This hotel is supposed to be a 4 star hotel and as we arrived in front it did indeed look really nice. That was however where the niceties stopped. The receptionist was trying to be helpful (when he/she was there and not helping out in the bar as they were severely understaffed) so that was okay. But there were no information in the room telling about the hotel, check-out, amenities and the sheets/linen weren’t changed even though we were there 4 days! One evening we ate at the hotel restaurant and seriously I almost would rather eat dog food than that again. I had a chicken breast which had been deep fried, it was oozing oil and the salad was drowned in bad olive oil and everything had way too much salt (likely to cover that it may be yesterdays leftovers). Horrible and expensive food (compared to the quality), definitely can't recommend it.

After getting up at 2:45am and travelling on a bus for 2 hours, waiting in the airport for 2 hours, flying for 2½ hours (yay the joy of travelling..) we were very tired but looking forward to the sun (weather forecast for weeks before was sunny, no wind and 20C). As we stepped out the plane though, mother nature decided to play a bit and it was storming, grey skies, 13C and raining like whipped.... sigh.. that was not quite how I pictured the southern Spain on my first visit.. so after we finally got to the hotel we decided to sleep the day away.

This turned out to be a brilliant idea as next day, even though it was still very windy, the sky was blue and the sun shining. So we went on to see the castle Alcazaba. This was really nice and had a good view over Almeria.

30 mins away from Almeria we drove to Cabo de Gata which is an area of the coast to the East. Going along the water it was so windy that the foam kicked up by the waves slapped on the road and ocean spray on the car. And after going through the sand the rental car looked like it had been through a blizzard... I'm just happy I didn't have to clean it! But Cabo de Gata was pretty cool in the wind. When we got up to the top of the cliffs (after a little scary oneway drive (see the pic)) the cliffs looked great in the waves (at least when ones hair wasn't forcefully slapped into ones face by the wind all the time).

As we were there during Easter there were a lot of religious parades. One evening we went down to see them. It was very different to what I thought. The participants were dressed in special outfits with high hats and there was no sounds except for people praying and shuffling around. It was interesting to see.

This is the worse rural house than we have been (and we have been in more than 10) by the following thing: - the house was very, very dirty: it made sick to enter barefoot the shower (in the shower plate there is a rug of bath and under the rug a black layer of stuck dirt) - we killed more than 15 spiders inside the house (some of them fat) - the bottom of the swimming pool was full of sand and solar cream floating in the surface in addition to flies and other tiny beasts (in all the single week the water purifier was connected when I in march put) - To make matters worse, one night of the bell extractor they began to fall worms on a frying pan that we had prepared to begin to make the supper (according to the owner it would have to be a bird died in the exit of smoke) - the house that we occupied does not have conditioned air as it announces in the pamphlet and the Web, only a ventilator. We had to maintain the windows closed because the mosquito nettings were not subject to the marks, the slightest breeze threw them and the house filled immediately of flies. - the house does not have washing machine inside, is one outside common one and that, according to it indicates a poster - in French -, it is necessary to pay 3? by the service (I do not know if it works, the truth, because it was disassembled) - they gave single to 1 bath towel and 1 towel Us of hands for 2 adults and 2 children. After insisting they gave 2 bath towels more (one of full her of spots) and 2 us of hands. - the menaje of the house is minimum and was dirty: there was floorcloth nor no estropajo - in the rest of rural houses that we have always known there was a material minimum to be able to clean -, was a cover of ghost pot express (because it was not the pot), there were utensils no to cook like spoons of wood or skimmer. The beater made sick because it had stuck food and spiderwebs in the blades. - they did not gather the sweepings in all the week, reason why we had in the door a full bucket until above. - the property of I do not know how many hectares do not serve like relaxation place, because it is a pedregal with oxidized irons wire drawings throughout and work machinery. - the common terrace under parra is useless, because during the day it gives all the sun and at night it does not have illumination. - the terrace of the house is totally useless because it does not have table nor chairs of outside. - the house is near a cattle operation reason why, when the wind comes from that zone, the scent to dung is very strong. - the 25 minutes that announce until the beach, are at least 35 or 40 if you respect the speed limits; the railcar is not near the house, before are several kilometers by a rural way, are necessary to cross Santa Maria de Nieva and to arrive until Huércal-Overa, where already the railcar is taken.

Après cette session de 3-4 jours bien chargés entre l'entrée au port de Sagunto et notre dérapage nocturne à quelques miles d'Alicante, nous retournons à nos bonnes vieilles habitudes de voyageurs pépère ;) Beau temps, mer clémente, poissons aussitôt pêchés-aussitôt grillés, couchers de soleil et visites d'Alicante et Carthagène. Et pour notre plus grand plaisir nous longeons les splendides côtes andalouses. Je sens toutefois que l'air ambiant se charge d'appréhension...le détroit de Gibraltar s'approche. Pourtant le sort frape une fois de plus: un hauban est pret a lacher...nous faisons donc une halte forcee a Almeria. Rien pour reparer par ici. Une meteo capricieuse nous amene cependant a rester visiter Almeria et ses alentours. Une ville pas si loin de Marseille et pourtant si pauvre par quartiers. Cela me rappelle que tout n´est pas si rose meme a deux pas de chez soi...Les hauteurs de la ville sont toutefois gratifiees d´un tres sympathique chateau avec patios et chatons errants. Nous pousserons notre visite jusqu´au desert de Tabernas a quelques km de ca dans les terres. Cette ballade improvisee dans les collines nous menera sans le savoir au pas de la porte de la maison de ´Olaf´, un allemand qui a tout quitte il y a quelques annes de ca pour venir s´installer la au fond d´un vallon qui acceuille maintenant une dizaine de familles vivant en autonomie ou du moins a l´ecart...quand voyage rime avec rencontres ca n´est pas pour me deplaire.  De retour au port une mer plus calme nous pemet enfinde rejoindre au moteur (eh oui sans hauban fiable pas de voile...) le prochain port: Almeria.