Dads Photos

Very kindly as a tribute to Dad (David Hampson) Godalming Photographic Club have set up a tribute portfolio.

This can be viewed on the following link.

Not a lot more to say really. Have a look and enjoy !!!

Cordoba

Tree lined streets, little markets and dare I say it after my last post reasonable architecture in keeping with it’s surroundings.

Saw the Puerta del Puente, which I was unable to ascertain exactly what it represents. I believe originally it was the gate to the city. Then walked on a bridge which was built on the original roman foundations to the Torre del Cahorra. This is a tower at the end of the bridge and presumably was the first line of defence for the city. It certainly looked as though it was built with all the usual niceness of medieval times i.e. holes for hot oil or tar etc.

Then went back to the hotel which overlooks the beautiful Cordoba and unfortunately part of a massive building site. Definitely by far my favorite city.

Then this morning (Saturday) got into the city for 9:30.

Went straight to the Alcatzar de los Reyes Christianos. I would describe this as a mini Alhambra but with a more medieval slant than Moorish. Surprisingly the most beautiful bit was the gardens.

Then I parted company with the others whilst the paced the modern shops I soaked in the atmosphere and beauty of the ‘thin’ streets. They have such a cosy feel to them I could sit here all day and describe them.

I met up with the rest of the family and enjoyed a tomato and mozarella salad. Although whilst the tomatoes were really sun ripened the chef had gone a bit overboard on the mixed herbs. They could really do with visiting Sainsburys in the UK and trying the taste the difference buffalo mozarella.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and had a siesta. Had a great meal finish with Cardenal Mendoza brandy.

Will leave Cordoba happy to have seen southern Spain full of ideas for our next visit. Viva Espania !

The Road To Cordoba

The sky was “mean and moody” according to Ben this morning. This was mainly due to the elevated location of our hotel.

In days gone by you would have spotted an army from miles off. Indeed that is probably why Pedro el Cruel (the cruel) built his palace here.

The Alcazar del Rey Pedro is the palace that formed the Parador hotel that we left today on the road to Cordoba, our penultimate destination before heading to Malaga to fly home.

During the journey I (Ben) had time to reflect on our journey to Spain and what we had learnt. I think for me I need to learn to downsize. I think I might even have to get one of those really expensive photographers rucksacks just because half the kit I take is padded camera bags.

Food is always a problem and our wizard wheeze of half board did not really work. Next time just bed and breakfast only.

Staying at hotels is a good idea. The Paradors we have stayed at barring the one in Cadiz have been first class. The only thing wrong with Cadiz really was the rooms. As a learning curve for coming back only choose Paradors which are part of old buildings avoid modern ones.

Relaxation away from everything is good. Don’t be afraid to say no if you don’t feel like going somewhere and would prefer to read your book.

If you do not like a place such as Cadiz have the flexibility to change to another place i.e. don’t restrict yourself as we did to a Ruta (route) offered by Parador. That way places where you want to stay more nights you can subject to availability.

Old Spanish architecture is beautiful, majestic and breathtaking. Modern Spanish architecture is in the most part is dull, ugly and boring. Architects in Spain should visit Ronda and Carmona and learn from the old and apply to the new.

The people of Spain more than make up for the architecture. In the main they are happy although their waiter / waitressing skills leave a lot to be desired.

On the road to Cordoba there was a lot to be thought about and reflected on. In fact there was so much it now deserves it’s own post.

If our first impression of Cordoba is anything to go by then this should be a formidable end to our journey.

Carmona

Today we headed for Carmona which is pretty much the first town you come to the E5 motorway.

We said our goodbyes to Cadiz happy in the knowledge we will not have to visit again !!

We headed towards Seville first. Lisa wanted to visit Sephora, a department store she discovered on her last visit to Barcelona. That bag and shoes were calling her name.

Unfortunately the bag was found. Sadly it was the wrong colour !!!

We did however manage to find chocolate and churros. This is a doughnut like consistency without anything inside which you dip in blamanche style hot chocolate.

We got back in the ‘van’ our description for our people carrier and headed for Carmona.

The drive to Carmona was uneventful except when we got into Carmona. Like Ronda we faced very ‘thin’ (Ben’s description of narrow streets). The journey was not as traumatic and Ben was not shaking and requiring a beer at the top.

We decided it would be prudent not to drive into town so we walked down and saw the square. This was not much to write home about but among it’s many churches was an absolute exquisite one with a gorgeous blue and gold roof next to a high tower.

After dinner we retired to bed ready for Cordoba tomorrow.

Anyone for Sherry ?

Last night we decided that Cadiz was not really for us and so we should drive somewhere else today.

I think Lord Byron had a few too many here in Jerez and thought he was in Cadiz. For me Spain has restored her wonder and splendour.

Jerez is the spiritual and actually still the home of Sherry with divinely narrow streets and gorgeous buildings and ballestrades.

We started our visit at the Sandeman factory. The tour was facinating and we learnt how they moved sherry from casks four high from the top to the bottom. The last barrels nearest the floor were soleras which is like the Spanish word for floor.

They make the sherry from three main grapes Palomino, Ximienez and Moscatel. They make Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso from the Palomino grapes.

For the more superior sherrt varieties this is mixed with the Ximinez grape. The two we tried were Don Fino and Dry Don.

Some sherries they mature for twenty years. They only make 300 bottles of this type each year.

Then we went into town. This was very picturesque in parts. Although we took a few wrong turnings getting into Jerez.

We returned back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Cordoba tomorrow.

Cadiz

Left Ronda in gorgeous blue sunshine with only a few wispy (not really a word me thinks) clouds.

The countryside has changed again. It is not so dry and arrid as yesterday. In fact quite the opposite it was fairly green and agicultural.

Surprisingly we climbed up a long way given we are heading for Cadiz on the Atlantic.

We did not appear to decend that much but soon hit our first Spanish motorway. That was fantastic as there was virtually no traffic. There was also this hilarious sign indicating that motorbikes driving behind you could have an accident. I will post a picture when I get back.

I am surprised we made it really given that the other signs we saw along the way were for falling rocks, bulls in the road, risk of fire and risk of being blown over. Although we did remark that the risk of fire sign was in close proximity to the excessive wind sign. So we reckoned if we were on fire at least the fire would get blown out.

Then to cap it all we were presented with a beware of bandits sign !!!

Cadiz is surrounded almost entirely by water and to quote Lord Byron in 1809 “the most beautiful town I have ever beheld” and he went on to add “full of the finest women in Spain”.

Today it is a busy port with a historic port and a few ugly suburbs.

Unfortunately Lord Byron would be mortified with modern Cadiz. It is ugly. You have to drive everywhere and you do not get the feeling we associated with Malaga or Ronda of a warm and friendly place. Instead you feel that you are counting the hours until you can leave.

We are going to spend two days here and whilst the hotel communal areas are nice the rooms are not a patch on Ronda and Malaga.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring something a bit more positive. We shall see.

Ronda

We began in Malaga with a great breakfast of local cheese, meats and various breads. This was washed down with either watery tea or tar consistency coffee. After a few photos we left for Ronda.

After a few of navigational issues we left. Malaga. The road was not too bad and after an hour or so Howard handed over to Ben

The road detiorated slightly. Then as we got to Ronda the roads got steadily narrower. On one Ben stalled the vehicle. He tried to put on the footbrake but it would not hold. Ben decided to go down the brute force option. A few bits of burning rubber later he forced it up the hill.

After that drama and with Ben’s nerves a little worse for wear we arrived at the hotel. First stop was to buy Ben a beer.

We headed for the bull ring which is the spiritual home of bullfighting. The ring was inaugurated in 1785 and is the dream place to fight for every aspiring Matador.

Ronda has a lovely mountain village kind of feel with narrow streets and views to die for. I would not recommend driving in it’s streets.

Malaga

Malaga has been much maligned in recent times. Mainly I hasten to say by me.

I have to state for the record that I totally take back anything I have said.

I was expecting a beer swilling, loud mouthed English group of yobs on holiday not the divinely (if that’s word) tranquil place that it was.

We left England a bit late and a bit annoyed because the plane was late and the priority booking system Easyjet was operating worked at the gate but anyone seemed to be allowed to check their bags in on the priority booking only queue.

The plane journey passed without any real issues. Plus we got in the emergency seats which meant more legroom.

Then we had a bit of a drama when Howard and I lost the ladies. Luckily both parties had mobile phones and so we realised where everyone was and a crisiswas averted. Thank goodness for modern technology !!!

The town of Malaga is gorgeous and very representative of traditional architecture. Lovey ballestrades and gorgeous colours.

Then we arrived at our hotel late afternoon, booked in and got to the rooms. They were fabulous with their own seating area, mini bar where we could store our chocolate and very well appointed bathroom complete with bday.

We were not able to eat until 20:30 so we went for a quick drink. We could see the bull ring from the drinks area.

Dinner was fine and we managed to find a cracking Rioja 2003 for €22. Dad would have loved it. He was always thrilled finding a fabulous bottle of wine for a reasonable price.

If it’s like this at the start of the holiday what will tomorrow bring

Our last day

We got up at 05:00 to go up to Machu Picchu but unforuntately Ben was not allowed in because his lense was too professional. Mum had exactly the same lense but it was hidden in a bag. The sunrise that we were hoping to see would not have been any good as it was very misty so nothing lost really.

We returned to the hotel and went to see spectacle bears (Paddingtons) which were huge, about 6ft tall !!! We also went on a nature walk and saw loads of hummingbirds which were absolutely fascinating. Mum also saw a few butterflies and naturally went completely mad over them.

We had lunch and then caught the train to Ollayantaytambo where we caught the bus back to Cusco.

At Cusco we boarded an internal flight bound for Lima.

We remained at Lima airport for a few hours before joining the flight to Schiphol. This time we were prepared the long walk to the other gate. After nearly boarding the wrong flight we finally ended up at a gate, only to be told that the gate had changed after about 30 mins !!!

We finally boarded the flight for London, homeward bound, thinking about the magnificent experience that was Peru !!!

Machu Picchu

Went by bus to Ollantaytambo where we saw an Inca site with dramatic terracing. From there we caught the train to Machu Picchu which was an impressive journey with many impressive high peaks.

We were parallel to the Inca trail and started our journey into the semi-tropical rain forest.

On the train there were some tourists from the northern part of this continent with huge lenses and motor drives taking thousands of photos of trees !!! They did not seem to really know what they were taking. Perhaps they could learn a thing or two from Mum and I. We are only amateurs but they seem to have all the gear and no idea !!!

The railway passed straight through the hotel grounds before reaching the station.

We left our bags at our hotel, the Inkaterra and went on a scary bus trip up the valley toward Machu Picchu.

We had lunch at the Sanctuary lodge or as Ben likes to call it McDonalds. This was disappointing in every way. We had expected white cotton sheets, superb service and a luxurious ambiance as this is a Orient Express hotel. Instead we were greeted with an overcrowded, loud buffet.

We walked up about quarter of a mile to get to Machu Picchu and the ruins seemed hidden until you turned the last corner. Then they appeared before you just like you see the postcards.

We saw two main building styles. The common people lived in smaller stone bricked houses with mortor and the more ornate buildings used larger stones which were cut and laid without mortar.

There were temples to the gods of sun and moon.

There were many artifacts such as gold, mummies, textiles and ceramic. These are not currently in Peru as they were taken by the founder, Hyram Bingham, back to Yale university for research. The Peruvian government hopes that they will be returned very soon.

We then went back to the hotel for happy hour and booked tours for the next day. We had one round of various sours and then tried to go to see a film. This was not available so we used the time to have some more sours and then went back. The film was not a film but a series of picture on Orchids around the hotel. This was very interesting.

Then we had dinner in the restaurant. It was quite odd because you are right next to the trains so these were quite off putting during the dinner.