Spain - the wedding party.

harry the cat

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In the absence of Micky I'll throw up a few pictures of our recent trip (seems like ages ago) to Spain to attend the wedding of our good friends Decky and Theresa. I'll skip the bit about Brittany Ferries and the almost obligatory picture of ageing bikers in front of food and drink, cos it bores me.

Seven of us in total, five ageing men and our two carers, Annie and Magnet.

So we'll start with a late arrival on Monday evening at Santander, a brief tour of the docks courtesy of someone's SatNav. and a straight run down the N67, over a cold and damp mountain range to Herrera de Valdecanas and the Villa Ferrera Posada Real. The village is near to Palencia, just over two hours from Santander, and a good layover if you're going South.

Only issue is the village itself looks a bit like Beirut until you get in there and find an excellent hotel, with an enigmatic host, a bar littered with a couple of local drunks, and a small Jack Russell pup thats pleased to see us.
 

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I'll skip the bit about Brittany Ferries and the almost obligatory picture of ageing bikers in front of food and drink, cos it bores me.

.

Don't worry it's not only you and for that reason I'm in :D
 
Day 2

We're on a deadline of sorts so we're heading South again but our chief route planner, Magnet, has routed us first to Avila, because it looks nice, and because the roads are more interesting.

Indeed the place is well worth a visit, longer than we had time for, but the parking isn't easy. We solved that by blocking the entrance to the town centre underground car park which operates on a forward facing ANPR system, and doesn't like bikes. The man in the yellow tabard eventually relented because we were backing up the town traffic, and failed miserably to capture our vrm's on a clipboard.

By a stroke of good route planning or more likely sheer luck we walked out of the car park into the main square and lunch, followed by a brief tour of the walls.

Incidentally it was lunchtime and we were inundated with hordes of school kids accompanied by their parents coming away from what must be the only school in Avila.
 

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The walls and some not so locals enjoying the views.
 

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Toledo, or somewhere close.

The afternoon we turned back South East towards Toledo, again on some decent, if not epic roads. Our target for the evening was the Hotel Abaceria which is, as we found out, on a hillside just outside Toledo, and just far enough out of town to make the schlep into the centre out of range for some of our group.

Given its now got above 30 degrees and the hotel has a terrace with great view of the city, we decide to sit it out in the sun until the restaurant opens.

Lest I forget any hotels I mention I would happily use again unless I specifically say otherwise.

Some pictures of the view:
 

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On to Cordoba

We've chosen Cordoba for our next stop because its on the way South and friends have told us it's an epic place to visit. Still hot, and getting hotter, as we travel down. This is our lunch stop, close to a small village in the middle of nowhere. We found loads of surprising places to eat, some grand like this, some not so grand. The common denominator was they were all happy to see you, and the food was always cheap and plentiful.

Having said that after the owner of this Canam did a few donuts in this newly gravelled car park we may not go back for a while:
 

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Cordoba

Onwards then to Cordoba and the NH Cordoba Califa, another good hotel, made better by the fact that it's a relatively easy access into Cordoba, has underground parking (access by a legal detour on a non legal no entry -whoops), and it's a five minute walk into the old town which is a gem. No pictures of the evening eating out on the pavement in the old town, Micky and others may have. Suffice it to say food was good, service chaotic.

Next morning four went riding while three of us Magnet, Micky, and myself went full tourist. Tip for the day, get up early and head out in the cool of the morning to the Mesquita de Cordoba, the Cathedral/Mosque in the old town. For those who don't know this place is a unique blend of Moorish Mosque with Christian elements inlaid within.

its good to get up early because there's no charge in the first hour, and the paying guided groups can't get in until 10. Some pictures courtesy again of Magnet. Micky has more taken with his Fuji no doubt.

The outside:
 

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The inside. Notice the mix of cultures:
 

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Wandering

We were ushered out of the Mosque just after half past nine and went for a bit of a wander. The roman bridge and the restored water mill:
 

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The castle of the Christian Kings. Another must see:
 

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The well manicured gardens and riding school next door:
 

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I'm in ... oh, I was there :D

Hope names have been changed to protect the innocent :blast

:beerjug:

If I may HTC ...

A few of my photographs ... I'll keep 'behind' Tony 'cos he's doing such a splendid job :thumb

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Magnet looking displeased, probably something I said :eek:

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Mike, John and Annie

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It's mine ...

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Magnet swats up on tomorrows route :D

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Now carry on please Tony :thumb2

:beerjug:
 
More on Cordoba

We spent the rest of the morning mooching around the old town. The jewish quarter is well worth an explore , as is the Playa de Corredera, although it's a good stroll. By the time we got there we'd earned an ice cream and a siesta, although Micky's idea of a siesta is heading for the hotel bar to see if there's anyone to drink with:
 

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:thumb2Next morning we're heading for Rhonda. It's still getting hotter, the coffee stops are getting longer, and some seem more affected by the heat than others:
 

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The roads are getting better as we climb into the hills with sweepers turning into series of bends and a greener landscape, the higher we get. By late afternoon we're in Ronda at our 'poshest' hotel, the Catalonia Reina, which is appropriate for a wedding of quality. Ronda itself is a bit of a surprise. I'd expected a viewpoint and a few hotels but it turns out to be a thriving town of 30,000 souls with a real tourist vibe.

In the evening we meet up with the bride and groom, and some of the many guests who've descended on Spain, mainly from Ireland, but also from other diverse parts the world. I'm going to avoid pictures of the wedding because they're not mine to share, but I have to include just a picture of the bride and groom taken on the day before the event plus a couple of the view at the rear of the hotel:
 

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Saturday was wedding day but we had time in the morning for a bit of sightseeing:
 

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This guy was playing for loose change and selling his CD's in a courtyard near to a viewpoint. Best acoustic guitarist I've heard for a while. Micky was mightily impressed. Not impressed enough to buy a CD though. Oh no.
 

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