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Published: October 31st 2009
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Mini-Hollywood
Old sets from spagetti westerns So we didn’t spend much time on the south coast around Almeria, which disappointingly was basically a tomato plantation, the whole of the coast for miles from Capa de Gata to Malaga is covered in plastic tunnels to protect the crop, it is basically a huge commercial agricultural plantation.
We started our journey to from Cabo de Gata to Granada by visiting one of the sets left from the Spaghetti Westerns that were filmed in the Sierra Nevada during the 60’s and 70’s. They have been kept in tip top condition with Saloon, bank, jail, boot hill etc. It was all a bit surreal, as when we got there a couple of hundred school children also arrived and we were treated to display/scene out of a Western. The resident actors and actresses acted out scenes from films. Take your pick it, could have been ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, ‘For a Few Dollars More’, or ‘The Good the Bad and the Ugly!’
Leaving “Mini Hollywood” we decided to take a scenic route through the Sierra Nevada. The A348 was marked on our up-to date, purchased in Spain map and our GPS system showed the route. After about 1 ½ hrs
driving mainly on our own, the road petered out to a 4x4 track, we bravely soldiered on hoping it would once again become a good wide tarmac road. However we were in danger of running into another vehicle coming in the opposite direction, and having swung the bus around several blind bends on a track wide enough for one with a drop of several hundred feet on my side, I managed to get Alan to abort the route and turn around, in itself a difficult and fraught manoeuvre. Anyway as we returned to the tarmac road a vehicle that we had noticed at the side of the road flagged us down, a Brit Ex-pat had broken down she had two kids with her, we gave her some water and bananas (which was all we had with us) and set off again. (We did check that rescue was on its way). We asked about the road we had been on and she told us that we were wise to turn around as it did not get any better for many miles.
The recalculated route added a further two hours to the original, and we arrived in Granada tired.
Granada
Sierra Navada
view before we ran out of road The campsite was really nice with a very Moorish feel because of all the mosaic tiling in the washrooms etc. It was about 5kms. from the city so we used the local bus to take us in.
We were blown away by the city of Granada, it was really vibrant and active (50,000 students at the university there probably helped). It is in a stunning location with the snow capped Sierra Nevada as its backdrop. The narrow streets of the old quarter are very Moroccan with its bars and shops. Visiting the Alhambra was terrific due to the size and scale of the fortress/palace and its strategic position overlooking the city. (See pictures).One of our highlights was a Flamenco evening which was very intimate with only about 30 in the audience and in what was basically a cave we were entertained to some athletic and professional Flamenco.
We decided to retry a trip into the heart of the Sierras, so we took the van up to one of the ski areas with the car park at around 7000 feet. It had not been our original intention to walk to the top at 10000 feet, but as we had walked for
Granada
bull ring nearly two hours and we had a packed lunch with us, the sun was shining and so up we went. Superb views from the top where it was decidedly cooler, so as Liz was in shorts it was a quick round of photographs and then back to the van some 5 hours after we left for what was meant to be a short stroll.
After Granada we headed for Seville where we struggled to get a nearby campsite, so we arrived in a place called El Rocio. We took the bikes for a ride round the town only to discover that it was a very strange place. Firstly the roads are all sand with no tarmac, not good for bikes and all the locals were driving in 4x4’s, also there were any number of small chapel like buildings with belltowers and a beautiful church with an ornate interior but out of all proportion to the size of the village. There were also shops selling mostly equestrian stuff next to the religious icon stores. We checked the internet to find out what was going on (just Google El Rocio) and discovered the huge pilgrimage that takes place at Pentecost (one million
Una Cervesa ?
smallest measure I have ever been served people descend on a town smaller than Auchterarder). There are horses everywhere and apparently the locals refuse to allow the authorities to tarmac the roads as horses come first.
We took a bus to Seville and had a great day sightseeing in the historic centre. We visited the Cathedral with Christopher Columbus’s tomb, although apparently it might not be him but his son and we climbed up the Giralda bell tower with super views of the city. The highlight was the visit to Alcazar which was a Moorish palace, much smaller than Alhambra but in some ways in an even better state of repair.
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Mike Cartwright
non-member comment
Great pics !
Really enjoying the blog , photos are excellent ! Sierra Navada looks lovely as does Alhambra. Hope you guys were strutting your stuff at the flamenco night ?! Mike