News
June Club Drive
Well, they say the sun shines on the righteous,
so we must be doing something right.
After changing the drive day to Saturday, in order to get better value for our money at the lunch stop, everything was arranged to go to Restaurant Finca Rotez in Barbarroja, a restaurant which the club has used before and where we could count on an excellent menu. Unfortunately at the very last minute our booking was cancelled by the restaurant because of personal reasons ( the owner is seriously ill in hospital ) which meant that we needed to find an alternative place to eat.
We had enjoyed our last visit to Restaurant Dos Palmeras in San Isidro and this was not so far from our original route so after some quick talking and a lot of cooperation from Carmen ( the chef cook ) we managed to get a menu similar to the one that was already booked and for the same price.
Twenty seven members and guests and sixteen cars, along with plenty of sunshine made this a day to remember. After waiting about twenty minutes for Eric and Ernie we decided to leave without them and set off to see the Mountains of Marble. The route took us through Fortuna and into the Sierra de la Pila with it´s beautiful scenery and narrow roads bringing us through the mountain villages until we reached the fantastic views of the gigantic marble quarries, where because of the way that the rock has been sawn out of the hillside it gives the impression of huge buildings of all colours standing against the mountain side.
After about an hour of interesting driving we arrived at our coffee stop, where we took advantage of the much needed toilet and refreshment, and here Eric and Ernie managed to catch up with us.
We set off again to our next place of interest, the Bodega ‘Vinos de Algueña ’ in La Algueña, where we were greeted by most of the staff who admired the show of our Classic Cars and then invited us to visit their bodega. Fortunately one of our new members José Luis Hernandez speaks very good English and translated all the detailed information which was told to us by ‘the boss’ regarding the processes of receiving the grapes from the cooperative farmers from the surrounding areas, the testing of them for their quality, the pressing and saving of some of the grape skins to give the wine it´s colour, the fermenting and the storage, amongst some of which is for a special fermentation in wooden barrels of a hundred years old containing 1600 litres each and producing a thick sweet red wine, called Fondonet Monastrell which may be drunk as an aperitif or for enjoying after your meal.
The tour then took us to the most interesting part, the actual tasting of the product, different wines were presented and everyone enjoyed the flavours and aromas of these wines before going into the shop where lots of bottles were bought and jerry-cans were filled in order to be able to appreciate the wines in the comfort of our own homes.
By this time everyone was looking forward to their lunch, and after driving for another half an hour through more country villages and over the pass down into Albatera, over the Motorway Bridge and into San Isidro we arrived at the restaurant where we were welcomed onto a long table and served with an excellent meal which everyone enjoyed. The chef cook was brought forward and thanked for her last minute solution to our problem and for the meal that she had prepared for us.
The day ended on a friendly note and everyone made their way home after having a very enjoyable drive, an interesting visit to the bodega and a very well prepared and presented meal.
Lots more photo´s on the Image Gallery, well worth looking at.
Our next Ace Café meeting is on Sunday the 4th of July, everyone is welcome.
Our next club activity is the Club Night on Wednesday the 14th of July which Shaun has changed into a Club Morning where we can enjoy a traditional breakfast or just a coffee on the waterfront in San Pedro ( more details on the web site ), see you there ?.
Posted by Webmaster1 on 2010-06-20
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