Nancy has some destinations she would like to visit: BERLIN, PORTUGAL, Ireland & Scotland. Her fear of flying prevents her to favor far away places. This year we will consider
her wish and to visit Portugal & Spain. We will fly to Madrid, we hire a car and drive to Lisbon Potugal and than back to Madrid via Salamanca.
The 2'200km (18 days) Round-Trip will take us to some of the most interesting places in Spain & Portugal. It's all booked: Flights, Hotels, HopOn-HopOff, Tours and of course the Car from SixT.
Back in Switzerland we will visit my children, new and old grand-children, friends and old places! Should be relaxed and we will go back before the Christmas rush!
The first stage brought us to Madrid by plane (Iberia). There we rented our car from SixT and by luck we got a brand new Merceded Benz A180D, comfortable and economical. Thank my pre-pogrammed Garmin we found the Hotel Miau
in no time and the trip had really started. We explored Madrid by means of "HopOn-HopOff" buses. Many restaurants where nearby. The weather was fine and not too hot. A short but good stay in Madrid!
2.) GRANADA
A relaxed 4 hours drive brought us to Granada. The Hotel was very good and they even gave us a suite. Since we parked already in a nearby facility we kept it that way. We had enough time to have a look at the Alhambra
from a popular look out point opposite. A Chinese Dinner concluded the day.
3.) SEVILLE
The next day we decided to head straight for Seville, skipping Gibraltar to avoid stress and rush hours. The "HopOn-HopOff" helped to get an overview of the city.
4.) ALBUFEIRA
To reach to the Hotel was straight forward. A very nice room and good breakfast was provided. We explored the nearer surrounding by car and feet (Tropo). A typical tourist place. A lot of pensioners and Chinese.
otherwise not a lot of action. Of course it was not the main season.
5.) LISSABON
The search for the Hostel was more tricky since it was hidden in a small alley. We parked our car in an underground parking with very narrow passages and
parking spaces. When we reached the Hostel we discovered that the reception was in the 2nd floor and not attended to at the time. I decided to look for an alternative nearby and found it in the Hotel Mondial.
A "bit" expensive but nice with its own free parking. A "HopOn-HopOff" stop was nearby as well as some descent restaurants. The Colombo Shopping Center we reached by Taxi. Lissabon was never my favorite and also
this time I did not change my mind.
6.) PORTO
The Hostel was located off the center but a 10 min. walk up and downhill brought us to the where the "HopOn-HopOff" buses started. A RiverCruise brought us to all the 7 bridges over the Rio Douro and to the the Estuary
(Atlantic Ocean). Porto was a real highlight!
7.) SALAMANCA
A very interesting drive through "mountains" on an almost empty highway. The Hotel was not so easy to locate so we parked the car, had lunch and finally found the Hotel walking (Tropo). We did some sight seeing (Cathedral)
and wandering around.
8.) SEGOVIA
On the way to Segovia we got cought in a Police Speed Trap! All day the Speed Limit was a 120km but apparently on a short stretch 50km was advised. We like many others did not notice this. I had to blow
to check for alcohol but at 11:00 in the morning this was negative! my speed exess was + 25km and trhe gave me a fine of EUR 300.00 which the Police reduced to 150 because of instant Credit Card payment!
The Police Officer apologized but assured us that not he but his boss will get rich!
In Segovia our Navi brought us to steep and narrow alleys to the Cathedral and in circles to nowehre. A police patrol gave
us the right hint and against our believe we landed in front of the parking garage, worked into the hill. The Hotel was ok., restaurants etc. far up hill and we explored the place by foot (Tropo).
We arranged our luggage for our tomorrows flight to Zürich. A one hors drive brought us to the Madrid Airport Terminal 1. We returned our rental car but soon where told that our flight is departing from
Terminal 4. A bus-ride with all our luggage brought us there and we checked in and landed in Zürich.
Back to Ghana until 27th June 2020
Everything has an end and we came back to Accra. There we found everything in order and live continues.
ALL HOLIDAYS
