathroom stop before we got back on the bus.

Our next destination was to be Seville. On the way we stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe next to the motorway. We concluded our meal with a flavoured ice cream that we had to finish before we got back on the bus.

We reached Seville mid afternoon and the bus dropped us beside the river. The aim was to visit the cathedral. Along the way through the cobblestone streets and plazas, we saw dozens of horse-drawn carriages giving rides to tourists. There were more jacarandas - particularly along the river.

This was another large ornate cathedral with large open spaces, statues, stained-lass windows, murals and candles. Apparently it is the third largest church in the world and the largest cathedral. One of its claims to fame is that it the burial place of Christopher Columbus.

After the tour of the cathedral, our guide took us on a tour of the streets of Seville. She took us through narrow streets past fascinating buildings, statues, churches and plazas. At the end of the tour, the bus was waiting to take us to our hotel.

In the evening, the bus picked us up near the hotel to take us to a dinner and show at El Palacio Andaluz. Here we were ushered into a crowded auditorium with dinner tables facing a stage with a runway into the audience.

Staff promptly brought us food and wine. At various stages throughout the meal, musicians appeared on stage to entertain us in traditional flamenco style. I positioned myself to take photos of the performers from our table at the back of the room.

It was a fabulous show. I particularly remember a tall brunette in a tight fitting red dress whereas Barbara noticed a skinny hairy bloke who had a habit of jumping up onto a table to show off his tap dancing capabilities.

After the show, there was much merriment on the footpath as we waited for the tour buses to pick us up. The various tour groups tried to outdo each other with their singing and dancing capabilities (or lack thereof). Alcohol might have been a factor.

Back at the hotel, we found a bar next to the hotel to have a drink with Barbara, Russell and others to celebrate another great day and a another great evening. What a day!

Day 21 - Sunday 14th May

Today will be the first bay of our bus tour with Insight of Spain and Portugal. The plan is to leave Madrid at 8:15am and travel to Grenada via Toledo. So we had to have our bags outside our room by 7:15am.

When we went downstairs for breakfast, the dining room was almost full. It was a busy atmosphere. They had a good selection of fruit, pastries and hot food. By the time we left at about 7:20am, there was a queue outside the dining room.

Everyone was on time and the bus left on time at 8:15am. I managed to get the front seat so I could take photos as we travelled. It took less than an hour to reach Toledo where the bus stopped to pick up Elena who would be our guide for Toledo for the morning.

First we drove around parts of Toledo to see some of the sights and then we stopped for about ten minutes at a vantage point high above the river looking back at the town. It was a perfect spot for a photo opportunity - not only because of the location but also because it was a bright sunny day.

Although when we'd woken up it was only 9C, the temperature had now risen to 18C and by the end of the afternoon it would reach 27C.

The next stop on our tour of Toledo was a fancy souvenir shop that sold handcrafted jewelry, china, swords, etc. The parking area was full with large tourist coaches.

Our bus then took us to the foot of the hill on which the town is built. Luckily they now have a series of escalators to get you to the top of the hill. There Elena guided us through the narrow cobblestone streets and plazas until we reached a church in the centre of town.

Tour groups were lining up to go inside this church because it contains a famous painting by El Greco. Elena talked us through the components of this large painting that takes up the entire wall at the front of the church.

After we reached the central plaza, we had free time to look at the shops and have some lunch. We opted for the open air cafe next to McDonalds. I enjoyed a hamburger, a double-shot espresso coffee and a couple of glasses of red wine. We sat under the shade of a large umbrella and watched the world go by.

There are plenty of tourists in Toledo. It's wall-to-wall with tour groups and it's easy to see why - it's a beautiful city. Toledo has the reputation for being one of the most beautiful towns in Spain.

Our bus was waiting for us on the other side of the town. Once again, there was a series of escalators to take us down the hill. Most of us were on time getting back to the bus including the two blind women from the UK. The Mexican lady on the motorised scooter was about 15 minutes late. Surprisingly the two Canadian woman were 30 minutes late.

It was a long drive to Granada. We reached there at about 6pm. At least we had a birds-eye view of the trip from our front seat on the bus. It was a high quality motorway all the way.

The Vincci Hotel is close to the centre of town. It's not as fancy at the hotel we stayed at in Madrid. The WiFi is very slow. Once again we had a double bed and this time there was a separate shower rather than a shower in the bath.

Suzy and I went for a walk before dinner to see some of the city. The road outside our hotel is very pleasant. There is a wide footpath, then a lane for cars on each side and a wide tree-lined pedestrian area in the middle.

Dinner was in the atrium on the ground floor of the hotel. There were several large circular tables for our group.

During the meal we were entertained by a small band who probably went from one restaurant to another.

After the meal, we went out to enjoy the street life near the hotel.

Day 20 - Saturday 13th May

Today we will be leaving Santillana and driving to Madrid. After breakfast in the hotel dining lounge, a staff member helped us downstairs with our bags and drove out of the hotel through this delightful town at 9:30am.

When we woke up, it was raining and the temperature was 13C. By the time we left the hotel, it had stopped raining and there was some blue sky.

Heading south on route A67, the scenery was picturesque with green rolling hills and some mountains in the distance. It was similar to the scenery between San Sebastian and Santillana a couple of days ago.

Whereas the motorway coming into Santillana had been windy, this motorway heading south was quite straight. Instead of winding around the hills, it went straight through them. There were plenty of tunnels through the hills and long bridges or viaducts across he valleys.

Some tunnels we more than 1km long and there was at least one tunnel that was more than 2km long. The tunnels are fairly basic - simply excavated through the rock without any ventilation systems or emergency evacuation routes.

After about 100km, the terrain was flatter until we got within about 100km of Madrid where we climbed to a higher altitude. As we approached these hills, we saw black clouds and sure enough it started to rain.

At about 1pm, it was getting hard to drive because of the heavy rain and so we stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. By the time we set off again, the rain was easing. The temperate had fallen to just 8C.

The TomTom seemed to lead us astray in getting to the airport where we had to drop off the car. The signs said to go in one direction whereas the TomTom took us elsewhere. We seemed as though we were circling the airport and not getting any closer. We drove on lots of different motorways.

Eventually we saw a sign for Terminal 1 and we followed the sign rather than the TomTom. We found the Enterprise car rental return and handed over the keys at 3pm. Mission accomplished.

We were due to met an Insight representative in Terminal 1 at 4pm for a bus to take us to our hotel. We were just about the only people on the bus.

It was close to 5pm by the time we reached the hotel, checked in and got to our room. Philippe, our tour director for this trip, was waiting for us in the hotel foyer.

The Miguel Angel Hotel is a very impressive, high-class hotel. What's more, they had upgraded us to a club room on the fifth floor. Our room had a real live double bed (king size). This is the first time we've had a double bed for a while because we had two single beds pushed together on the river cruise and in the subsequent places.

The Insight welcome was in the hotel foyer at 6pm. This was an opportunity for us to start meeting other people on the tour.

Next we all got aboard a bus that drove us through the city to a fancy restaurant in the middle of town. Pedro, the bus driver did a sterling job of getting us there. The lanes in the city are not wide enough for a bus but that was chicken feed compared with the ramp into the car park - there was less than an inch to spare on each side of the bus.

From the car park, it was a short walk through the bustling plaza to the restaurant. Our group went downstairs to a quaint arched stone area that apparently used to be the stables. It was a nice setting for our first dinner with the group.

Back at the hotel, we decided to go to the Club Lounge where I enjoyed a very good glass of red wine. Barbara and Russell joined us there. We were surprised to find the WiFi here was excellent whereas it was very poor in our room nearby.

Day 19 - Friday 12th May

This morning we were able to sleep in and it was after 8:30am before we went downstairs to the dining area for breakfast.We both decided to have the hot breakfast rather than the continental breakfast. At the next table was a couple from Surrey in the UK who had been driving around Spain for several weeks.

After breakfast, we set out to explore the town. Mind you, we'd already seen most of the town yesterday when we were driving around trying to find our hotel. The streets were quieter than yesterday afternoon. There were not many tour groups.

The forecast was for rain from 10am onward. As it turned out, we did get any rain during the day.

We visited the church which is located at the end of our street. It was a worthwhile visit. When you first enter the building, there is a courtyard surrounded by colonnades. The church itself is ornate and beautiful.

Next we visited the Museo de la Tortura which is an exhibit about the Spanish inquisition. It's amazing how many torture and execution devices they used in that period. It is really gruesome.

Having had a good look around the town, we decided to go for a drive to see nearby points of interest. Suzy programmed the TomTom to go to Santander via Playa de Santa Justa.

Something went wrong with the programming of the TomTom because we ended up in an inland farming area rather than a coastal beach. When we pulled over to revise our planning, there were two donkeys, perhaps appropriately, staring at us from the other side of the fence.

We then decided to go straight to Santander. There we planned to buy a Spanish SIM for our WiFi device and to visit the beach area. Once again, most of the trip was on high quality motorways.

This is a very busy city and we managed to find a small parking station under the multi-storey buildings. The first sign said parking costs 40 euros per hour. When we questioned the cost with the attendant, who didn't speak English, he wrote 1.80 on his palm.

The Orange shop was closed for the siesta. Nobody in the Movistar shop spoke English and they indicated that their SIM wouldn't work in our device. Next we tried Vodafone. At least they spoke some English but they too said it wouldn't work. None of them were very helpful.

Suzy programmed the TomTom for the beach at Santander but we ended up on the coast in a farming area. This time, when we stopped to reprogram, there were cows staring at us from the paddocks.

Eventually the TomTom successfully got us to Playa de Santa Justa and it was well worth the hassles. This a beautiful beach with tall hills on each side. However the main attraction is a old stone house that is built into a large cave on the side of the hill overlooking the beach.

It was only a short drive back to our hotel and we went to the restaurant across the road for a late lunch. By this time it was 3:45pm and the two waitresses did not seem to be at all happy to see us. Neither of them spoke English but we eventually figured out that they close at 4pm.

Both of us ordered a hamburger which turned out to be different from any other hamburger I've seen. It consisted of a meat patty on a plate next to an egg, chips and salad. There were no hamburger buns. Luckily we had ordered bread before the meal.

I ordered a 50cl bottle of red Spanish wine. It was a good meal. We then went back to one of the lounges in our hotel for coffee.

For dinner we went to the first restaurant that our receptionist had recommended last night,Pasaje Los Nobles. Not only was it open but it was very busy. The waitress took us to a table upstairs where it was less crowded. Our waitress upstairs was very good and her English was quite good.

Because we had a late lunch, it was about 8:45pm before set out for dinner. This seems to be a more normal time for dinner in this part of the world. The downside is that it was raining.

We weren't very hungry and so Suzy ordered crumbed prawns from the entree menu. I ordered the salmon and a bottle of red wine. For dessert we had a delicious chocolate brownie to share followed b espresso decaffeinated coffee. It was an excellent meal.

One of the interesting features of the restaurant was the menu. It was presented like a book. You read through several pages of nice prose before getting to the food and wine. It was nicely artistic.

We were back in our hotel soon after 10:30pm. By this time, the rain had eased off. We congratulated the receptionist on her suggestion of the restaurant.

Day 18 - Thursday 11th May

Today we would be leaving San Sebastian and driving to Santillana del Mar via Bilbao. I set my alarm for 6:30am.

The guesthouse had given us a voucher for a basic continental breakfast at the cafe across the road. We went in soon after they opened at 8am.

The guesthouse organised a taxi for us and helped us get our bags downstairs to reception. We reached the Enterprise car hire office by 9:30am as planned.

The car they gave us was a SEAT Leon automatic diesel vehicle. It quite a nice little car. I found out later that SEAT is a Spanish car that is owned by Volkswagon.

The man from Enterprise was very helpful in explaining the car's features. He loaded our bags into the boot and even managed to get all our luggage in without folding down the back seats.

We drove the car around the corner and spent some time setting up the TomTom and getting familiar with the car's features. I was standing behind the car trying to work out how to open the boot when the other man from Enterprise came past. He showed me the trick - you need to press the S symbol in the middle of the boot to release the boot. I'm glad he showed me because it's not obvious.

It was a pleasant drive on the motorways towards Bilbao. Although the speed limit is 120m/h for most of the way, it was difficult to travel at this speed because the road is windy. On the other hand, the hilly terrain was a change from the flat land we'd experienced around Bordeaux. It was nice scenery.

The purpose for going to Bilbao was to see the Guggenheim Museum. The TomTom got us there but stopped navigating on the opposite side the river. We found our way to other side of the river and found the carpark only to discover it was full and there was a queue of cars waiting.

We managed to back out of the queue and then drove around the local streets looking for a parking spot with no success. Eventually we parked underneath a nearby shopping centre.

I went to the information desk in the shopping centre to ask for directions to the museum but the lady didn't speak English. Luckily another lady standing at the counter did speak English and she escorted us out of the building and showed us where to go. So far people in Spain have been polite and helpful but not many speak English.

We spent about 30 minutes walking around the building taking photos of this modern building with its unusual angular and curved shapes. Its in a great setting next to the river. We aren't fans of modern art and so we didn't bother going inside the museum.

Next we had lunch in the shopping centre where we'd parked to car. We found a cafe called Krunch. Because we'd spent more than 15 Euros in the centre we got two hours free parking.

Then we programmed the TomTom to take us to the town of Santillana del Mar where we will be spending the next two nights. This is a truly delightful town with narrow cobblestone streets and old stone buildings.

It was a battle to find our hotel. We ended up driving up and down almost every street and plaza in the town. This wasn't easy because every street was full of tourists on foot. On the way into town, we'd seen various large tourist coaches.

It didn't help that the tourism information centre was closed for siesta. Eventually Suzy found a shop that was open so she could ask for directions.

The next challenge was to drive around the back of the hotel to get into the car park via a folding metal door that we had to open with a special key. It was another reminder as to why Europeans drive small cars - you need to be able to get through narrow spaces

The Casa del Marques Hotel is absolutely gorgeous. Like other buildings in this town, it is constructed with stone walls, stone paving and dark timberwork. Apparently it dates back to the 15th century. Inside it has been refurbished to bring its features up the modern style that guests would expect. Luckily it has a lift to get up to our bedroom.

Santillana del Mar is a very popular tourist location. Some say it is the most beautiful town in Spain. It certainly caters for tourists because almost every second shop is a restaurant. There are plenty of souvenir shops, museums and other attractions.

We asked the receptionist at our hotel for advice on where to have dinner. One of her suggested restaurants was closed. The other one was open but we were the only customers.

The WiFi here is not as good as in the guesthouse in San Sebastian. I think we were spoilt there. The upload speed here is very slow. Also, the air conditioning here doesn't seem to work properly and Suzy couldn't get the safe to work.

Its a pity because everything else about this hotel is so impressive. It has numerous lounge areas inside the hotel and out in the back courtyard. The furnishing and decor are exquisite.