After we left Barcelona, we headed toward the Spanish city best known for two things: bull fighting and Ernest Hemingway. I wanted to stop in Zaragoza for a couple of hours but it took longer than expected to get there, so we just had time to walk Saucy in the park.
Parque José Antonio Labordeta – the perfect place to stretch our legs after a long car ride!For such a big city (almost 700K people), the park was empty. All the benches were painted with a different theme…this one was “Love.”Happy dog!
When Saucy was ready to go, we continued on to Pamplona. But G and I agreed that we would come back and see more of Zaragoza another time. The hotel we chose for the next two nights (Hotel Alma) was about six minutes outside of Pamplona, next to a river. It was very modern looking and we had a nice big suite to stretch out in. After our long drive, we were looking forward to massages and dinner in the acclaimed restaurant!
Can’t wait to check out the new digs!This works!
Pamplona is a lot bigger than I thought. We walked along the old city walls – some of the best-preserved in Europe – and over the drawbridge into the old town. Our path took us along part of the infamous trail: Camino de Santiago. We had lunch in front of the beautiful Baroque façade of the Town Hall. We had missed the Running of the Bulls by just over a week….but the streets were still full of people. G cracked me up when he pointed out that a lot of them looked injured (either on crutches, with canes or in wheelchairs), and said it must be a dangerous place to live. No doubt!
No one told me I would have to walk so much!Walking over the drawbridge.PamplonaThe trailHemingway was here.Cool street art!City HallWhat a view!Down we goIt’s a long way down!Where the bulls start their run
We had such great food while we were in Pamplona. Our first dinner was at Enokerri in the city (recommended by a friend), which was hailed as a place for foodies. My favorite things there were the “amuse bouche” (a cup of gazpacho, roasted beet chips and cod bread) and the lobster salad. The second dinner was at the Alma Hotel, whose restaurant has a Michelin star. I can’t say enough about the Alma restaurant….everything was delicious, even the house made bread which was as light as air.
Chef’s gift at Enokerri.Chef’s gift at Alma – corn chowder and jamon & queso finger sandwiches with truffle. Mmm good!
Up to now, every time we have traveled we have left Saucy with friends who have lots of animals. Although she is not the most social of dogs (we think that’s because she has Shiba Inu in her), she seems to enjoy her time there. But we always feel a little guilty because she is so attached to G. So we decided to take her on a road trip with us to get out of the oppressive summer heat on the island. Follow along on our adventure – all photos will be captioned by Saucy herself!
I was doing my daily rounds of the house and came upon this strange sight….I don’t feel good about this!Where are we going?!
The first leg was going to be the most challenging because Saucy hates water. We took her out on our boat once in Savannah and she threw up. But in order to start our road trip, we had to get from Mallorca to mainland Spain. So we drove up to Alcudia to catch the ferry over to Barcelona. For the entire car ride (over an hour) she was on high alert and wouldn’t lie down.
Once on the ferry, things didn’t go as planned. Although the ferry is pet friendly, dogs must either be in a cage, in the kennel, or in a pet friendly cabin. No problem, I thought, I’ll book us a nice suite. The ticket broker gladly took our money, but failed to advise us that the policy of the ferry is NO DOGS IN SUITES. G asked the guy at reception for a solution, and he suggested the kennel. No way, said G. So the guy gave him a key for a pet friendly cabin, since he said the broker was infamous for doing such things.
I wasn’t happy. The cabin was small and cramped for Saucy. So I went to see what I could do. We still had the key card for the suite, so I went to check it out. Unfortunately it didn’t work, and no one was at reception. I found a crew member who tried to help me, but he couldn’t get the card to work either. Now I was really determined to get in. He finally gave me a real key, and said to turn it in before I left the boat. I went into the suite and looked around, opened the curtains and admired the wide view of the Mediterranean Sea. I turned the AC down to cool the room off. Then I went up the spiral stairs to the top floor, where there was a sofa, desk and small refrigerator. This is more like it, I thought, and went to tell G.
Lots of space here for a dog!
Meanwhile, G had taken Saucy for a walk and she had been scared, so he was back in the cabin and relaxing on the bunk. He refused to take her into the suite because the guy had been so nice and given him the cabin free of charge. I wasn’t going to go enjoy it by myself (boo hoo) so I grudgingly lay down on my bunk and fell asleep.
We both slept for a few hours, and when we woke up we took Saucy out to get some fresh air. Once she was outside and saw that there were other dogs around, she was happy. She had been very suspicious up until then and finally seemed to realize we weren’t going to abandon her, and she relaxed and enjoyed the last hour or so of the ride.
This isn’t so bad after all!
We disembarked (woof!) at the Port of Barcelona, and after taking a wrong turn (which fortunately allowed me to snap photos of the port and the ferry) we made our way to our hotel for the night. G was initially skeptical about the part of town I had chosen, but you don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to pet friendly hotels! The garage was basically a huge empty space with hand-written numbers. But the hotel itself was adorable. There was a dog bed in our room waiting for Saucy, and the rooftop bar was wonderful, with great food and drinks!
Back in the car on dry land!Glad to see this in the rear view mirror!This is the parking garage?Me in front of our hotel, Villa Emilia.Sweet room!
We went for a long walk around the neighborhood and to a nearby park. All in all, it was a fantastic start to our road trip. Stay tuned for the next leg – Zaragoza and Pamplona.
What the Focus 