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First of all apologies to everyone for the multiple (6!) emails you received re the last blog update. Off Exploring has been having some "server issues" which results in notifications being sent more than once. Sorry about that, hopefully the problem has been solved!
Anyway back to the blog. Those of you who read the last one may have gathered that my mother-in-law Jo (Josephine) has been on holiday with us here in Spain.
We had a great time and we got on really well considering the confined space. I even felt sorry for Jo, having to sleep with Angela and putting up with her snoring and screaming nightmares! I will long remember Jo's first comment in the mornings "be quiet, my eyes aren't awake yet!"
Yours truly was relegated to the overhead cab area, a coffin accessed by ladder! If I turned on my right side at night I hit my head on the sloping ceiling, if I turned on my left side I hit my head on the floor, after a 5 ft fall!
We took Jo to a campsite at Mojacar, on the Costa Almeria, where she soon got in to the camping spirit (I tried locking it away but she found the bottles!) Sunny and warm in the day, the evening chill forced us inside and with 3 in the van it required a working knowledge of line dancing steps to ensure we didn't get in each other's way!
We joined Dad and Anne in Vera for 4 days over Christmas, and did our best to work through a mountain of beef, gammon and home made pork pies. The local crop spraying helicopter even put on an impromptu air show for us, flying so low it could have picked the lettuces as well!
The weather (the Costa Almeria is one of the warmest places in Europe in winter) was good enough to allow us to get out on Dad's boat for a trip along the coast, though no one volunteered for a swim!
From Vera we headed inland towards Granada, a beautiful drive with stunning views of the snow topped Sierra Nevada range to the south. On the way we encountered vaguely familiar desert scenery and various Wild West theme park studios. Dad (a walking Spanish tourist information office!) had already mentioned that some of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti (paella?) westerns were filmed here.
Our campsite near Granada was perfect for visiting the city, perfect for the views of the Sierras and perfect for Eskimos, the altitude of 1085 metres meant some very cold nights! Granada proved as interesting as the brochures describe it, one of the last strongholds of the Moors in Spain.
It is rightly famous for the Alhambra citadel and palace that is so popular you require advanced bookings and timed tickets. It proved a fascinating tour despite the post Christmas masses and those old favourites, screaming ankle-biters!
The bus ride down from the palace proved as exciting as any theme park ride, the minibuses are tall and narrow, which is a relief when you see the width of the streets they hurtle down!
Should you find yourself in Granada, the Bodegas Castaneda is a highly recommended tapas bar, standing room only, full of locals and very loud staff. Jo chatted up the barman and exchanged winks with the chef; the result was a big pile of complimentary tapas, which were excellent. Round the corner at Casa Julio Jo even got a complimentary plate of gambas (large prawns if you are British, medium prawns if you are American, tiny prawns if you are from Thailand!); we must take her with us to more tapas bars!
To let the wine and tapas settle a bit we explored a section of Granada's old Muslim quarter, the Albayzin, a warren of twisting, narrow streets. We took tea in a traditional teteria, cushioned, mirrored and brightly coloured (that was just us!) and heavy with the scent of herbs and hookah smoke. I half expected Sydney Greenstreet or Peter Lorre to appear from behind a curtain (ok so I am showing my age a bit here!) Our conclusion, Granada is very More-ish, (sorry!) we'll be back.
The layer of ice on the campsite pond one morning suggested it was time to retreat to lower levels (sea level!) to get warmer. Camping Don Cactus on the "Tropical" coast was the nearest campsite, a green lung in the sea of plastic greenhouses that line this coastline, producing the winter tomatoes and cucumbers for most of the rest of Europe. Not the most scenic place to see in the New Year, but at least it was warmer!
Our next stop was Spain's newest and possibly biggest, campsite, Marjal Costa Blanca near the city of Murcia. Compared to African (and most European) campsites this was like arriving at the Ritz, huge pitches (all 1400 of them), well designed ablutions with huge walk in showers and under floor heating, stainless steel fitments and even free WiFi!
Our final stop with Jo was another massive campsite, Caravanning La Manga, on the Mar Menor (little sea) near Cartagena. This is Europe's largest saltwater lake, never more than 7 metres deep and separated from the sea by a 22km strip of land known as La Manga (the sleeve). The US swimmer and actress Esther Williams (now I am certainly showing my age!) described it as the largest swimming pool in the world.
It is nearly a kilometre from the La Manga campsite entrance to the beachside restaurant at the other end so if you didn't fancy a beer when you set off, you certainly would by the time you got to the bar! The camp was full of "snowbirds"; retired northern Europeans (mainly British, German and Dutch) over wintering like the wetland birds for which the Mar Menor is now a Special Protected Area.
We did manage to spot a few flamingos near the saltpans but the main excitement for us (apart from Jo & Angela checking out the restaurant Karaoke night) was the resident population of Monk parakeets, escapees from private collections around Barcelona and apparently thriving on date palms.
Jo's view was that the parakeets could have walked off with the karaoke prize had they entered. If the karaoke was anything to go by then the upcoming "La Manga's Got Talent" show would no doubt fall foul of the Trade Description Act!
Before we realised it, Jo's holiday time was up and we were dropping her back at Murcia airport.
Thanks are in order. To Dad and Anne for laying on a lovely Christmas lunch, for taking us out on the boat, for picking up Jo from the airport and for buying new batteries for the van. To Jo for enjoying herself and accepting the mickey taking in good spirit, it was a hilarious 3 weeks, we enjoyed it.
- comments
Lee Grogan Cannot believe you know who Esther Williams is! Loved your descriptions of Granada. We were there 30 years ago. Yikes! No standing in line or timed tickets back there.... Off to CPT tomorrow! Will miss you in Kgalagadi...
Lyn Excellent blog as always Ralph! Sounds like you're having a fabulous time but not sure I'd manage the cold. Best Wishes to you and Angela for a fantastic 2012. When you gonna visit us in Cape Town again?
Ralph Hi Lyn Thanks for your comments. Best wishes to you and everyone in Cape Town for 2012. Would love to come back out but we are watching the pennies at the moment, maybe next year? Take care Ralph & Angela
Ralph Hi Lee Oh yes, sat through a few of those swimming musicals when I was a kid. Pleased you liked the Granada blog. Very busy at the Alhambra, our fault for going peak season after Christmas! We will go back again when it is quieter, didn't see half the place or much of the gardens. Hope you are enjoying KTP and spotting those leopards again! Take care Ralph & Angela