SEPTEMBER 29TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

SEPTEMBER 29^TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

Saturday appeared to still be slightly overcast with low streaming clouds of moisture flowing inland from the med. It’s travel day again, moving from the coast inland up past Seville to Merida for a couple of nights (Sat/Sun). Down for breakfast toast, coffee etc and asked the girl if we could have a tour of the house and grounds. Right after breakfast finishes at 1030 the lady of the house will give us and a British couple9Tim and Julia) a tour. Problems with the credit card machine which does not like our American card without the embedded PIN chip, so we will need to hit an ATM in order to settle up our hotel bill. At 1030 we were summoned to the front living room door of the Duchess house and the tour begins. The house and grounds date back to the 1200’s. No photos please the light will harm some of the old artifacts. A Palace, a church and who knows what else?  The Palace is filled with ancient furniture (from 15^th century) religious artifacts (from when it was a church) and the Duchess’ books from when she was a child. A lot to take in and remember but it was a privilege to be given a private tour. Everyone who works here is so proud of the building and its history. There are photos  and paintings by Murrillo and Goya ,it is a virtual treasure trove! Look, don’t touch; don’t walk in, just marvel!  I do worry that the paintings need cleaning and restoring and that the documents are in a climate controlled environment! Like I know anything about it! Just passing thoughts.

We had a coffee in the lounge before we left, said goodbye to all the staff (now our new best friends) and hit the road. It was a long drive and the weather was quite iffy. Patches of rain and scudding clouds, but we listened to our book “The Girl Who kicked the Hornets’ Nest” and the kilometers just melted away. We only stopped once for a potty break and reached Merida at about 3.45 just as the weather was clearing up quite nicely.

This is a nice Parador, remember Cheryl? You spent a sick day here! We headed out immediately for lunch and a bit of a wander about. We followed our footsteps from two years ago went into the town center for a quick bite to eat as it was very late for lunch. Back to the hotel for siesta and to hear the roar of Harley Davidsons pull into the parking area. Five  chaps in leathers arrived for an overnight at the Parador. We saw the same guys in town later that evening as they were at the same restaurant that we ambled into. Found out that the guys were from Netherlands and spoke great English but little Spanish and so we translated and helped them to order their meals as they wanted. The hostess and waitress spoke only Spanish and been struggling with these guys until we helped out. Good meal, Jane had garlic shrimp and we had NO werewolves at the Parador last night. However, wedding reception had the main restaurant at the Parador as well as tables setup outside however, it was too cool for outside activities and the entire function remained in doors. Lovely bride but we did not get her photo as she returned from powdering her nose. Time for bed its nearly the witching hour with both hands on the clock straight up!!

SEPTEMBER 29TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

SEPTEMBER 29^TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

Saturday appeared to still be slightly overcast with low streaming clouds of moisture flowing inland from the med. It’s travel day again, moving from the coast inland up past Seville to Merida for a couple of nights (Sat/Sun). Down for breakfast toast, coffee etc and asked the girl if we could have a tour of the house and grounds. Right after breakfast finishes at 1030 the lady of the house will give us and a British couple (Tim and Julia) a tour. Problems with the credit card machine which does not like our American cards without the embedded PIN chip, so we will need to hit an ATM in order to settle up our hotel bill. At 1030 we were summoned to the front living room door of the Duchess house and the tour begins. The house and grounds date back to the 1200’s. No photos please the light will harm some of the old artifacts. A Palace, a church and who knows what else?  The Palace is filled with ancient furniture (from 15^th century) religious artifacts (from when it was a church) and the Duchess’ books from when she was a child. A lot to take in and remember but it was a privilege to be given a private tour. Everyone who works here is so proud of the building and its history. There are photos  and paintings by Murrillo and Goya ,it is a virtual treasure trove! Look, don’t touch; don’t walk in, just marvel!  I do worry that the paintings need cleaning and restoring and that the documents are in a climate controlled environment! Like I know anything about it! Just passing thoughts.

We had a coffee in the lounge before we left, said goodbye to all the staff (now our new best friends) and hit the road. It was a long drive and the weather was quite iffy. Patches of rain and scudding clouds, but we listened to our book “The Girl Who kicked the Hornets’ Nest” and the kilometers just melted away. We only stopped once for a potty break and reached Merida at about 3.45 just as the weather was clearing up quite nicely.

This is a nice Parador, remember Cheryl? You spent a sick day here! We headed out immediately for lunch and a bit of a wander about. We followed our footsteps from two years ago went into the town center for a quick bite to eat as it was very late for lunch. Back to the hotel for siesta and to hear the roar of Harley Davidsons pull into the parking area. Five  chaps in leathers arrived for an overnight at the Parador. We saw the same guys in town later that evening as they were at the same restaurant that we ambled into. Found out that the guys were from Netherlands and spoke great English but little Spanish and so we translated and helped them to order their meals as they wanted. The hostess and waitress spoke only Spanish and been struggling with these guys until we helped out. Good meal, Jane had garlic shrimp and we had NO werewolves at the Parador last night. However, wedding reception had the main restaurant at the Parador as well as tables setup outside however, it was too cool for outside activities and the entire function remained in doors. Lovely bride but we did not get her photo as she returned from powdering her nose. Time for bed its nearly the witching hour with both hands on the clock straight up!!

SEPTEMBER 28TH, FRIDAY BLOG#18

SEPTEMBER 28^TH, FRIDAY BLOG#18

Friday is gray and overcast but doesn’t appear to want to rain at least not immediately. The TV stations around Spain are showing flooded streets, cars swept away in raging torrents, etc; even mudslides along major highways and continuing  forecasts for more rain until this system moves east out over the med had towards the boot of Italy. We will keep our fingers crossed, Jan’s sketchers are still sopping wet from yesterday afternoon’s deluge and besides Jane has a new 3 euros umbrella to ward off the showers today.

Barbadillo Bodega Sp - Manzanillo

Off to catch the bus opposite the hotel should be one at 1139 however, after reading the stop’s information we decided to walk up to the next stop which is in front of the old castle. Keystone cops version of events unfolded because you guessed it here comes the bus when we are exactly half way between the two stopsd and the driver will NOT be flagged to stop for us, On he goes past us!!. And so we continued to the castle. Opposite the castile was the bodega Barbadillo a major brand of sherry, the English speaking tour had started at 11:00 but was close by and so they sold us our tickets and we joined the group on the tour. The girl was quite knowledgeable and she lives in Jerez no less! Next was the sherry tasting which last another 15 minutes starting with dry and finishing up with the cream sherry at the end. Went back across the street and waiting for the bus into town; only 2 euros per couple!

Through twisting and barely wide enough lanes we made it down to the center  of town. We first attempted to view the skyline  from the Hotel Quadalquivir Hotel balcony 11 floors up but were chased from the lobby by the bellhop who informed us that the rooftop did not open until 4:00PM each day so we went to the tourist info office where the young lass who we had assumed was Spanish  turned out to be from Pennsylvania her dad had elected to retire in Spain (perhaps he had been military at one time). Armed with fresh new maps, we set out to the river bank and the working end of the harbor port.

Barge to the National de Donana park across the river.

To our left was the Atlantic Ocean and to our right the Rio Guadalquivir and across the river the Parque National de Donana , we turned right and headed for the port and restaurants. It was a bit of a slog and Paul whined a little but we made it and were immediately ambushed by waiters at every restaurant trying to pull us to their tables to eat. It was a little disconcerting to say the least! We finally picked the one where NO-ONE assaulted us and sat down. We had a terrific lunch of Coquinas al ajillo , which were amazing but even more work than eating crab! A great big bowl of garlicky yumminess! Then the swordfish and simple salad (lettuce, tomatoe, onion) which left us quite speechless! Paul asked how we could give justice in the blog to that meal and I said I would give it a go. Are you drooling? I am just thinking about it! The swordfish was pan seared/browned to perfection such that the fish was ever so juicy a light drizzle of oil followed by a sprinkle sea salt. Never tasted fish so yummy!!

Now back to the hotel in a taxi as the buses all stop for a siesta,too. Go figure. As I was shampooing my hair this morning, I counted the different types of tile in our bathroom. It was either 7 or 8. I’m not quite sure what is going on here, but obviously someone is trying to retain some of the original antique tiles but good grief wouldn’t just a complementary color have worked? They were all different patterns. Then we discovered this morning that the Duchess of Medina Sidonia, who was by all accounts a rebel, never wanted her Palace to be sold into private hands. She set up a trust to administer the estate and the Hospederia (hotel) is only there to supply funds for the upkeep of the palace. She hated Franco and was imprisoned by him, but that created such an International uproar that he made a half hearted apology and tried to set her free, but she would not leave the prison until her sentence was over. It wasn’t long, only weeks, but what a gutsy lady! She was the last of her line and there are no more Duques de Medina Sedonia. There are over 6 million pieces of records in the Palace which are not to be handed over to anybody and are stored in the Palace. She trusted no government! Really interesting stuff, but I wish they would spring for some more lights in the bedrooms, I mean, crystal chandeliers and sconces in the bathroom are all very well but don’t give much illumination!

Anyway back we went into town after siesta and went up 11 floors in the downtown hotel to view the city from above. Paul took photos with his phone posted them to facebook already. Very nice pub up there with great views all around, the weather had cleared a little and it was very pleasant. We wandered through a couple a Plazas and waited for the bus to take us back up to view the Castillo de Santiago. This castle has been very well restored and the views from the keep/turret are as good as from the top of the hotel, but Paul wouldn’t know as he refused to climb up there. As we had already walked about 10 miles, I couldn’t really blame him.

Flooded gardens at the hotel.

This was a very important town and castle. From here Columbus left on his third voyage, Magellan also departed from here and from the tower of the castle Queen Isabel saw the ocean for the first time!  The town has three parts, the harbor/fishing  area, the center area and the historic area where all the nobs lived (where we are currently staying, in the land of the nobs! It’s up the hill and they could see the river and all the working stiffs below!! It is all a little downtrodden and tired now and I found the town a little depressing but that could have been because of the wet feet and shoes and the grey skies. We did not get over to Donana as you cannot drive there, just have guided tours and we had lost some time getting drenched and being confined to quarters! The town is larger than I had anticipated and it took a bit of navigating. The hotel was interesting but not the most comfortable. The tour we were given this morning was a privilege. There was an English couple who came with us on the tour of the Palace and I had to translate which gave me an even better understanding of the importance of this building. Google it folks, it is really fascinating.

SEPTEMBER 27TH BLOG#17

SEPTEMBER 27^TH BLOG#17

El Rocio

El Rocio

Hospederia  Diques de Medina Sedonia

Hospederia  Diques de Medina Sedonia

Ok, it was bound to happen last year with Cheryl 22 days without the umbrellas and the first 16 days of this year’s trip without the brellies but as we checked out of the Parador Ayamonte there the beginnings of sprinkles during the luggage arrangement process.  We had been keeping an eye on the local BP station with Diesel Plus listed for 137.9 per liter whereas we had paid 144.9 on our first fill up so we topped before heading East. The first order of business was setting the wipers to keep pace with the torrents that intermittently pelted the car. We took a side excursion down into the confines of the National Park to a rustic little place called El Rocio that had sand for streets and hitching posts of either rustic logs/posts or in some cases metal hitching posts. Although we saw no horses tied up nor tracks of recents horses either in the soggy sand roadways. Right time for a coffee at the local saloon which cost us 2 euros for two cortodos. The bartender had a long bushy mustache like Billy the Kid. It began to rain again and so we headed back out on blacktop the highway down around Seville and the coast at Sanlucar de Barrameda . Carmen Garmin found our hotel without too much trouble so we pulled in popped open the umbrella to shield as we tried to locate an entrance door. We stood under cover and attempted to call the hotel without success to alert them that we were just outside the main door wanting to come in out of the rain. Finally, an elderly lady answered our door knock and let us into the office. Right copy the passport and check in 3 keys (outside front door) room key, and key to the breakfast room 0830 thru 1130 daily. A tiny chap was summoned to help with the luggage between car and room 1 across the flooded courtyard with yellowish mug across the slate stepping stones.  The Hospederia  Diques de Medina Sedonia is a very old listed building. When we walked into the room I thought we had stepped back 200 years! Of course by this time the rain is absolutely pelting down, we are wet and it is dark. I cast a quick look around for Dracula or Igor but luckily there was only Paul and the chappy who helped us with our luggage. First order of business was to find somewhere to eat. I changed into my Sketchers and a pair of pants and then we headed out……..and the heavens opened! The Senora at reception pointed us towards the closest place to eat and we ventured forth. By this time there were rivers running down the middle of the streets, no other choice but to forge the river! There was water up to our ankles! My shoes are still wet and it is now Friday morning at breakfast! We had a decent meal  at a place called El Conejo (the Rabbit) but they had none, rabbit that is, and then went back to change clothes again as we were soaked up to our knees. When the rain stopped we took a chance at heading out to explore and explore we did. Got lost in fact, had to use the Spanish to ask for help and then had a pretty receptionist call us a cab. Had tapas back at the Conejo and decided to call it a night, though not before buying me an umbrella! I told the ladies in the store that this was the first time in 12 years I had forgotten my umbrella and look what happened! They said thank you, we needed the rain. Funneee!

SEPTEMBER 25TH BLOG#15 TUESDAY

SEPTEMBER 25^TH BLOG#15 TUESDAY

Had our second breakfast at the Eurostars Regina along with a whole group of French people too. While there I pulled up the Michelin guide map and scope out our trip to the border town Ayamonte and a proper Parador room with all of its amenities; only an hour and a half drive today along A49 highway or the old two land A472 to bypass the big cities. Arrived to the Parador with sunny but windy conditions. We both had at least two if not three days of laundry to catch up on and so we hurriedly activate our impromptu Chinese laundry to take advantage of the warn sun on our balcony. We drove into the town center and tried to locate the Tourist Information Office without success but stopped for midday lunch consisting of Ensalada Mixta and Calamares (squid). After a wander around it back to the Parador for siesta/relax before our next adventure.

Ayamonte Spain

Isla Canali beach sunset Tuesday 9/25/12

In the early evening we headed out in search of the 7K beach called Isla  Canela. Ultimately we found it have driving to the next beach town first but the sunset was glorious and we had coffee in a tiny beach front café full of surfer dudes several girls and a host of locals. Several wind surfers had been collecting their gear from the beach. Back again to Ayamonte and found a place which we later found out was mention in our tour book. Café Barberi founded in 1917 and well worth a visit. An early evening by our standards but one well needed. We have to keep reminding us that this is not a marathon but a vacation.

So far things are going well, but all this vaca is tiring so we are going to take it easy. This little town is very nice.  Interesting thing some buildings are tiled on the outside, we often see marble but not tile, I wonder if this is the Portuguese influence? I do hear Spanish but I also hear a lot of German, English and French. It is definitely out of season but enjoyable, quiet and relaxing. Beautiful beaches even though we have to drive to them. Not sure I could live here, makes Cocoa Beach look like a hopping metropolis!!