Back in Spain; speaking Spanish and vermouth

It was great to cross the border into Spain and, for me, I was delighted to be able to start to communicate again…in a fashion. I was glad to remember the word for approximately (aproximadamente) when we crossed the border and I declared that we had approximately the correct amount of duty free in the car……….

We were heading to Valencia for another month at Spanish school and drove via Tarragona and Peniscola, both on the Mediterranean coast.

Tarragona is an ancient city with lots of Roman sites, impressive buildings from every other period after that and lots of modern stuff making it a very liveable city. We also discovered that there thing was cheap aperitifs in the early evening; two glasses of vermouth, olives and crisps for a few euros. It’s that kind of thing that can help us really warm to a country.

One of the attractions of Spain is just how inexpensive it is to live. We found that we could travel, eat and drink well and stay within budget. Everything seems to be about 1/3rd cheaper than France, and booze and food seems practically free.

Tarragona

Peniscola is a little more touristy and expensive, but is a beautiful small town on a rocky peninsula and worth a detour to. Bits of Game of Thrones were filmed here, as well as other films and it’s easy to see why; dramatic vistas, old streets, crashing sea. All very lovely. Like France though, much of it was closed; we think it opened in May, but we still got to sit in a café on the walls, overlooking the sea and watching the sun go down.

Peniscola