Europe trip part 34

Wednesday 10 October

 Today we are doing a massive drive from Biarritz to El Vendrell. It took us about 5 hours driving through the northern part of Spain down to El Vendrell on the coast, quite close to Barcelona. Mum hated the first 300 kms as there was nothing really to see. It was like driving through a desert with mountains. There was no colour and hardly any houses or anything apart from hundreds of windmills and a very dry landscape.

 We passed Pamplona which looked like quite a large city and also passed Zaragoza where we had originally intended to stay – luckily we changed our minds as it looked horrible. We had to pay quite a few road tolls on the way but most of the roads were in good condition so mum didn’t mind! When we got to the house, we went shopping for dinner then just relaxed! I coughed all the way in the car, driving mam quietly mad, so she decided I needed the antibiotics I got from the doctor in France.

 Thursday 11 October
 Today is our first full day here. Since we had time, I had to catch up on my blog. We went to the supermarket and did a big shop – groceries in Spain are very cheap. I’m excited as our friends from Scotland arrive today for a week. Heather (mum’s best friend), Declan and Erin arrived at about 6.30pm, just in time for a roast chicken dinner, so I was very happy! But not because I still can't eat!

 Declan is 13 years old and Erin is 15 – they come to visit us at grannies every time we go to Scotland. I’m still coughing but hopefully it will stop soon.

 Friday 12 October
 Oh no!! I woke up with swollen eyes and lips and another fever. I think I had an allergic reaction to some melon that I ate last night. Mum gave me some antihistamine and paracetamol to see if that helps. We had a chill morning as it was a bit grey.

 In the afternoon I thought I felt a little better so we went to Tarragona, not far away and walked around the old town. Tarragona was a Roman town so had lots of ruins similar to those that we saw in Italy. One was shaped like a small Colosseum. Turns out I wasn’t any better – in fact my eyes had gunk in them by late afternoon and I felt terrible so mum and dad took me to the 24 hour surgery.

 I still have a fever and now have mouth ulcers, conjunctivitis, chest infection and blisters on my tongue to my tonsils  so I could not eat or swallow. I was generally miserable and fed up that this happened on what was supposed to be the most fun week of the trip. Hopefully the pile of tablets that mum had to buy from the pharmacy will make me better soon.

Europe trip part 33

Tuesday 9 October

 I’m feeling better but woke up hot again and coughing so mam and dad took me to a doctor to get me checked out. He said I had a fever but no chest infection (although it may develop) so after picking up some medication we went to San Sebastian (also known as Donostia in Basque) for a day trip It was about 45 minutes from Biarritz and across the border in the Basque country in Spain.

 We did a bus tour for an hour and visited an aquarium which had a glass pathway of a 360 degree view of lots of different fish including stingrays and sharks. The tropical fish were cool – lots of bright colours.

 After the bus tour we walked around the old town which was nice, then we walked to the main beach, Playa de la Concha and then around to Playa de Zurriola and watched surfers – the waves were very good. We had “dinner” of Pintxo – the Spanish have “snacks”, either hot or cold around 5pm along with a drink to keep them going before their proper dinner around 8 or 9pm.

 We walked down a well know street “Fermin Cabelton” just to see the huge number of platters that sit on the bar waiting for people to come in and have “pintxo”. We had a lovely day and drove home around 8.30pm

Europe trip part 32

Saturday 6 October

 Today we walked along the coastline into Biarritz – on the way we watched some surfers at the beach nearest our house. The current was so strong that one guy had to give up! The views we got of Biarritz were really nice – lots of beaches and big waves.

 Once we reached the town we were hungry so we had lunch in a nice restaurant and dad and I watched Japan v Samoa. After lunch we went to the main beach called La Grand Plage and sat on the warm sand watching the surfers. After a while I started to feel ill and realised I had a temperature. We had to take a taxi home as I felt really unwell.

 I couldn’t eat dinner – it must be bad!! I was so tired and miserable I went to bed.

 Sunday 7 October
 I am burning up so I must have got a bug yesterday. We had a chill day and watched two movies – Radio and Blindside, so it was a quiet day.

It rained most of the day anyway so it didn’t matter. We did get out of the small apartment for a short walk about 5pm when the rain stopped, but I was cold, due to the fever, so we went home.

 Monday 8 October
 BLEUGH I’m still sick! I’m not happy but felt a little better in the afternoon so we drove up to famous surf spot of Hossegor and had a walk on the beach and watched surfers. It was very quiet at the beach with everything shut down at the end of the tourist season. Later we drove south of Biarritz to a lovely village called Gutheray.

It was quite hilly but it had good views of the beach where again there were many surfers bobbing about on the waves like seals, waiting for a wave. Mam and dad had a cup of tea and then we headed home for dinner. I think I might be getting a little better.

Europe trip 31

Thursday 4 October

 Today I did my blog in morning – we were a little tired from yesterday so had a chill morning. We did a boat trip in the afternoon on the Garonne river which was nice. A man called Bruno dressed up in traditional costume and did a funny commentary, teaching us a little of the history of the city and the river which was interesting, although I had more fun bouncing on a massive cushion!

 After that we went out for dinner to a Thai restaurant with Florence which was very tasty and then she gave us a ride home. We have to pack again!

 Friday 5 October

 Today we drove to Biarritz which was about 2.5 hours from Bordeaux. On the way we stopped at Dune du Pilat, a massive sand dune which is 115m high and 2.7 km wide. It is the largest in Europe. We climbed up the steps and got great views of the Atlantic Ocean and saw Spain in the distance. I ran down the dunes – it was very steep and lots of fun. We got to Biarritz at 3pm and after unpacking, went for a swim in the pool with dad after tea. He thought it was freezing but I was fine!

Europe trip part 30

Wednesday 3 October

 We went on a Tuk Tuk tour to learn about some Bordeaux history and see some of the main sights. Our driver, Tebo spoke very good English and explained that it was once part of Britain and was a city of commerce exporting wine to the UK as the town has a river that goes out into the Atlantic ocean. To help make the boats heavy enough to travel back they loaded them up with rock which became cobblestones – they are still in the streets of the old town today. The weight is known as ballast and it stops the boats being unstable whilst sailing on the Atlantic ocean.

 A long time ago the King’s castle was torn down as a sign of repression and replaced with a beautiful square and monument with an amazing fountain with sculptured horses and mythical creatures. During WW2 the Germans dismantled the statue and fountain as they wanted to melt the bronze down and make cannons and guns etc.

 Luckily the French resistance decided they didn’t like this so they hijacked the train, killed the guards and hid it until after the war when it was returned and rebuilt. It was also a city of slave trading – the locals took North African slaves to America and traded them for cinnamon, spices and exotic fruit that wasn’t available in Europe.

 After WWII, many African migrants came to settle in Bordeaux so the population is quite diverse. We walked around St Michel which is where they mainly settled and had some mint tea and did some people watching. There was a street that had over 30 hairdresser shops! Bordeaux was once a walled city to protect it from invasions.

 Many of these walls have been torn down but some of the gates/archways remain. One had an 8000kg bell which is still rung on special days and the first Sunday of every month. The King used to have the bell rung as a warning of something bad happening so the people would know there was imminent danger. After that we stopped at a park and I met Stan who was 8, from England but he now lives in Bordeaux. We met Stan’s father who was from England and he came to live here from London because he thought it was a good place to raise his kids and it was much more affordable than England.

I spent an hour playing football and other games with him and his two little brothers which was fun. We had dinner in town as we wanted to wait until it was dark so that we could go and get some photos at the Miroir d’eau – the water mirror.

 This is a really cool idea where 100’s of water jets mist the paved area then as the water drains away it creates a “mirror” effect that reflects the image of the buildings across the road. When they are lit up at night it works really well. I just wanted to run through the mist as it was fun! After a 10 hour day exploring this lovely city we headed home for a well deserved sleep!