We have found there are places well worth visiting but don't get much of a mention in the guide books. So... let's start our own. If you've been somewhere and you think it's worth sharing, I for one would love to hear about it.
Last week we were told by a friend to visit NOVELDA. I had not heard of this place, so I googled it and found it had a wonderful website - www.novelda.es.
We decided to pay Novelda a visit last Friday. We found it a little difficult to find the Tourist Information, but we did eventually. They gave us maps and lots of leaflets on places to see. The buildings they promote are predominantly Art Nouveau although the rest of the town is quite normal.
We decided to visit the Sanctuary first as it's a little out of town up on a hill and we are so glad we did. When we got there we noticed lots of school children eating lunch and first thought they'd come for an educational visit. However, more and more children arrived and then someone set up a sound deck. Obviously something was going to happen, so we found a good viewing point and sat and waited. It was well worth the wait because they called all the children to a central area and in groups they started to perform dance routines. Some were traditional flamenca and others were very modern but all of them were absolutely wonderful. Quite a few of the children who were watching started to dance as well; trying to follow the routines and the teachers that were with them were also dancing, so we decided to join in. At the end of the performance the DJ thanked us for joining in and all the kids clapped us!
This 'show' went on for a couple of hours and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We were on such a high that we decided that we'd go and have lunch and revisit the more serious side of Novelda on another day. We drove home with huge grins on our faces.
We noticed that unlike the UK, the children were allowed to take a few risks and were running about and climbing on things but were not put in straight jackets by the teachers. Yes there were a few cuts and bruises, but overall I think the kids had a great time.
So, if you decided to visit I'm sure you'll enjoy it, but you won't get the free show that we did!
