Berlin, November 5th to 9th.

Autumn in Berlin. 

Part of the former Wall in Berlin

Against dramatic skies the tallest building in Berlin, at 365 metres the Fernsehturm.

The Berliner Dom, a cathedral dating to 1747.

The Reichstag  was built to house the German parliament , around 1884, and paid for by the French!

It was badly damaged by fire in 1933, and not restored until the 1950's. More recent modernisation is the elliptical glass dome designed by Norman Foster.

The Brandenburg Gate , the quintessential symbol of Berlin. Erected around 1780 it stood in the East until the wall came down in 1989.

How the Brandenburg gate sat behind the wall.

The Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the German President, badly damaged in World war II, and now restored.

The Triumphal column was built in 1864 to celebrate the Prusso - Danish war in 1864. It was actually moved from out side the Reichstag in 1938.

Outside the Bauhaus Museum with our friends Roy & Andrea who live in Handorf, near Hamburg.

Berlin has many fine old monuments and buildings , as well as many modern buildings.

This is the renowned Sony Centre.

And the amazing new central railway station.

The interior, a hive of activity. Note the train on the lower floor and the Warsaw express on the top floor.

Covering over 4 acres , 2711 concrete slabs were built as a Memorial to the murdered Jewish people of Europe, very moving.

Berlin has a lighter side though, 

This is its pedestrian crossing symbol , the' ampelmann' originally used in the East it is now in the West too.

Some highly imaginative buildings!

And it has to be said , Germany is always ahead of technology.

And as for the shopping, KaDeWe is simply wonderful, a cross between Harrods, Selfridges and John Lewis under one roof. Heaven!

Well , we liked Berlin a great deal and would recommend it and go back. History, culture, galleries, shopping, nightlife and great restaurants. We ate Italian, Indian, Thai and traditional German , all superb and good value.

It was interesting to see the locals going about their weekend, Large breakfasts, afternoon tea & cake are certainly order of the day, they love to shop, dress smartly, have an incredible choice of quality merchandise whether it be cars, coffee machines or clothing.

It was also interesting to see how busy the city was, and also that almost everyone we came into contact with spoke English. 

The journey home, Southern Spain to Provence.

Our route home , 1550 kilometres, took us along the coast and to our first stop Almeria.

Now I know this may sound dull - but this is the first time I have gone any where with out an advanced reservation! For me part of a holiday is the planning, checking out where to stay etc, but for the next three nights we are just turning up and finding some where. How adventurous!

Our first night in the Gran Almeria hotel  was a successful find, good value hotel, excellent Tapas nearby and dinner in  very nice restaurant.

From here we headed to Peniscola, North of Valencia. The fortified old town rises 67 metres and is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip hence the name (Peniscola is Latin for 'Peninsular')  There is an impressive lighthouse, a long 'strip' lined with hotels and apartments and a great beach.

We ate at a lovely restaurant directly over looking the sea & beach and stayed at the 'Hotel Don Carlos' 

The old town , where there are many shops, restaurants and bars.

This statue depicts  Benedict XIII who lived in the castle from 1417 until his death in 1423 . 

Two canons! Look carefully.

 and some great views.....

What was amusing was that the hotel we stayed in was virtually full with 90 rooms.

 But it was there last night of the season, everyone had to check out next morning! imagine the scene .

And finally time to cross the border , back home in France and one final stop at Collioure . 

The drive to get there is one of the most hair raising I have done (sorry Karen), especially as for the first time we hit bad weather.

But after finding a hotel, taking recommendations for an excellent restaurant we had a great night and awoke next day to clearing skies. Collioure is an amazing village. A small harbour , lots of bars, restaurant and galleries and a good beach, it is very busy in summer, even in the off season. Matisse  & Picasso once visited, put it on your list!

And finally home. 12 days, 3500 kilometres accomplished.

So France v Spain. We cannot help, every where we go to ask the question - might we live here?

It is fascinating to watch the Spanish taking their promenades, notably families, even generations  together. Everybody was  extremely friendly and helpful. There eating habits are quite unique , we went to one bar for Tapas , it did not open until 8.30pm and there was a queue outside to get in, including families with young children . Smoking is still accepted in bars and restaurants! You are given bread in every restaurant with an added cover charge and you have to pay for water. We were invited to take aperitifs in one hotel with the management between 9 and 10pm before we went out for dinner.

No wonder they need a siesta! The weather further South is clearly hotter and drier which was very evident by the landscape much of which was quite barren apart from the orange groves near Valencia. 

 Of course visiting only gives a small glimpse of life in a country, but for us  France remains our no 1 choice.

On holiday, Ronda, Spain , October 2010

Back in Spain we headed to the  majestic town of Ronda  which retains much of its historic charm. A favourite of Orson Welles it is the third most popular town in Andalucia

It is famous worldwide for its dramatic escarpments and views, and for the deep El Tajo gorge that carries the river Guadalevín through its centre.

Ian and I walked down the 100 metres to take this picture - and then walked back up!

Despite the popularity it is still possible to walk the around the back streets and escape the tourists!

Karen and I , en vacance.

Azila, Morocco, October 2010

On our second day in Morocco we took a half day visiting Azila, a small fortified village by the sea.

The village is set behind  the walls whilst the exterior pavements are lined with restaurants.

Locals going about their daily routine.

The communal bakers, where people take their own bread to be baked after making it.

The back streets conceal delightful restored whitewashed cottages with brightly coloured shutters and bougainvillea .

They even have brightly coloured laundry!

These houses enjoy some wonderful views over the sea.

On one side the sea reveals the rocks and pools where the locals catch their fish.

And the other an unblemished golden sandy beach. Leading to the Atlantic Ocean , surprisingly not the Mediterranean.

Karen and I with our close friends  Ian & Sheena who we spent the week with.

Tangiers, North Africa

We took the speed ferry  from Tarifa to Tangiers , it is always amusing to see the locals going home laden with goodies!

From the roof top of our hotel we enjoyed a stunning view over the city with the early morning mist adding to the atmosphere.

We had a local guide, Aziz, take us around the town.

We were really able to get into the back streets without being hassled. This man certainly knows his eggs!

The shelves behind him are full.

Street traders going about their business.

Early evening, the locals going here & there. Note the Credit Agricole sign.

The most Northerly point  in Africa.

Just a stunning view...........

Local specialty - sheep brains - bigger than mine I think!

We called into a carpet shop - big mistake - he showed us these!

dozing on the job! nice stall next door?

And what did we think of Tangier? It is an interesting city, busy, the Islam faith means that all the bars and coffee shops are occupied by men. We felt it was a little difficult to wander around at night to get a drink and find a restaurant. 

Aziz told us the economy in Morocco has never boomed therefore it has been unaffected by the recession. 

What was noticeable was the unbelievable amount of construction that was going on creating homes for the middle class who have come up from the lower class.

The current population of Tangier is about One million people, they are building homes, mainly apartment blocks to accommodate several hundred thousand people with zero deposit and low interest rates, prices are around €40,000. 

Road Trip to Spain..................

From Barcelona we head 600 kilometres South to the City of Murcia, 

where we found a fabulously luxurious hotel at amazing value and some great Tapas & restaurants but other wise were not really blown away by the city.

And so to move on further South to Granada, home of the spectacular Alhambra Palace.

At almost every corner there are interesting and historic buildings.

Early Sunday morning and setting up to attract the many passing tourists

And finally one of the many buildings in the Alhambra reflected in the water.

My co photographer

Perfect place to sit and relax

In the Alhambra

The still water, an indication of the peace and tranquility

One of the many enclosed garden areas

And the internal detail is quite incredible.

All good days come to an end and where better than in a friendly Spanish Tapas bar , note the drying hams hanging in the top left corner. 

And next heading further South to Marbella & Tangier............