OK, here’s all the info I have about the wedding. The basics are at the top with more detail at the bottom. We’ve set up the following email address if you have any questions ourwedding @ mikes-photos.co.uk

Date: Saturday 15th August 2009

Time: 18.30

Where: Ermita de la Santisima Virgen de Criptana (Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real)

Later: Finca Mirador El Encinar de Haldudo

Hotels:

• For the family Casa de los Tres Cielos.
• For friends Hospederia Casa de la Torrecilla speak to us for rooms as we’ve pre-booked it.
• There are also some ‘rural houses’ at the venue.

The night before: 

For those people who are around the night before we will all meet up for some drinks in Las Musas.

Getting there:

Campo de Criptana is more or less between Madrid and Alicante. It’s 2 hours from Madrid and about 2 1/2 hours from Alicante by car.

It’s on the train route between the two. However, if arriving by train it’s easier to go to the neighbouring town Alcazar de San Juan which has more trains, taxi,s etc. The spanish rail company RENFE have a website with train times in english.

There is also an airport opening in Ciudad Real. I’m not sure how many passenger flights they’ll have but they are adding more all the time. Though at the moment they are mainly flying via Palma de Mallorca from Germany.

On the day:

We will organise a coach or two from Campo de Criptana to the church and then onto the venue. The coaches are likely to leave from the main square as some of the streets near the hotels are a bit too narrow. The coaches will return to the village after the party, probably one early on and the other at the end.

More detail:

Wedding list:

Your presence will be present enough for us. If it’s not for you then we won’t be offended.

Campo de Criptana:

Campo de Criptana’s main claim to fame is that it is the place where Cervante’s Don Quijote fought a battle against a group of giants. The giants were actually the windmills which overlook the village. Don Quijote was a bit mad.

The village has a population of about 12,000.

It’s situated on the side of a small hill. The windmills are at the top and the village has grown down the side of the hill.

The main square has the village church in it (not where we get married), a few bars, the council offices and the police station. Marietas uncle is an old friend of the owner of Bar Eugenio so if you fancy a coffee or a beer try there.

The village is quite a quiet place.

Up near the top of the hill the old houses have caves at the back where the people retreat to in order to escape the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter. One of the restaurants up on the top near the windmills (Sierra de Los Molinos) is called the Caves of Martina (Cuevas de La Martina). They have a terrace upstairs and you go down into the caves which are the main restaurant. The venue of the night before also has some caves which are converted into a bar for the winter and in the hotel Casa de Los Tres Cielos the breakfast is served in the caves also.

There are a couple of Bodegas.

• Bodegas Castilblanque: they do tours and tastings seem quite reasonable price wise (10 euros). They can be found here.
• Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez (Vinculo). Alejandro Fernandez makes the lovely Pesquera up in the Ribera del Duero. Down in Criptana he makes Vinculo. Which happens to be one of my favourites. The bodega is on the edge of town near the train station. I’ll see if I can arrange a visit if anyone is interested.

The Hotels:

Casa de Los Tres Cielos (House of the Three Heavens). 

We are trying to get all the family in one hotel. This hotel has 7 double rooms and 4 apartments, one for 6 people and 3 for 4 people. So just about the right size for the family. The hotel is situated halfway up the hill from the main square (map). It is just below the windmill of Peace (Molino de la Paz) which is set apart from the other windmills and is closer in to the village. The windmill is named after the Chapel of the Virgen of Peace (Ermita de la Virgen de la Paz) which is a small chapel next to the windmill. The chapel was originally a look out post for an arabic fort which was just outside of town and this is considered to be where the village started. Incidentally the arabic fort on the outskirts of town is now also a chapel and is the one we will be getting married in. The breakfast is served in the old caves which are dug into the hillside.

Hospederia Casa de la Torrecilla (House of the Little Tower).

We hope the friends can stay here. This hotel is just one street away form the main square (map [Lat 39º 24' 17.9316" N Lon 003º 07' 40.6776" W]). It has 19 double rooms and one single. We have arranged a special rate (72 euros per room but we think that is not including breakfast) and booked the whole place out for the Friday and Saturday night. Let us know if you want to stay here as we have arranged to allocate the rooms. Hopefully that will be easier for people than trying to sort it with the hotel direct. The hotel have said that they have 8 extra beds that they can put into the double rooms for families.

The night before:

We’ll be in Las Musas which is here. Not sure yet at what time, either from or to but as the wedding the next day is late on we’ll porbably hang around for a while.

Flights:

Potential routes:

Liverpool > Madrid:

EASYJET daily but you would have to go on the Friday to make it in time for the wedding.

Liverpool > Alicante:

EASYJET two flights a day – would be possible to fly out on the Saturday morning.

London Gatwick > Madrid: 

EASYJET have 4 flights a day – would be possible to fly out on the Saturday morning.

BA also fly this route

London Luton > Madrid:

EASYJET have two flights a day – would be possible to fly out on the Saturday morning.

Manchester > Alicante:

Lots of flights every day.

Train times:

For trains from Alicante to Alcazar de San Juan on the Friday click here on the Saturday click here.

Currently it shows

• Friday
  • Leaving Alicante at 14:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:15
  • Leaving Alicante at 17:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 19.57
  • Leaving Alicante at 20:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 22:18
• Saturday
  • Leaving Alicante at 14:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:15

For trains from Madrid to Alcazar de San Juan on the Friday click here, on the Saturday click here.

Currently it shows

• Friday
  • Leaving Madrid at 06:54 and arriving in Alcazar at 08.26
  • Leaving Madrid at 07:32 and arriving in Alcazar at 09:00
  • Leaving Madrid at 08:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 09:30
  • Leaving Madrid at 08:42 and arriving in Alcazar at 10:29
  • Leaving Madrid at 12:03 and arriving in Alcazar at 13:34
  • Leaving Madrid at 13:28 and arriving in Alcazar at 15:00
  • Leaving Madrid at 14:19 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:08
  • Leaving Madrid at 15:14 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:52
  • Leaving Madrid at 15:20 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:29
  • Leaving Madrid at 15:40 and arriving in Alcazar at 17:23
  • Leaving Madrid at 16:39 and arriving in Alcazar at 18:24
  • Leaving Madrid at 17:40 and arriving in Alcazar at 18:53
  • Leaving Madrid at 18:18 and arriving in Alcazar at 19:57
  • Leaving Madrid at 19:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 20:33
  • Leaving Madrid at 19:43 and arriving in Alcazar at 21:14
  • Leaving Madrid at 20:40 and arriving in Alcazar at 22:28
• Saturday
  • Leaving Madrid at 06:54 and arriving in Alcazar at 08.26
  • Leaving Madrid at 08:00 and arriving in Alcazar at 09:36
  • Leaving Madrid at 08:42 and arriving in Alcazar at 10:29
  • Leaving Madrid at 12:03 and arriving in Alcazar at 13:34
  • Leaving Madrid at 13:28 and arriving in Alcazar at 15:00
  • Leaving Madrid at 14:19 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:08
  • Leaving Madrid at 15:14 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:52
  • Leaving Madrid at 15:20 and arriving in Alcazar at 16:29