28/03/14 - 13/04/14 Austria-Italy-France-Andorra-Spain-Gibraltar

1                     The Long Drive for 2014 started from Raab Austria on the 28^th March. Salzburg, first stop and of course apple strudel and Austrian beer!

                          The Sound of Music country

                                      We were lucky with the weather with spring in the air and magnolias in full bloom

                          Near the end of the ski season and still good snow above Salzburg

                            From Innsbruck south to Italy and still skiing on the border

                               In the south of France, we stayed with Guillaume, Lana (past work colleagues) and little Eliana 

                                    South of France and the Rhone Valley are of course famous for their wines. More wine tasting.

                           Picturesque scenery all the way to the Spanish border, then….

                            ….we decided to go up into the Pyrenees that form the border between France and Spain…

1                     This was one of our memorable drives….

                    ….to the landlocked little country of Andorra which survives on tax free shopping along with….

                        …… snow skiing which provides 60% of its GDP

                   We like staying in “aires” which are free or a very cheap park for overnight motorhome stays. This one in Andorra we shared with around 20 other campers, included free wi-fi, water and toilet dump for free. It’s one way of attracting tourists to stay in the area

                                         After Andorra back down to Barcelona on the east coast of Spain and past the Montserrat mountains; a spectacular jagged mountain range

                 Barcelona with it history and architecture. The home of Gaudy, the 19^th century architect who left his distinctive style most notable of which was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Our thoughts were perhaps less complimentary of his work

1                     It looked more like an overgrown monster with things/figures stuck all over it

                       A home built motorhome by a Dutch couple. The first expandable sides, with a second story that we’ve seen!

1                     Spain is showing the strains of the GFC. Many tourist towns along the coast are all but totally deserted

                  Down the Spanish east coast through Valencia the home of the Valencia Orange. Orchards spread for over a hundred klms

                    Narrow streets are becoming common

Lunch stop on the Spanish cost at Alacant

We camped in an aires in the small village of Velez Rubio. Our park was next to their bullfight ring. Unfortunately the next fight was in a week so we kept going but will make it to an event later in May

                                First sign of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the south of Spain. The most southern ski fields for Europe

                            Gaining some travel tips for Morocco from French travellers.  Neither can understand a word but we learnt a lot

                 

                      The beginning of our visit to the British Territory of Gibraltar. 

                                     The British have held The Rock ever since 1700 and was an important control point for the entry to the Mediterranean given that the Straits of Gibraltar are only about 35klm wide

                           After entering and exiting Gibraltar we were ready to head for Tangiers and the boat to Morocco