Side notes & observations

·     I left my glasses case at the airport in Berlin – not my glasses (which were on my head), just my glasses case. I had seen a very cool case in Paris and didn’t get it, so I think this was my subconscious taking charge and demanding a new glasses case. Mind you, the next few places we went didn’t have any glasses cases anywhere in sight. I finally found one at Granada, and so now I have a fabulous Moroccan inspired glasses case, with a matching glasses cleaner to boot!

·        Sunflower farming is big in the south of Spain – there are fields upon fields of sunflowers. From what we can figure out, they let them flower and then die off, chop the heads off to harvest the seeds, and then burn the rest of the crop.

·       The landscape changes have been amazing. From the dry red soil with little vegetation in the south of Spain, to the yellow and green fields in the middle of the country. We’re wondering what the north with be like!

·       Just like olives, there is no shortage of service (petrol) stations in Spain, I’ve even seen two on the one block, with one on the other side of the road. We’re buying diesel which is around the €1.30 mark.

·      So far, there is not one part of Spain that we’d say ‘don’t go to’ – well, aside from Gibraltar, but that’s not technically Spain anyway. Every town has had something different to offer, and driving around has been the best way to get to see the landscape change and to see all the little towns along the way.

·       Around the big cathedrals, there are ladies with sticks of rosemary. We were pre-warned about them. If they can get to touch your hands or palms with the rosemary, they proceed to tell your fortune. Then they demand €20-€30 as payment or they will put a curse on you. I’m not too sure if I really believe in curses, but hey, these are gypsy women, and if anyone could put a curse on someone, then I reckon they could. So, every time we walk up to a Cathedral, or see a woman waving rosemary around, our hands go straight into our pockets.

·        Marks says “Two weeks in and I still can’t understand a word on the menus”.