May 11-12, 2018 - Ubeda, Baeza & Periana

Hola Amigo's ,

We are off by 9:00 AM as we have a 4 hour drive to Ubeda a city were there are some points of interest we want to explore. The picture on the right is of the hilly Olive Groves mostly with some vineyards here and there that is our scenery as we drive along. The highway continues to be a pleasure to drive on as it seems at times we are the only ones on the road. My kind of highway for sure.

 Ubeda is a pre roman site. The Romans then later Visigoths occupied settlements here. It later became a important Muslim city in the conquest of Iberia. It was refounded by And ar-Rahman II (822-852) was was called Arabs Ubbada. In 1233 King Ferdinand III took the town away for the Muslim rulers and for a time Christian, Jewish and Muslims lived together in harmony or a time. In 1368 Civil War devastated the town ,it was not until the Catholic Monarchs stepped in was order restored. The main point of interest is Vasquez de Molina Square with its imposing Renaissance buildings. Pictured on the left is one such building. The Basilica de Santa Maria. Inside was very ornate , the picture on the right is one of the monuments , the detail is amazing
with lots of gold colouring. We also have the most amazing lunch at a little restaurant that has tables outside. Toasts as they are called, smoked salmon with cheese, pork loin with peppers and goats cheese with black honey. They were a meal within themselves . A lovely change after mediocre tapas the night before, delicious and filling. After exploring Ubeda we head off to Baeza which is only a few miles away and our place of rest for the night.
Our hotel is just a basic one nothing as opulent as our first night in Spain but it had parking and the main part of the town was just a short walk away. Once settled in we decide to explore the town. It is not very special and we all make a comment that maybe we should have picked Ubeda. John and Adrienne decide to head back to the hotel as we can't find anything we like to eat. My sciatica is really acting up so we are very slow and find a little sidewalk restaurant that has some good deals on food. We are not very hungry as we had a excellent lunch but I need a little something as the med's for the pain are hard on a empty stomach. We split a pizza and enjoy a drink or two before heading back the hotel for the evening.

We are off early in the morning as Fred and I head to Malaga to pick up Geoff and Tracey before heading to the villa. John and Adrienne head off to do a shop so we have some food staples to start us all off. We are supposed to meet up in Periana at the Town Hall to meet Sara a lady who manages the villa for the owners. There is a festival on and we drive down the main street that has been closed off with all the locals staring at us probably thinking dumb tourists. Flustered we pull over and try and ask a local were the town hall is. We have literally no Spanish speaking and the man as a very tiny bit of English. Fred ends up driving by the same store 3 times after getting instructions and the owner laughs and say no find. We finally find John and he is just as lost. They set off to find Sara who tells them of course we can't meet at the town hall because of the festival. She does meet up with John and Adrienne and they in turn find us and we finally all head to the villa in a convoy of cars.

The road to the villa is very steep and narrow almost like a dirt track but a little better. Sara warns us only to use the road she has guided us in on as the other road is only suitable for a 4X4.To see pictures of the Villa check my FB wall. Keith had called and advised us that he and Sandra has missed his train so arrangements are quickly made for Sara to get him at the station. They finally arrive at 7:00 PM  and we all have a good poke at him about missing his train. John and Adrienne have arrange for a chef to come in and prepare Tapas for us so we don't have to worry about cooking after a day of travel . Antonio provides with a amazing amount of delicious food . So much so that we had left overs for the following day.

Adios Amigos for now !

Sandy & Fred

May 8-May 10th - Off to Spain

Hola All,

We are headed off to Spain for a family reunion of Fred's brothers and spouses to explore  the Area of Andalusia. John and Adrienne has scoped out a villa for us through a connection of Adrienne's and we are all set for accommodation in Periana which is central to the sites we want to take in. Fred and I leave on the 8th down to Portsmouth so that we have a easy 5 minute drive to the Ferry which will take us to Bilboa. While at our hotel for the night there is what we thought was a convention of veterans. It turns out the London Black Cabbies Association takes Veterans from WWII out for various excursions. They have just returned from Holland and were going to see the sites of Portsmouth before returning to London. They have been in existence since 1948 and have over 400 members.The oldest vet on this trip is 95. As the veterans from WWII are now dwindling  they now do thing for all vets and amputees of all conflicts that Great Britain has taken part in. A wonderful way to pay tribute to those that sacrificed so much for our freedom. I think it would be nice if all countries adopted this attitude.

We are over to the ferry in no time at all and meet up with John & Adrienne
as we are travelling somewhat together for the first couple of nights. The ferry ride is overnight as it is 24 hours till we get to Bilboa from Portsmouth. The trip is uneventful as the sea is fairly calm.  We get off the ferry fairly handily and head off to Sergovia which is our first stop for the night. We have booked into a converted Convent , Convento Capuchinos yet another site that Adrienne has located for us. Pictured on the right is the outside of the building check my Facebook wall for more pictures.  The rooms are enormous we have a king size bed , a sitting area plus a large ensuite bathroom. You could have easily fit another king size bed in the room and still have plenty of space. One settled in we are off to explore the town. We visit the Cathedral. Built between 1630 in the late Gothic style after the original Cathedral was laid to ruin by a war . The Cathedral is known as The Lady of Cathedrals and was consecrated in 1768, it has 18 Chapels.

It is truly amazing the riches that are in the various Cathedrals around the world and Segovia is no exception.  The picture on the left is one of the monuments inside the cathedral. Segovia is now w World Heritage site with its Roman Aqueduct , Alcazar and Cathedral. We get a view of the aqueduct as we pass through the old town . Dating back to the 1st or early 2nd century AD. It is a amazing structure and a wonder to look at when you considered when it was built and how it has survived over the centuries. It consists of 25,000 granite blocks held together without any mortar and span over 818 meters with more the 179 arches the highest being 29 metres high.


Our last site to visit is the Alcazar a palace that was first documented in 1122 but is considered to have been in existence longer. It was one of the favoured residences of the Kings of Castile.

Pictured on the right is the Alcazar and a room  that has the armour of the day.  My Facebook page has pictures that you can view . It is some what plain  to some structures we have been in , but also the rooms we are allowed to view were  few when you compare the size of the structure.



Our last stop of the day the town square we were search out dinner.
We finally decide on a little spot is the square that offers tapas. While we are waiting there is some sort of festival going on with puppeteers dancing with kids and families along with a small band providing the  music in the square. It is very merry and the kids are having a great time. Sadly our tapas were less then mediocre but the entertainment made up for it.

We have really enjoyed Segovia . Our next stop is Ubeda and  Baeza.

Adios mi Amigos