Having a privileged location at the centre of on of Spain’s leading golf resorts – The La Manga Club, the 5 Star Hyatt Regency boasts 189 superbly designed rooms and suites most with wonderful views over the golf course or the swimming pool. With some of the best restaurants in the area the Hyatt Regency La Manga can provide the best in cuisine and entertainment. The hotel also offers a large heated open air swimming pool, casino, hairdressing salon, boutiques, library and information centre, there is also a Junior Club for the kids. La Manga, situated on the Costa Calida, Spain, is an upmarket resort with coasts on both the Mediterranean Sea and the unique inland sea the Mar Menor, here you will find stunning sandy beaches and amazing water sports facilities. If you are visiting La Manga, be sure to pop into the top La Manga Hotel – the 5 Star Hyatt Regency where luxury living is the order of the day and you can always expect a friendly welcome and a pleasant stay. La Manga Map.
October 14, 2009
October 13, 2009
Great Yarmouth Norfolk
For over two centuries one of the United Kingdom’s most popular seaside resorts, Great Yarmouth is situated on the coast of Norfolk in East Anglia about 20 miles from Norwich. Located at the mouth of the River Yare, present day Great Yarmouth lies near the site of a Roman fort, constructed during their invasion of Britain. For hundreds of years a significant fishing town, renowned for its catches of herring, Great Yarmouth developed as a holiday destination during the mid-18th century. Great Yarmouth seafront, known as “The Golden Mile” has 2 piers, the Wellington Pier and the Brittania Pier, both major attractions for the town, the seafront is lined with amusement arcades, restaurants and gift shops and it runs along the resorts fine sandy beaches. Attractions in and around Great Yarmouth include the Winter Gardens, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Joyland, the Sealife Centre, Karting 2000 and the Marina Leisure and Fitness Centre. Great Yarmouth Map.
Totana Murcia
Well worth a look if you are visiting the Murcia or Costa Calida areas of Spain, the town of Totana is well known for its production of ceramics and there are over twenty potteries located in the town. The ceramic wares are produced by traditional methods and many are still fired in Arab style kilns. Totana has around 30,000 inhabitants and is a good base for touring the Sierra de Espuna, a great place for hiking and an area of great natural beauty. Totana is situated to the south-west of the city of Murcia, inland of the Costa Calida coastline, nearby places of interest include the towns of Lorca and Alhama de Murcia.
October 12, 2009
Lorca Spain
Originally settled by the Iberians, the Spanish town of Lorca in the region of Murcia was called Eliocroca by the Romans during their occupation of Spain. Now a large town with a population of around 90,000 it is also the capital of a municipality of the same name. The old town of Lorca still shows evidence of the Arab occupation (then known as Lurka), with narrow winding streets and alleyways. Built around the Guadalentin River (“Mud River”), it is in an agricultural area which depends highly on water transported from the River Tagus in central Spain. During the “Reconquest” Lorca was a dangerous border town, with constant skirmishes between Moors and Christians. Worth a visit in Lorca is the medieval fortress, the Plaza Mayor, the 16th century Granary, the 17th century Geuvara Palace and a number of 18th century Baroque churches. Lorca Map.
Ways to Get Rid of Ants
Around this time very year in Spain we seem to get inundated with ants, tiny ones, normal ones, huge ones, they are everywhere, in the house, in the garden, crawling over our plants and fruit trees, crawling over us! This week I decided to try to find a good way to get rid of ants, preferably without killing them, as I am not that sort of chap. I wanted to know if there was a natural product that would deter ants, Doing a quick search on the internet found all sorts of wild and wacky ideas, but the most commonly occurring suggested cider vinegar, chalk, mint, cinnamon and talcum powder. Great so off we go, plenty of vinegar in the cupboard (well its white wine vinegar but the ants won’t notice!), so find some ants to get rid of and give tham vinegar. Well I have to tell you my ants must be different from other peoples ants because they were drinking the vinegar and coming back for more (maybe they died later who knows). I moved on to chalk (they won’t cross a chalk line), blimey my little blighters were running all over it, they seemed to think it was the finishing line for some high speed race, try cinnamon then – they took no notice. What next? Blow it give em a kettle of boiling water, haven’t seem the damn things since.
Cartagena Spain
Not to be confused with the city of the same name in Columbia, South America, the Spanish city of Cartagena is located in the Murcia region on a stretch of coastline known as the Costa Calida (“Warm Coast”).
Cartagena has a long and interesting history which goes back to the times of the Punic Wars between the Carthaginians and the Romans. The first settlement there was by the Iberians and called Mastia, upon this early settlement the first real town was built by the Carthaginian General Hasdrubal in 223 BC, making us of a natural deepwater harbour. The Carthaginians named the town Quart Hadas (New City) and it later became an important base for the famous Hannibal (of elephant fame), during his exploits in Spain and beyond.
After the defeat of the Carthaginians by the Romans it was re-named Carthago Novo (New Carthage) and was developed as a significant mining area. Cartagena still has some remains from these early days including the Punic Ramparts and the Augusteum.
Cartagena fell into decline during the Middle Ages but made a brief recovery during the 18th century when it became an important naval base. The collapse of the mining industry caused further depression in Cartagena in the 19th and early 20th centuries, though the city is undergoing renewed recovery as it eases itself into the 21st century.
Places of interest to see in the city include Cartagena port, where you will find one of the world’s first submarines, the Castillo de la Conceptión, the Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Wall, the Maritime Museum and the Casa Cervantes (Cala Mayor) amongst others.
The area benefits from a superb climate and Cartagena weather is sunny and dry for over 300 days each year so do not expect rain during your visit to the city.