Saturday, 15 October 2016

The Caravan Club Algarve/Andalucian Tour 2016 part 2

Ok so I'm somewhat behind on the blog..excuse me please far too busy having fun!
So we had a great time in Cadiz. We moved on to Bella Vista. A fairly new site near Manila.  The weather was still superb. We had a lovely welcome meal in the restaurant. The following day many if us went into Gibraltar fir a "little bit of the UK" I'm sorry but there is now a shortage of Cadbury wholenut " on the Rock.  I don't care what the Spanish say they simply can't make chocolate like Cadbury and no one makes a tea bag like Yorkshire Tea. I had to buy an Industrial pack!
We also visited Ronda which is just beautiful. Our Tour guide was excellent and took us to this really strange monastery where nuns live.  These people do not go out and you are not allowed to see them! They make biscuits and cakes that you can buy. The proceeds go to the poor in the community. So how do you buy the goods?......

You put your money on the turntable and hope to god that you get some made lens back! We did. 






O yes they also have a preserved and sacred hand of some poor martyr but this bit was lost on me!
We decided that after an eventful day there was only one thing to do....head to the bar...oh if we must.....Strictly Come Dancing....eat your heart out!

I think she's dancing anyway!



A great night. An afternoon spent by the pool and on the beach

Then I'm guilty of leading them astray. All this Spanish stuff is OK but I found a British fish and chip restaurant near the campsite. They didn't take much persuading!

We left Bella Vista and I gave fair warning that when we got to my friends Matildas campsite things were a lot more relaxed and   errr different but in a good way. We camped amongst the olive groves.  Matildas mum who I call "mi madre espanol" cooked for us all a perfect spanish meal. The following day we went to Cordoba. Matildas came with us and told us about general life in the area. We visited Seville and the local area with Matildas.  We had a ball. To see some of the local,  small bodegas in full swing was great and even better still to sample some. We visited Olive factories, churches and the Priests room in the bodega where we had tapas. OK so we maybe got Matildas mum cooking again and maybe just maybe we did some more dancing









All these bridges are a bit like Venice. They symbolise the union between Isabella and Fernando that created a unified Christian Spain.






Unfortunately when we visited Seville it was overcast but it really is my joint first favourite city along with Barcelona. You MUST go!


Seville is beautifully crazy. The old buildings, the horses and carriages and then modern trams, shops etc. All tastefully living together somehow! 
We were sorry to leave Matildas at La CampiƱa but onward we must go.....Las Lomas near Granada. We decided to visit the restaurant. We ate on the stunning terrace. The food matched the scenery....stunning! 



Totally love this place. We had a coach into Granada to explore the city at our leisure. Did I take a wrong turn?
No. The old Arabic Quarters!



The following day we went back for our Tour of the Alhambra. Now I know this place is world famous.  I have been many times before but I just feel it's somewhat disappointing compared to Cordoba and Seville. The whole place is so disorganised and such a Tourist rip off. There were no electronic headphones await aviable and no guides. It was suggested that I use my app on my smart phone. There was free wifi. I see why it was free..it was dire! No information points etc and still the bus loads of people queued to get in. Customer service? What's that?! I wanted to yell at the coach loads "go to seville or Cordoba! " Some of the views are amazing and the construction all that time ago.







O yes. I left one member of our group unsupervised. .....

You always get the one! Can you believe he walked around Granada like that?! No he's not a tourist MUCH! 
 The final day the weather  changed dramatically and for the first time in 5 months it RAINED!  Not only did it rain but in the morning there was snow on the top of the mountains! 
We had another great meal in Las Lomas restaurant and it was definately time to leave. The end of a fantastic Tour. We've seen cities, beaches, culture, rural life err a bit of everything. I'm not sure where all drinking fitted in or the dancing but we had a brilliant time. Shall we go round again? Oh go on then....2017! 
Thank for Touring with us. Safe and Happy Camping always!

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/overseas-holidays/european-tours/the-algarve-and-andalucia


http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/overseas-holidays/sites/spain/la-campina