If that’s your perfect holiday, this blog is definitely NOT for you!

However if you are one of those people who want to step away from the stereotype of English holidaymakers, and are looking to travel to areas where real Spain is experienced, where the Flamenco dancers have heard of Joaquín Cortés or Sara Baras, where the food is not “photofood” off a menu written with Google Translate, then this blog IS for you!

How do we go about creating these holidays when the mass market of information directs us to the coast, and to the tourism cattle market?  The answer is by risking the “Road Less Travelled” as M Scott Peck’s book suggests.

There are literally thousands of holiday homes, pensions, casa rurales, as well as Parador hotels from which you can choose.   Some will allow you to book a night or two, and then you can take a risk and see where your adventure leads you.  Some, like Casa La Celada, are so centrally positioned that you can treat each road that leaves the house like a spoke on a wheel – travel to the edge of the wheel and then return later on, allowing you to unpack and settle in one place.

If you know that Flamenco is an absolute must, then you “absolutely must” find out about the Guitar Festival in Cordoba which happens every July.

Another favourite is a drive to Cordoba for the day and a trip to Tablao Cardenal where you can enjoy a traditional Flamenco show.  The dancers won’t be wearing polyurethene dresses held together with velcro or safety pins and many of them will have trained in the Sevillana Flamenco Schools.  But if you don’t fancy the drive to Seville, then bookings can be made for the Tablao Cardenal festival which runs most nights of the week here http://www.flamencotickets.com/tablao-el-cardenal-cordoba.

But Iam a persistent type, and discovered that the weekend nearest the 25th April, is ALWAYS a fiesta – and it’s called the Fiesta de San Marcos.

What’s totally hilarious is that I’ve asked every Spanish friend I know what on earth it’s about, and absolutely no-one knows!

What they do know though is that there is a traditional procession of the beautiful and extremely heavy efigy of the Christ, together with having a basket filled with tooth rotting goodies – from sugar saturated popcorn to “chuches” (sweeties) and chocolate for the children and adults like.  And the Spanish LOVE their sweets.

They go armed to the hilt, lock, stock and two smoking barrells to the beach either here at Valdearenas or round by the camp site further down the lake and revel all day and all night over the entire weekend.  They arrive with entire kitchens of equipment – full tables, chairs, cloths, enormous camp cooking facilities, entertainments, ghetto blasters and tents.

The shops are heaving with barbeque goods, the smells are mouth wateringly delicious.  It’s a wild and mad expense with street markets selling everything you can think of and music eventually crescendo-ing to a volume so loud it will pound your inner ear to a mass of pulverised glue.  Great for the early night folk as you can’t hear it from Casa La Celada, and great for the revellers as that side of it begins around 2am and goes on til 6-8am the following day.

And then May Day, the following weekend, is Fuente Del Conde’s Annual Fiesta de Santa Cruz de Magán … and I’m told this particular fiesta is one of the best around. So we shall indulge in some of that, but I think will step gracefully away from the madnesses of this weekend !!

For further information about staying at Casa La Celada for the Fiesta de San Marcos, contact Amanda via our contact page or emailing me amanda@amanda-hamilton.com

It was so bitterly cold some mornings the pharmacy barometers would tell me we were looking at a chilling -7 degrees Celsius.  I definitely didn’t have the right clothes for that and had to go shopping for both of us quickly!

One winter was enough for my thin blood, and we moved south to Andalucia where we found Casa La Celada, on the cusp of the Alhambra province of Granada, the Mezquita province of Cordoba and beach, Picasso and Alcazaba province of Malaga … We were literally slap bang in the heart of Andalucia.

I have never known a village embrace a stranger with such ease as we experienced on arrival in La Celada, our “Hidden Village” on the outskirts of Iznajar.

Luisa, our neighbour opposite who cares for her Mum and Aunt, her daughter and son and her husband as they work to keep their olive groves in good order, became an immediate chat partner – and a great way to help improve my Spanish.   We cooked the village paella together for the 19th March Dia de San Jose, we walked through the groves together and we killed pigs together ….

Juan and Francisco who jointly own and run the little bar next door became a regular coffee stop in the afternoons once all the work was done and gave me a great opportunity to talk about life in England – something they simply couldn’t comprehend.

And Isabel and Dulce, the absolutely unfailingly professional and friendly village shop managers who always had something to say that would help our integration into village life – whether it was a sweetie slipped to Zack when I wasn’t looking, or advice on the best bits of dried meats or cheeses to choose.

La Celada Village Shop

But what made the difference for me was that first Winter.  It really was a proper Spanish winter.  Brilliant bright blue skies making me peel my sweater off down to a t-shirt.  Warmth on my face, and sparkling sunlight all around.  Yes, it was as chilly as anything in the shade, it was Winter, after all! …. But when in the sun … it was a totally new experience for me.  No dampness leaching into my bones … no need for endless hot baths to keep warm …. but an opportunity to again live outside among the locals, wandering around without worrying about sun screen or time in the sun, but still benefiting from the sun’s rays in deepest December or Frosty February!

And it’s when the locals work at their hardest because of course it is Olive Season.

Harvesting Olives in Iznajar

The trees are threshed and beaten into submission and the oils are pressed first, second and third times before the stones are crushed to make “logs” to burn in your winter fires.

Everyone has a winter fire to sit around, with a hot drink or, more likely, a glass of fino – a type of sharp sherry.  The children run around outside, oblivious to the temperatures playing games we used to see on British streets 30 years ago.

There is warmth and friendliness that becomes more …. real, more grounded, more edged with the truth of Spain – that it is an upside down country that works hardest in the Winter and sleeps in the Summer so that the seasons work best for them.

Holidaying in Andalucia is not for the tan seeker, but it is perfect for the sightseer.  While you might have a rainy day, you can do so much because there is no sweltering heat to have to fend off.  Instead, there are open fires at the end of the day after easy access to some of the most amazing sights in Europe.

Lake Iznajar

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It’s that time of year again, when the ancient city of Córdoba, once the capital of Europe, comes to life with an explosion of colour, a riot of horses and flamenco sounds permeating the winding streets of this extraordinary Moorish city.

Córdoba captured my heart the first time I went …. Walking over the amazing Roman Bridge that spans one of Spain’s most famous rivers, the Guadalquivir. It’s extraordinary ….
Where is it?
Well, on a map of Spain, it’s here :

How do you get there?
By train from Málaga or Madrid via Renfe, by bus from most cities also, or by car / taxi / chauffeur …..
And why on God’s Green Earth would you want to go there?
Check this out … it’s just Stunning ….

And every May, Córdoba blossoms …..

More than 200 gardens to see, plus the ancient Mezquita, the Botanical Gardens, the Alcazaba and the Turkish Baths …… It’s simply breathtaking …

When will you come?

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Wet suited, trainered and booted, with sandwiches triple clingfilmed, we embarked upon a two or three kilometre descent through some of the most pure kingfisher green water I have ever seen …

Rio Verde’s reputation as being one of the best canyons is several fold :

1. The “mouth” of the canyon is unusually wide – that means that the sun penetrates through and so you don’t freeze down there …

2. The jumps, abseils and canoe areas are really well maintained – making it a very safe descent

3. The canyon has been carefully graded so beginners through to experts can repeatedly get a big rush out of it …

Take a look at some jumps …

I watched the others in my group – most of whom were under 16, do this one :

But I did this one :

…..and this one :

…. the sound of me “YEE – HAA” ing ricocheted around the canyon for hours afterwards …

From a starting point at 9.30am about an hour and twenty minutes from here to the end at around 5pm, it was truly one of the most exhilarating days I can so far remember …..

If you want to do it, tell me – I now know ALL the people you need to know and can give ALL the directions you need to have AND organise good looking strong fit English speaking guides …

Sendero del Barranco del R�o Verde (Otivar – Granada) (Segunda parte) (14/9/2003)

Oh, and we’ll even cook a Casa La Celada special supper when you make it back totally knackered and ruddy cheeked from the experience of it all !!

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