……..in Spain have, on occasion, been great but at other times have been disappointing.  Just noticed that this picture is a little fuzzy and not sure if it’s because we drank too much wine or because the young man at the next table courting the young German girl we’ve been chatting with has had too much wine.    Anyway they were lovely and speaking of wine it has never been disappointing and we are beginning to wonder if there are any ‘bad’ Spanish wines or are we just ‘winos’………..don’t answer that!  The first thing to note is the price; you can get a good bottle of red for between 3-4 Euros, a half decent bottle for just less than 3 euros and we had a great bottle that costs 7 euros……….basically everything was between 5-10 Canadian dollars.  We have tried to stick to wines from the region that we are in and it’s usually reds although Marilyn occasionally has a glass of  white.  The most popular thus far have been Rioja and Tempranilla from Valdepenas.  One of these nights I am going to go all out and spend ten euros on a bottle………Hey Big Spender!

We’re not hungry but we haven’t been overly thrilled with the food up until now.   No doubt the pastries, fresh bread, cheese and Serrano ham have been great, as have the supplies of fresh vegetables and fruit which we pick up at the market on a regular basis.  Eating in restaurants, mainly for suppers, has been a little disappointing so we are really trying to pay more attention to what we order.  Needless to say the olives are great and plentiful and one night we had some great fish, another day excellent empanadas, and just yesterday we had a local dish that was like a stew that was very tasty……….but we haven’t found anything yet that says “Ah, that’s just what we’ve been looking for!   Can’t wait to have it again.”   In the picture above we had just finished paella in Valencia where it’s supposed to be the best, none of us raved about it and it wasn’t  until the next day when we admitted to each other it was disappointing.   We tried it again a few days later at another restaurant, it was better but not great.   So we’re still on the hunt for that great Spanish meal!

The people, for the most part, have been wonderful – very accommodating and always willing to help when we’re lost or wondering what something is……..or where we are!  They are also not put out by our lack of Spanish and often will have a quiet giggle as we struggle to say something sensible.  The other evening Marilyn and I were talking to a few  ‘young’ women our age about food at the restaurant and because they couldn’t understand us one of the women pointed to what looked like her daughter’s I-phone.     Her daughter was telling me to speak into it, which I did, slowly I might add, and voila it translated what I was saying into Spanish and I guess it was an ‘app’ ….gotta get one!

So far the  accommodations we have found through air bnb have been excellent, except for one which was good with no major complaints, and we are continuing to book as we leave one place and move on to the next – so far, so good!   Usually they are a two bedroom apartment with kitchen, living room and one or two bathrooms and usually have everything you need including a dishwasher and washer.    On occasion we have had to spend a night in a hotel and that also has worked great.

Driving hasn’t been too bad but, then again, I have never been behind the wheel and won’t be says Jim…….fine with me!   We are mainly using main highways and secondary roads and trying to stay off the super duper toll roads where you don’t see anything.  That part of the driving is fine…..but in the cities, it’s crazy and we thank God for the GPS even though you often lose the signal in the walled cities.   For those of you who have travelled by car in Europe you know what I mean when you’re shocked to see a car coming towards you.  That’s because you were sure it was one way so all of a sudden I have to roll down my window and pull in the mirror so we don’t scrape the walls.  You hardly ever see a car without scrapes in the paint or dents in the bumpers and we’re all working hard hoping not to have to pay for a paint job for our rental when we leave Spain!  So far, so good and Jim  doesn’t seem to mind but he has had his quiet, stressful moments when he’s needed a little space……….and so have I!   Parking at hotels and at most of our accomodation has been a nightmare in terms of trying to find a place.  When you do, the cost to leave the car is usually 25 euros and occasionally 20 euros per day.   That ads about $30-40 per day to your accommodation but we’re so happy to dump it by then we almost run away!    Of course in Halifax you pay to park your car and recently we stayed at The Lord Nelson where valet parking was $30 and park it yourself was $20…….guess which one we used?Speaking of carparks we’re getting ready to pick ours up and  leave Toledo and heading towards Cuenca….more about that later.