Home for a month and now China bound............

April 2015

Easter Monday fun chez Vicki!!

I started writing this in the fabulously beautiful English Lakes, except the weather was horrendous and we were only 2 days away from Good Friday. We decided to join John and Lyndis, friends from Colchester who were there for a two week break. It is only a short drive from Newcastle and we had Chloe and Abbie to stay with us in the campervan on Monday night. They are 12 and 14 and are the nearest thing that Chris has to grand-children. Luckily I had planned for the bad weather and we did some Easter crafts and Tuesday drove into Carlisle and resorted to ten pin bowling to avoid the rain. We had wind, rain, gales and sleet and a little bit of snow and very little sunshine, temperatures of 6 degrees C, with a morning ground frost. Brrr!!

On our journey back through Spain after Catalayud we drove north towards San Sebastian and had to pass through the path of the Ebro River which this year flooded due to the January snow and the heavy February rains. There were roads closed and diversion, not that they warn you about it in Spain until you are on top of it and turning round!! Our first night in San Sebastian was at an aire and we managed to find a bar with the last 20 minutes of England versus Ireland in the 6 nations-England lost!! Next morning there was more rain and our ferry from Santander was 4 days away so we headed to one of the few campsites open in a little place called Orio, west of San Sebastian. We decide warm showers, wifi and power were important in the inclement weather, oh and the campsite bar.

San Sebastian was on my bucket list as it is famous for its food and the pintxos trail (they are small snacks, like tapas, served usually on bread with a cocktail stick through). Monday was spent in the rain catching up on stuff and wondering whether our ferry would sail. Tuesday was dry so we headed off on the train to San Sebastian. It stayed dry, and cold, but we managed to do five different styles and types of bar from the elegant to the basic and had some lovely food washed down with wine. Just as well that we did as the rain returned on Wednesday afternoon and we were starting to worry about whether we would get off the very soggy grass pitch.


Thursday, our last day, out came the sun and the wind dropped and we knew our ferry would be going. We drove to Santander, checked in and headed into town for our last Spanish menu del dia for a few months. The ferry was packed with vehicles and we were almost last to board. Our cabin was comfortable and the crossing was very calm and we enjoyed the lovely Brittany Ferries buffet breakfast next morning. We docked on time in Portsmouth and spent two nights with Chris sister, Tricia. This gave him a chance to see his mum, she is in a nursing home and still very much the same as when we last saw her. We had a delicious Indian meal with Tricia and Steve. On the ferry Chris had felt pretty ill and was wheezy and once he finally went to his GP he had a pretty nasty chest infection which took three lots of antibiotics to sort out.

Sunday we had a long but steady drive home and it was good to get unpacked and sorted at Vicky’s house. We had only four weeks in the UK and as always there were lots of people to see and things to do. For me that included the dentist, doctor and my regular cancer check-up. Every three years I have to have a colonoscopy as both of my parents died of bowel cancer. If any of you have had one you will know the preparation is horrendous both the bowel clearance and having to drink 500ml of liquid every hour.......I felt like a camel. The good news is everything was fine and I have my next appointment for 2018!!

I have managed to do some catching up but there are always people that I miss, however once I get back from China I have a lot of time in the UK.

My priority is always to catch up with my lovely daughters and Amy seems to have started to build a new life for herself. Idg is the happiest I have ever seen her with Keith. We had a lovely night out in Newcastle for a belated Mother’s Day, drinks at Science and then food at two fifths.

However the highlight was the surprise birthday lunch that they arranged for Sunday 29th March. Many people were in on it and I had no idea at all, hence the lack of make-up which was already packed up in the camper. We had Sunday brunch at hotel du vin and it was a lovely girly afternoon with good friends and my precious daughters. Big thanks to Alex who made the cake!!



Fabulous chocolate fudge cake


One thing I have been doing is sorting out the travel for my trip to Paris with Vicky in September; we have got our Eurostar legs booked and the Newcastle to London on 8th September. We have a flat booked in Montparnasse and a list of things we want to do, which will have to be more focussed nearer the time as we can’t do everything. Our main reason for going is to see some of the fabulous art on offer so that will be the priority.

Those of you that follow me on Facebook will already know this but on 31st March I got an e mail to say my application to be a volunteer for the Rugby World Cup, for the matches in Newcastle, had been unsuccessful. I was pretty gutted and by the end pretty disillusioned with the process. They interviewed 10,000 people for 6,000 places so why did the unsuccessful people need to wait so long. Those of you who have done recruitment know that you always have definite, maybes and definitely nots. Still it is over and now I can plan the rest of the summer without thinking about training dates. Also I have tickets for All Blacks versus Tonga and Scotland v Samoa at St James and of course the tickets for the final all to look forward to.

I had a lovely Easter weekend, an impromptu Easter Sunday, went first to the Angel of the North and then into Newcastle. There is a quayside market and then we had a lovely tapas meal sitting outside in the glorious sunshine.




Four angels??



Easter Monday I cooked a family meal for Amy, Imogen and Keith, Chris and Vicki. We had nibbles and starter outside in the garden and then the rest inside. I did a Tom Kerridge recipe http://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/lamb/item/tom-kerridge-slow-roast-lamb-with-boulangere-potatoes. I amended it slightly , did 40 minutes on the highest setting and then cooked it for 7 hours on the lowest setting. It says carve but it just falls apart. Scrummy!!

One day they will grow up!! 

Chris and I are off to China tomorrow and are excited about the trip. The Great Wall, Terracotta army and pandas are my highlights but there will be many more. Not looking forward to encountering Chinese squat toilets and can’t say I will willingly eat fried insects but you never know!! I am all sorted with my gear and it will be good to be on the road again, we haven’t done a trip like this since Mexico and South America.

Henry is all tidied up and in storage and in early July we hope to set off in Henry for the Peak district, some good cycle trials on old train llines and then to the Shropshire hills and parts of Wales. Chris needs to get training for his Camino trip in September so it will be a good opportunity to try longer and more frequent walks.

Will try and get into a habit of doing this weekly in China, but it will depend on internet access.



Take care



Norma xx

UK bound.......

Well we are back on the road again and this time we are bound for the UK. 

After all of the excitement of Valentine’s weekend we had a fairly quiet time back at the house. We had a few stormy days with rain and some chilly windy ones too. We just pottered around enjoying the pace of Spanish life. On our last weekend at the house we had a Sunday trip to Cehegin about 40k from us. There is an old city called Begastri on the outskirts and it is only open weekends. We have walked and cycled past it quite a few times but not when it was either open or we had time to visit. Luckily there are huge story boards in the visitor centre that explain the history in English as our tour was in Spanish. The initial video presentation was a real challenge; the presenter was not very clear and very fast!! The guide at least was there to answer questions. It was a fascinating place and not very well known and there was an amazing story of the Begastri cross which was found by a worker when the railway was being built. He took it home and his wife decided to sell it for 2,000 pesetas, a considerable sum. The person who bought it put it on their chimney breast where it hung for years until a friend, who was a historian, came to visit. He was intrigued by it and took it away to be checked out and it is the oldest example of a cross in Europe and is now locked in a bank vault in Murcia, a copy is in the local museum.

After our culture we went into town for the monthly artisan market, pretty disappointing not many stalls and no entertainment. We then went to the old casino building, which is fabulous, for tapas. The tapa route had just been launched; this is where a group of bars and restaurants serve a drink and tapa for 2 Euros. Each tapa is different and usually a bit more arty farty than the usual selection. I had a square of flaky pastry with smoked tuna and Chris had a piece of bread with a small croquetas and piece of squid on a cocktail stick. Our second stop was ojos Del mar, eyes of the sea. Two small round fish croquetas with a small squirt of mayo and fish eggs to make it look like and eye, very effective and very tasty.

We then did two days of sorting the house, and a thorough spring clean, and the same with the van, inside and out. The latter takes about an hour tops for the inside , a bit longer for outside, including taking out all of the carpets etc but the house takes  two half days with two of us cleaning.  We work pretty well together, with the van Chris is responsible for outside and anything mechanical and mine is inside, including food etc. I managed to run down the house supplies to waste very little. On our last night I cooked pork chops, bought in the village, and we washed it down with a bottle of our favourite wine. Juan Gil is a vineyard in Jumilla, Murcia and the silver label; aged for 12 months is a wonderful red wine. We got our friends in the village to get us six bottles to bring home, it is expensive by Spanish standards, 10.80 Euros a bottle (exactly £8), but it is very good. 

We set off from the house about 11am, with the usual routine, clean and tidy, bin empty, power off, water off and heading for Santander. I won’t be back till November which is a long time for me but Chris has a week in June with Adam and should be back sometime in October. 

My long gap is due to the Rugby World Cup, which only comes around every four years and this year is in England, and Wales. I have applied to be a volunteer, but am unimpressed by the process, still haven’t heard and they don’t even know when the training events will be, clearly people with no concept that we have lives to organise and things to do. If I am unsuccessful I have a ticket for Tonga versus the mighty All Blacks at St James Park Newcastle and possibly another ticket there. 

On one of our recent rainy days I was looking out for competitions to win tickets for the final, God loves a trier!! There wasn’t much about so I looked at the cost of packages and tickets, tickets only available on stubhub etc. Not cheap, and I was talking about how much I wanted to go and also that the 2019 tournament will be in Japan. One of Chris’ great strengths is his ability to see through things and cut to the chase. So

He said: “How much do you want to go?”

Me: “As much, if not more than seeing the Lions in Australia”

Him:”Is it more or less than the costs of that trip”

Me: “Less, but the tickets are crazy prices”

Him: “Forget that, what is your money for”

Me: “To do the things I want to do, see places I want to go”

Him: “Exactly, get it booked!!”

So about two hours later, after a quick check with Imogen that she still wanted to come( daft question really) I had booked two tickets for the final and two return flights Newcastle to Heathrow. When we applied for tickets for the final, last September, I had the foresight to book a room then so that was us sorted. 

You know what?? He was right, it is something I want to see, it is only money and in 12 months I will have replaced the money in my little kitty. I know my life is very different to most people but it is not particularly high cost. Being without a house and a car gives me plenty of disposable cash, thanks to the generosity of the people who share those things with me.

Originally I had a plan which took us inland and north towards San Sebastian but the weather has been pretty bad, it is winter, and my itinerary changed at the last minute. One of the joys of having a camper you can just go with the flow as at this time of year you rarely need to book. I got a link to two Spanish sites about Aires across Spain and we decided to head towards Valencia. Both of us had visited briefly previously. Valencia Camper Park was a small “aire” but with power, showers, wifi and in summer a pool for 15 Euros a night. A 5 minute walk and there was a metro stop that took 20 minutes to the centre. It was brilliant for us as we would never take the van into a city centre, way too big to get parked. The site owner had tickets, 1.50 a journey so we were set.

Our first day we headed for the old town which is very beautiful, Valencia had a lovely feel about it. There is a central green space that ends near the sea and helps provide life to the city. The Modernista buildings are impressive; the post office is magnificent with its domed glass roof. We spent quite a time in the Town hall, which also houses a museum. We wandered up towards the central market, it seemed smaller than when I visited previously. Then a visit to the lonja museum before it was time for lunch. So far we had paid 1 and 2 Euros for museum entrance, when asked “pensionistas?” I have no qualms about saying yes!! Neither of us is technically but each euro saved is another glass of wine.........

We walked towards the main square and bought sandwiches and sat watching the world go by as we ate. There were loads of police around and a helicopter so I asked one of them if there was an important visitor? No a student march!! Our last stop was to one of the towers that used to be part of the city walls, spectacular views and only us there. It was a beautiful clear and sunny day so we walked round the central space to get the metro back.

Don't like opera but this one is named after me!!

Our second city day was different, a trip to the beach and marina and the Fallas museum. It was dry but very windy as we headed for the beach and had a coffee looking out on the med. We then walked for a good hour through the marina, huge yachts were moored, and then on to “Cuidad des artes y sciencias” which is a huge collection of magnificent modern buildings, interspersed with green and water and house a whole range of things, museums, concert halls, sea life centre etc. We had no plans to visit any of them but did have a coffee to get a breather from the wind. Our last stop was the fallas museum, which was fascinating and makes me want to come back next March!! 

Interesting take on "Moors and Christians" in Fallas museum

We set off north leaving the Med behind and our next expanse of sea will be the wild Atlantico!! This last week ferries to the UK have been delayed and cancelled due to the weather but we are hoping ours will be okay as the weather seems to be settling. Saturday we arrived in Calatayud, in Aragon where there is a free “aire” for campervans provided by the council. It is a safe place to park, with drinking water and a place to empty your waste and chemical toilet. We have gas for heating and water heating and run off the batteries for light etc the shower is there if we need it. It is a short walk into town so yesterday we went in to spend some money, our view is if the council are willing to provide this then we should spend some cash locally. We eventually meandered up to the main square which had the strangest collection of higgledy piggledy house-see photo –not much is straight!! We had wine and tapas and chatted to a friendly local, who turned out to be the local baker-we went into his shop for a cake for pudding. I bought a bottle of local wine in the wine shop too.

Not sure how any of this is still standing.......

On our way back we spotted and Australian bar-very strange for small town Spain. Sure enough the bar had tried to look a bit Aussie, sold Fosters and when I asked for Australian wine the barman just laughed!! What I did get was a lovely soft local wine in a proper huge wine glass. 

Now that is what I call a wine glass....

Back to the van and I cooked up a camper-type stew mince, potatoes and veggies all in one pan and drank a bottle of wine as we watched a film. The film was Birdman, if it got the Oscar for best film I would hate to see the worst.......

That is all for now folks

Take care

Norma xx

Spring in Spain

After the excitement of Altea it was back to Casas Nuevas.

On my drive back I popped into IKEA on my way past and bought a small patio set for the front garden. When we are here in the winter it is only possible to sit out for food or a drink in the daytime, the sun is on the front from about 10 till 3pm. The back of the house gets limited sun and once it goes down about 6-7pm sitting outside is not possible.  IKEA in Murcia is like a training exercise for a long distance walk, it takes forever before you get to the bit where you can pick up the things you want, unless there is a shortcut that I haven’t found.  Two folding wooden chairs and table purchased.  Chris had warned me that the weather was a bit wild and it was a windy drive back. There had been power cuts in Pliego and our internet was off, Chris had been to the shop and they said they would ring to arrange to sort it out. I got back about 3pm and Chris had the house all clean and tidy and we had a lovely steak meal together.

Friday and Chris was up and out early driving to San Javier airport to pick up his friend Alan who fancied a bit of winter sun and to photograph the almond blossom.  I rang the office about the internet and got the whole story about the problems with the power etc.We had a tapas lunch in Bar Teresa and good catch up with Alan. He and his wife Linda had just returned from a month long cruise from South Africa to Singapore which included a safari, so lots of good wildlife shots. It is six nations time and one of the joys of having free view is that I can watch the rugby. The England game was a tale of two halves and Alan watched the first half and then couldn’t believe that England had won, SWING LOW!! 

Saturday and I went into Mula to the market but it was freezing cold, about 6 degrees and as I came out of Aldi there was a flurry of snow. Chris and Alan had gone walking and they had encountered a real snow shower. The almond blossom weren’t too keen on the cold either so photo opportunities were limited. With the log burner going it was nice and cosy for the other two rugby games.

Sunday morning it was bright and warmer and no sign of snow. We needed more wood and Paco said he would deliver a tonne of very dry wood at 10am. He dumped it straight onto the road and Chris and Alan spent several hours moving it inside. Alan is an engineer and we have named the wood pile “the Barton” such is the magnificence of the design.

The "Barton"

 Meanwhile I was sorting out stuff in the kitchen and making vegetarian lasagne for Monday. The new table and chairs were put to good use for a couple of well deserved beers. We decided to eat in the salon (the Spanish for a celebration eatery) and had a delicious meal.

For starter we had embutido (a delicious plate of cold meats), mussels and cod croquetas; which were so nice we had to have a second helping. The salad was very simple but good, quartered gem lettuces with delicious anchovies on top.  For main course we had succulent goat, served with potatoes and little fried green peppers. Dessert was flan de cafe and cold rice pudding followed by coffee. We managed to drink 3 bottles of wine, 2 of which are a delicious wine from Jumilla called Juan Gill. By local standards it is expensive, 12 Euros a bottle, but it is so smooth. It is 10.40 to buy at the vineyard so the mark up is not great. After hard work, food and wine a siesta was in order after which the boys went for a chat in the bar.

Monday Chris and Alan went up into the Sierra Espuna park to see the ice houses, they were well wrapped up when they left the house and there was snow on the ground where they walked. I took the van into Mula and went again to the internet shop and it was as if I was telling her the problems for the very first time. She said she would ring the technicians but she also gave me their number. About an hour after I got home they were at the house, and fixed the problem in no time. The antenna in Mula had snapped due to the very high winds. 

Tuesday we had plans, I was going to Mula for my hair appointment and the boys were going to walk the waterway and I would pick them up in Pliego on my way home. The rain didn’t look very inviting so plan B, after my hair cut, let’s go to Cehegin. It has a lovely old town with narrow streets winding up to a square at the top but it looks less good when it is raining. We planned lunch but Tuesday was not a good day to find food in Cehegin. 

Lunching ay Casa Paca

We went to Casa Paca near Mula; always a good bet and had menu del dia for 30 Euros for the three of us. I had soup, fish and rice pudding but the boys had a big plate of paella for starter followed by meat and a very rich pudding called “tocino del cielo” which translates to bacon of the sky. It is from Jerez where they make sherry and used to use egg whites to clear the sherry and therefore had loads of egg yolks and not wanting to waste them they went into a very rich dessert.

Wednesday and Alan was back off to the UK without much sun and probably two weeks too early for good photos of the almond blossom.  Chris came back from the airport looking pretty rough and went to bed for a few hours. He had a dose of cold/flu with a thick head and sinus pain, so the magic flu powder was administered!! I got up to date with some stuff in the house and started thinking about what to do in Paris in September. Chris continued to feel rough on Thursday but we had a very lazy day in the house as it poured with rain all day. I got a bit of Paris planning done and Chris booked a flight to Porto, in Portugal, for September as he is planning to walk the Camino Portuguesa from Porto to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Friday we went to the market in Pliego and Chris managed eventually to get his haircut in Mula, the guy in Pliego was doing appointments only!! After I dropped him off I got stuck in traffic, it was the children’s Carnival parade. The volume was so loud from the speakers it was vibrating the car. My plans to go to the other side of town were thwarted so I had a beer and tapa in the main square and watched the parade. 

If you want loud music you need big speakers!!

Look Alan almond blossom!!

Chris was still feeling ropey on Saturday and I was worried that our night away might be in jeopardy. After several hours sleep and more flu medicine he rallied round. We stayed at La Mariposa, in Gebas, which is a hotel that does adventure activities. It is run by an English family and they do music nights. So for 100 Euros we had dinner, a Rod Stewart tribute act, overnight stay, breakfast and then Sunday lunch. There were only 14 people but it was a good night and the weather was grand so we walked up the valley behind the hotel for a couple of hours before lunch on Sunday. All in all a grand time and my legs were a bit stiff with all of the dancing!!

Birthday with the girls

Birthday celebrations begin !!

Sunday 1^st February to Thursday 5^th February

Due to very strong winds in the UK the girls arrived early but we met up in Alicante airport and set off for our house in Altea. I knew Amy would be shattered as she had just finished the panto run at midnight on Saturday and the break would be good for Idg too, especially after the car crash of the previous week. As I was already here in Spain I had packed the car with loads of essential, food wine, blankets jumpers and a halogen fire. When I checked the house I has booked it said no heating!!

We found the house quite easily, though locating where the keys were required you to be able to identify an avocado plant!! The house was described as Bohemian and was certainly quirky, little bits and pieces of funky furniture and artwork etc  The electrics were a bit of a nightmare but more of that later. Once we unpacked we walked down to the little bar in the tram station, five minutes away. It was warm enough to sit outside and we had wine and tapas and chatted to the owner who was Spanish and called German. We then wandered down to the beach in search of some food and had our meal in an Italian place, lovely paella, and more wine...........bit of a theme here!! We got back to the house and had more wine.

Monday 2^nd February

The pressies and cards

Birthday morning I felt pretty rough, self inflicted (maybe dry January is not such a good idea) but had a lovely time opening cards and pressies. Thanks to the girls for bringing their pressies and those from Vicki’s and Anne and Keith H and also cards from Claire and Dan, Kim and George and Keith W . Thanks to too Chris who brought my pressie and card from his Auntie Pat. Birthday breakfast is traditionally scrambled egg, smoked salmon and fizz ( I passed on the latter) and we ate it on the terrace with sea views and blue sky.

We went into Altea in the car and wandered uphill through the old town and it was just warm enough to sit out and have a sandwich in the square. I had thought long and hard about whether to fly home for my birthday but don’t think we would have had any time outside in the UK!! We wandered into one or two of the trendy little shops and Idg got a nice leather ring. When we got back to the house we pottered about a bit and the girls went down to the beach and to play on the swings-as you do when you are 29 and 25 years old. Then about 4pm realised we had no power. We checked with the neighbours and it was only our house. Eventually I spoke to the owner and she said it would be fixed before 10pm. It is pretty cold in Spain once the sun goes down and without electric our only source of heat was the log burner in my bedroom. Drove and got some wood and eventually some candles and lit the fire, but due to a broken pane of glass all it did was fill the room with smoke........open the window and in comes the cat!! Getting the picture?? As the girls and I joked a birthday I will not forget.

Candles lit, wrapped in blankets we decided to postpone my birthday meal, how can you get glammed up by candlelight?? The girls had arranged with the owner a booking at a local restaurant that she really like. So we sent for takeaway pizza –which arrived in half an hour as predicted and the girls had some fizz, an alcohol free birthday for me. The power did come on about 9pm which gave us some heat.

Candlelit pizza

 

Tuesday the weather was beautiful, lovely blue skies so we set off in the car to go to Calpe for coffee and then Denia for lunch. I opted to take the second turning into Calpe and missed it as you had to drive through a garage forecourt first!! We headed for Javea, via a garage to buy a map..........having left the map book in the house in Casas Nuevas. We parked up near the marina in Javea and found a little coffee place in the sun and had coffee and lovely home-made cake, it was run by a German man and the cakes were delicious and the whole place spotlessly clean. We chatted to some people from Inverness who were visiting their daughter who lived in Javea. When Imogen was about 2 we spent a week in Javea with her grandparents but I didn’t recognise much. We had a lovely walk along the front and set off north for Denia. Any plans for a beachside lunch were thwarted, unless we wanted English food!! We went back to the harbour area and had salad and wine in a trendy bistro style bar and then went to gawp at the amazing boats in the marina.

Back at the house we still had power and we got ready for our night out, all made up (thanks Amy for doing my make-up) and in our posh gear we had a glass of pink cava. We drove up to the restaurant Ca Toni, too far to walk in our gear. We had planned a pre-meal drink but other places were closed so went straight in. It was lovely, nice comfy seats white linen tablecloths and napkins. The menu wasn’t huge but looked good and we were not disappointed with the food. We shared  a starter of embutido, a plate of cold meats and then Idg and I had rabbit and Amy had slow cooked lamb shoulder. I’m not really used to fine dining in Spain, we ususlaly do menu Del dia 8-12 Euros paper tablecloths and simple but good food. This meal had vegetables, our favourite asparagus and pommes dauphines (okay not Spanish but lush!!) The wine was dry and crisp and went beautifully with the meal. Amy and I had chocolate cake with hot chocolate sauce and ice cream. Yummy!! We left the car and got a taxi back after a wonderful night and all the better for waiting a night!!

Birthday rabbit.yum yum

 

Wednesday Idg and I walked the 3k up to get the car, it was breezy and fresh but didn’t look too bad. We went into the baker’s for a coffee and when we came out it was raining!! The mountains behind this part of the coast make for interesting weather. Our plan had been to go to Calpe on the tram but south looked better bet so we got the tram to Benidorm!! 60 years and 2 days old and my first very visit to Benidorm, and it was not as bad as I imagined on a brisk February day with coach loads of Spanish old folks!! A coffee stop in a little corner place, where I think our Spanish amused the locals and we set off on a quest for croquetas. These are one of Imogen’s favourite Spanish snacks, and are not made with mash like in the UK but with a béchamel sauce with cheese\ham\fish etc. After about 10 minutes the Corner cafe (cafe esquina) was found and delicious croquestas were served with three beers. We then had a long walk around the beach up to the old church and started out quest for lunch. I am bit of a snob at heart and English food is not why I spend time in Spain but eventually we walked back up towards the tram and Amy found a little back street and we ate in Bar familial. Menu Del dia was 10.50 euros and we all had salad the Amy had paella for started and Idg and I opted for lentillas casero, a huge plate of lentils, potatoes and pork. Our main courses were huga and none of managed pudding. No-one wanted anything to eat so we went to the tram bar, para 44 and had some wine . We walked towards the beach to find a bar for a last drin but they were closed and we decided to go to the very posh looking Hotel........... it was very grand and not hugely expensive and had lovely comfy sofas. The football was on the telly in the corner with the hotel musak turned down, Espana por favour!!

Thursday was our last day together and we had a lovely breakfast together, packed up and headed south to the airport. We had a quick coffee and then it was time to be at Alicante airport. I said cheerio to the girls and haded for Ikea on the way home for some outdoor furniture.

Our time together was very special, it is not often I get the girls to myself , and they are excellent company and make me feel very proud. They both enjoyed the blue skies and little bit of sunshine as a nice break from the English winter.

Till next time and thanks for all of the birthday wishes 

Norma xx

Benidorm OAP flashmob

Para 44 bar xx

Breakfast and then home.........