A few days enjoying Seville. After dropping our Trojen winnie off to the mechenics for hard earned rest, we thought we would have a look around the beautiful city of Seville. Lib and I both agreed that this is truely Spain! The vibe of the toen was great and we also saw that Spain is a country of development as it seems that everywhere is getting a face lift. We spent the day strolling the streets and looking through the Cathedral, the Alkazar and small shops. This one is amazing as it is the third largest behind St Peter's Rome, and St Paul's London! It certainly was impressive. We spent the night sitting back in a little resturant having another crack at Tapas and also Paella for the first time. Very good!
Then it was onto Cordoba by recommendation of many to see the Mezquita which is outstanding. It was a mosque with many arches inside and then the christians took it over and converted it to a cathedral. Luckily they kept a lot of the old mosque in place. The old area of town was lovely as well but very touristy. Then onto Granada and the Alhambra palace which we were lucky enough to get onto a night visit. They only happen twice a week and the lines in the mornings can be up to 2 hours just to get an entry time. The Alhambra is a fortified palace that overlooks Granada right on top of the hill and has stunning gardens and the most amazing palace we have seen to date. The detail in the rooms was incredible and the open air courtyards in between the rooms were stunning.
Then onto a magical experience. A friend from crickets sister lives in the hills of Cadiar in a place that no one would ever have found. We met the most amazing couple, Ann and David who have recently retired to their retreat in the mountains that overlooks the town. It is very different countryside and we hadn't seen anything like it. The drive up is steep and passed winding fields of blossoming trees which we found out were almond trees. We spent 2 days is their lovely paradise lazing about on their verandah, walking the dogs, stolling around Cadiar and talking up a storm with our first English speaking friends who have done extensive travelling and were a wealth of knowledge. Managed to catch Kev and Karen before they headed back to London as well as they just happened to be visiting Ann and David for the weekend. Ann and David have 75 almond trees and we learnt a lot about all the things you can do with almonds. I don't think Nick and I spoke to each other for the days. ha ha ha. Certainly enjoyed the company and were very sad to leave them. But the rest of Spain beckoned. One thing is for certain we were the most relaxed we've ever been for days afterwards and almost turned around 500kms on to let them know we had decide to come back and retire with them.
Off on our own again and up to Murcia and Denia. Stopped for a few nights in Denia and the wind was quite vicious to us so we hesitated getting back on the road until it calmed down a day later !! So we finally set off after the winds and up along the road to the small town of Peniscola for afternoon tea. what a beautiful place by the seaside with the old town looking down the beach. Unfortuneately we only stayed for afternoon tea as there were signs everywhere saying that there was no parking for campers. Winnie was hurt! It was also funny as every camper driver looked like they were roos in the spotlights as they tried to work out where to park! We continued on the coast to Barcelona stopping here and there along the way to admire the beach! How could we not. We got to Barca and found our campsite, Yep you guessed it, it is on the beach front. I like the Spaniards way of thinking!
