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A trip to Almeria with my folks.
So picking them up from Alicante airport, with the thanks of Javi and his car we hit the road, heading south to a little place called Vera. It´s a golfing town with nothing much there apart from the course and the nudist beach. But off we went because my dad had work there for a couple of days. Stopping at a service station along the way and guess what, much to my mum´s surprise, they spoke Spanish. Now would you believe it, a restaurant in Spain where people speak Spanish, whatever next.
The first day was spent traveling, and without too many mishaps, only not being able to find the apartments because they are new and not on the trusty mercedes´ hard drive. Off to a lovely Argentinian restaurant that night to fuel us for the next day. One of the few days my dad would have to sightsee so the four of us went to Garrucha, a neighbouring town with a promonade full of restaurants and the "fantastic" smell of sea food that fills your nostrils as soon as you are outside. Apart from the food, there wasn´t much else, so heading further south we stopped at Mojacar, definetly worth the visit. Situated in the mountain, away from the beach, a totally white village used as a defense against invaders in a different lifetime. With spectacular views from many different view points, the Santa Maria Church and the Jewish quarter, we saw it all. As well as all this, the Door to the City, which we spent a fair while trying to find, which is pretty much smack bang in the centre of the city - so not entirely sure how it fulfils its name, but oh well.
Heading further south we went on the quest to find the national park. Now I think I was naive, for me it was going to be green and with trees, but aparently not! Unless you know where you are going, or you have a need to drive through it, I wouldn´t really recommend this extra journey to anyone. We did find nice coves in Los Negros, but nothing like what I expected.
Although we were in the provence of Almeria, we were actually a good hour away from the City, but the next day, we decided to venture down without my dad to visit the Alcazaba. This to our astonishment was free, so we spent the best part of the morning wandering around the ancient city within the city. Next stop - lunch, in a typical tapas bar, where with every beer or tinto de verano you bought came with a free tapa. Working our way through I believe everything the bar had to offer, we napped on park beaches waiting for the Cathedral to open. This unlike the Alcazaba is not free, but worth the three euros to enter. Quick stop at the bull fighting ring before starting the journey north. FISH AND CHIPS was on the menu at the restaurant where my dad was working, and as a Spaniard, it was the highlight of Javi´s day, although not as nice as the ones he ate whilst in Scotland I have been informed.
Javi suggested visiting some caves the following day and one gets an image of what you might expect. My mum and I had that image, entering massive caves and a leisurely stroll through them. Wearing flipflops and my mum a dress we set off to visit the caves. Oh how wrong we were! We were going CAVING, not the same thing, upon arrival we kitted ourselves out in hard hats and lights, as well as the newly purchased socks and hired boots, man we looked sexy lol. It was worth it, crawling through the tight spaces, looking at the stalagmites and stalactites in our sexy hired gear, defintely a sight. At one point, when all the lights were off, we sat in the pitch, and I mean pitch black listening to the guide ramble on about the animals, which I didn´t really follow since it was in Spanish.
My parents had never been to Spain before as they were put off by the idea of Benidorm, high rised buildings, English pubs and restaurants no different from home. Javi´s mission on the trip was to ensure my parents, especially my mum, saw the real Spain. So after "visiting the caves" or to you or me "caving" we stopped at a run down house, which turned out to be so much more. Deceiving from the outside, it held wonders my mouth had never tasted before. If I could remember the name of the restaurant, or where the hell we were I would recommend it to anyone, anyone who wishes to taste the real Spain. Fresh food, as it had been killed on the premises, enough food to feed a small army, tinto de verano to knock your socks off (according to my mum) all for a very low price.
Sunday, the day of rest and Javi and I went in search of a nice little cove to park our butts in, we didn´t find one that we liked but the trip along the coast was breath taking. At night, since my dad had finish for good, with as I can gather no intent of every repeating the experience we headed out for dinner, the four of us. A restaurant on the beach for fresh fish and shellfish which was nice but dead expensive, and i think the most expensive meal I´ve ever had in Spain.
GRANADA the best day by far in my opinion on my holiday. Leaving early for the 2 and half hour drive to the city, we were going for the reason most people go, for the Alhambra. Having bought the tickets in advance and with a specific time you can enter, we had the morning to roam the streets and see the other things the city has to offer. We went to the cathedral, a spectular structure and although the signs clearly say no photos, everyone was doing it. You do need to be quite though, or the mean looking guard will tell you off, as he did to Javi and my mum, who for some unknown reason were laughing loudly.
The Alhambra was amazing, the gardens were beautiful and well maintained. The castle ruins in Almeria were nothing in comparison to this. The only problem, was with our tickets, since there are so many different types of tickets, all different prices, I had been confused and I purchased the wrong ones, meaning we didn´t get to enter the palace, but everything else. This didn´t seem to bother anyone since not only did you have to be there at a specific time, there was a massive queue in the scorching heat. However word of advice, be aware of what ticket you have, and you MUST purchase them in advance or you won´t get in. A couple of free bottles of wine from the restaurant where we had dinner finished of a lovely day, and the end of the week in that province.
The following day, Campello for a typical paella whilst sitting with views of the beach before we took my parents back to the airport. I´m sure they saw the real Spain.
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