Zaragoza to Alarcon

Some years ago with a group of good friends we stayed in a Parador in Alarcon. Paradores are a large group of historic buildings which had been left empty and were taken over by the Spanish State and converted in to Hotels, and the one at Alarcon was so nice we decided to return for one night.

So a slightly earlier breakfast than yesterday which enabled us to take full advantage of the buffet breakfast and we left the Hotel shortly after 11.00 en-route to Alarcon. The Sat Nav gave us three options and we plumped for the shortest route which actually takes longer as small mountain roads are involved but boy was it worth it. We left Zaragoza on the motorway which was surprisingly empty, actually most of the roads we have been on are very quiet compared to UK standards and we could use the cruise control quite a bit which makes for easier driving. About two hours after leaving and driving about 90 miles on the motorway we say an airport over to our right with about 50 planes just parked up. We did not have time to explore further but later in the day when we had arrived in the Hotel I was able to discover that Tueral Airport has been used for storage, its not a aircraft graveyard where they air=craft to be destroyed but a place where they can store aircraft until next required.If I do this route again I will plan in a stop and take a look.
Shortly afterwards we left the motorway and to much small and very windy roads for about two hours passing villages attached by glue to the hillsides, this is the real Spain and not the Benidorm stuff. But up in these hill are you are no exactly in the centre of the action and it must be a quiet life farming vineyards, tomatoes and oranges and many other products. The back on the motorway for about another hour and then we arrived at the Parador De Alarcon which is an old castle standing on the side of a large crater which has now been converted to a reservoir.
“Castle of Alarcón


Location
Alarcón, Spain



The Castle of Alarcón forms part of the fortifications built around the town of Alarcón in Cuenca, Spain. The fortress is composed of a walled enclosure, which houses the heart of the population and the castle proper, and of five exterior towers, separate and strategically placed.

• History

Of Arab origin, the fortress was first under the jurisdiction of the Emirate of Córdoba. Following the collapse of the emirate’s successor state, the Caliphate of Córdoba, and the formation of the taifa kingdoms, the town submitted to the Taifa of Toledo. During its time under Muslim power, the castle served as a defensive stronghold in the midst of internal conflicts. In 1184, Fernán Martínez de Ceballos, military captain under Alfonso VIII of Castile, besieged the fortress for nine months before finally capturing it in the name of his king. He was rewarded with the privilege of taking the name of the town as his surname, which he did, calling himself Martínez de Alarcón and thus establishing a new lineage.
From then on, the Castle of Alarcón received much attention from the successive kings of Castile, who expanded and reinforced it while providing it with its own charter (fuero) and granting it lordship over extensive neighboring territories. Spanish historian Andrés Marcos Burriel writes that its domain comprised 63 villages, including Albacete, La Roda, Villarrobledo, Castillo de Garcimuñoz, Belmonte and many others. All of this was placed under the protection of the Military Order of Santiago by Alfonso VIII. In 1212, the town council of Alarcón sent troops to support the king’s army in the decisive Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.
At the start of the 14th century, Ferdinand IV of Castile gave lordship of Alarcón and its castle to Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena. Only a provisional measure in 1297, the appointment was confirmed on March 23, 1305. It was at Alarcón that the prince wrote some of his literary works. After his death, the lordship passed to his son Fernando Manuel de Villena [es] and then to his granddaughter Blanca. It was later recovered by King Peter of Castile and returned to the royal heritage. Henry II of Castile then gave it to Alfonso I of Aragon, whom he named Marquis of Villena in 1372, but Henry III took it back for the Crown in 1395. Finally, in the 15th century, Alarcón was given to Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, on May 23, 1446. Juan and his son Diego López Pacheco [es] sided with Joanna of Castile, a claimant to the throne, against Queen Isabella and her husband King Ferdinand. During this dispute, the marquises managed to hold the castles of Belmonte, Garcimuñoz, and Alarcón as well as the marquisate of Villena.
Following the Middle Ages, the Castle of Alarcón was abandoned and suffered deterioration. In 1712 it belonged to the Marquis of Aguilar, who received a report from master builders insisting on urgent repairs to prevent collapse.
In 1720, the castle was governed by Alejandro de Alarcón and Duchess Julia de Alarcón, who harbored many refugees during times of conflict in the country, turning them into heroes of the region.^{[citation needed]}
José María Fernández de Velasco, 15th Duke of Frías, sold the castle and “four or five little towers more” to Rafael Lázaro Álvarez de Torrijos for 20,000 reales on June 5, 1863.
In 1963, the Minister for Information and Tourism, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, expropriated it from the family of Álvarez Torrijos Torres, native of La Almarcha but with paternal ancestors from Gascas. The castle was then revitalized as a parador hotel and opened to the public on March 25, 1966.”
There, could not have put it better myself.
We spent the afternoon resting and then went for a drink in the courtyard and chatted to another English couple and then went for dinner which was excellent. The servioce and food was really very good and you, perhaps we might visit again.
And so to bed

A day tour of Zaragoza

We were a little slow of the ground this morning after a late evening meal but went down to the breakfast buffet which had an excellent choice, no comparison to the last Hotel with two bits of toasted baguette and a small jar of jam. This one had smoked salmon and yoghurts and the kitchen was prepared to cook your eggs any style. Perhaps tomorrow morning we will do it more justice.
We both slept not the best last night due to late meal and Noels concerns that perhaps something he had eaten and enjoyed would come back to haunt him and so was perhaps not sleeping as soundly as he would have liked. Oh well that's the way it is.

Today are we taking the Tourist Bus trip which does a tour of all the notable high spots of the town and the really good things is leaves from a bus stop just behind the Hotel and we could leave the Hotel and be on the  bus in minutes except that the reception says that although their a bus schedule it never operates by it and you may have to wait a while. So we had to wait about twenty minutes and we could not work out of the was the late 10.45 bus or an early 11.15 bus but who really cares. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours and it is the usual hop on hop off open top double decker bus used by many city tour companies. We had visited Zaragoza in 2011 when on a similar route to Moraira and so we did not as many photos as from the bus they don't always come out well.
We did a complete round trip to see where it went and then stayed on until it reached the famous cathedral and square where we got off and wandered around for a while considering where to go and what to eat. We needed something and wanted to ensure that all was safe for Noel and there was a place with a huge buffet which looked ok but when we went inside and waiting to be seated we noticed some excellent looking Tuna, egg and tomato rolls and we both agreed that would do us a a full meal lunchtime is unusual for us. So we had a couple of beers and sat outside in the square watching the world go by and their was a large table of priests drinking and smoking and a couple of them looked like they might keel over and pass away any month as they looked so old also with one rather large, lets say very fat, was red faced, blood pressure perhaps?

We re-joined the bus and headed back to Hotel and by this time it was around 32 C and rather warm and so straight in to the shower and then a little rest before preparing for the evening. When loading the car back in UK Noel forgot to put the base for the Garmin Sat Nav in the car and so when using it Jennifer has to hold it , we do have the car Sat Nav but the data is five years old, and so a number of places we have been are not on it, and so by working our way around Amazon Spain we appear to have ordered the right stuff, we shall see what happens, and hope it goes to the correct address.

The Hotel is situated as part of the 2008 EXPO and is a large area containing many buildings, parks and aquarium and all the building are a different shape. not sure I like it , but in the hot weather it looks Ok but guess that in the cold it would be a wet and windy area..
Tonight we will go to café for dinner and then plan an early breakfast and head off to our next Hotel in a place Alarcon where we stay in a Parador and ex castle..

Travel to Zaragoza for two nights

After two nights in North West Spain we headed South in the direction of Zaragoza where we plan to spend two night and do a bit of sightseeing and also a little bit of swimming in the Hotel pool and hoping the weather will be warmer.
We primed the SATNAV and off we went and it took us in the direction of Bilbao where we scouted the outskirts of this very large city and then followed the Motorway South. In France we use a special electronic badge to pass through Motorway pay stations and we now have one for Spain and today would be the first time to try. As we approached the ‘Peage’ there were no obvious signs that we recognised except there was one that looked like a letter Y and we thought let’s try that and see what happens and hope we don't get stuck and cause a massive hold up. We approached the small entrance to the channel and suddenly we heard PING and the barrier lifted, and so did our hearts as we now know what to do.

We headed south and roads were very quiet and so we could use the ‘speed control’ which means you don not have to keep your pedal to the metal all the time and it makes for easier driving although it can be a little bit disconcerting for the first few minutes as you seem not to be in control, but that soon passes.
We stopped for fuel and the Loo and a sandwich and then back to the Motorway heading South as the temperature slowly climbed form 23 C up to 29 C as we passed through mile after mile of vineyards with well known brands advertising there presence. we arrived in to Zaragoza and had booked to stay in a Conference type Hotel which when no conferences are taking place you get a five start hotel for a three star price . The room is extremely nice with a single plate of glass overlooking the swimming pool and also the river and town where we plan to visit tomorrow.
“Zaragoza is the capital of north-eastern Spain's Aragon region. Overlooking the Ebro River in the city centre is baroque Nuestra Señora del Pilar basilica, a famous pilgrimage site with a shrine to the Virgin Mary and multiple domes. Mudéjar-style landmarks, combining Islamic and Gothic architecture, include the Aljafería, an 11th-century Moorish palace, and the Cathedral of the Savior, begun in the 12th century.”
We have been before some years and its a lovely city when down town but like many big cities in Spain around the outside are Industrial Estates and Warehouses  but the area we are staying in is rather newish, perhaps in the last three years its has grown in to anew development, presumably paid for by EU money.

Noel spent the rest of the early evening catching up with the Blog and we plan to have a drink in the bar and dinner in the restaurant and being Spain will not open until about 20.30 , most restaurant’s in Spain do not open until about 21.00 except those in the heavy tourist area.
We plan to take a bus tour tomorrow and then spend some time by the pool.

A trip along the coast

It was rather a gloomy morning when we awoke after having been disturbed during the night by some mosquitos  which are last thing you want buzzing around your head when trying to sleep. So we shut the window and covered ourselves with the sheet to avoid getting bitten as Jennifer always suffers very badly when bitten and so this was not to good.

For breakfast we were the only two in the room, in fact we were not sure anybody else was staying there. For when we arrived they had left out some little cakes which flies were busy devouring and breakfast consisted of two bits of toasted baguette and small jars of jam, a glass of orange juice and they did not have any English breakfast tea and so Jennifer went back to the room to raid our stock. So it was enough to eat but the flies and with last nights mozzies and although they had left out a mozzie killer spray it was pretty much empty.
Our plan for the day, knowing that the restaurant at the Hotel would only be open until mid afternoon, was to drive along the coast and see what we could see and find a nice town and stop for lunch. Well the first town we came to with lots of restaurants and lots of people and also lots of cars and so the nearest you could appear to park was about 1.5 miles away and almost out of town. We then tried again in another town and had the same difficulty as before and then realised we would have to find a restaurant out of town with parking but with the concern being it may not be so good due lack of competition. Anyway we found a place which looked about 50% full and asked if they had a table and they looked little worried and then they moved a reserved sign and sat us down. Boy we needed a beer.
The menu was, surprisingly in Spanish without any English translation and none of the staff spoke any English apart from a few basic words but using out translation book we could find out what time of fish they had and so Noel ordered the skate and Jennifer the Turbot. Both dishes when they arrived were huge and the fish was delicious. Both came with a salad. There was a set meal for the day which looked brilliant starting with a fish soup and big enough to swamp Essex, followed by all sorts of stuff but Noel with his challenges and pointing out in Spanish about no garlic and onions we decided to leave alone, which was a shame really as it all looked so good. Shame I forgot to take same photos.
We stopped at a Lupo supermarket earlier in the day and purchased some bread and ham and yogurts, the bread and ham for a sandwich for when we got back to the Hotel and the yogurts to add flavour to our breakfast.
The journey along and back along the coast was quite nice and so unlike the Costas, no ‘English Fish Chips’ served here signs or any other tell tale signs,
We got back to the Hotel and then found that the main gate had been locked and there we were standing with our shopping and other stuff in the rain wondering how to climb an 8 for fence with spikes and then we espied a bell which we rang several times and finally someone appeared and then they told us that the bulbous thing attached to the keys was a remote to open the gates.
In the evening we sat out side for a glass of wine and  our ham sandwiches before returning to the room to watch some Netflix stuff. It was a nice only marred by the poor weather but then again Spain has had some seriously bad weather during the past few days.

A day of sailing and arrival in to Santander

We went  for breakfast in the café at around 10.30 and then spent the rest of the morning lazing around although Jennifer went for a hand massage at the Spa, Free thank heavens.

Brittany Ferries Cape Finistaire.RO Ferry

At lunchtime we went to the upper deck bar and café and had a salad  which was all we needed and then we purchased some food for later in the evening for when we arrived at the Hotel. As the Spanish  tend to eat very late in Spain from 21.00 hrs onwards and we are not used to that we had decided rather than risk a late dinner we would buy some sandwiches on the ferry and together with a glass of plonk that should go down well.
The Ferry is beginning to show its age, The Cap Finistair was built in the late 1990's bafore being bouth by Brittanny Ferries about eight years . 
The Ferry was running about one hour late due to some technical problem they said, and so we arrived in Santander at around 6.30 pm local time and were off the ferry about 45 minutes later and headed out of town to our country hotel where we arrived at about 19.45 and checked and the place looked deserted.

Poussada da Villanita

The room is a little basic  but fine and so Noel fixed up the TV Streaming stick and then we watched some Netflix before turning in after eating our our light meal.
A very pleasant day indeed

Here wo go again

Well after months of planning the day finally arrived as we are off to Spain, France and perhaps other places yet to be determined.  Primarily we are going to see some friends in Moraira Spain which is between Alicante and Valencia and we have stayed there several times before but under different circumstances.
So rather than hang around the house waiting to leave when we were ready about two hours early we decided to head of to Gunwharf Quay at Portsmouth harbour and go for a brief walk and have some food and then head off to the ferry to check in. The A3 was pretty busy and so we were pleased we had left early and  arrived at The Quays around 13.30. For lunch we went to Five Guys Burger joint, we have used Five Guys in the USA a few times and they knock the spots off Burger king and McDonald's and so we had a nice burger and chips sitting outside in the sun watching the ships go by. At around 14.45 we headed off to the Brittany ferries check in and were surprised to see so many different types of sport cars being loaded from Ferrari's to Maserati to Jags and Ginetta and quite a few Aston’s and sop we presumed it was sport’s club trip. We boarded and went to our cabin and had a cup of tea and then headed off at about 19.15 for dinner, but first having a drink in the bar, where we had to make certain they understood Noels eating issues and they coped well.

After dinner we headed back to the cabin and spent a restful evening reading and Noel listening to music.The Bay of Biscay which is renowned for its poor weather was actually very nice and it was a very smooth crossing indeed.
And so to bed…

Bozell: Media Hatred of Trump ‘Will Cost Them Everything’

The word ‘COULD’ should be banished from the English language

I am getting rather fed up with the overuse of the word COULD. The end of the world COULD  be tomorrow. Pres Trump COULD be impeached tomorrow (this one has been going on for some years now)
There COULD be major port and traffic delays when Brexit happens, and so on etc etc  so why do the press use this all the time. There is a video on You Tube I will try to find which shows how the US press have ganged up on Trump supported by ‘THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, hardly how I would describe the them. 
All the American people were given a free choice to vote and the Loser cannot accept it because somebody who did not fit the bill (in the losers eyes) won, its the same in Batty Britain where there Remainers Lost and every day the paper is filled with COULD trash, like we wont be able to get any Tomatoes or Oranges from Spain and Tulips from Amsterdam, what a load of old Tosh, Can you see the Spanish sitting back and accepting that the millions of oranges they produce for the UK each year will now to be sold elsewhere, but where?? , I think the UK is the Dutch largest customer for flowers and cheese etc and so what are going to do, just let the plants die and kill the cattle that make the cheese, I doubt it, there is always a way.
And as for the Irish Border problem to say that tyranny will return if there is a border well you might as well say this about any country in  Europe. And by the way the new El Presidente of Europe will earn a measly 27500 Euros per month plus expenses, perhaps she could pay for her European Army out of her huge salary, but I doubt it. If she is anything like Mrs May, then we are on to a winner leaving the EU.
Time will tell 

Good bye Mr Hammond and thanks for nothing!!!

If you want to see a jumped up starlet MP then look no further than Mr Hammond who has not the gust to resign in the normal way by letter or discussion with your boss, but attend a TV show and announce it then. This is contemptible and just goes to show he cares about himself more than the average person who put him there via the Weybridge Polls.
I was reading the Daily Mail and even after a few hours release the comments from the readers, not one word in his favour, but all about what a diabolical wanker he his, does he really think he will missed, perhaps he though he should be the Prime Minister and if that were the case half the population would leave the country. All this absolute crud that he spoken about Brexit is sickening and will be proved wrong like his first comments three years ago that we were doomed somehow does not correct today with the FTSE doing well, unemployment at a LOW and Employment on a HIGH with Salaries rising, gosh its a real nightmare.
So Ta Ra little fellow, the guy that arranged for the Weybridge Health Centre to be almost empty of patients when he paid an official visit, apparently, to make it seem that it was not under pressure. Go back the next day at the same time and there were queues waiting to be seen.
So Goodbye…………….

Had to cancel the Salcombe trip

We had planned to visit Noel’s sister and brother in law in Salcombe for the day but there was no way that we could handle that plus the risk of passing on the bug which would not be recommended. This was a shame as we wanted to see them both but as we ill be returning mid August we will try again
Jennifer had started to feel better and by mid afternoon Noel was also seen to be recovering to the extend of watching the Tour de France for a while before taking a further nap but really no interest in watching TV at all. After watching the race we spent a few minutes rechecking the main gas connections which Noel had struggled with in the heavy train the night we arrived and was relieved to see all was fine and no smell of gas anywhere
So the evening was spent sitting quietly with Jennifer reading and Noel watching the sky get darker before going to bed at around 9pm, early for us but rather necessary and hoping that tomorrow we might feel a little normal.

The last thing we needed!!!

Overnight Jennifer was very restless and suffered lots of wind and generally felt unwell although Noel seemed Ok in the morning but this was soo to change. Well it looks like we both caught the same 24 hour bug which provides a lovely amount of of diahrea and vomiting and unfortunately the Mater of the house got it worse and was pretty much incapacited for the who day and part of the night, a most unpleasant experience. This meant we had to cancel the meeting for lunch with Joanne and Tim and kids which we are looking forward to but there was nothing we could do.

The day dragged by slowly with neither of us being hungry and even scared to touch food just in case and apart from lie in bed and complain about the bad luck there was not much we could do except grin and bear it. Lets hope we feel better tomorrow

Off to Somerset for a few days

We were rather tired form yesterday early morning and going up to London etc and so were a bit sloe of the mark this morning and so we decided rather than try and leave at a set time, we would leave when ready which was about 11.15.

It was raining all the way down the M3 and then it stopped for a while and shortly we were hitting the Stonehenge traffic, what possessed the builders to put it right next to the main A 303 I cannot possibly imagine as it has caused traffic jams for so many years with the Government seemingly unable to make a decision whether to build a tunnel under it, move the road or just make the road wider. It has taken years and I think I could swim around the circumference of the world quicker than they could reach a decision on what to do. By around 13.00 the traffic was bad, as expected, and so we took a new route , which after a brief stop for a bacon sandwich, this time a nice one, we ended up going past the caravan site we stayed in at Glastonbury a few weeks and then re-trod our steps to the site in Waterrow near Taunton.

We arrived around 15.30 in the pouring rain and the caravan was already placed nicely on site but we had to hurry to set up the water, electrics and put the stabilisers down before unloading the car of our clothing and food for the next few days. The last time we used the caravan we had a gas leakage and Noel had obtained the necessary spares but to fix it which took about 20 minutes during which times he got drenched but at least it now seems Ok with a further check on Saturday morning before leaving to see the family.

In the evening Noel did his photos from the graduation and then we had gammon steaks with egg and veggies washed down with a glass of plonk before hitting the sack and both of us were quite tired. it had not helped that earlier in the day Noel had ricked his back and doing things was more difficult than usual, Oh well lets hope we all recover tomorrow and the weather be better although the outlook is not promising.

Michaels Graduation Day in The Barbican Hall London

Even though whist working full time over the last three years he has also studied for a Degree in Health Studies at the St Georges College in London with the graduation ceremony taking place in London on 18th July to which we all looked forward to attending.
For all of us it was an early morning, as part of the organisation Michael was provided with two tickets, so one for Jennifer and Becky and the author needed to purchase a ticket which was on a first come first saved basis with ticket office opening at 08.00 IN LONDON. So Noel and Jen were up at 05.45 to get ready to catch a train at 0650 and then got a big shock as we were leaving the house to find that a large branch from our Tree of Heaven had dropped and was blocking half the road, and so a quick sort out was necessary and  what to do.? Well all we could do is pull it to the side of the road and head off to the Station.

We arrived at the Barbican at about 0745 and its a massive place with lots of halls and cinemas and art galleries and we finally located the ticket office and there were lots of people standing around waiting for it to open but just to be sure we jumped to the far left hand ticket sales desk and asked them if were in the right place, yes they said, OK to wait here till you are ready, yes they said and then ten minutes later I had a choice of any one of 300 seats and chose a balcony view aisle. Shortly afterwards we went to the café for a burnt bun with some burnt bacon and a cup of tea, poor quality stuff for a high price. Michael and Becky with Ethan arrived and we settled down and Michael went off to get his robe and tickets and apparently there was chaos with literally its seemed hundreds of students all looking to do the same. They announced that the graduation was about to start and of we went hoping that Michael would be ready in time, which finally he was after about one hours waiting.



The tutors in all their fine robes arrived and filled the stage and then over the next 2.5 hours they made speeches and presentations to various people and then finally they started presenting the graduates one by one. Most of the names called out were clearly not English and some of the African names caused some problems and we waited and waited and finally Michael's name was read out he walked across the stage, shook hands with the Principal, and off the stage all in about 20 seconds. There was guy sitting next to me when the ceremony first started ready with his camera to take a photo of a family member but after a while he got bored and went to sleep and missed the name being called out.
We left the Barbican and headed for Waterloo Station and had a meal in one of the restaurants and then we both headed home, us to Weybridge and Michael and Becky to Aldershot. All of us were rather tired after an early start and we were in bed that night before 22.00 and in the meantime had almost finished loading the car for our travels down to Somerset tomorrow morning for a few days in the caravan and to see Joanne, Tim and the grandchildren..
A GREAT day and were of course very proud of what our son Michael has achieved and helped no end by Becky.