On to Seville

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It is a bit crowded in here DonQui thinks to himself while wondering at the propensity of humans to squeeze themselves into very small places.

fly to Seville

He is flying from Barcelona to Seville on Vueling Airlines. They are a budget airline apparently. As a creature who likes his comfort DonQui does not like the sound of that. First Class is the style he wishes to become accustomed to.

premium traveller

Fortunately he has a little black card which gives him free access to airport lounges. Earlier, when he showed it to the nice lady at the desk he suddenly became a ‘premium traveller.’ DonQui was very pleased that the humans treated him as special rather than herding him around the terminal like any ordinary donkey. With the help of a glass of cava even forgot for a moment that he would soon be flying on a budget airline.

The flight actually wasn’t bad and 90 minutes later DonQui is in Seville with plenty of time to explore and have a drink or two before tucking into tapas. First impressions are favourable: interesting narrow streets with something new to see around every corner.

seville street 2

More importantly there seem to be lots of tempting bars and restaurants.

Seville street 1

A beer or two later at the rather pleasant Milagritos Restaurant in sight of the cathedral, DonQui saw a sign advertising local flamingos at 21:00. This rather puzzled him. It was not clear whether they were on the menu or on show. Either way DonQui decided he needed to find out.

Milagritos

Duchess told him that he was a silly donkey and that flamingos and flamencos were not in any way related. Neither were on the menu but one was on show. And a very impressive show it was too.

flamenco1

It could have been cheesy and overly touristy but instead it was a very intimate performance delivered with great passion and emotion. The evening included 3 tapas per person for €15 and the food was good if not truly excellent. DonQui particularly liked the chicken with ceps (a type of mushroom), the pork in sweet wine sauce and chicken paella were also very good.

flamenco3

After the meal DonQui was offered a brandy on the house. It was a very nice gesture even if it did taste of toffee and old straw with a bouquet that reminded him of his stable back home.

brandy

All in all a very good night out.

DonQui Recommends:

Milagritos Restaurant (Alemanes 35, Seville) for its excellent location, friendly staff and wonderful flamenco. Despite the prime tourist area the prices were reasonable and there was a wide variety of descent tapas on offer.

Priority Pass is definitely worth having if you can get one free with your bank account or with some other incentive. It lets you into lounges worldwide even if traveling on cheap fares and budget airlines. Whether it is worth the full list price of £250 (prices vary according to country) is another matter altogether.

Tarragona

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DonQui Oaty is rather sad to be leaving Tarragona. He really liked it there and vows to come back soon.
What was so good about it? Well lots really

Ampitheatre
The old city is a Roman walled town. Now for some uncountable reason DonQui rather likes old stuff – particularly Roman old stuff. Tarragona has lots of it with walls, amphitheatre, circus, underground passages and an OK museum.

cathedral

A pretty impressive Cathedral

donkey
It is compact, easily walkable and has lots of good restaurants, bars and cafés, all of which are in trotting distance from one another. Donkeys are welcome.

forum
The old Roman forum is great for tapas in the evening or a coffee in the morning. DonQui tried out many of the places surrounding the forum but would have had to stay another week to try all of them. He rather liked the local Vermut (Vermouth) served neat, in a tumbler full of ice, garnished with olives and a slice of orange. He was also quite taken with the local Montsant wine.

tower2

The humans there do lots of fun thinks like building towers…

dragon

dressing up as dragons…

drums

banging on drums and making lots of noise…

dance

and dancing in the street.

beach
DonQui rather liked the beaches. The Costa Daurada, or Gold Coast, stretches for 15kms to the north of Tarragona. The beaches are all soft golden sand and barely a Brit, German or Russian tourist in sight. DonQui tried out Platja del Miracle in Tarragona which was OK, the 3km long Platja Llarga which was great and the smaller Platja del Móra about 10kms out of town which was also great.

apt view

What was not so good?
Parking was impossible. Not that DonQui needed a car in Tarragona. However, it did make it easier to get to the out of town beaches. In most cases it would be better to take a train from Barcelona but be aware that the fast train from Barcelona stops at Tarragona Camp which is 20 minutes out of town. The stopping train goes into the town proper.

Useful links

The Tarragona blog

Tarragona beaches

Ale and Hops

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Ale

DonQui’s step quickened as he approached the shop in Tarragona. This is my sort of place, he thought.…an emporium dedicated to ale, hops and the joy of the fermented grain. Maybe it would be as good as the Adnams store in Southwold — one of his favourite shops anywhere.

Ale hop full

He couldn’t work out what the cow was doing in the entrance, nor why so many women seemed to be heading inside, leaving their men to wait impatiently on the street. In his experience men seemed to get much more excited about beer than women. Perhaps in Spain things were different.

Imagine DonQui’s huge disappointment when he went inside and there was not a single bottle of beer to be seen—just lots of girly Stuff and nothing of any use to DonQui at all.

dejected

Duchess was happy though. She bought Stuff while DonQui sat on a step opposite feeling more than a little dejected and wondering when beer time would come around again.

Arròs negre

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DonQui realises that he has not talked much about food yet. This is quite unusual as he has food thoughts most of the time.

One of his greatest joys when travelling comes from trying out new dishes and his stay in Tarragona was no different.

Duchess rather fancied a paella but the set menu at the inviting looking Cucafera Restaurant near the cathedral caught DonQui’s eye. For €15 he could have arròs negre – a paella-like dish of rice cooked with squid ink along with a starter and desert. With house wine at €9 a bottle it was too good to pass up.

cucafera starter

The mussels DonQui chose for his starter were amongst the best he had ever had. Their taste reminded him of the sea. Duchess, who had a mediterranean salad with tuna, found them a bit  too salty but she thoroughly enjoyed her salad.

black rice

This black rice looks… well rather black… and very shiny, DonQui thinks as he contemplates the dish in front of him. But when he tucked in he released that it was even better than meadow hay. Strips of squid were hidden amongst the rice, the dish had a deep rich flavour and the seafood was cooked perfectly. To DonQui’s mind it did not surpass the beautiful saffron taste of a good paella but he was very glad to have tried it.

cucafera wine 1

The house wine was a local Montsant – not a wine DonQui was familiar with. The grapes are grown just a little inland from Tarragona and this particular bottle was a full bodied mellow red which went very well with the arròs negre.

cucafera wine 2

It went down so well that by the end of a long leisurely lunch DonQui was left with the feeling that he should look for a nice shady tree to lie down under for an hour or two.

DonQui recommends

Cucafera Restaurant for a long leisurely lunch outside under an awning on Place Santiago Rusinyol in front of the cathedral.

Pulvinar, Carrer dels Ferrers, 20, 43003 Tarragona. Owned by the same people as Cucafera but equally as good. They also have pizza which DonQui did not try.

Human Towers

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Sometimes DonQui is quite puzzled by the things humans can get up to.

11 September is the Diada Nacional de Catalunya – the Catalonian National Day and DonQui finds himself in Tarragona where the humans like to climb on top of each other whenever they get the chance. He tries to imagine what a tower of Donkeys would look like but then realises that Donkeys would be far too sensible to do such a thing.

Human Tower

DonQui is quite envious of the man in the foreground’s straw hat and hopes he will get one soon.

The Train to Spain

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TGV train

The Duchess had booked first class which pleased DonQui very much as he quite likes a comfortable seat and would rather avoid being crowded by lots of humans.
The nice Man in Seat 61 had given DonQui lots of helpful advice on train travel in Europe. He had suggested it was possible to take the 9:17 Eurostar from London to Paris, arrive at 12:47, have a fine lunch at the Train Bleu Restaurant at the Gare de Lyon and then hop on the 14:07 TGV to arrive in Barcelona at 20:33.
This did cause DonQui to scratch his head. As much as he was looking forward to a fine French meal, managing such a thing in just over an hour would be tricky at the best of times. Add in the journey from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon and DonQui thought he would be lucky to get a croque-monsieur from a snack bar.
He was right.
With his innate sense of direction, DonQui successfully navigated his way across Paris: follow the signs for Metro/RER and look for the RER ligne D to Metun; buy a Metro ticket from the Green machines (not the SCNF ones) and use it to get through the barriers, retaining it to do the same on exit. DonQui felt rather pleased with himself that he was able to help out some rather lost and bewildered Australian tourists looking for a train to Zurich. “Follow me,” he said jauntily. And follow him they did.

Paris Metro
Although Gare de Lyon is only two stops away from Gare du Nord, the RER train runs only once every 15 minutes. DonQui felt his lovely French lunch slipping further away as he got to the platform just as a train was leaving. When he arrived at the Gare de Lyon the TGV to Barcelona began boarding and there wasn’t even time for a bag of oats.
A baguette with cheese and ham, washed down with a bottle of Côtes de Bourg from the bar on board may not have been lunch at the magnificent art nouveau Train Bleu Restaurant but it went a long way to restoring DonQui’s spirits. He sat back and watched the French countryside wizz by at nearly 300 km/hr while he thought important thoughts.

DonQui Recommends

The Man in Seat 61 for tons of helpful advice on train travel all over the world

Loco2.com for train times and reservations in English. Tickets cost the same as buying on the continent.

Travelling first class on the TGV as the cost is often not much more than the regular fare

Eurostar to Paris

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DonQui was glad to be travelling to Spain by train as he had been told it was far more comfortable and relaxing than flying.

Eurostar

After the chaotic, poorly organised check-in at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, DonQui began to have second thoughts. Perhaps it would have been better to have flown with Ryanair as they at least know how to herd animals properly.

Thankfully DonQui got to St Pancras early enough to enjoy a fabulous croissant and coffee at Le Pain Quotidien before braving the check-in queue. If he hadn’t had some sustenance before hand then Mr Grumpy would certainly have made an appearance. Check-in for the Eurostar closes 30 mins before departure and it takes at least that long to get through security, British and French border controls with a chaotic queuing system that has lines coming together from several directions.

After Eurostar check in

The whole process left DonQui feeling quite exhausted and wishing that he was lazing on a sunny beach wearing a straw hat.

IMG_4726 (2)

When he finally got on the Eurostar, DonQui slept most of the way to Paris.

DonQui Recommends

Get to the Eurostar terminal in plenty of time plan on it taking a good 30 minutes to get through check-in, security and border controls.

Across London

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So many people! Where are they all going? It’s exhausting!

IMG_4575

At least DonQui is crossing London by bus — better than the crowded Tube. It might take a bit longer but at least he can look out the window and see the city go by. If he is not sure which bus to take, the handy Citimapper App gives him all the options, shows him the nearest stop and tells him when the next bus is coming.

IMG_4603

Early next morning it is time to set off for Paris. When his is feeling flush, travelling with others or taking lots of baggage DonQui does like taking a black cab. There is lots of space for luggage, and the humans who drive them seem to know everything. They also know every road in London and where all the shortcuts are. DonQui hopes that satnavs and Uber will not seal their doom.

DonQui uses his Hailo App to call up a Black Cab any time or any place and takes credit cards as well.

DonQui Recommends:

Citimapper for getting around Town. He uses it to find the best routes around London but it is available for other cities too.

Hailo for calling a black cab in London

The Adventure Begins

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IMG_4572

DonQui  is off on his travels. He likes red because as everyone knows red things go faster. He is thinking of going to Spain as he thinks his ancestors came from there. But first he has to go to London. He has never been to London before. In fact he has never been to any big city. He wonders what it will be like.