A week in Alicante

Saturday 16^th to 23^rd February A week in Alicante

Due to the kindness of Mike’s neighbours we were able to invite Millie out for half term, brought out by Louise and Chris.  It is not possible to describe how excited we were to see them as we met them at the airport on the evening of the 16^th.  After lots of hugs we loaded everyone up in the van and set off for Oleander – the villa lent to us by Beryl and Jeff.  The villa was great for us all as it had three bedrooms with the upstairs one being accessed from outside steps.  This meant that Chris and Lou had a little more privacy.  There was a lovely patio area where we spent a lot of time reading or listening to music and a shared swimming pool, which we admired but did not enter.  Another couple of months of sunshine and I am sure it would be great.

We had a very relaxing week and did not move from the Villa apart from to go to a couple of local beaches to play games; the sea being too cold to enter although we did contemplate it. The weather was kind to us and most days it was sunny and about 20-22C although there was often a chilly breeze.   

On the first day of their visit we travelled a short way down the coast to the far side of Guardamar del Segura.  We had been advised of a large market here and it was.  There were cars queuing all along the road to enter and the large car park was very full but we managed to find a place for the van.  The market was varied, with many stalls selling cheap clothes, handbags and other leather goods and various other bits and pieces but there was  also a large produce section.  Here Lou and Chris bought a large bag of strawberries and I bought a whole load of veg for 2 euros (enough for the week) and some bread. I also bought more oranges as I thought it would be nice to make some Sangria whilst Chris and Lou were with us.  It would be a change from the fresh lemon squash I had also made.

Tuesday it rained and Mike wanted to sort out the van which had developed a noise from what we thought was in the rear suspension. It had been getting worse so needed looking at.  We had our Fiat dealership book but addresses and phone numbers were out of date. A couple of times we drove somewhere to find the garage no longer existed and even seeking the help of someone from the tourist information got us nowhere.  After clocking up quite a few kilometres and a great deal of frustration we found a dealership in Alicante but they were closed for lunch. (Spanish siesta time can be very inconvenient).  We sat our guests in the van to watch James and the Giant Peach (one of the few DVDs we had with us) and waited for the place to reopen. I tried to cobble together some Spanish phrases to describe our problem as the garage had told us there was no one who could speak English. However, there was a successful end to our frustrating day as the garage reopened, agreed to check the problem immediately and then resolved it by fitting some new bushes and filling some joints with a lot of grease.  It cost 49 Euros. To make up for the lack of entertainment during the day we decided to go to a Bodega in La Marina.  This was a very Spanish bar (genuine Spanish and not full of tourists) .  The wine was all stored in barrels on the back wall and you were given a glass to fill directly from the barrel. It was up to you to count how many you had.  This bar also had a very good tapas selection .  We chose 10 or so dishes including paella, rabbit, chicken, aubergine, artichoke, mussels, potatoes and chorizo, tortilla and meatballs.  It was excellent and to cap off the evening we filled a large water container with our favourite wine to take home.

Wednesday and Thursday were similar days in that in the mornings we read in the sunshine.  I read three Chris Stewart books during the week: Driving over Lemons is perhaps the most famous of them. These books are all written about Chris’s life in Alpujarras so it was really interesting to read them having visited this area only a few days ago.  I could relate so much more to them knowing what the scenery and conditions were like.  They were very easy to read and quite amusing in parts but I still think he chose quite a difficult lifestyle for himself and family.

After lunch we then headed off to play games with Millie on the beach. We played boules, French cricket and other ball games and then came back had supper and played card games in the evening.  Millie can be rather demanding on the games front but we all enjoyed them.  As Thursday was their last evening we walked round to a local bar which was a Germanic style.  Lou and I had a dark wheat beer, whilst the men had a Bavarian brew and Millie had coke.  It was rather odd being in a German bar is Spain but we had a good time and so did Mille because we played Zilch here!

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye on Friday morning and Mike was especially sad to have to say goodbye to Millie.  We had all had such a lovely time together and it was going to be some months before we saw each other again. Thank you again Beryl and Jeff for letting this happen.

Southern Spain

Monday 11th February.

Into the Alpujarras.  

What a good day to chose to work at the campsite. It was very windy with the occasional shower. Mike went off on the bike to do the shopping, then cleaned the bikes while I got my student's project marked. We ended being at the campsite until 5.00pm. We headed for Orgive which is near the Rio Guadolpeo in the Alpujarras. It was another pretty drive and we reached this small town as the sun was going down. We had found a parking spot from a Spanish website. It was no more than a car park and we were the only Motorhome. But we were not disturbed other than by the wind, rain and the fast flowing river next to the car park. 

Tuesday 12th February.

Orgive to Almerimar. This morning we were up early, 7am, so that we could leave our overnight stop promptly - not wishing to upset and locals who wanted their day time parking space back.

Unbelievably the wind had died down completely and it was another sunny day. We set of looking for a breakfast stop which we found in the mountains just before Cadin. The wild weather of the previous night had deposited snow on the higher ground softening the quite harsh landscape. We spent the morning touring through the Alpujarras dodging the frequent "road slips" where the rocks had fallen from the mountains onto the roads.We feared f or the houses built up high into the mountains. By lunchtime we had dropped down to the coast. It was quite a shock to see everywhere covered in polythene sheeting. We deduced that it was mainly to protect the tomato crop from frost but later saw orangetrees under cover too. But what a mess it all looked, for miles and miles. We arrived early evening at Almerimar where we paid the Harbour Master 7,95 euros to stay the night on the key side. It was a lovely spot with the marina one side with the yachts on front of us and the beach and sea on the other. It had warmed up nicely so we got the bikes out and cycled along the esplanade into a nature reserve. I even had a short paddle but the sea was still very cold.

Back at the van we got our books and chairs out and read for about two hours on the sunshine. In the evening we went or a walk around the marina and dreamed about having a boat.

 

Wednesday 13th February.

Another lovely sunny day. I went for a walk first thing and then Mike and I set about cleaning the van inside and out. The good weather helped as it meant I could get the carpets out and scrub them.

 We had lunch outside and then went for a long cycle westward along the sea front. We saw lots of motor homes parked in unauthorised places. Up to 20 of them in some areas. But no one seemed to mind. None of the spots were as nice as ours in the marina. So we paid a further 7.95 euros and stayed another night. In the evening we joined the Danish couple from the van next to ours and watched Man United v Real Madrid in the local tapas bar.

Valentine's day in Spain

Thursday 14th February. A travelling day.

Time to move on again. Yesterday Mike noticed a large nail in the tyre so with the help and directions from the harbour master we set of to a tyre place to have the nail removed and the tyre plugged. Mike was also keen to travel through the area where the Clint Eastwood and all the Spaghetti Westerns were filmed. So we headed northwards to Tabernas and Sorbas. The landscape was very barren and tough looking. At Tabernas they still have one of the film sets complete that you can visit.

From there we dropped back down to the coast to Carboneras where we stopped and had our Valentines Lunch at a beachside restaurant. It was sunny and just warm enough to sit outside. Offshore we could see the gannets diving for fish. We both ordered the menu of the day which was a 3 course meal. Mike had a chicken dish with pino (tiny pasta pieces) and I had tuna salad. This was followed by a fried fish dish each then fresh pineapple. Mike opted for a coffee instead. A glass of wine was also included in the 10 euro price.

We dragged ourselves away and we still had a lot of driving to do. We continued up the coast towards Mojacar again with steep climbs and stunning views. 

Then we headed inland to Lorca and then onto Murcia. It took us a while to find our final stop which was in the middle of a lemon tree plantation. But with our sat nav taking us down impassable roads and roads closed due to construction work we arrived in the dark only to find the site closed. Not to be put off we opened the gates, found a spot and parked, as planned for the night. First thing in the morning Mike went to find the owners and paid the overnight fee.

Friday 15th February

 

I got up early and went for a walk into the village. There was supposed to be a market that morning but I was unable to find it. However it was a very pleasant walk through the lemon groves. Back to the van and I did some work on the Internet. Mike was experiencing problems with the electrical supply to the van and with the help of the owner managed to sort out the problem ( my computer). Mike later came back with a large net of lemons given to him by the owner. We left the site shortly after midday and arrived at Beryl and Jeff's villa near Alicante about two hours later. Having located the villa we went down to the beach to stretch our legs, check out the restaurant and visit the local supermarket for our weeks shopping ready for when the kids arrived. We slept in the van outside the villa that night and moved in the following morning.   

Granada

Saturday 9th February,

Our main purpose of the day was to visit The Alhambra in Granada. We were advised by the guide books that you must book as there are a limited number of tickets issued each day and the Palace was one of Spain's top tourist attractions. It was another beautiful sunny day. We as always, took the scenic route, from Cabra through Lucena and Iznajar. The area was hilly, full of olive groves and with grey rocks but Iznajar was stunning with a beautiful reservoir. We stopped for a coffee and phoned our respective mothers; we had now formed a habit of phoning each Saturday morning and then we ventured our way onto Granada. While Mike parked the van I went up to the ticket office and find out that there were 450 tickets left for the afternoon session which was only two hours away. I queued up and despite the sun froze waiting for the queue to diminish. Nearly an hour later we had our tickets and still 30 minutes to wait we ate some fruit, crisps and the all famous Spanish "Creme Caramel" -  all Mike could find in the van, to keep us going. We were let in at 2.00 pm although we could not get into the Palace Nazaries until 3.00pm. So we first explored the Garden of Generallife.

  

This was beautiful and enchanting.

 The summer gardens of the Sultans, where there were many shaded patios all connected with running water and fountains. From there we walked to the Alcazab which is the main fortress. Mike moved a barrier so I could take a photo of the mountains. With the barrier removed other visitors to the palace followed us and thus we created an unauthorised part of the Alhambra tour (oops!). At 3.30pm we queued again to gain entrance to the Palace Nazaries. This was as good as we had both anticipated. Regrettably there were many people viewing at the same time but the place was absolutely stunning. Full of detail and history. You could feel what life was like for the Sultans and their families. We were both very cold by the time we finished our visits so we headed back to the van for tea and toast with honey. We then deliberated what to do next, as we had gained a day.  Finally we agreed to boldly go into the Sierra Nevada, into the snow with the van, a climb of 3,500 meters to the top.   

  

We had been admiring the mountains all day and we knew there was an Aire up there. There was only one road up and one road down and it was very treacherous with sheer drops and no barriers in many places added to the fact Mike was driving a right hand drive vehicle which caused its own judgement difficulties when we were so close to the cliff edge. Fortunately we managed to reach the top and just find a space to park up the van. It was quite surreal with the snow many feet higher than we were all around but the views were well worth it especially when the sky turned pink as the sun set. We settled down to what was a very cold -3 night. It was still freezing when we got up.  Jacqui went to explore this small ski resort while Mike prepared the van for the dwonhill journey.  it was a beautiful day and already people were to the lifts with their skis and many cars were beginning to arrive.  The place was slowly coming alive with the passionate skiing fraternity.  it was only a small ski resort but there were many small apartments.  The air was cold, fresh and crisp.  There is nothing like it.  Our plan for the day was to head down the mountain safely back to the coast.  we stopped on route to access wifi and identify some camping spotsand to skype Millie but it was a poor signal.  We filled up with gas and Jacqui took a turn driving and we set of for Aluminicar on another scenic route which took us to the western end of the Sierra Nevada. I dont think Mike realised  how precarious the drive was going to be when he asked if I wanted to drive.  i was stuck in 2nd gear limited to 30kph for about 40K.  The scenery was dramatic with huge gorges out of limestone. I really had to concentrate quite hard.  We arrived at a non descript campsite but we needed to book in as Jacqui needed decent wifi to work.