I flew from Manchester (no problems despite all the adverse publicity, Jet2 very efficient and through security in 40 minutes) with 8 others and on arrival at Barcelona we hung around for 15/20 minutes until an out of breath agent arrived, she had gone to the wrong terminal, we then had to walk the length of the airport to our transport, wouldn't it have been easier to get the minibus to us? On asking how long the transfer would be were told 40 minutes, turned out to be more like 1 hour 40 minutes, some people were obviously crossing their legs before we got there and it did not help the driver did not speak English. However that's the worst part of the holiday over and things only got better.

Hotels.

The Hotel Cramprodon was built in 1914 and has been a family run hotel ever since. You can not help but be pleased with what you see, very little appears to have changed except the rooms have been updated with modern walk in showers etc., All rooms have a balcony either at the rear overlooking the river and gardens with great views and at the front over the square. The food was excellent the Manager (the owners son) friendly and helpful and all the staff very pleasant. Drinks were of a modest price. You will not regret staying in this hotel.

The hotel we stayed at in Roses was a Prestige Hotel Victoria not the Prestige hotel mentioned in the brochure. It was a typical Costa Brava type hotel, modern, busy, noisy but I had no complaints.  However it is further from the centre which involves a 40 minute walk, 15 euro taxi ride or a bus that only runs every 2 hours in the morning.

Excursions.

Besalu & Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. Interesting medieval town but difficult to find anywhere to eat at lunchtime, plenty of bars open but no food, perhaps it was too early in the season. Don't expect a Mount Etna at the Volcanic Park.

Rack Railway to the Sanctuary of Nuria. There are spectacular views on the way and once you get there with pleasant walks or a trip in a cable car. This was a very good trip.

The Red Train. This was a long day and in many ways disappointing through no fault of JY. Line repairs should have been completed by the end of March but were still ongoing and hopefully will be completed by mid June.

This resulted in considerable extra time on the coach and consequently less time on the train, a pleasant ride but nothing special. However there was only one very small cafe in the village so we ended up travelling to Perpignan to find somewhere to have our late lunch. Consequently everyone voted to miss La Jonquera purportedly a large shopping mall but apparently more like a truck stop.

Castellfollit de la Roca. The local guide recommended we did not go to the advertised Roman Road because she thought you might need ropes and belays as well as walking boots. A pleasant short walk was taken to see a different section. The Castellfollit was worth putting in the programme. We stopped for lunch in Figueres the birthplace of Dali and there was time to visit the Dali museum if you so wished. The visit to Perelada Castle was interesting and not too long, you start in the library which has over 100,000 books.

Trenet de Cadaques. Although a road train I thought this was one of the highlights of the trip. Spectacular cliff views although it might be wise to bring a cushion as the seats are metal and parts of the track bumpy.

A very enjoyable holiday but it would not be fitting to end without mentioning the excellent guide in Camprodon Beth whose English was impeccable

and Ian MacDonald our TM helpful, cheerful and a fountain of knowledge even the pick up coach taking us to the airport being half an hour late did not seem phase him. Thank you Ian.

Roger.

PS I'll answer any questions if I can.