Greetings from Tours. Just had the largest meal ever I think- an all you can eat menu of Fouee ( a Touraine specialty which is like a Pita bread, made fresh for 45 seconds in an oven before being served). It was truly delicious! Talk about fresh bread.

 

There has been heaps of travelling in the last few days. We went from Madrid south to Toledo (a 35min train ride only since trains are so fast here). After arriving in Toledok, we were soon to learn that arriving in a Spanish town in the middle of the afternoon is not a good idea, since there is nobody around! People tend to take siestas and there's nobody around-even taxi drivers! We waited for 45 min for a taxi at the train station before finally one came. Getting to the hotel was easy, and the room was real nice. Then we decided to find some food coz we were hungry- but everything was still closed! We finally found an open cafe, wandered around some more, but soon it started pouring! So we wandered into McDonalds for a drink to evade the rain. By this time people were starting to wake up and come out on the streets (6pm), but we were now full, and all the sights were closing so we headed back to the hotel, and watched TV till bedtime.

 

Next morning we walked around the main sights of Toledo. It was real quiet everywhere (nobody gets up in the morning either!) but the street were picturesque. Bought a real cool souvenir for 6 Euros. We then rushed to the train station to catch a train back to Madrid Atocha station at 12pm, which arrived at 12:35pm. Then we had to connect to another train station (Charmartin) by 1:20pm. The other handle on my suitcase broke in Atocha as we were rushing to the inter station train- so I really need to buy a new suitcase now!

 

We got to Burgos around 5pm. Again there were no taxis, and when we went to find food everything was close again (how frustrating). We both found the weird habits of the Spanish a bit too much really to get used to coz we were starving after our difficult connections! By the time we found food and came out of the cafe, things were opening up, so we wandered a while and then headed back to the hotel to settle in a little. The Spanish eat dinner real late (the restaurant we wanted to go to opened at 9pm), so we wandered out to dinner around 9pm, had real expensive, nice but small meals. Then back home to bed. (Much less partying now since our Contiki buddies weren't with us anymore).

 

The next morning we got up early-ish, again struggled to find breakfast coz people were still in bed, went into Burgos cathedral (which is probably one of the best cathedrals I had been to since they let you see everything and explained everything so well- highly recommended!), and then went to the train station to go to Bilbao. Bilbao is a growing city- the Basque local government is trying to make this place into a modern cultured metropolis and there is evidence everywhere of this- from its art noveau Bridge across the river Bilbao to its weirdly shaped Guggenheim Museum. However, this does not stop all the restaurants from being closed on a Sunday evening (silly Spanish people!), so we walked to the mall and had McDonalds for Dinner.

 

The next morning, David stayed in whilst I wandered a little bit in the rain in Bilbao. We caught a bus to Hendaye (the Spanish-French border town) and then a train on to Bordeaux. I was so glad to be in France since I can understand and speak the language a little- which is much less stressful than being spoken to in Spanish at a million miles per hour without the ability to reply! Bordeaux was fantastic- everything was open, and found a great dinner at a restaurant just 5 minutes from our hotel! The dinner was fantastic- an awesome bacon salad, grilled salmon and Cheese post dinner all for 13 Euro (cheap in European standards!).

 

I love France. Bordeaux was great- the next day we visited the beautiful Jardin Botanique (botanical Gardens), Palais Gallien Roman remains, walked beside the Garonne, went to the Catherdral and went to Vinorama ( a wine museum for Kids!). Had to do some washing so we went back to the hotel aroun 5pm. Dinner was again great- we went to this Cafe which served stuff in Casserolre dishes- David had an absolute feast, whilst I had a started of Salmon mashed with Creme Fraiche, main of Roasted Camambert with Potatoes and desert of Fromage Frais with Honey and Oranges. Yum!

 

Yesterday we got up real late and mucked round in the morning shopping in Bordeaux. In the afternoon we booked a tour to a couple of vineyards around the Bordeaux area. Both vineyards were Premier Cru Classe (1st quality wine) vineyards and had top quality wine. David and I both enjoyed the first vineyard's Sauternelle Semi Sweet white wines the most (Chateaux la tour Blanc). Got back around 6:30pm and travelled to the train station to come to Tours by TGV (travelling at 200+km/hr)!

 

Today we spent the morning bumming around Tours shopping and getting breakfast (got up late). In the afternoon we visited the spectacular Chateaux Chenonceau, Chateaux de Amboise and also the Leonardo de Vinci Parc in Ambiose. All truly amazing- especially Chenonceau's beautiful gardens. It was so cold today though that it made it hard to wander outside. Pictures coming soon I promise!

 

Gtg to bed- More later. Miss you all- A Bientot!