Wild West adventures - yee ha!

The highlight of the holiday was visiting Mini Hollywood, where the old spaghetti westerns were filmed. After a 9am pick up we were on our way. There was a short stop in the Tabernas desert to take photo's and then it was on to Mini Hollywood, we arrived just after 10am. The coach dropped us off and we were free to go and explore.

We were both so excited to see this place and follow in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood and all the other famous cowboys. This is where all the famous spaghetti westerns were filmed back in the day. It was a quiet day and there weren't too many people there. It was great being able to look around and explore. We had coffee in the Yellow Rose saloon, visited the bank and various other buildings, and took a lot of photo's. At high noon a hush filled the air as everyone found somewhere to take cover. We found a bench tucked away in the shade to watch all the action. Suddenly dramatic cowboy music could be heard, and then the fall of hooves  as horses came galloping into the town square. And so it had begun, the bank robbery and shoot out. It was a lot of fun to watch all the action, lots of people getting shot, following over balconies and there was even a hanging! After the show was over, we headed back over to the saloon. We grabbed ourselves some beer and settle down to watch the cancan how. Again, a lot of fun although everything was in Spanish and most of the time we hadn't got a clue what was going on. Not great when they are trying to get people to join in with the singing etc. It was still fun though.

It really was fun, a had my photo taken with a cowboy (things didn't end well for him in the shoot out) and found a cool souvenir - a blank cartridge left from the shoot out.

There is also a big zoo there, and after all the western fun we headed over to look around. We sure did a lot of walking, but there was lots to see including  a parrot show. We couldn't linger too long, as we had to be back at the front of the park by 5.30pm for the pick up. But we got to see everything, and managed to buy a souvenir or two in the rather poorly stocked gift shop. Would definitely return here if we're ever in the area again.

Luckily for us we had fabulous weather, couldn't have been better timed.  We returned to our hotel in time for dinner, and a walk along the beach.

 

 

 

Castillo de Santa Ana and beyond.....

 

 

 

After breakfast on Sunday morning we headed to Castillo de Santa Ana, a castle over looking the sea. It was about a half hour walk along the sea front, it was a lovely morning, and luckily not too hot. The castle didn't open will 11am, so when we got there we had a coffee down by the harbour. The castle is free to visit and though small, is an interesting place to look around. On the ground floor there was an exhibition of artwork all designed around fairy stories - the first one I came across was Alice in  Wonderland. Amazing pieces of work, not only art, but beautifully themed handbags, shoes, sculptures etc. It was lovely to look around. From there you could climb the stairs to the upper level, and learn more about the history of the castle. The views from outside were great.

When we left the castle we had a walk around the lighthouse, only the outside, as that didn't seem to be open. By this point the sky was clouding over so we started to head back. We stopped at the Aloha beach café for something to eat and drinks. Lovely little place with a great view of the ocean. Thankfully we made it back to the hotel before the heavens opened and it absolutely poured. The pool area and car park were partially flooded, and the roof in the restaurant was letting in water! Just like being at home - LOL! We chilled out in our room for a while before heading out to dinner. We were able to go out for a walk after we'd eaten, but it was extremely windy!

On Monday we decided to be adventurous and use the local buses. The stop was just around the corner from the hotel, but timetable was a mystery! The timetable on the bus shelter said one time, the over head electronic notice gave a different time and the bus turned up when it felt like it! Some how we managed to get to Gran Plaza mall! We were there early, so coffee first and then a look around the shops. Lots of familiar names, including Primark!! It was fun to look around, and we did buy a couple of things. The best place was the huge Carrefour supermarket, where we spent ages and spent a fortune. I did get three new dresses, and Paul two shirts, plus we got all kinds of goodies, so it was the highlight of the day! And at this Carrefour, they didn't grab our bag and run off with it, like they did in Benidorm!

Our afternoon and evenings had fallen into a routine by now. A bit of a rest in our room, dinner and a walk along the sea front. A look around the sea front souvenir shops and then a drink in the hotel bar. We did buy quite a few things from the local shops, things were a good price.

It could only get better!

Our holiday to Spain did not get off to the best of starts, in fact the journey turned out to be our worst airport experience ever. We were delayed just outside the airport by a very large and wide vehicle with escort blocking the road. Luckily we weren't delayed too long, and we were soon parked and on our way to departures. This is where the nightmare began!! First we saw how long the queues for security were, the end was nearly outside of the terminal - at this point the panic was starting to set in. Then we went to drop off to get rid of our cases only to be told one of them was TOO LIGHT and they couldn't take it. I think we were both speechless! We were told to take them to another drop off point with the pushchairs and gold clubs, ridiculous situation and not helped by another long queue. At this point I had real concerns that we would miss the flight. So, leaving Paul in the queue I dashed off to buy fast track passes for the security queue from the machine in departures. You'd think this would be easy - alas not! The machine took the payment and did not issue a voucher, leaving me to run around like a crazy person trying to find someone to help. Luckily one of the Jet2 staff helped us out, and got us through the fast track. But by the time we got on the flight I was majorly stressed!

The flight was uneventful and 3 hours later we were in Almeria and on our way to our hotel in Roquetas de Mar. The hotel was lovely, we had a room on the 5th floor that overlooked the pool area and had great views of the sea. We were lucky that they let us check in straight away even though it was only about 12.30pm. So we dropped our cases off and had a wander around the hotel. We had a drink in the bar (barman not very friendly!) and looked around the hotel grounds. Its very much a hotel for families, not somewhere I think I would recommend to couples looking for a quiet break.

Dinner at the hotel was good, buffet style with lots of choice. Sadly the restaurant staff were also not friendly, not one smile the whole week we were there. Surely it wouldn't have killed them to be a little more pleasant. Its the first time we have experienced this, usually hotel staff are always nice - or at the very least polite! But we had a good dinner, wine and afterwards went for a walk along the sea front.

On Saturday after an early breakfast we set off to explore the local area.  About a 15 minute walk away we found a long road with lots of cafes, souvenir shops and a tourist information office. So we picked up maps, had coffee and looked around the shops. By the time we returned to the hotel we were pretty hot and tired, the 3am start on Friday was really catching up with us. But we had maps, and plans for the rest of the week!

 

Girls Night out

I'd been looking forward to this week end, my friend Mandy was coming to stay! On Friday Paul collected Mandy from the station and they were soon home. It was a fun evening, we had a  Chinese take away and a bottle of Prosecco, and watched the film Nativity. To compliment the Christmas film, I found some Christmas crackers, all added to the atmosphere. We also managed to find the time to book our tickets for Mamma Mia, which all three of us are going to see In December. I had so wanted to see this great musical again, and am thrilled that this time Mandy is coming too and not leaving us after dinner.

On Saturday we visited East Midlands outlet centre. It was fun looking around the shops together, and as I had a 20% off voucher for the Gap we all ended up buying stuff in there - happy days! The weather was not great,. but we managed to dodge the showers. On the way home we stopped at the Hollybrook for lunch, they do a set 2-course lunch for £7.49 and it was lovely. The desserts were huge too!

Our afternoon was a relaxed one, watching a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory and chatting, conserving our energy for the night to come. Paul very kindly offered to drive us to Branston Golf Club for our girls night out - not something we get to do very often. It was a great evening, there was a 3 course meal and show. The starter wasn't up to much but the main and dessert were lovely. We were sat at a table with 4 other people, an older couple and their son and his wife. Very pleasant people, though it soon became apparent that the son like to talk.....a lot!  It turned out he is a professional magician, off duty and on a family night out - though he did perform a trick or two at the table. It was a fairly small turn out, about 50 guests in all but this definitely worked in our favour. The Opera boys did two sets, the first one after  the main course which lasted about 45 minutes, and then a second set after coffee and dessert. They were of course amazing, and even though there were only two of them there it was Rob and Colin - the Dream Team! They are such talented and lovely young men. After the show they were out in the foyer, so there was time for photo's and hugs. Most of the other guests didn't linger long, which I am so glad about as it meant we could stay and chat to the guys for ages. I appreciated the fact that they stopped and talked to us, even though it had been a long day for them. Paul came and found us eventually, he had figured out I would be talking!

The two Cinderella's made it home before midnight (only just) and didn't turn into pumpkins. But it was a late night by the time we finally got to bed. Has to be said we made the most of the day!

On Sunday morning we had a little walk around the garden, before taking Mandy back to the station. I was very sorry to be saying good bye, but at least we have our Christmas get together to look forward too.

 

Our day was totally....WICKED!

Saturday got off to an early, the alarm went off at 5.45am and I arose like a zombie! But then excitement kicked in and we were soon on our way to Lichfield to catch the 7.12am train. We arrived at London Euston at 8.30am and made our way to Dishooms in Carnaby Street. Indian food for breakfast is the way to go - delicious!!! I had a naan filled with bacon, cream cheese and chilli jam, yum! We had a very pleasant start to our day in somewhat 1970's themed surroundings.

After breakfast we visited Hamley's, it was still pretty early and for once the store was not rammed with screaming kids so we were able to stroll around and look at things. My patience finally paid off, I was able to get a glitter tattoo done up on the top floor as it was quiet. Its so sparkly! From Hamley's we walked along Oxford Street and stopped in a few shops, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Pull & Bear have opened a store. We didn't but anything, but it was fun looking.

Our next stop was the Wallace Collection, an amazing place that we truly love. We admired the paintings, and visited the armoury. There is so much to see, it really takes your breath away. We didn't have as long as I would have liked, but we never do! We had to leave in plenty of time to make our way to the Apollo for what was the highlight of the day - WICKED! This was our 9th time seeing this amazing musical and it still blows me away. The sets, the costumes, the music are all incredible but its Elphaba's performance that just wows you. I love it more every time, and am already looking forward to next year!

After the show we had dinner at Sicily, lovely food but expensive! We finally had a drink at the Doric Arms near Euston while we waited for our train. The day flew by way too fast, as they always do.  

Cannot wait for the next trip down to London.