Aracena, Seville & Nerja (The Wedding)
{Sport Interlude}
WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS (well, the England cricket team are, in cricket)!
Unbelievable. Even more unbelievable match. I actually shed a few tears the moment we won - until I realised that it wasn't the moment we'd won, the final run out was still happening. So I panicked again, then we DID win (the internet connection on the road was terrible so it got confusing). I had watched the game in the campsite in Lisbon until the time approached 4pm when we were due to leave. We were 80-odd for 4 at the time so I thought we were doomed and didn't mind following the rest on the road. So it was a mixture of TMS and All4's Channel 4 coverage of the Sky coverage (strange, but God bless them for getting it on terrestrial). Both kept cutting out intermittently so it was tough going and very frustrating, but ultimately fucking glorious. I was (and still am) so happy and a bit emotional about it.
Federer lost an epic over the road which is a damn shame but I can't be too greedy I suppose.
{Interlude concluded}
We escaped Portugal as criminals. It got dark just as we arrived in Aracena. It looked really nice from the road, mainly thanks to the lit up hilltop castle which looks over you as you approach from the west (and the east, probably).
The darkness stressed Rach out. We stayed in a car park which she thought was terrifying. I was just worried about the fridge consuming too much power. Each to their own.
Aracena turned out to be a right little gem. After a nice old man lent Rach his drill so we could make holes in the side boards to ventilate the fridge - which hasn't worked - we went for a walk around the town. It was a really beautiful authentic Spanish town. Full of ham. Every shop sold tons of the stuff - all hanging down from every available ceiling like giant mummified bats. They also had little streams running through the pavements. Pleasant AF.
We had a look at the old castillo (castle) and Rach got her bum out.
Seville
We then made our way to Seville to spend the night. We found a big car park type place to park the van, just on the edge of the centre. We noticed that we'd parked directly under a lime tree. The have lime trees growing in car parks for fuck’s sake. In England we might get the odd weed, if we’re lucky.We spent a few hours wandering around Seville. It's an amazing, sprawling city. Stunning architecture. Loads of cats everywhere - just another positive as far as we were concerned. I bought, unbought and then bought my shoes for the wedding, from a shop called ‘Wanka’. They don't quite conform to my brother’s style guide but sod it, they’re the best I could find and they're roughly the right colour.
We had a terrible meal, in a lovely spot, at a restaurant for English plebs, where the menus seemed like they'd been written by a 10 year old Spanish kid learning English for 10 year old English kids learning Spanish. Paella was down as 'seafood with rice'. Rule 1: never eat at a restaurant where they have bleached out pictures of the food and where the first thing the waiter asks is ''English?''
Still, day 12 had to go down as one of the best days so far.
The Wedding
On Day 13 we finally made it to our only real 'must go' destination for 12 months - Nerja, the location of my brother Alex's wedding. We found a great campsite about half an hour's walk from the centre, filled with avacado trees and bags of fresh bread available with just an honesty box to throw a few euros in (okay a couple of euros). There was also a collection tin ''for the animals''. I wondered if that meant I could have it.
After settling in we met everyone at a bar in town. It was great to see all the family and was a good time, apart from a row with my brother Joe when he started trying to get rid of Rach (and all the women), canpaigning for a lad's night out. He later apologised ''for the 13566 time in my life'', which I thought was quite funny. We went for a meal with dad in a restaurant overlooking the sea. Great spot. A waiter came over carrying a lobster and insisted that dad feel the excellent quality of its head. 5 minutes later we were finally handed some menus. Nobody ordered lobster.
Day 14 was the pre-wedding do. I got obliterated on Pornstar Martini's, gin and rum shots, passed out, got carried to a taxi rank by my cousins, threw up in the taxi, on myself and in the bed. Rach had a nice time too.
Found out the next day that our cousin Tom fell down the stairs and cracked his head open on the very step I'd been passed out on 5 minutes earlier. Blood everywhere. Hospital job. Good showing from the Troth's.
Day 15 - Just the best wedding ever. It couldn't have gone any better. Even Tom showed up, late and concussed. One minor personal snag was that the belt I'd bought was made for a jumbo man. I spent about half hour trying to make a new hole in it with a corkscrew while the official 'getting ready' photos were being taken.
I remarked to Joe that the ceremony was 'an epic', which is to say that there were a lot more blessings than I expected, but it was special. Members of the public were sneaking in to watch. Hannah looked amazing. Alex and Hannah walked out of the church last to cheers from all the wedding guests and dozens of the public. As we chucked confetti on them Alex swept Hannah up off her feet.
''Noooo oooone's slick as Gaston, no one's quick as Gaston...''
The reception was even better. Everybody was loving life. Our speeches went down an absolute storm. Punters from the hotel next door were out of the pool and leaning over the balcony to listen.
I was so proud of Alex all day. And Joe. And okay my shoes didn't match and my belt didn't fit and okay Tom looked like he'd been in a machete attack, but what a day. The atmosphere was unreal, especially when the reception moved from outdoors to an indoor bar downstairs, with everyone packed on the dance floor wailing along to Wonderwall, played by the 3 piece band. Free bar too - I've never got so many rounds in in my life.
The blood red moon hovering above the sea was just one in a long list of unforgettable sights (and sounds) on a brilliant, brilliant day. Oh and Rach - bloody nora she looked stunning.
The day after the wedding we all chilled at the beach/beach bar and then Rach and I went for a paella with the old man at a restaurant just off the beach. Probably the best paella I've ever had. And they're pretty laid back in Spain - we were sat finishing our wine long after the place had clearly closed, and there was no sign of them moving us on. Well, if you ignored the fact that one of the staff were jetwashing the rest of the restaurant. Which we did.
On the Saturday we had mum and Gaz over to the campsite for lunch and a few drinks. Then a few more drinks. One of those great, relaxed days where the afternoon becomes 11pm before you know it. We got the hammock out, hung between the van and a tree (one of my favourite ever trees actually, a real twisty pickle). Things just keep getting better!
Brilliant Sean....just catching up on these.
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