The idea for this holiday took flight over a year ago when Jane and Nigel (of 'Narrowboat on the Thames' fame - see blog: April 2011) asked us if we'd like to join them for "a bit of a doo" to celebrate their BIG Birthdays in 2014. Having signed up to this Spanish "Big Birthday Bash" weekend, we thought why not tack a few extra days on and make a week of it. Seville was always the option and having eliminated a few detours along the way, it all came down to this:
SEVILLE
Our chosen hotel proved excellent. Not on top of the 'old' town, but close enough to walk, we found ourselves in a part of Seville surrounded by lovely bars frequented by locals around the Alameda de Hercules.
We hired bikes and cycled beside the river to the Maria Luisa Park. There were bike lanes everywhere and Seville drivers were very courteous and pleasantly aware of cyclists. (London, take note). On the 'hop on, hop off' bus tour we missed our 'hop off' because due to traffic build up the headphoned commentary wasn't always synchronized with where you were. Hence when they prompted you by saying you can hop off here, you may have not got there! or in our case, you may have past it already. We missed our intended stop in Triana due to this out-of-sync prompt.
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| (left, right) Hotel Vime Corregidor and cycling day |
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| Selfie in Seville |
We enjoyed an evening of Flamenco, which was fantastic. And we found a friendly bar just minutes from the hotel. 'Cerveceria el Realito' where they served, in an air-cooled atmosphere, delicious tapas and refreshing copas. It may well have been this heady combination of food and drink that caused these silly photos. I'll let you be the judge!
Leaving Seville on the Friday morning, armed only with the hotel's substitute breakfast - a picnic containing a sandwich of cheese and ham (not one with cheese and jam on! as we had thought) - we took a rather unspectacular train journey to Malaga to meet up with the birthday group.
Not as warm as in Seville, eight of us boarded a bus that would take us up into the mountains via a very winding narrow 'main' road to the hotel:
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| Room View |
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| Weekend walkers: Jan, Jane, Julian, Sabina, Toni, Richard, Humphrey, Margaret and Nigel |
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| The Finca, from the tree house |
FINCA EL CERRILLO
What a find!
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| Moorish courtyard For more details see: www.hotelfinca.com/ |
As we meet up with the rest of the group (16 in total) the first thing we did after arriving was a quick tour of everyone else's room to discover they were all very individual and unique. And the views just amazing.
After this you did as much or as little as you wanted. Laze by the pool. Go on a walk to the nearby white towns of Canillas and Competa. Take in the view or put your feet up (with a drink) in the tree house. Maybe park off in the shade of secluded sitting areas. Or, simply enjoy the delicious food and hospitality on offer. The owners appear to have thought of everything and have created a lovely place in which to relax.
It was a great weekend. A great group of people to share it with. And a big 'thank you' to Jane and Nigel for inviting us.
