A quick trip to Jerez de la Frontera

Last Thursday we made an overnight trip to Jerez (locally pronounced "Heréth").   Jerez is city of about 650,000 inhabitants, located about 100K west of Olvera and about 100K south of Sevilla.  For inhabitants of Olvera it is the closest commercial and shopping area.   

We went for the combined reasons of shopping and to visit the old town area. Linda was on the look out for some new sport sandals and I wanted to look for bicycle accessories.  Luckily, we found the stuff we needed at a large "Decathalon" store located in a shopping centre on the outskirts of the city.  Decathalon is something like Mountain Equipment Coop or a Canadian Tire of sporting equipment.

This is the fountain in Plaza Arenal, the main plaza in Jerez

Another typical breakfast.

We found that the city itself is not that attractive. It reminded me of some older Canadian cities where migration of the stores to plazas left unused building in the core area.   This had not been our experience with some other cities we have visited.  The historical centre is quite small but there was a great selection of cafes. 

 In the evening we found a nice cafe / restaurant on a side street. We were ready to eat at 6 pm but, as is common, the restaurant did not serve dinner until 8 pm. but they had a nice selection of tapas.

It is common for the bars to have their daily tapa selection on display.  This works well for us because many of the names of the tapas are obscure.
To the right are the two tapas we selected.  The one front and centre is called albondigas. They are very popular in Jerez.  It is ground beef with onions, pine nuts and a almond sauce served with crispy noodles.  The tapa on the right is goat cheese servered with crispy bread and local jams.  We enjoyed them both.


Friday morning we spent an hour or so at the shopping centre and had a quick bite before heading back to Olvera. The weather here has been hotter than expected. The high temperatures hover around 30 degrees but it cools off nicely after dark.   

Below are a couple of photos taken from our patio in Olvera.    It is a nice place to relax.

Olvera, etc.

It was nice to get back to Olvera and rest up from our trip to Portugal. Saturday is market day in Olvera. The best part of market day is that the churro truck parks right beside Pepe's Cafe.   I wouldn't say that deep fried batter with sugar and cinnamon are a necessary part of a healthy diet but they on Saturday morning... who can pass them up?    A bag full only cost 1 euro. The americano is in the glass.???  They are often served in a glass. Picking the glass up to drink it can be a challenge.

A half eaten order of churros and a cafe americano. (Churro truck in the background)

Saturday market, Peps's cafe mid photo.

Linda (in backgound) buying some dried fruit.

Both Saturday and Sunday were cloudy with a few light showers. It was a nice change from the warm days we had spent at the beach in Tavira.  While out walking we came upon this wedding procession.  I believe that he wedding took place at the church on the hill and procession had paused at the bottom of the stairs for photos.

 Every morning our friends come calling.

Candy and the little grey cat.  Of course Linda has treats for both of them.  The dog is very friendly and the cat is very demanding. 

Candy loves tummy rub.

For a couple of years now, we have been searching for reasonable e-bike rentals. Last year we rented two e-bikes for  a two week period and we really enjoyed riding in the Olvera area.  There is a great network of paved back roads that interconnect the villages, limited traffic and interesting scenery.  It is hilly terrain so e-bikes are a necessity for us. On most rides we climbed over 1000 metres total. Still a good workout even with the assist!

The problem is that we cannot find a company close to Olvera that rents the hybrid touring bikes that we want. Also e-bike rentals are expensive.  You can expect to pay between 50 and 70 euros per day for two bikes.  Two weeks rental at 60E per day.  840E is not much less than half the price of 1 e-bike

So... we started getting serious about buying some e-bikes. We spoke to a bike dealer here in Olvera and came up with a couple of bikes that fit the bill but we wanted to look around more.  We had previous spoken to a bike shop on the coast in San Pedro de Alcantara who sold some models that interested us.  So last Monday we jumped on the moto and rode to the coast to see what we could find.

 On the road to the coast is cafe where we regularly stop for coffee. The cafe is located at a the first location where you get a view of the Mediterranean Sea. In this photo you can also see the Atlas mountains of Morocco if you look close.

There is always some interesting machinery in the parking lot of this cafe. Normally these machines are two wheeled but in this case they had four wheels.  When I saw then I could not quite believe what I saw.

Road licensed go-karts!!! 

I chatted with the owner of the go-karts for quite a while.  They have150cc motors capable of 80 kph uphill and of course, faster downhill.
I asked him how he managed to get them registered for road use. He told me that the Spanish authorities would not register them until he explained to them that the EU law states that if a vehicle is legal in any one member country, the other countriesare required to accept the legality of the vehicle. Once the Spanish authorities realized that he would register them in Germany, they changed their mind.

Getting back to the trip to San Pedro...  After arriving we went to the bike shop, "Bike Base" and chatted with Jan, who I believe is the business owner. Luckily he had a few of the type of bikes similar to the ones we were looking for.  It was a first opportunity we had to try a few bikes for size.

I had already researched the web site and selected a couple of models. Jan did some research and checked availability.  The bikes we were looking for were available in the right sizes and since they were 2019 models and the 2020 models were under production, they were on sale.

So... we order  2  e-bikes. They should arrive early next week.  The brand of bikes is Winora. It is a German company that also makes Haibike mountain e-bikes.   The bikes we are getting are hybrid touring bikes. One is a regular men's bike and the other is step-through frame.  The model is Winora Sinus Tria 8. I think that they will be great for day tripping or short tours.

Since we were on the coast we decided to find a cheap hotel, stay the night and rent a couples of bike to ride to Marbella in the morning.  There is wide walking / biking path that runs 10 K from San Pedro to Marbella.  In the evening we found a nice outdoor restaurant and orders some chicken teriyaki skewer and  a quinoa salad  to share.

Main plaza in San Pedro de Alcantara

Here are a couple of photos of each of us a Pepe's Cafe for our mid morning coffee. We went for a nice long walk and on the way back stopped for an egg and bacon sandwich at Los Arbolitos, picked up some groceries and came home to relax, write the blog and prepare for another side trip.

Tomorrow we are going to Jerez de la Frontera for another overnighter.  Jerez is Spanish for Sherry. Jerez is located at the topof the "Sherry Triangle". It is also well know as the capital of flamenco.

Perhaps we will get a taste of both....

hasta luego...

 

Trip to Tavira, Portugal

We only spent three nights in Olvera before taking a holiday within a holiday. ???  Originally we had different plans for this trip to Spain and 5 nights in Tavira was part of that plan.  Since we already had the booking we decide to keep it and see what Tavira was like. We had passed through and stopped for coffee on a previous motorbike trip and liked what we saw.

We spent most of the first 3 days in Olvera getting the bike ready to travel.  We had a few electrical problems. The first problem was a dead battery  Fortunately there is a motorcycle shop almost right across the road from the storage garage so I removed the battery and went shopping.

The dealer did not have the battery I needed but he told me that he could order one that would arrive the next day.  The battery was due to arrive at 8:00 pm but didn’t arrive until 10:30.  Luckily the family that owns the garage was very understanding. They gave us a key to the garage so that I could come early the next morning to install the battery.  Unfortunately the battery was not the only problem! The moto turned over but would not start!   This was not totality unexpected. We have previous had problems with corrosion of the electrical contacts   After a quick trip to the bike shop for some new fuses and and some cleaning of the contacts, the bike fired up. An hour later we were on the road for Tavira, Portugal.

All in all the problems with the bike were not a big issue.  These situations are a good learning experience.  There is nothing like necessity to give one an opportunity to practice and learn some new Spanish words.

The moto parked in the shade behind the house.The railing seen at the top of the photo is our upper rooftop terrace.

The distance between Olvera and Tavira is just over 300K.  The ride was uneventful but the route passes through Sevilla and the traffic was heavy at times. Road closures added to the complexity but the GPS helped us navigate the city.  We crossed the Portuguese border on the main highway from Sevilla. There is no border crossing (thanks to the EU) but visitors are required to pass though what appears to be a set of toll booths.   We were not planning to use the toll roads so we stopped at a visitor centre located at the entrance to the toll area.  The attendant explained that if we left the toll road at either of the first two exits there was no toll.

Tavira

Tavira is a small town at the eastern end of the Algarve district. The Algarve is the southernmost part of Portugal and it is a popular tourist destination.   The area around Tavira is flat and quite marshy.  A phenomenal beach is located on a sandbar  island a few hundred metres off the mainland. It is accessible by ferry at the Tavira end and a ferry from Santa Luzia and small tourist train or walking path and the west end of the beach.   The beach extends along the coast for 7 kilometres.

On the ferry to Praia Tavira (the beach). Looking back at Tavira

7 K of the softest sand we have ever experienced.

Most of the beach is like this... mostly deserted except for the areas close to the 3 beach access

 points.

This is the walking path and train access point near the west end of the beach.

The central part of Tavira  is divided by a wide river.  The water level in the river fluctuates with the tide, sometimes full and sometimes almost empty.   Many of the tidal pools, between the island and the mainland, have been developed into salt production.

The Gilao river in Tavira near low tide

The Gilao river in Tavira near high tide

These looks on the bridge railing are engraved with the names of couples who locked them together.

There  is good selection of cafes and restaurants as well as a variety of accommodation.   The market, located in building near the water front, has a great section of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, etc.

The town is a tourist destination but its location is far enough from the main tourist areas to make it enjoyable and relaxing.   There are quite a few Brits and Spaniards as well as a variety of other nationalities.

There are cafes along the river promenades. We twice ate at the restaurant patio near the left side of this photo.

A typical small park in central Tavira

Walking back to our condo after dinner. Very pleasant!

There are many buildings of historical significance but the beach seems to be main draw.    Due to the size of the beach it is not crowded, at least not at this time of year.   The temperature today is in the high 20s but here on the beach, with the on shore breeze, it is very comfortable.

We have spent our time walking, eating, drinking, sleeping. Then repeat. There is a nice loop that we discovered by taking the ferry from town to one end of the beach, then walking 5 K along the beach to reach a bridge that returns to the mainland.   The walk back to Tavira passes through the town of Santa Luzia where there are some nice cafes along the waterfront.  We walked over 75K during our time in Tavira. 

A walking / cycling path from Tavira to the western beach access point.

Santa Luzia water front. This is the narrow strip of water that separates the mainland from the island beach strip.

Like most tourist towns, there is no shortage of restaurants and cafes. We found some good ones. The food selections were diverse and reasonably priced.  We could get a very nice meal with a bottle of wine for around 30 Euros (45 C$)    One restaurant, recommenced by friends, was spectacular. It is called d' Gusta.  If you go Tavira, don't miss it!  Reservations are suggested but we went early (at 7pm when it opened) an they fit us in at a table that had a later reservation. They only serve tapas but they are all very special.

We are back to Olvera now.   It was 4 hour trip home. We ran into some construction on the outskirts of Sevilla and got rerouted through the city, once again.  That was not much fun but it put us on a different route to Olvera that we have not yet travelled.

Time go to a local cafe for a beer and a cider.....   hasta luego.

Arrived In Malaga

We arrived in Malaga yesterday afternoon after a one night stopover in the UK.  It is nice to be here. It is sunny and warm.  We spent the day exploring Malaga and walked over 20K.

Both of the flights were OK. They both got us to our destination but neither of them was very comfortable. The seats on the overnight Westjet flights were quite uncomfortable and we both only managed an hour of sleep.  Easyjet has a strange and rather complicated luggage policy. You can only take one carry-on bag onto the flight. Even a small purse counts as your second bag and it has to fit into the other carry-on bag. We had to stuff a few things into our already quite full carry-on before we were allowed to board.  Next time we will be better prepared.

The evening we arrived we walked into the centre of town and found a table at a sidewalk cafe. We ordered a couple of glasses of Sangria and some tapas. As we were enjoying the refreshments the crowd began to grow and assembled themselves along the side of the street. We soon discovered that it was significant religious holiday and that were going to have a good view of the approaching parade.  Several bands were in the parade. Unlike most parade bands we have heard in Canada, these bands were great. They all played some enjoyable classical style pieces and they played them well!

Like most cities in Spain, the centre area of the city is traffic free. Both wide and narrow streets wind their way though the buildings.  There are cafes and restaurants on nearly every street as well as residences, businesses and retail shops.

The first two photos below are of the port and marina.  There are some very pleasant paths and parks close to this area and well as a selection of resurants, etc.

This is one of the main commercial streets leading the central plaza.

Hopefully this video plays OK.  The old river bed is now an activity area. From the look of it, it may possibly contain water in the rainy season but at this point it is dry and in front of hotel was volley ball game.  This "volleyball" game is nothing like I have ever seen before.

Football (soccer to you North Americans) is the big game in Spain. This game of "volleyball" is football inspired.

I couldn't get the video to work on the blog so I uploaded it to  Youtube  Copy and paste the link below to your browser to see it.

https://youtu.be/NvT-P3Hwgfo



Tomorrow, we are off to Olvera where we have rented a house for  month.   More news from there...

There has been a large gap in my blog updates. All is well with Linda and I.  I've just been a little lazy.   There have been a few changes in our life this past year.

This summer we sold our house in Kaslo that we have been using as a summer residence and vacation rental property.  We did extensive renovation to house that was built in 1897.  It was labour of love. A very satisfying experience.

However; it was a lot of work to maintain the house and the extensive garden. We reached the point where we thought that we should reduce our workload but we still wanted to reside in Kaslo during the summer months.  We sold the house to a younger couple who are continuing with the vacation rental and Linda and I have rented an apartment in Kaslo.

At this moment we are in Fernie, packing up to leave for Spain on Monday. We are returning to Andalusia where we have rented a house in Olvera, for the first month.  Then we will spend a week in Gaucin and the rest of the time in Valencia.  On the way to Spain we will stop in Ontario to visit Linda's family for a few days.

We are now at the Toronto airport in the Air France - KLM lounge waiting for our flight to Gatwick.   This is the first time we have used the lounge pass and it is very nice. Six lounge uses per year are complimentary with our Passport Visa card.

We spent the last few days with Linda's brother, Steve and Theresa. We had a chance to visit Linda's Dad a couple of times and to see our niece, Jenna, her husband Eric and their new, 3 week old, daughter, Avery.  We had a very nice time... walking around Fonthill and cycling to Niagara on the Lake. 

It's been quite a few years since we have been to Niagara on the Lake  (50+). It is definitely a touristy town!   But a very attractive spot.  There is abundance of flora throughout the centre of town.  Below is a small sample of the many flower garden.

Niagara On The Lake

The trip did not start out too well with our accommodation selection.  When we arrived in Calgary, the Airport Travelodge hotel, we had booked, was undergoing a total renovation. We had not been advised. They offered us a room that was located in the middle of the construction area. The place was a mess. We declined and went to hotel down the street to the Royal Hotel Calgary. This hotel was very nice. The staff was super friendly and helpful. They offered us a better stay-park-fly rate than the Travelodge, so it worked out OK. I would recommend it.

That's it for now. Sorry about the lack of photos. I'll make taking photos a higher priority for here on in.    Time now for some refreshments. This lounge has a restaurant and open bar as well as great wifi and comfortable seating. Next stop Gatwick and a B&B in Three Bridges.