Spain - on the road again

At some point during 2009 while over here we latched on to a TV series imported from the US called "Spain - on the road again" about an american chef and his journalist mate who travelled round Spain in a convertible sampling the best food that they could find in the company of a stunning model from Barcelona and Gwynneth Paltrow.  The series gave us the inspiration to explore the country while we are living here and we are planning a few road trips of our own to fit between the international travelling.

First up, as a taster, was a day trip to Sagunto just north of Valencia which has an ancient hill-top castle, a restored roman theatre and a fascinating old Jewish quarter (no sign of the jews of course as they went out with the Spanish Inquisition a few centuries ago). 

Sagunto's castle and roman theatre

Sagunto's history and the remnants of its temple to the Greek goddess Diana go back to well before the siege by Hanibal in 218 BC which triggered his war with Rome.  The subsequent Roman era was followed by control by various islamic Moorish groups prior to the Christian reconquest in the 13th century AD.  The influences of the greeks, phoencians, carthaginians, romans, moors, christians blended with the original iberian tribes have blended to form the culture and language that we know today.

Our road trips won't be featuring famous film stars but as you can see above we have our share of glamour! We are looking forward over the next few months to getting around some of the major cities and exploring the back roads of this fascinating country that we have come to love.