Teruel was a lovely town and we enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Reina Cristina. When we had booked we had enquired about parking as with suitcases and 2 dogs, we didn't want to have too far to walk. They had said that parking was limited on a first come first parked basis. By the time we arrived the underground car park was full but we were able to park the car there while we unloaded everything and get directions to the nearest car park.
The instructions were simple - end of the road, turn left, then next right and there would be a multi-storey where we could park overnight for a reasonable sum. So, I took the dogs up to the room while Neil went to park the car. And we waited, and we waited and we waited. Eventually I got a call from Neil, he couldn't find the car park but he had done his own version of the Italian job driving the car through the paved courtyards and down narrow streets, not always in the right direction.
Eventually he came back to the hotel and I went with him to find the car park - 1st left , 1st right and there it was - unfortunately Neil had done 1st left, 1st left - and it opened up a whole new world.
Back to the hotel for dinner we discovered that the Spaniards eat late, the restaurant didn't open until 9.00pm so we were ready for dinner when we sat down to look at the menu - which was of course, all in Spanish. Although we could understand enough to know whether it was chicken or fish, we didn't know how it would be cooked or what it would be served with, so I said I would go and get the faithful Nintendo DS so we could order. In the time it took me to go to the room and back, the waiter had taken a menu through to reception and the receptionist had written some basic translations on that enabled us to order dinner - what service.
The following morning we were on the road by 10.00am on our final leg.
Once we got past Alicante we headed south and I started to see familiar signs. We were amazed at the amount of buildings in Benidorm, wow, that must be so busy on summer. We saw some lovely towns from a distance (we were on the A7, so passed most places at speed) and eventually started to see place names we knew.
Before long we were passing the turning for San Javier airport at Murcia and we were on roads we had travelled before. Our journey was almost at an end. It was with great excitement that we left the main road at our turning to San Juan and drove through the hills waiting for our first glimpse of the sea, the buildings and our new home.
Driving onto the coastal road and into the town signalled the end of a very long and eventful journey. We parked the car and walked to a beach side cafe to have a drink while we waited for Tarleton to come and open up the villa, our home for the next few months.
12 months of planning, 4 days of travelling and we were finally here - our new home!
The instructions were simple - end of the road, turn left, then next right and there would be a multi-storey where we could park overnight for a reasonable sum. So, I took the dogs up to the room while Neil went to park the car. And we waited, and we waited and we waited. Eventually I got a call from Neil, he couldn't find the car park but he had done his own version of the Italian job driving the car through the paved courtyards and down narrow streets, not always in the right direction.
Eventually he came back to the hotel and I went with him to find the car park - 1st left , 1st right and there it was - unfortunately Neil had done 1st left, 1st left - and it opened up a whole new world.
Back to the hotel for dinner we discovered that the Spaniards eat late, the restaurant didn't open until 9.00pm so we were ready for dinner when we sat down to look at the menu - which was of course, all in Spanish. Although we could understand enough to know whether it was chicken or fish, we didn't know how it would be cooked or what it would be served with, so I said I would go and get the faithful Nintendo DS so we could order. In the time it took me to go to the room and back, the waiter had taken a menu through to reception and the receptionist had written some basic translations on that enabled us to order dinner - what service.
The following morning we were on the road by 10.00am on our final leg.
Once we got past Alicante we headed south and I started to see familiar signs. We were amazed at the amount of buildings in Benidorm, wow, that must be so busy on summer. We saw some lovely towns from a distance (we were on the A7, so passed most places at speed) and eventually started to see place names we knew.
Before long we were passing the turning for San Javier airport at Murcia and we were on roads we had travelled before. Our journey was almost at an end. It was with great excitement that we left the main road at our turning to San Juan and drove through the hills waiting for our first glimpse of the sea, the buildings and our new home.
Driving onto the coastal road and into the town signalled the end of a very long and eventful journey. We parked the car and walked to a beach side cafe to have a drink while we waited for Tarleton to come and open up the villa, our home for the next few months.
12 months of planning, 4 days of travelling and we were finally here - our new home!
1 comment:
Hi Jacqui
As always, I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog, thanks.
Such an adventure, not sure if I could do what you've done though we should, seeing that Chris is now retired, try driving down to Guardamar. He'd like to but he takes forever & a day organising anything so it'll likely never happen !
Cuddles to Brandy & Brinkley. Hi to Neil.
Janice
PS I STILL had to go through process of signing up again, have to do this every time I post.Same email address, password, blogger name. Wierd isn't it ?
Post a Comment