Muy Bien!

Our road trip through Spain over the Christmas period wasnt quite the trip to South America we'd originally thought of but we figured it was a close second. After a smooth flight into Murcia-San Javier on the Costa Blanca we picked up our not so grunty Ford Ka and set off amid the ferocious thunder and lightning with fireworks mixed in and headed to Murcia city. Our first experience on the Spanish roads was ok, not too much to worry about with it being dark and late, most punters were tucked up for the night, as would we have been if we had been able to find the hotel. Well, we managed after a city loop or two and put the feet up, but not after an hour or so midnight window shopping and taking a peek at the late night hot spots of which there were a few.

Murcia - Madrid (388km) we took on one or two of the Peaje (toll) roads which are excellent pariticularly if you keen on getting from A to B with a minimum of fuss and as few stops as possible. The tolls vary greatly but if you can put up with a euro here, a euro there then they're worth it.

On arrival in Madrid we somewhow managed to drive straight to our rendezvous point (Barajas Airport) without getting lost. A feat in itself as the motorways in and around Madrid act like a maze with many of them carrying more than one name, slip roads off slip roads and always the danger of happening upon one of the peaje booths. We duly hooked up with Vero and Willy, our fine hosts, and off we set for a few days seeing the sights hearing the sounds and drinking the beers, ah-ha, mm..hmm.

Madrid-Valencia (347km). The high speed link was still being built between these two cities and what a project it is. The journey still only took us a little over 4 hours with a couple of driver changes and coffee stops. Our stop point was actually just to the south of Valencia in a small coastal town called Gandia and our 10th floor hotel room offered some nice views.

Valencia - San Javier (285km). This coastal route has two distinct and contrasting options- Fast and furious or slow, deliberate and absorbing. With time and peace on our side we chose the second option and tangled our way through the many sea side towns. This was the final leg or our journey and we planned to take in as much as our deadline allowed. One stop included the much talked about resort that is Benidorm. You cant miss it from the main road above the coast, the place is totally saturated with high rise hotels. It actually has the biggest hotel building in Europe though London will soon take this tag with a new construction planned for next year. It was a bit much to be honest. We soon left. Apparently the old part of the town is much nicer, if you're lucky enough to find it amongst the teeming high rises.











The preferred option. A nice open beach area in Gandia....................>