U3A Calpe take a break
A TOTAL of 37 members of Calpe U3A recently had an enjoyable week away in Extremadura. After the long journey to their hotel in Cáceres there was little time to relax as they were taken for a guided tour of the old city, with fascinating details of the history and the buildings given by their excellent local guide Javier, who was with them for the week.
Other places visited included the amazing Roman remains at Mérida, with it’s particularly impressive Roman theatre and amphitheatre. That evening they had ham tasting at the hotel, where the curing process and the technique of carving was explained. Many thanks to Mary Anderton for an excellent job of translating and giving us some laughs!
A drive up the Jerte Valley was perfectly timed to see the cherry blossom at it’s best, and then to Plasencia for a special pork barbecue meal and a visit to the interesting buildings of the town including the cathedral. The following day they visited Trujillo where the guided tour was followed by a typical local lunch, then on to Guadalupe to visit the royal monastery of Saint Mary of Guadalupe.
The last day took the group to Alcántara where the coach crossed the impressive Roman bridge over the Río Tajo. This 182 metre-long structure was built in 106 AD and still carries modern traffic over it. They continued to Coria for an excellent lunch and some time to relax in the sunshine before a visit to the very interesting cathedral. They then sampled some of the local cheeses before returning to the hotel.
The long journey back to Calpe gave the group a chance to appreciate their excellent driver Felipe and reflect on all the experiences that had been crammed in to five days. Thanks to LPD Travel of Albir for all the arrangements, and Freda of the Travel Group, ably assisted by Rod.
The Travel Group are now looking at organising some day trips, the first of which will be a visit on May 17 to the spa/hot baths at Fortuna with lunch at the camp site restaurant.
For more information come along to our next meeting on April 21. For more details see our website www.u3acalpe.org