Summer Holidays

[Bruce Rioja]

I also am a Nerja fan... First went in 1982... Last went last year to avoid the Royal Wedding...

Enjoyed those times and the 3 or 4 in between...

Whereabouts did you stay?

dunno about WtW - but we stayed at the very swish Parador...

http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/parador ... 56&lang=en

I stayed at OJJ's Grandad's.

[ohjimmyjimmy]

Oooh...posh!
For our honeymoon we stayed at the hotel next to it, el paraiso del mar.

[ohjimmyjimmy]

I also am a Nerja fan... First went in 1982... Last went last year to avoid the Royal Wedding...

Enjoyed those times and the 3 or 4 in between...

Whereabouts did you stay?

dunno about WtW - but we stayed at the very swish Parador...

http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/parador ... 56&lang=en

I stayed at OJJ's Grandad's.

In the basement i hope? They never let me stay in the main part

[thebish]

Oooh...posh!
For our honeymoon we stayed at the hotel next to it, el paraiso del mar.

it was a choir tour - we got some kind of a large booking discount - and were only there for 2 nights...

but - my room had a huge jacuzzi in it!

[Bruce Rioja]

In the basement i hope? They never let me stay in the main part

Nope. Had the run of the place.

This was before they moved out there though.

[ohjimmyjimmy]

Oooh...posh!
For our honeymoon we stayed at the hotel next to it, el paraiso del mar.

it was a choir tour - we got some kind of a large booking discount - and were only there for 2 nights...

but - my room had a huge jacuzzi in it!

Snap! Jacuzzi in our hotel room:

[ohjimmyjimmy]

In the basement i hope? They never let me stay in the main part

Nope. Had the run of the place.

This was before they moved out there though.

Hmm i'll let him off then !

[TANGODANCER]

El Burro Blanco is still going...only been in once, but it seemed a bit pricey! This was in 2007 so i dont know when you last were in there but it seems more like a tourist trap bar yet i can imagine it having a more traditional past given its interior. We're staying opposite the hotel Monica you mentioned.

When we first went years ago it was a hole-in-the-wall bar with a resident guiatarist and a singer named Paloma. Went several times, in the following years, and on one visit it had shut down. Following year it opened up and was as it appears today, all flash tiling and a lot of its character gone. Flamenco back then was like the Folk music scene, artists ( and some who later went on to find fame) just turning up and playing and dancing for fun. Can't really blame them for commercialising it to get a living, but tourism has allowed prices to get carried away. I've been in there till 5-am and after they closed the doors about 2-o'clock we didn't pay for a single thing. The front wall used to have a big mural of El Rocio (big religious festival where horses and caravans travel from all over Spain to Huelva in western Andalucia. Had many really good times in the old "White Donkey".

[bobo the clown]

Just been looking at Greece, but the sort of chilled down small hotel/villa that has me loving the place is getting rarer to find.

This is the first time in 24 years we've been utterly child-free & can go out of season & I did expect to be overrun with good options. Regrettably the Germanic take-over of the travel World is moving more & more toward bigger, swish but ultimately non-Greek hotel experience.

Also, whilst not wishing to abuse their financial problems the're facing I did think there would be some good value.

So now 'risking' Croatia, a place called Cavtat, 40 min from Dubrovnic & looks a nice place. I'll let you know.

[BWFC_Insane]

Just been looking at Greece, but the sort of chilled down small hotel/villa that has me loving the place is getting rarer to find.

This is the first time in 24 years we've been utterly child-free & can go out of season & I did expect to be overrun with good options. Regrettably the Germanic take-over of the travel World is moving more & more toward bigger, swish but ultimately non-Greek hotel experience.

Also, whilst not wishing to abuse their financial problems the're facing I did think there would be some good value.

So now 'risking' Croatia, a place called Cavtat, 40 min from Dubrovnic & looks a nice place. I'll let you know.

Croatia is meant to be beautiful. But I've always found it ridiculously expensive when I've looked...and then thought, feck it we can get an AI in the caribbean for two weeks for that price.....

[bobo the clown]

I have thought that too. Do tell me about the Carribean options on pm tho. This was OK. If you wish you can get fights Monarch from MAN) for 2, return @ £180 !! The decent local villas were coming in at (obviously a vast range) £400-£600 all told. So a good deal.

[BWFC_Insane]

I have thought that too. Do tell me about the Carribean options on pm tho. This was OK. If you wish you can get fights Monarch from MAN) for 2, return @ £180 !! The decent local villas were coming in at (obviously a vast range) £400-£600 all told. So a good deal.

Yeah thats a good deal! Never seen it that cheap though we are usually looking at hotels and packages rather than villa and flights....

EDIT: And as for caribbean options, it very much depends what you want to spend and what you want to "get" out of your holiday really......

[boltonboris]

Isn't Croatia one of those places where you'd think you can get a beer for a quid or 2 then be absolutely shocked and outraged when it's 6-7 times that?

[Montreal Wanderer]

I have thought that too. Do tell me about the Carribean options on pm tho. This was OK. If you wish you can get fights Monarch from MAN) for 2, return @ £180 !! The decent local villas were coming in at (obviously a vast range) £400-£600 all told. So a good deal.

You will find to your joy, judging by previous posts, Bobo, that Cuba is noted for a complete absence of American tourists.

[bobo the clown]

Isn't Croatia one of those places where you'd think you can get a beer for a quid or 2 then be absolutely shocked and outraged when it's 6-7 times that?

I bloody hope not !!

I'll let you know.

[TANGODANCER]

Check out the three minute video, either as a look for new visitors or a reminder for those familiar with Nerja.

http://www.nerjatoday.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gail Platz]

I've got a couple of weeks off work in June so I'm looking to book a last minute deal, Croatia's one of the venues we've got in mind but I'm not too fussed as long as I can get out of this country for a bit!

[Verbal]

Anyone been to Girona?

Aye, went there on a press do last year visiting the nearby PGA Catalunya Golf resort (of course, it pissed it down all weekend and consequently the closest i got to handling a club was a sandwich at the bar). But as GtE says, it is a stunning little town with beautiful architecture and (I believe) the highest concentration of michelin-starred restaurants of any town in the world.

Brush up on your Catalan if you go though. You can get by on Castilliano, but the locals really appreciate the extra effort.

[jimbo]

Anyone been to Girona?

Aye, went there on a press do last year visiting the nearby PGA Catalunya Golf resort (of course, it pissed it down all weekend and consequently the closest i got to handling a club was a sandwich at the bar). But as GtE says, it is a stunning little town with beautiful architecture and (I believe) the highest concentration of michelin-starred restaurants of any town in the world.

Brush up on your Catalan if you go though. You can get by on Castilliano, but the locals really appreciate the extra effort.

Cheers for that. Having a few days there and then off to Barca for a few. Been to Barca loads, but never Girona which is odd since I'm always flying in and out of there. Really looking forward to it.

[Worthy4England]

Isn't Croatia one of those places where you'd think you can get a beer for a quid or 2 then be absolutely shocked and outraged when it's 6-7 times that?

I've been about 5 or 6 times up and down the coast of Yugoslavia (as was). Dubrovnik was worth a look, as was hopping on boats to the various islands for the odd night. When I went, you could have probably purchased Croatia for a quid or 2. The currency was devaluing that fast, that we got 50,000 Dinar notes on the mainland (the higest denomination note in circulation at the time, first printed whist we were there), which we couldn't spend on the islands, because they didn't think they were legal tender...Deepjoy...