Volcanic Ash Havoc

I was caught up in the volcanic ash madness having been abroad at the time. Holidays are interesting because I find no matter how good they are, after about a week or two you actually want to get back to your life no matter how crap that is. When you find yourself in the crisis of being stranded abroad with the possibility of that continuing for months... A desperation to get home takes over by hook or crook. This is my travel route home. From Tavira to Faro,Faro to Seville in Spain, Seville to Madrid, Madrid to Barcelona, Barcelona to Portbou, Portbou to Lagrasse in the south west of France, Lagrasse to Calais, Calais to Dover! I travelled by overnight coach, trains,car and ferry. It was exhausting, frustrating and frigthening but along the way I did see some gorgeous sights. I went body boarding(similar to surfing in the sense that you ride the wave but only lying flat on the board) at a beach in Tavira. Barcelona is a great city, artistic, vibrant and colourful. I only spent a night there but I visited Park Guell, a fantastic garden complex with incredible mosaic elements designed by Antoni Gaudi. Lagrasse is also wonderful. It has an Abbey, tiny medieval streets, vineyards, rivers to dip in for a swim, bridges that sprout out like limbs.One of my highlights was driving through this incredible road in Portbou. I have no idea what this road is called but the view was genuinely stunning. It felt like we were driving up a mountain, we were so high up this winding steep road! The sea shimmered silver and blue below catching the light so well it appeared to be glazed with sunlight. I kept thinking one wrong move, a swivel too far right and we would go tumbling down into the sea. And cyclists! Madness! Doing a marathon, flashing past us every other minute, as though they were blinks from the sky.