Benicasim

Today we rode our scooter to Benicasim which is about 15km south of our campsite. The route we took went along the coast and up and over a large hill covered in pine forest - a lovely ride.
We parked up at one end of the town and walked for miles along the promenade and then along board walks laid on the sand. Nothing much to say about Benicasim though - just miles and miles of apartments with a sprinkling of bars & restaurants.

Parc Natural del Prat de Cabanes

Today we cycled north from our campsite to the Parc Natural del Prat de Cabanes which is a large coastal area protected from development. We cycled for miles along tracks and them along the beach (hard going) before stopping for lunch and the all important sun-tanning session.

Miles and miles of undeveloped coastline - quite a rarity in this part of Spain

Sign of the Day

Look closely - sometimes graffiti can be funny!

Orpresa del Mar

We left the campsite at Vilanova yesterday and drove 200km south to a campsite at Orpresa del Mar. We're kind of filling in the gap above Valencia that we missed from our Spanish tour last year.


Today we cycled along the coast and were amazed to find a beachside park crammed full of seats covered in beautiful mosaics.

Remember me from Valencia last year?

Nice view - shame about the cyclist in the way!

Is it a duck?

We loved the animals covered in mosaics too

A seat for two

Nice kitty

Montserrat

Today we're visiting Montserrat which is high in the mountains inland from Barcelona. We took a bus from the campsite to Barcelona and then the local train and finally a rack-railway up to the top. The journey took over 3hrs and was rather expensive.


Stunning location for the monastery

Detail above the door to the basillica

View back down the mountain - amazing rock formations

Sculpture with a view

Sitges

Today we're in Sitges, having ridden along the coast from our base in Vilanova on our scooter.


Lots of sculptures around the town so I tried adding one of my own.

Sitges beach

Em's tan's coming along nicely

Artists at work

One of the lovely old Spanish buildings in the town.

Barcelona - Montjuic area

We're back in Barcelona today for our third and final time.


Parc del' Espanya Industrial

A perfect spot for lunch

"Woman and Bird" in Parc de Joan Miro

 

The former bullring has been converted into a modern shopping centre

On the top of the bullring

Looking down at the Placa d'Espanya with two belltowers modelled on the campanelle in Venice

Museum of modern art

Site of the 1992 Olympics

Vilanova

Today we took our scooter into the local town and went for a walk around the marina and then along the beach.

What a difference a few hundred miles makes - France is still in the grip of winter whilst here we stroll around in t-shirts

Parc Guell

Gaudi was commissioned to design this garden city

This one's tilted a little!

The world's longest bench?

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

We're back in Barcelona today for more sightseeing. First stop is La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's unfinished church.


The crane's still working on the church

Quite the most amazing church we've seen

Sunlight and stained glass

Barcelona

After a hearty lunch we strolled down La Rambla to the harbour where we spotted Starbucks for coffee. We then walked around the harbour and back up towards the bus stop stopping en-route to check out the Gaudi and Gaudi inspired architecture.


Columbus pointing out to sea

A wacky tower

Steve poses by the Arc del Triomf

Floral mosaic pillars on the Palau de la Musica Catalana

We discovered this rather cool sculpture and just had to check it out.