Summer Holiday

We had been looking forward to our summer holiday so much, especially as the previous year’s holiday was cancelled, due to me waiting for a hip replacement operation. Another reason was that we were going to a completely new region, unknown to either of us, Castilla La Mancha, the land of Don Quixote and windmills.

However, it was not all plain sailing. A few weeks before the holiday John suffered an extended bout of laryngitis so the doctor sent him to the ENT specialist, who found a growth on his voice box. After a biopsy, we had to attend the hospital on the morning of our holiday departure date for the result. The specialist said the growth would be removed by laser treatment, and that we would receive a call for the appointment. An hour or so later the phone rang and John was told that the laser treatment would be the next week on a Tuesday, right in the middle of our holiday! So, hotels were cancelled, and other hotels were booked, back in Andalucía, near the hospital. We were, nonetheless, very grateful for their speedy action.

To finish the saga of the ENT business, we had an appointment this morning, the day after we got back, and the news could not be better, they have removed the growth and everything is now clear, though John is still whispering! He went to work today, mainly to see the boss, after all he couldn’t phone him! Tomorrow, we see our local doctor and she will likely give John a “baja”, the Spanish equivalent of a sick note, to give his voice time to rest and recover.

So, the holiday! We started by going to towards Castilla La Mancha, but stopping in Baeza for the first two nights. We had visited its neighbour Úbeda a few years before. They are both UNESCO Heritage Sites, so there was plenty to see when we took the tourist train around Baeza. We moved on to Cuidad Real, however what we saw on the way was also interesting! We visited the oldest castle in Spain at Baños de Encina, then had lunch in a beautiful square in Almagro. In Cuidad itself we visited the Don Quixote Museum and the Gosset Parque, a park with more fountains than normal and every one different.

Once we resumed our holiday after the hospital visit, we finally entered windmill country, stopping to see them at Campo Criptana before staying in Alcazar de San Juan, then the next day it was off to Toledo. Once again, we stopped to see the windmills, this time at Consuegra, where we were able to enter one of the windmills to see how they worked. The next day we took another tourist train. I think they are really an excellent way of seeing a new city. On these trains there were earphones supplied, and we could turn the commentary to English. 

Then, after three days exploring Toledo we left for our final destination where, back in Andalucía, we stayed in Jaén for three nights.  Here there was a trip on a tourist open topped bus, so once again we were able to see all the sites, with a commentary in English again! In Jaén we found a wonderful bar where you could choose your tapa from a list of 41, free with your drink, and the tapas were quite sizeable too! 

Then finally, on the last day of July, we returned home, stopping for a jamón and queso lunch in the famous Meson Granadul in Guadix. 

It was a strange holiday with the interruption in the middle, and Spain was suffering with a heatwave, so it was extremely hot. Lots of swims in the hotel pools and siestas in the air-conditioned hotel rooms kept us sane! Now we are home, and it is lovely to look back over the photos and remember the special moments 

However, we are now already planning our next trip, Christmas in Seville!