Left Bilbao this morning and headed off to Zaragoza, Spain's 5th largest city. Wet and windy as we left, but as we came down thru the Pyrenees foothills, the weather cleared to bright and sunny. Marked change to the landscape as we headed east. We travel led along a broad flat valley, hemmed in be rugged escarpments, and low hills covered in vineyards. Snow capped peaks of the Pyrenees could be seen to our left -we'll have to cross those when we head back up into France.
The further east we traveled, the windier it got. The car was being buffeted about quite a bit - no rain though. Not much traffic on the road. This was highlighted when we pulled into a petrol/food stop. We were the only ones there. Normally these highway stops are packed with travelers and truckies.
Made it into Zaragoza about mid-day. Not the normal hustle and bustle of European traffic - more sedate and organised. Found our hotel - only trouble was, the GPS got us there in such a way we couldn't access the parking area. Went around the block three times to try and approach it in a different direction - no go, GPS proved too smart. Time for some lateral thinking. Turned off the GPS and studied the map. Julie pointed out "If we head down there, cross that street, go down two blocks, get into that one-way street, we should come out behind he hotel so we can approach from the other direction". Good idea birthday girl (did I mention that it is Julie's birthday today? Happy birthday dear). Her directions proved insightful. Not only were we able to approach the hotel from the right direction, but it also put us right into the hotel car park. Mission accomplished.
This might seem a small achievement, but for those of you who driven in this part of the world, navigating one way streets and finding parking facilities is no small achievement.
Checked into the hotel, got our bearings and headed off to spend the rest of the afternoon to do some exploring.
First stop was the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. First thing you notice is the size. Without a doubt, it would have to be one of the biggest churches we have seen in our travels - including Notre Dame in Paris. Signs are everywhere asking you not to take photos inside - fair enough. Japanese tourists either don't understand universal symbols which convey requests and instructions, or they don't care and just ignore them. Everywhere you looked they had their cameras out and snapping away. They even intruded upon a mass in progress to satisfy their desire for the ultimate happy snap. Even Google doesn't have any images of the inside.
Tomorrow we'll visit the Goya museum and find a tapas bar to round off our visit.