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DOS HERMANAS + HOTEL TRH La Motilla

I had booked TRH La Motilla for our stay (for 7 nights) for its central location of intended places to visit.
Also affordable and with friendly staff we found (as it turned out my stay would be extended to 3 weeks
and the staff offered me the most incredible moral support!!!)

The TRH La Motilla is visited by a lot of groups and tour busses, obviously also benefitting from its central location.
On walking distance there's a carrefour, a few restaurants (which I did not get to visit), busstops and good roads
out of town. A nearby ATM and pharmacy came in handy too.

Dos Hermanas is a neat and somewhat boring town, suburbian. At least what I came to see on the only stroll.

A few times we (or me alone) visited this Irish pub 'Two Sisters', in Dos Hermanas. One of few highlights here...


Never found a pint of Guinness so cheap!

The restaurant was closed in the evenings if they had no tour groups staying. Nice and quiet.

As I said, during to the extra 2 weeks I stayed here on my own, I received an unbelievable amount of (moral)
support from the staff at reception and the bar/ restaurant. There wasn't a morning or evening they inquired
after the status and outlook, and helped me to overcome disappointments. They kept me in the same room, often
a nice attention waiting in my room when I returned in the evening.
Their support and empathy is the positive thing I will remember of this trip. Can't thank them enough.

When things were still rosy and fine, I found upon entering the carpark of our hotel a plane on a plint. What a surprise!

Hispano HA.200 Saeto E.14 A 17 (53-397) in Dos Hermanas (Sevilla)
The first day of our stay we visited Cádiz, see the link at top of this page. The 2nd day we went to Málaga for
the aviation museum (LINK). Some photo taken enroute below.

This was earlier, on the trip to Malaga, when the weather showed extremes: blue skies at first, heavy rains going back.

A stop en route for lunch.

Intermedia sunshine and rain. Can't leave without the inevitable oranges I thought.

We arrived at Jaen and followed directions for the start of the procession, but the weather made it doubtful.

And then the sun reappeared, so we could hope for the procession to proceed

People were gathering at the small church

And then people started leaving, it was deemed too slippery on the cobblestones
in the small alleys and too windy to keep the paso (float) stable. Too dangerous for bystanders too.

The road home: 2 days by car from Sevilla via Albacete to Barcelona. Followed by 2 days by train.

The scenery driving to Albacete was disappointing: neat rows of olive trees covering the entire landscape.

Advertisement for Tio Pepe sherry, somewhere along the Sevilla - Albacete route.

I had extended the rental car agreement (pleasant cooperation with Europcar) and had hoped to be able to drive to
Paris. But the drop off charge was prohibitive: a rental car with Spanish plates could not be rented out in France
and had be brought back empty to Spain. Don't mention 'United EU' to me, for we saw many examples during this
stay of how Europe is noted anyway united. For the trains see further down.

Only a small part of our 2 days in the car crossing Spain showed an interesting landscape. The roads were good.

Departing Albacete we were treated on some interesting mountains, they reminded me of Colorado and Utah.

But soon we faced flat landscape again. I see no need to ever return to these parts again.

We covered Sevilla - Barcelona in 2 days, 2x 500km, with a nightstop in Albacete. Mostly good travelling.

There's a good hi-speed train service in Spain (however limited). From Seville to Barcelona, with a transfer in
Madrid, one can complet ethat in 1 day. But they don't connect to hi-speed trains except in Barcelona.
The only hi-speed train we could find was an SNCF service from Barcelona to Paris but it could only be booked
online through a website that was complicated and confusing. No wonder train travel is no match
compared to aviation: so much easier to book air travel and easier to compare rates and schedules.
And I found Spain one of the least 'connected to the EU' countries I've ever visited. Long ways to go.

Busy train stations offered opportunities to add some photography for my #_OnReading series.

The 2 days driving in Spain, first class travel Barcelona to Spain and a night in Paris concluded this
traumatic episode with a touch of vacationing. Our son helped with the bags on trains and online bookings
from Barcelona to Amsterdam and this was a very pleasant, it calmed the senses. Very grateful indeed.

This concludes my report of a travel that brought on a traumatic event, memorable to us to say the least.
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PAGE ONE CÁDIZ | PAGE TWO CARMONA | PAGE 3 SEVILLA #1| PAGE 4 SEVILLA #2 | CLOSING PAGE

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