2 April
We had a free day so decided to venture to nearby
Almeria. The guidebook mentioned The
Alcazabar which it said would once have been a rival to the Alhambra but all
that reminded were the walls. We thought
we would take a look and were very pleasantly surprised. Inside many of the original buildings were
ruins but you could see what they were and the rest had been very nicely
landscaped into gardens of Moorish style.
We also went to the Cathedral which was not so interesting!!
In the afternoon Denise and Bob, one of the couples on the
tour, invited us to a paella party.
Barbara had made a lovely Asian salad that we had for starters, followed
by an excellent paella, then Mary had made a fruit salad and we contributed
some cake to have with coffee. The sun
shone, the wine flowed and an excellent afternoon was had by all.
3 April
Moved to site about 12 km from Marbella. There was quite a scramble to leave the site
which we had not experienced as we missed the other moves. Quite an interesting drive along the coast
road with nowhere suitable to stop with a caravan for a coffee –
disaster!! Arrived at the same time as
most of the rest of the group in the pouring rain, so pitching was chaotic and
wet . However we met later for a drink
and felt better about things.
4 April
Rained most of the day.
Only ventured to supermarket and had a walk down to the beach in a brief
dry spell.
5 April
We had a coach tour to Granada today. We visited The Alhambra late morning. We had some rain, but not enough to spoil our
enjoyment of the place. The gardens were
beautiful and the views from the gardens around Granada were lovely. Nothing prepared us for the splendour of the
inside of the palace. The ceramic
tiling and stucco work was impressive – you can’t begin to imagine what it was
like when all the original colour was intact.
A place not to be missed.
In the afternoon we were due to go on a walking tour of the
town but the heavens opened as we set off – Barcelona all over again – so we
abandoned that and had a coffee.
6 April
Some of the group opted to drive up to Ronda in the
mountains. It was just over 40 miles
but took a while as it was mostly along a winding road. The sky was blue and it was crystal clear,
but cold. It was 2 degrees when we
arrived in Ronda. The town is built on
either side of a very deep river gorge spanned by a magnificent bridge.
We spent a number of happy hours wandering
the narrow streets admiring the buildings, pretty squares with orange trees and
the views of the plateau all around the town.
We sat in a café in one square for lunch in the sun.
A marathon appeared to be taking place in
the area and we watched many runners and cyclists, all covered in mud, reach
the finish line.
7 April
Today we had a trip to Tangier. We took the ferry from Tarifa and the
crossing was about an hour. It was
experience but not one Sarah wishes to repeat.
We had a guide who took us to a bit of waste ground with some camels on
it for riding, then to see a snake charmer – no charming involved. He just got them out of a box so you could
have your photo taken with them.
He then
walked us through the streets of the medina where were chased and hassled
constantly to buy tat. At times we were
just surrounded. After lunch we were
taken to a rug shop and a spice shop!!!!
Sarah was not impressed and was heard to remark when the guide left us
for 15 mins to browse the shops “if you leave me here for 15 mins I will have a
panic attack”. We all retreated to the
relative safety of a café.
8 April
Today was the last day of the tour and was warm and sunny so
most people just made the most of it. In
the evening we had a farewell meal in the site restaurant which was good. The food was excellent and once again the
wine flowed as people reminisced. It
seemed strange saying goodbye.
9 April
Got up to wave everyone off this morning. People were going in many different
directions to find their way home. Only
us and one other couple still here.
Very quiet now!!! We then had a
ride into Marbella. We had a walk along
the sea front and then up into the old town which was very pretty. Lunched on tapas in a narrow street, wandered
a bit further and are now back at the site, hoping for a BBQ this evening.
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