Needlemakers' Trip to Andalucia - 22-29 May 2015

Andalucia was the destination for this year’s Needlemakers’ trip in May, subtitled ‘a city and rural experience’. We stayed in a family run hotel rural hotel just outside Priego de Cordoba, a prosperous olive-farming town. The owner and staff made us feel very welcome and couldn’t do enough for us during the week. We were also lucky to have Gayle, our Scottish/Spanish guide for the week, who kept us on the straight and narrow and enthusiastically entertained us with her stories and anecdotes whilst often translating and explaining our various ‘tastings’ plus all the food specialties, wine and different dancing techniques to us.

We had plenty of cultural experiences and even had history homework before we arrived. The trips included a day at Cordoba, founded by the Romans to become the capital of the Moorish kingdom of Al-Andalus. We had a guided tour of the city and the Mezquita and wondered through the shaded squares, the Alcazar, museums, the patios crammed with colourful pot plants. After dinner we watched the skill of the passion and spirit of the Andalusian Horse at the famous Equestrian Show.

We had two visits to Granada, where we had a walking tour and explored sights away from the main tourists in this amazing city, plus a guided tour of the Alhambra and the Generalife gardens and saw a remarkably energetic Flamenco Show, leaving us quite breathless!

We ventured out to the less visited frontier town of Jaen, climbing up to view the city and surrounding mountains from on high from the old fortress Castillo de Santa Catalina and its Parador. We then proceeded onwards to the unspoiled quiet town of Baeza with its Renaissance architectural legacy.

On our last day we visited the ‘pueblo blanco’ mountain village of Zuheros and the town of Baena, which is Andalucia’s foremost producer of high quality olive oil where we toured an 18th century family run mill and experienced an entertaining olive oil tasting with one of the current owners.

For foodies - we enjoyed some amazing meals wherever we went, sampling the bountiful, authentic and delicious cuisine. From hilltop restaurants with breathtaking views of the countryside or across Granada, small rural restaurants serving their local specialties and many local tapas meals of sharing courses. Examples include Spanish meats, tiny broad beans and salads, Salmorejo Cordobes, a cold thick tomato and garlic soup, prepared with local differences and a hot local tomato soup with peeled grapes and croutons. Slow cooked oxtail, baby squid, baked cod with various sauces, pork fillet and chicken in Spanish sauce. Delicious homemade bread accompanied all meals with, of course, a glass or two of the local wines. The hotel food was also excellent with customised menu cards for Needlemakers with 5 courses to keep us overfed! For those still hungry, breakfast gave us a good selection to keep us going for the adventures each day!

The week finished with a gala dinner at our hotel when we were royally entertained by professional tango dancers and their band – not to mention the traditional performance of the ‘Song for the Needlemakers’ written and performed by Caroline Ezekiel and company relating the tales of ‘the week that was!’ You had to be there to enjoy the in-jokes!