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Phoenix First Anniversary Celebration
On Sunday 5 October, we marked the Club’s first year anniversary by arranging a celebration at our home base, the Castillo de Conesa. The weather was great which enabled us to take full advantage of the beautiful and relaxed setting on the various terraces. It was a time to enjoy and reflect on the phenomenal growth and development during our first year. We have over 100 members and June 2008 we achieved the status of a registered Spanish Association. Lots of events and social evenings have also taken place during the year and these were a great talking point, both for existing members and a number of people who came along to see what the Club was all about with a view to joining.
In addition to our members, two Spanish Clubs joined us to enjoy the day – the VW Amigos Club from Alicante and the Mar Menor Club which gave many of us a great opportunity to practice our Spanish and admire the beautiful vehicles they brought along.
The excitement grew as everyone began to arrive, and before long the two display areas were filled with a great variety of classic and specialist vehicles. Javier from the Castillo also arranged for some of his beautiful cars to be there including a fully rally prepared Opel complete with driver who is competing in the Spanish championships. In all, there over 50 cars.
After breakfast, there was the opportunity for members and guests to have a tour of the Castillo´s private museum and farm which contains Antonio´s life long collection of art, antiques and treasures. There is a grand baronial hall, courtyard, Arabic tearoom with Moroccan tables and seating, many paintings (including one from the 16th century), a handmade Moorish sideboard and many other incredible pieces.
We then returned to our cars where a police escort was waiting for us, to prepare for the drive of the day. We were taken to the Recinto Ferial where a crowd of people where waiting to admire the cars which were received with great enthusiasm. Then, we set off through San Miguel for a beautiful scenic drive of the Embalsas de Pedrera and through the enchanting roads and pine forests in the Rebate area on a circular trip back to the Castillo.
Lunch was on the large open air terrace and there were a number of lovely dishes on offer – plates of jamon serrano, cheese, salad especial, paella and a variety of chicken dishes soon disappeared. After a long leisurely lunch, we retired to the Arabic tea rooms for coffee and drinks to enjoy the music laid on for the evening.
More photographs of the day can be seen on the Image Gallery part of the site.
Posted by Webmaster2 on 2008-10-07
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