After breakfast I decided to walk down to down to
the harbor and park before we left. It was another gorgeous morning and I ran
in to an English couple who were at the same hotel. We chatted a bit and then I
returned to help Paul load up the car. It was a bit dodgy maneuvering around
that wee garage into the lift to exit the hotel but master driver Paul with a
lot of hand signals from me managed just fine. We hit the road with no real
plan except to exit the city! We eventually resorted to the Michelin map book
and made our own way. These girls can really keep you circling! Sometimes you
have to ditch the electronic devices and use common sense.
The area is very depressed, with dry and dusty
farmland, dust devils abound and pick up the trash and swirl it who knows
where. For a country that is so conscious about recycling and alternate power
sources there sure are a lot of plastic bags flying around. They even charge
you for plastic bags in the supermarket to encourage people to bring their own
bags but a bunch of those suckers have escaped and are wreaking havoc on the
countryside! Paul says they need to have an adopt a highway program to pick up
the junk!
By the time we got to Lorca it was pushing 3.30
and it was time for lunch. We eventually found a place to keep body and soul
together and tried to find the Parador. We could see it but we could not get
there from here! We drove down streets just barely wide enough for the car,
follow a sign that pointed the direction but was impassible because of a cherry
picker type truck blocking the way ,there was no room to turnaround and the car
next to us wanted out! We threw ourselves on her and begged for mercy and
directions! She , our rescuer, led us out of the quagmire and maze of streets
and sent us on our way up the mountain with a wave! The climb was tortuous but
eventually we made it to the top of the mountain with drinks and beds within
reach! Victory at last. As you can image, we had no plans to leave that
sanctuary that night.
We went for a lovely swim in the pool and then
walked around exploring some of the archeological remnants of the old castle.
The Parador is new and as they we excavating before building, they discovered
these wonderful remains of the old castle. The are preserving them and I believe,
investigating further. This new building is square and fortress- like as are
the castles and fortresses all over this part of Spain. Warring factions,
Moors, noblemen with an inflated sense of self, all contributed to the
instability of the region until Isabel and Ferdinand stepped in eventually and
sorted them all out! That is not to say that other kings had not done their bit
in the re-conquest of Spain but they finished it.
Paul is
still scratching his head over the use of steel on the exterior of the buildings.
It is inevitable that eventually it will discolor and perhaps rust and cause
staining on the beautiful stone. The views over the surrounding countryside are
amazing and I believe you would have plenty of time to prepare if you should
see a warring army on the horizon! Paul got some good pictures and saw no
threat out there!
 |
| Down below Parador Lorca Note the covered greenhouses in the upper right side of pic. |
We met a lovely British couple, Hazel and Neil,
who have live in Eliche for over 30 years. They love the Paradors and have been
back to this one many times as it just one hour from their home. So often in
fact that they get special treatment from the staff and a suite when they come
back! They have visited over 76 Paradors and this one 24 times! It has only
been open 4 years! Apparently there was an earthquake in Lorca which delayed
the opening by a year. I do not remember hearing about this but 10 or 12 people
died and many of these ancient buildings were damaged. It is said that the
terramoto was caused by excessive water extraction from the ground. A point to
ponder when we look at fracking! Just sayin’.
We ate sandwiches in the bar that night. That poor
wee man, he was 65 if he was a day. The restaurant is at the other end of the
building and down one floor. I saw him several times exiting the elevator pushing
a cart. It was very lovely in the bar/lounge area but very isolated. It was
huge and empty and perhaps a little intimidating.
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