Our first Paddy’s day in Spain.

Thursday 17th March. After much indecision and nashing of teeth we plumped for Murcia as our next destination - approx 75kms inland and SW of that well known British holiday resort of Alicante. We tried very hard to travel to Valencia (which was our ultimate destination for Saturday 19th) via the inland and countryside route taking in two rural and ancient towns, Ubeda and Albacete. For reasons unknown to us we could not book accommodation in either town and so decided that maybe somebody was telling us to use a different route.


Ann looking cool & relaxed in her Kit




Tony looking distinctly uncool next to a local
 Policea Geezer



We set off quite late from Granada, leaving just before 1pm knowing that we had to cover some 270kms. We typed the coordinates of our next hotel Legazpi, into the satnav, and with the weather much improved, our spirits high,( nearly as high as the temp at about 21 degrees), we set off for Murcia hoping to complete the distance in a reasonable time, and in any case no longer than half hour ten minutes (specially for Georgio) lol. We arrived into Murcia at around 4.30pm in glorious sunshine and temperatures of 24 degrees. It was quite remarkable that mid-way between Granada and Murcia the cool wind that had been blowing, suddenly changed into a warm balmy wind. Such was the change that when Ann mentioned it to me over the mike, I too had noticed a distinct change. Not trying to tempt providence or being overly optimistic, maybe summer is on the way?

We unloaded our bags and parked the bike , changed our kit and set off for the City centre no more than five minutes walk away. . We had discussed our plans and decided that we were ready to move out of Spain into Italy and sailing from Valencia was a good option, cutting out those areas of Spain and France that we had visited previously. We had tried to book the ferry operator direct over t’internet, but were unsuccessful, so our aim  was to find a local travel agent who could book our passage on the Grimaldi- Line, the ferry operator from Valencia to Livorno in Italy on Sunday 20th March. We also discovered that accommodation in Valencia for the Friday & Saturday night was impossible (within our budget) as they were about to celebrate the festival of The Fallas (Fireworks) and literally there was no accommodation available. However, we did manage to secure a two night stay at a two star Hotel, Los Naranjos in the lovely coastal town of Gandia about 65kms due south of Valencia; just outside our budget of 10 euros for the two nights (Yes, I’m joking). After which we were able to relax knowing that we too would be in town to experience and enjoy the festival and all it’s celebrations, we now just needed to secure our ferry passage. I wont go into the details of the ferry, but the travel agent we found was superb. That ole Tony Cronin charm worked wonders (I don’t think) a young lady,(Raycar, Agencia de Viajes) Marrian Lopaz (no relation to Jennifer),worked extremely hard for us and by 1.30pm the following day (Friday 18th), almost 24 hrs later, our tickets were confirmed by Grimaldi .There was no turning back now, next country - Italy.

The Cathedral Square - Plaza de Belluga, with the Bishops
Palace just on the right.

 So after our visit to the travel agent we left to explore the central area of Murcia. It was a beautiful warm late afternoon with temperatures in the twentys, we found ourselves in the Plaza de Belluga, filled with people sitting enjoying the late sunshine and chatting at tables drinking their cafe Colechy. Standing immediately in front of us was the magnificent and imposing 14th Century Cathedral which according to history, took four centuries to complete and contains many differing styles of architecture – sounds a bit like the Sagrada Familia Cathederal in Barcelona

We were informed by the local Tourist office, that Like Ireland celebrating St Patricks day, they too in Murcia, were celebrating the festival of Virgen of the Fuensanta where the statue (opposite) is carried in a procession on the shoulders of men from a village 5kms away to the Cathederal. We witnessed this unexpected surprise along with the many other hundreds of local residents as the procession entered the Plaza de Belluga and then disappeared through the main doors, into the Cathedral. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and finished the day off with a meal and a couple of glasses of wine, drinking a toast to all you folks back home for St Paddy’s day, before making our way back to the hotel for a well earned kip.





Big Tone preparing to hear confessions
in the Cathedral (cost 1 euro per sin, straight into
Tones pocket!!!!)



Inside the Cathedral

 

Loads of Love, and missing everyone from
The Intrepid Easy-Pisa(y) Riders xxxx