Zaragoza, Capital of Aragon

9am Sunday, Zaragoza

My feet are sore. It was my first sensation on waking up. Mind you, I spent yesterday walking for my country. Setting off at 7am, I transited the enormous Expo site at least three times and have probably seen more hidden corners of the city than most locals do in a lifetime.

The local tourist office provided me with the loveliest guide I have ever had in all my years of travelling. Arantxa is a highly intelligent 23 year old law student who speaks excellent English and French and who just loves her city, culture and region. The fact she could put up with me from 10am until almost midnight is also testament to her impressive staying power!

Zaragoza is delightful, with much superb architecture, nice walking streets, a plethora of excellent bars and restaurants and many wonderful green spaces.

Arantxa and I got into a fairly deep discussion about the veneration of inanimate objects. In the Basilica of Pilar, an impressive cathedral with a couple of domes decorated by local lad, Francisco Goya, there’s a column of stone on top of which stands a 36cm tall virgin. Folk kiss the base of this lump of rock. Pretty unhygienic, methinks. One chap pressed his lips against it three times, rather loudly. My little brain cannot comprehend how folk can get so carried away with such things.

But my thoroughly modern guide totally believes in it all. ‘The virgin guarded our cathedral during the Civil War. Surely it’s a miracle that three bombs came through the ceiling and failed to explode? I certainly couldn’t argue with the fact that two of the holes made by the bombs can still be clearly seen, while all three are proudly displayed on the cathedral wall.

A miracle? A large stroke of luck, at the very least.

Zaragoza is a place which appears to me to be something of a conundrum. It’s Spain’s fifth largest city, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Aragon, with great road and rail infrastructure to bring it, potentially, successful trading links with a huge portion of Europe. The folk are friendly and all the ingredients are there for it to be a really progressive and happening place. Yet, perhaps overshadowed by Barcelona and Madrid, the Aragonese seem almost too nice to want to get involved TOO much with the nasty world of marketing. Perhaps they have that inbred insularity so common in island races?

Don’t get me wrong, I thought Zaragoza was great and, for sure, I will return. It just seems odd to me that a place with such a huge tourism potential is not achieving much greater success on a wider stage. It deserves many more foreign visitors, for sure.

As for the Expo, the original reason for selecting the visit?

There’s certainly some impressive new architecture and they are putting on some pretty good shows. Having just missed Diana Kroll in Malaga, Arantxa and I joined a packed auditorium (picnicking on the concrete floor) to hear her sing. ‘You guys sure hang out late´, she said, not only half way through her set as the cloak ticked towards midnight.

While Expo made Seville, it’s certainly not going to make Zaragoza. They are falling woefully short of their projected 6.5 million visitor numbers. Half way through, they are still 4 million adrift of their target and their audience has been almost totally Spanish.

Now, in mid August, they have decided to pump 2 million Euros into attracting the rest of Europe. It’s much too little and much too late.

Their organisation is shambolic. In 30 years of journalism I have not come across such a poorly organised set up. Their left hands have been totally disconnected from their right since the very early days. My impression is that they have replied on high tech when a simpler solution would have worked. Nobody ever seems to be able to make decisions.

However, It’s true that Expo did actually open on time.

Now that IS a miracle.

I feel sorry that I can’t be more positive; I thought that Expo would be a really impressive milestone in my travels, to remember for years to come. After the event, heads are undoubtedly going to roll and fingers are invariably going to be pointed. Expo gave Zaragoza a once in a lifetime opportunity to attract the world to enjoy what is actually a really nice part of the world. Perhaps nobody is actually to blame.

Aggressive marketing cannot be done by just being nice.

In transit in Madrid

8pm Friday Madrid

I have just witnessed an extraordinary army of Spanish Railways personnel preparing a train for the next sector of its journey. In theory, the train from Malaga to Barcelona is a direct service; in practice, transit passengers stay on board while the yellow-clad army whizz through, leaving everything spotless for the next bit of the journey. That even means turning all the seats around to face the direction of travel – causing great confusion to an elderly Spanish gentleman and two German students who hadn’t a clue what was going on. Luckily I was able to translate and nobody ended up sitting the wrong way round.

Checking in for the train is just one reason why I favour rail travel. Your bags are scanned in the flash of an eye, check in is done politely and efficiently and the transit from platform to the smiling welcome of the hostess at the carriage door must take all of 2 minutes. How nice it is not to have the stress of a typical airport check in!

The journey to Madrid, at speeds of up to 300 Km´s an hour, just flashed by. The newest AVE (High speed train), has such good soundproofing, the journey is almost silent. Apart, that is, from chattering Spaniards. Boy, how they love to chat.

The standard of catering was disappointing. I later learn that the advertised dinner is to be served between Madrid and Zaragoza. For the two and a half hour journey to Madrid, RENFE managed only a pitifully tiny sandwich, a beer and a cup of coffee. Even the gin and tonic didn’t come round till late in the journey, which seemed a bit odd.

Now my almost private train is filling up with all sorts of new folk. It’s Friday evening, Madrid is heading for the seaside for the weekend and even First Class is packed.

The enormity of it sets in...

Thursday 31 July 10am

(Click on box above for map of route)

One of my colleagues at work heard me talking about my trip. I mentioned some of the places I was going; Paris, Warsaw, Prague, Berlin. But it was not until I produced the map of my journey that he could grasp the enormity of it. I must confess that, until I had plotted the actual route, neither had I!

The complexity of it means that, apart from slotting information into folders, I will not actually do the destination research until I am on the train heading towartds the city. Otherwise, to be honest, one city becomes like another. I have enough trouble trying to remember where I have been or what tram went where, without it all becoming jumbled up in my brain.

The downside of this approach is, of course, that I may well forget to take something. This evening, when the packing gets sorted, maybe I will begin to realise.......

Preparation

Wednesday July 30

For three months now, I have been preparing for the trip I have been planning to do for many years.

Pictured at Malaga Station before the trip


It's a rail journey round Europe.

On paper, it all sounds very easy, but it's been like a military operation trying to plan it.

But the last bits of information are here from the various tourist boards, almost all the train journeys have been booked and the Thomas Cook rail map and timetables already look very well thumbed indeed.

A day at work tomorrow, then the, as always, last minute panic to decide what will have to stay at home and what I will absolutely NEED on my travels.

A kettle, absolutely! A jacket, hopefully not. Passport.

Oh my god!