After the palacete we headed over to Ribadesella and the Gran Hotel De Sella.
If you get a room in the old part then this hotel is good but the modern concrete block on the side is a bit of a shame.
Still, a great location in the bay with some great seafood restaurants.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
After Sanxenxo we went to Figueras del Mar across the River Eo from Ribadeo. It’s just in side Asturias.
On the way we went to the Semaforo de Bares. The hotel there is up high on a peninsula overlooking the sea. It’s quite breathtaking a view.
It was a pity we couldn’t fit in a nights stay there are the hotel looked cool (http://www.semaforobares.com/). T
We stayed at the Palacete de Peñalba which I can heartily recommend (http://www.hotelpalacetepenalba.com/).
The coast up there is excellent.
On day three we went to the beach.
On day 4 we went to Santigao de Compostella.
The historic old town is excellent but it is a little overrun with pilgrims…
Given we didn’t finish partying until nearly 6am we took the first day nice and gently and stayed in Campo de Criptana.
A relaxed breakfast at the hotel around noon and then we met up with those who had stayed around for dinner in the square.
Day 2 and we drove all the way to the north west coast of Spain to Sanxenxo. I took us about 9 hours including one lunch stop. So about 8 hours driving.
We stayed in the Gran Hotel de Sanxenxo which had this view.
We had a great time at our wedding and would like to thanks all the people who made it out to Spain to celebrate it with us.
Thanks particularly to Paddy for taking lots of photos on my camera on the day.
It was about 39 degrees C.
The wedding wasn’t until 6.30pm so, after getting the car washed, I spent most of the rest of the day in or near the pool. I was a little surprised when I went to wash the car as the guy in the garage asked if it was me getting married. How word spreads.
When the photographer turned up at the hotel at 4.30 for some pre-wedding photos, I was still in my trunks and had a job trying to organise my brothers to get some clothes on for the photographer.
(Click the photos for the album)
Apart from a slight problem with the coaches which meant I was nearly late rather than the Bride, the day went really well.
The coaches were due at 5.30pm but there was a misunderstanding and they were waiting for us in one place whilst we were waiting for them at the hotel. As the old streets are narrow, they couldn’t get the coaches up to the hotel.
We eventually found them at about 6.10pm and I got to the church at about 6.30. Fortunately Marieta had been told I (and all the guests in the coaches with me) was running late.
After that the wedding went without a hitch.
The day before the wedding was mainly spent either relaxing in the pool at the hotel or down in the town square at Bar Eugenio for lunch. We then had a party at Las Musas in the evening which went on into the morning. Photos can be found by clicking on this photo.
The food at Las Musas was excellent and Tom dragged me away from the party at about 4am. Which was probably wise. We then jumped in the pool to cool off which probably wasn’t so wise but did the trick.
Uncle Denis made it back to the hotel at about 5 after winning the dance off with cousin Paul. Rumour has it he then went for a swim but thats unconfirmed.
We eventually got to Madrid on the Tuesday and had a couple of nights with Mum, Pat and Mike. I met up with a couple of friends from Madrid and spent most of the time having beer and tapas. What could be better.
We stayed in the Room Mates Alicia hotel on Plaza Santa Ana and I can’t recomend it highly enough. Great value for a good hotel which is in a great location. Paddy certainly enjoyed the bed on the terrace and I fell asleep on it one night too.
I finally got to see Madrid Cathederal. It’s ok but not great.
I went back to one of my favourite places in Madrid ‘La Venencia’ on Calle Echegaray. They only serve Sherry and a few olives. This is timeouts review and this is trip advisors review.
Plus I found a new cool bar courtesy of Paddy and his XDC mate from Madrid. Las Cuevas de Sesamo which is on the parallel street Calle Principe. Sangria all round.
We also ran around a few museums and I can now say with some certainty that Matisse produced a lot of crap.
We had decided to take the car to Spain for the wedding. Marieta flew out but Paddy, Catherine and I took the car via the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry.
We got to Portsmouth early and saw our ferry coming into port (I knew it was ours thanks to www.shipais.com which I browsed on the phone).
Then in the queue for the ferry there was a line of Spanish minis all returning from a mini convention. Apparently there used to be a mini factory in Zaragoza.
The 15th of May was not only Florians birthday but also the day we went to Rome for my stag do.
We went to see the Mille Miglia.
