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 Campiña 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

Love Portugal but what a rip off!

Well we are safely on a lovely site,  Turiscampo on the Algarve. I do like it here and the weather is being very kind to us. The day before we left Sao Pedro de Moel and all our "umpah mates" we decided to have an afternoon by the sea

The irony was that they even put a red flag up but you can't see it!  No sh#t sherlock!  Hey Ho back to the ranch for a bit more oompah mic courtesy of my Belgium friends! What's even more annoying is that you can't understand a word of their language! The following day we decided to go for it and head for the Algarve. We had been class 1 all the way on tolls but what a shock we got at the lat two booths. We got on one at Lisbon which in fairness we were on for quite a few miles "46 euros please!" What? " I don't want to buy the road!" Suddenly our rig had changed from being a class 1 to a class 3 the same as a lorry! OK now this is the same car, the same caravan that I started this journey on! I showed him my other 3 receipts all clearly showing class 1. The booth operator was having none of it. They don't take debit cards! Credit card or cash only. We have a wad of credit cards but never use them and don't know the chuffing pin numbers in any event. We rummaged, it was a bottom of the handbag hobby and managed to cobble together 50 euros.  The journey continued and the next toll we were class 3! We arrived in the Algarve peniless! Now this gets even dafter when you get to the A22 that runs the entire length of the Algarve. Here you have to register your debit card with your car registration number which we did.  Automatic cameras debit your debit card. Great but I haven't got the foggiest idea at what rate they are charging me and believe me there is a huge difference in pricing.  I'm leaving home when the bill comes in..oh sh#t I already have done!
Well Turiscampo was lovely when we got here.  The restaurant is incredible.  We were going to treat ourselves but the buffet was so good for 12 euros we couldn't resist.  I have to say one of the best meals that I have had anywhere. The long drive was almost worth it!  Although it's mid September the campsite is still full and I can see why. Agnes the owner really seems to know what campers want.  Not only were we lucky to get on the campsite but it was the same story in the restaurant.  Booking highly recommended!  An awful lot of campsites could learn a lot from this one.

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Even the bar prices are reasonable.  I love the way the pool is the feature around the camping units. Who put those drinks there?! 

Pria de Luz. Now that place really is for the fur coat and no knicker brigade 

I don't know if you can see but the sign says recliners and parasol 25 euros to hire!  What? To lay on a chuffing beach! The Algarve has miles of free beaches! Oh you get bar service and wifi. .I want the entire bar included for that price!  

Famous little church for all the wrong reasons. ...poor Madalene

It's still enjoyable to walk around and watch life though but I don't recommend eating or shopping here! 

Yesterday I had to do a little work and prepare for the Tour that starts on the 18th. Its such a mucky job. ..I had to pay Sir Cliffs vineyard for our forthcoming visit.  Not only did that involve 2 things very close to my heart wine, and Cliff  but it's right behind the Algarve shopping centre! Heaven or what?! Unfortunately the man himself was being a little shy and wasn't there apparantly but his staff were absolutely lovely....maybe he will be there for the Tour? I can dream!  

This has to be the best fountain ever! Unfortunately it is only water and no I didn't try it. I maybe did try a little wine but that's all I'm admitting to! 

On a previous post I mentioned that I now had wifi sorted out in Portugal well I went a step further yesterday which maybe of interest to fellow wanderers. I bought a Google Chrome cast. 39 euros and wow! I can broadcast everything from my tablet including TV on to my real TV screen! Amazing technology. It was a bit fiddly to set up but we'll worth it well nearly. I had previously downloaded the new "Dad's army" film to watch. We settled down with great excitement to watch it.....Bridlington looked great but what a load of. ....?! Don't bother!  The BBC news was more exciting!  It's great to use switching between movies and tv etc once it's all set up. No buffering and no stoppages whatsoever. You wouldn't know that I wasn't in the UK. I'm just hoping it works as well in spain.

Well my lovely friends the sun is shining and there's a lovely day out there to be enjoyed.  I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be. Happy and safe camping!  https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.turiscampo.com/&ved=0ahUKEwiB6IXl8JDPAhWF6RQKHUDCD-sQFgipATAU&usg=AFQjCNGv8PIzJz2VeO7UGjwVFnhiDc17Tw