Spain Private Tour ... Itinerary 17
Ron Hutchcraft and his family arrived in Spain from Indiana. Their approach to
tours was a first for us. Instead of the usual moving on to new destinations
every day or two they based themselves at the Marriott Marbella Resort and
arranged a couple of full day excursions with us.
We met at 9am on Sunday 19th
March at the Marriott reception and the party of six boarded our Mercedes Vito
for the journey to Granada. As we had time to spare, because we weren't meeting
our guide at the Alhambra until midday, we took the coastal route to Malaga,
along to Nerja and the Costa Tropical heading north up to Granada from Motril.
On arrival we had a coffee break and waited for Francisco, our official
Alhambra Palace guide, who met us at 11:45. Francisco, or Frank as he suggested
he be called, then took the group on a 3 hour tour of the Palaces.
Fortunately the rains that were hitting the south quite severely this week
didn't continue through the afternoon so the visit was a great success. After a
light lunch in the Alhambra grounds we met again at the ticket office and headed
back to Marbella through some severe rainstorms.
The weather is so unpredictable these days. A few years ago we did a
September trip when it seemed to rain nearly every day for three weeks then in
December of the same year we did another extended journey in quite superb
conditions. There are no weather guarantees, just choose your dates and keep
your fingers crossed.
The following morning we again met a 9am and headed west
along the coast to Gibraltar and Algeciras with great views across to the Atlas
mountains of Morocco. We then went inland to Jerez de la Frontera and up to
Seville. Between Jerez and Seville was without a doubt the heaviest rain I've
ever seen in my time driving for Spanish Fiestas. At the toll booth between
these two cities the volume of water hitting the windscreen was so heavy that it
was difficult to drive above 60km/h as visibility was practically zero.
On arrival in Seville we met Concepción, our city guide, for a private tour.
Fortunately the rain had now stopped for a while and we were able to enjoy a
great walking tour of the Barrio Santa Cruz with fascinating anecdotes from
Concepción. Following the walking tour the group continued on into the Cathedral
for another private tour of what is reputedly the world's largest religious
building.
Following the tours and lunch on the terrace of a bar opposite the Cathedral
we returned to Marbella via the Antequera/Malaga route which took a similar
amount of time (3 hours) as the Algeciras route. With the rain holding off we
saw some spectacular rainbows stretching across the farmlands of rural Andalucia
before finally arriving back at the Marriott for 20:00.
Sorry we couldn't guarantee the weather Ron but I hope the tours made up for
it! |
