Trip to Mini-Hollywood

Trip Start Apr 13, 2009

Trip End May 17, 2009

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Flag of Spain Mini-Hollywood, Burgundy, Spain
Monday, May 4, 2009

I decided to rent a car for my last couple of days at San Jose, so took the bus into Almeria. Although there is an excellent integrated bus/train station there, Airport buses go from elsewhere!!
So I went looking for the bus-stop, found a man who directed me half-a mile down the road. As I walked to the bus-stop, the Airport bus went by! Got to the bus-stop and had to wait 45 minutes for the next one. It's first stop was just by where the man had directed me... so I'd wasted an hour. Bus wound out of town into the hot-house area and eventually came to the Airport where there was a lot of construction work, so it didn't concern me that it didn't stop by what looked like the bus -stop as it was surrounded by diggers, etc.. As we appeared to leave the airport I asked the man beside me if there was another terminal & I thought he said yes. Anxiety levels increased as the runway disappeared into the distance and I got up and asked the driver who told me that he only stopped if someone rang the bell!! I said it was obvious I was a foreigner and that I'd bought the ticket asking to go to the airport. He shrugged and dropped me off at the next stop where I had to wait another hour for a return bus.
I rang the bell three times when we re-approached the airport.
Picking up the car, I drove into the countryside hills behind Almeria through miles of urban sprawl until eventually finding the motorway heading towards Granada. The terrain became more and more barren. This is the area where all the "spaghetti westerns" (Good Bad & Ugly, etc) were filmed in the 60's and 70's. Allegedly because it looks just like Arizona, but I wouldn't know because I've never been there. Reputedly, it's the driest part of Europe.
I headed off the motorway towards Tavernas, spotting a couple of "Wild West" towns along the way, and went to "Mini-Hollywood" which is basically a theme park. Having charged me €2.50 to park, I then paid an exorbitant €19 entry, and since it was getting on went and had an OK self-service meal - also over-priced.
There wasn't much to see; a museum of old cinema projectors, old buildings, and a zoo. The latter was rather curious.
I stayed around for the "shoot-em-up" show. About all that was worth it in an overpriced trip.
As for the countryside, I was underwhelmed as it was nothing like as spectacular as the Copper Canyon in Mexico.

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