Delivery of an Interesting Christmas Present
This involved:
45 Minute plane flight
150 Mile drive in the UK
24 hours on a ferry (500 miles)
600 mile journey through Spain – North to South
So on a Saturday morning in December I flew from the Isle of Man to Birmingham in the UK. I was met and picked up the surprise package. It was then a fairly leisurely drive to Portsmouth harbour in Hampshire. An overnight stay in a hotel and some last minute Christmas shopping at the local shopping centre – Gunwharf Quays which is in the heart of the old Royal Naval base. A quick trip up the Spinnaker Tower to see Porstmouth and the Harbour at night.
Next day after boarding a large ferry we departed in good weather bound for Northern Spain. We were very lucky with the weather – the Bay of Biscay can be very rough in the middle of winter. Had I been travelling a week earlier it would have been a lot worse.
The next morning the ferry docked in Santander and around mid-day we headed South. For those of you who drive those busy roads choc full of traffic Spain has some of the best roads in Europe. You are able to cover good distances without ever coming across a traffic jam – just obey the speed limit (70mph/120kmh) and watch Spain pass you by. There are plenty of places to stop at Roadside restaurants and have a quick Tapas and coffee and set off again – much nicer than motorway service stations. Northern Spain in Winter is very green and the roads have plenty of tunnels and bridges and great scenery.
After about 6 hours of driving and having got round Madrid the better way – head for the airport- I got to Toledo as the sun went down. Too dark to see too much. There is a hotel chain in Spain called Parador and they convert old buildings, castles monasteries and convents into hotels. They are lovely.
I opened the curtains the next morning to see the historic city of Toledo – set on a hill with a river in the valley below. It is above the plains of La Mancha which is also Don Quixote country – there is a famous Picasso sketch of Don Quixote and his companion Sancho Panza ( and donkey) with a windmill from the reqgion in the background.
As is common with many of Spain’s old cities there is a lot of Moorish, Arab, Christian and Jewish influence in its history. Amongst other things the city is famous for the manufacture of swords and knives.
With no time to spare to visit the city I continued the journey South passing Jaen which is a centre of olive oil production and also boasts a magnificent castle that sits high above the city. Southern Spain is blessed with a huge architectural history of castles, cathedrals and mosques.
I reached Granada and turned right not venturing into the city – another time I will have to visit the Alhambra, you can also ski in the Sierra Nevada and as I write this blog in November snow had fallen last week in the mountains.
The coast of Southern Spain came into view and we reached Malaga – the birth place of Pablo Picassso – which boasts a roman amphitheatre, a cathedral and yet another castle that clings to the hillside. A very cosmopolitan city with large numbers of restaurants, hotels, shops to help satisfy the large number of tourists that visit southern Spain all year round.
Christmas was a lovely day spent in the countryside with friends – we had roast beef I had brought from the Isle of man!!
What was the Christmas Present I hear you ask???
It was the car – bought by a friend as a Christmas present for his wife.
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