Well this was supposed to be a travel blog–but everything changes

I obviously have too much time on my hands.  Here's my memory picture for the winter. Including our friends and the dogs, Paddy, Bree and Connie (The smelly one).

It’s over six months since my last post which was on our way down to Spain in the Autumn.
The journey down was uneventful. We had planned to stay in the middle of France until all the group games of the Rugby World Cup had finished and then race down to Albir for the knock-out rounds.  However England’s early exit from the tournament changed that.  The great thing about living in a motorhome is that you can change your plans really quickly.  So we said stuff France let’s get into Spain and the warm as quickly as we can.

A few nights in Benicarlo at a favourite campsite and then we got to Cap Blanch in Albir for about 16th October.

So back again at our winter campsite.  The same one we’d stayed at for the previous two winters, so nothing new to report there - except that they have finally upgraded their internet so at least the last month we have been able to connect reliably and with much better (if not perfect) speed.

James and Jo were already at Cap Blanch when we arrived and we also had our local friends to say hello to.  Iain slipped back into the pool team for Thursday nights and we went to the Quiz on Wednesdays – so we settled in nicely for the winter.

More people arrived and left and we made some new friends but there weren’t any new ones who were staying for the whole winter.

Parties were in full swing with a street party for 28 (half English and half Dutch) for Christmas Eve and it was so enjoyable that we did it again on New Year’s Day. Look at the lovely weather we had.

A new bar had opened at the entrance of the campsite and although we were determined not to enjoy the noisy place we fell in love with it. The entertainment at Brew Rock is fantastic, lots of variety and we fell in love with Pablo Bloom, Rafa Raposo, Mike, Rafa and Monique (well Jo and myself did, the men just don’t get it) and spent many great nights dancing away in Brew Rock.  We’ve never had so many late nights.

I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Pablo, but I think that's because he reminds me of my nephew.

New friends made – Swedish Willy whom we called “Willy Won’t He” because he kept saying that he was leaving but didn’t seem to get up early enough to get away and Harald – a very noisy, often drunken, Norwegian.  Also Adrian and Debbie from Devon. 

Old friends came by for a visit –  Shirley and Mick, Frank and Flo, Ali and Steve, Ben and Jolande, to name a few – sorry if I’ve missed anyone. 

Oh and of course our Christmas visit from Iain’s dad and brother Sean.

Then there are the regular over-winterers and full-timers at the campsite, Ruth and Paul, Henk and Jenni, Joy and Nick, Dave and Jessie, Meerke and Nol, Hannelle and Thomas, Fabienne and Frey, Hortense and Anton, Linda and John, Didi and Nol.  So as you can see we’ve made a lot of friends over the three winters we have been staying here. 

Sadly we said goodbye to Jessie who passed away suddenly a couple of weeks after she and Dave returned home in March.

Oh that reminds me, I learned to crochet over the winter as you can see my Christmas Angel in the photo with Jessie.  I made lots of things including a monkey and a granny square blanket – it kept me busy.

Also oriental dancing was a favourite of mine.  Iain said that if the teacher looked like this he would come along – I retorted that this is our teacher. Lovely lady Gisele Gibaut always has a smile and a great dancer. I must admit that I’ve a lot more than her to shimmy.

Connie (The smelly one) isn’t doing too well nowadays though.  She’s deteriorated quite considerably over the winter, she’s been deaf for about a year now but she’s now struggling to walk very far - her back legs are giving her some trouble which I’m sure has been exacerbated by the fact that I fell on her a few years ago and caused quite some damage to one leg (that’s another story) also because she spins so much she’s banana shaped and we always thought that she’d have trouble with arthritis.  I suppose that she is an old girl now at somewhere around 15 so it is to be expected.  So now we have a doggie push chair to wheel her around in.  I think we need to rename her Boudica because when she stands up it looks like she is riding a chariot.  We had been pretty limited about how far we could go with her before she got the push chair so it’s great to be able to get out and about again.  She loves it though and is quite happy to be wheeled around.

Benidorm series 8 is being filmed at the moment so there have been sightings of a couple of the cast members – last year it was Janine Duvitski who plays Jacqueline but this year it has been Jake Canuso (Mateo) and this unlikely character. Nathan Bryon who plays Joey Ellis. The picture is courtesy of Jo who accosted him outside Brew Rock a couple of weeks ago and she said he sounds just the same in real life like he does in the series.  For those of you who hate Benidorm, sorry, but we love it, mainly because all the places they visit are real and the people are just what you see in and around Benidorm. You either love it or hate it and the series, just like the place – we do both. 

Now the spring is here and the winter is over it’s been a time to reflect and decide on what we want to do next. 

Our journey to southern Spain and Portugal was scuppered last year when our tenant left and we decided to go home.  Then it took a long time to get another tenant to our eastern Europe plan was cancelled.  Oh well maybe another time.

We thought that we might in a few years replace our motorhome with a smaller one to use for travelling and buy a caravan which we would leave in Spain during the summer months.  This motorhome is great for living in but it’s an expensive ornament to keep in one place for 6 months of the year, it’s very big to move around when we are travelling – I won’t go to southern Italy in this.  Also at 9 miles to the gallon it’s expensive for travelling.  So whilst it is wonderful, it’s also not that practical.

Then suddenly everything changed.  We were planning to leave on the following Thursday and we’d already started sorting out the van ready to do so.  Then the previous Friday morning, I woke up and just suggested to Iain that we get an apartment.  I thought I’d have a battle on my hands but he immediately said, and without any discussion, “I was thinking that too”.  So there it was decision made in 5 minutes.

Later that morning I went to Jo and James to break the news.  They had been our immediate neighbours for the last two winters and like us live full-time in their motorhome.  Jo’s face dropped a mile with disappointment, but that was soon replaced by a beaming smile when James said “We’d been thinking of that too”.

Oooh, exciting.  We then looked at what we would have to pay for renting a decent apartment – a swimming pool was a must.  After some discussion, we struck a brilliant idea, what could we get if we put our money together and shared – yes a VILLA, not two apartments but a VILLA with our own PRIVATE POOL.  Now don’t get too excited, you may have some idea of a VILLA being a big rambling house in the middle of nowhere with views to die for, but in Spain a VILLA is basically a detached house.  The big rambling house is more a FINCA.

So from Friday morning when we decided we wanted an apartment, to Saturday when we decided we’d share a house, to Monday and Tuesday seeing Estate Agents and viewing in Alfaz del Pi, La Nucia and Albir, by Wednesday we’d put down the deposit on our VILLA. That obviously meant that we wouldn’t be leaving the following day as we wanted to get everything signed up before we left.
It was all very exciting, despite the fact that on the Saturday our tenant sent us an email saying that he would be leaving the house at the end of April.  Mmmm – bad timing or what – actually no, it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm and at least it’s better than him leaving in September when the contract comes up for renewal.  At least it’s the spring and we can go home for a while.

So we get our VILLA in September as it’s already promised for holiday lets in the summer.  It’s somewhere near to the arrow head, nestling at the foothills of the Sierra Helada natural park.  Unfortunately it’s up what is locally called “Cardiac Hill” so either we’ll get very fit or we’ll use the car a lot – yes we’ll be returning with a car.  But we will be getting "classy?" neighbours.  It’s just along the road from the Sha Wellness Clinic whose clientele includes Simon Cowell and Kylie Minogue!!! However at 400 Euros for an afternoon's treatment (actually I think that is for a swim) I don't suppose we'll be visiting it very often.

Of course, everyone who knows anything about living in Spain will know that you now hit the Spanish bureaucracy.  NIE numbers must be obtained before you can enter into any contract in Spain, whether it be to buy a car, open a bank account or to rent a home.  This entails filling out forms and visiting the local police station in person.  Although this can be done yourself it is much easier to pay a lawyer to do it for you.  Then you have to wait for the paperwork to come through.  This also puts you on the radar for the authorities that you are living in Spain and that then connects you to the tax office to pay Spanish taxes.  More of that another time maybe.

Once we had the NIE numbers which took about a week, we were in a position to sign the contract on the house.  Well no, not quite.  Despite having asked the Estate Agents twice if we needed to have a Spanish bank account and being told that we didn’t, when the contract was ready to sign they then told us that we needed to. Had they told us that at the beginning we could have arranged it at leisure.  So there Iain and James were running around getting bank accounts, which like everything else in Spain takes ages.  It actually took two days, come back manana and get the account numbers.  So at last we have signed the contract and we are now sitting here waiting for the debit cards to come through.  We could have sorted out the bank account weeks ago and be on our way by now.

When the bank cards arrive we’re off back to the UK.  Live in the house again until we get another tenant, buy a car, sell the motorhome, visit friends and family, go to my Nephew’s wedding then head back to Spain for around 1st September or before. The only problem is that if we sell the motorhome and the house gets rented, then we’re truly homeless until September – anyone feel sorry for us?

Maybe we’ll try real camping and live in a tent.

I DON'T THINK SO!!!

I’m back

Well it’s been a long time since my last post. There’s been so much going on that I just haven’t had the time to think about doing my blog.  People asked us what we were going to do, were we going to get bored etc? But the days just seem to fly by and before you know it, it’s evening again.  We’ve even been trying to have a couple of nights in this week to catch up on a bit of TV and that hasn’t happened.  Now the weather is getting better in the evenings, it’s just so easy to pop round to someone for a quick drink about 6pm and before you know it, the evening has gone and you haven’t had any dinner – again.  It’s a hard life but someone has to do it.

We’ve been thinking about our reasons for doing this, is it to travel Europe or is it to stay in one place and enjoy the warm weather?  Well it’s both really, so we’ve decided that we love it here so much (of course that’s all about the friends we have here) that we will come back next year (all being well of course) and probably spend the whole winter in one place.  This then brings us onto whether we should get an apartment, buy a caravan to leave here in the summer with a small motorhome to do our travelling in, or stay with the van that we have.  The decision is that we will decide in another couple of years – we love this van and although we can’t get to the smaller campsites or travel easily on the smaller roads, if we get rid of the van now, we will never have something as luxurious as this again.  The one decision that we have made is that we will NOT get an apartment. 

The campsite life is fantastic for us.  Now we have Nick and Joy here, and of course Jo and James have been here the since we got here – we are on the same block of pitches D1, D2 and D5, I have to admit it has become a bit of a commune.  The dogs (Paddy and Connie) seem to think that it’s just one big pack and they become interchangeable.  In the mornings Paddy comes around to check that the pack are ok and to finish off Connie’s breakfast.  Of course this also has the advantage that if we want to go out for the day we can leave the dogs with each other and know they are ok.  Only yesterday, Iain was ready to go for a shower at 11 o’clock, but “people” just kept popping round, Paul had a flat battery, so we asked Henk for a jump start, Henk and Jenny were leaving so we helped move their caravan – by 1.30 he gave up and we took the dog out for a walk.  The only time I get to update my blog is in the mornings before we open the door to the outside world.
So what has been going on.

Early in January we saw the arrival of Nick and Joy – great friends we had met last year, so the first day that just had to be an excuse for a get together and we started with a welcoming party.  The next day Nick and Cathy (Tales from Aurora) arrived.  It was really bizarre, we had never met them before but we had been following each other’s blogs for about a year.  It was like meeting long lost friends.  They were only staying a couple of nights before going skiing so we sent them off to have a look at Benidorm.  Nick bought himself a “selfie” stick so we just had to try it out at the Chinese restaurant.  Very successful I must say.

Nick seems to have the hang of it

Cathy brandishing her new toy

It was lovely to meet up with people that we had only known vicariously and hopefully our paths will cross again soon.  Perhaps in the summer we might visit the campsite where Nick and Cathy will be working.

Early in January, Meerke arranged for us to pay a visit to the campsite Boss’ Finca (Estate) and this was a great opportunity to have a look around at a wealthy house in Spain.  About 12 of us went.  Now I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but when dealing with Dutch people there is no approximate time.  We had arranged to do the visit on Thursday and we were to meet at 11.00am as our Dutch friends had arranged transport for us (they have caravans so cars are available).  Nick, Joy, Jo, James, Iain and myself were idly chatting at 10.30am on the preceding Tuesday about how were were going to leave soon to walk to Altea and how we mustn’t be late on Thursday to be ready for our Dutch friends at 11 o’clock exactly.

Something had got lost in the translation though and while we were chatting, Meerke waved to us from their pitch – it was now 10.45 and 10 minutes later she came to ask if we were ready.  We exclaimed that we thought the arrangement was for Thursday and she said no it was today, Tuesday.  So having really tried hard not to insult them by being late for our arrangement  it was suddenly a mad rush to get ready to leave.  Never mind, cameras thrown in bags and jumpers grabbed we only held them up about 5 minutes.

The Finca was only just this side of Benidorm so it didn’t take us long to get there. The old farmhouse dated from the early 19th Century and they are obviously very wealthy people as there were quite a few pieces of old furniture and antiques.  The house even had it’s own Chapel upstairs. 
 There were some very pretty rooms and it was kept immaculately.  The one thing I would say though is that it was FREEZING inside.  These houses are designed to keep cool in the hot summer months, but hey, this was January – no-one actually lives there in the winter (except the housekeepers) and I can’t blame them.

Every autumn the Dutch contingent at the campsite go up to the Finca to pick the oranges.  They asked us whey we didn’t go with them and I (hopefully) tactfully explained that it was because we didn’t understand the posters.  Never mind, perhaps next time.

Things soon settled down with Nick and Joy’s arrival and we got into a fair routine of partying.  However it was so long ago now that I’m sure I have forgotten a lot of what we did.  Either that or the copious amounts of falling down water that has been consumed has made my memory hazy. The problem is that Nick and Joy are on holiday and we are “living” so it’s trying to get that balance.

Oh and I forgot to mention - remember our atrocious antics at our party - getting rather confused as newts and losing our presents - well about three weeks after the party we were out one quiz night and we were handed a couple of bags of bottles of wine and a gift that had been found and were being returned to us.  We were absolutely flabbergasted and couldn't believe the honesty of someone to send them to Wyndhams for us - and we don't even live in the town.  It would appear that when I left the Beach Lounge I didn't actually manage to pick up all the bags and left some behind.  So thanks to Robyn for letting us have them - it wasn't the value of the items but the thought that we were most impressed with.

Quick summary for January:-

• Duck is still around and still making a mess everywhere.
• Nick and Joy have joined us and made up the numbers for the quiz team.
• Weather has been cold(er) but hey we haven’t seen any snow and we have seen a lot of sunshine.
• Still doing Flamenco lessons – and loving it.

See you soon for February update.

365 Days and we’re still talking

We’ve made it, one whole year of spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week together, living in a small space.  No work, no fixed plans, just enjoying ourselves doing whatever we want to do, going wherever we want each day and for the things we don’t want to do - well there’s always manjana. There’s been a few small (occasionally  huge) arguments but mainly over travelling.
In the year we have only spent 5 nights not sleeping in the van, when we returned to England for Emma’s funeral and when we stayed with Iain’s dad (the road outside his house is too busy to risk wild camping) and  Iain another 10 nights when he went home to see Emma.  So that’s not bad.  When we started living in our van, most of our friends and family thought we were mad.  The questions went something like:-

Q: Would you like to come and stay over, we have a spare bed for you?
A: No thanks we have a very comfortable bed to sleep in.
Q: Would you like to come around and use our shower?
A: We have a perfectly good shower in the van.
Q: When you come back to England, will you rent a house?
A: We have a luxury motorhome to live in, we don’t need to rent a house.
Q: Won’t you get bored?
A: I very much doubt it.
Q: Would you like to come around for a meal?
A: We’re not living on road kill you know.
Q: Would you like to do some washing?
A: Now you’re talking.

And I would usually end it the conversation with “Don’t feel sorry for us, we have chosen this lifestyle, you’re the ones still working.”
So I thought I would think about the things I do and don’t like about our life-style.

Things I love

1.  We don’t have to work to pay for STUFF, our average cost per night is only £2 more than our council tax was and we spend most nights on campsites.
2.  We have the freedom and time to go anywhere we want.
3.  We have everything we NEED and a lot more.
4.  We are almost always in the warm weather all year round.
5.  We have met so many wonderful people from all walks of life, doing the same thing as we are, so we always have something in common to start with.
6.  We have seen many places that we would not otherwise if we just did normal “holidays”, Toledo, Avignon, Valadollid, Carcasonne, Albir, to name but a few, even in England, we visited Hadrian’s Wall, Scarborough, Lyme Regis, Seaford, Cheltenham  etc etc.
7.  Housework takes no more than an hour.

Things I don’t like.

1.  Sometimes it’s a pain having to go to the showers and toilet block if it’s a bit chilly.
2.  I can’t get my crafting stuff “toys” out and leave them out for when I next want to use them.
3.  I’m not a naturally tidy person and have to work very hard at it, everything has to be put away as it isn’t long before you have to clear a space just to sit down if you aren’t organised.
4.  Sometimes I miss our friends and family.
5.  I like to know where I need to go to buy things.
6.  I’d like transport sometimes so that I can “pop” off to somewhere. 
7.  You can’t always do your clothes washing just when you want to.

So to summarise, the things I don’t like are mainly “niggles” the things I love are fantastic. Weighing it up – I don’t regret a minute and I love the fact that we’re not working any more.

The weather here is still fantastic and in the words of Freddie - we’re having a good time!

It’s official – 19th November and 24C

A couple of days ago we decided to have lunch somewhere different and actually used one of the bars on the seafront (they are always more expensive).  However the view does make it worth it occasionally.

And just a reminder of the view from Albir across to Calpe

We’re still in shorts, sandals and t-shirts during the day, but the evenings are getting cooler and during the night the temperature is even sometimes dropping below 10C. We’re still managing to sit out some evenings until quite late, but you do need long trousers and jumpers now.  My Ugg boots have now made an appearance.

We’ve now been on this site for 7 weeks and I can’t believe how the time is flying.  Of course we’ve been here before so things are bound to be different but as we’ve been here longer than anywhere else in the last year, it’s getting to feel rather like home.
On another couple of trips out with Jo and James we went to a Spanish Fiesta somewhere up in the mountains by Alicante – I think it was Cocentaina.   The whole thing was a bit much for me, too many people, too many legs for the dog.  We didn’t really have any choice but to take her with us.  We would be out too long to leave her in the van and it was too hot to leave her in the car, so I’m afraid she just had to put up with it.  I did have to pick her up a few times when it got really crowded in the narrow streets. There were different sections to the fiesta; a medieval section, a Moroccan section, a food section, a children’s section.  There was so much to see, with street performers and market type stalls selling anything from magic stones to combine harvesters.  The problem was that there were so many people that no one could get near to the stalls to actually browse.  It was a great experience but I wouldn’t go there again.

Simple bunting made from strips of material just tied together, but very effective.

See the authentic “Medieval” Doner Kebab!!!

The Spanish love their fiestas and all the shops and businesses shut for the holidays.  Here in Alfaz del Pi they had a 5 day fiesta this month and we read about it in the local paper which told us that on one afternoon they throw fireworks into the crowd and said “Not for the faint hearted, wear old clothes and cover your head” – so we gave it a miss.  We could hear the fireworks from here so it must have been deafening in Alfaz about 3 miles away. 
Also this month they had the Benidorm Fiesta, we just didn’t get our a**es in gear to get there, but we saw lots of people in Albir dressed really weirdly as they met up to go to Benidorm for the fancy dress parade which is apparently the largest in Europe (but then they would say that!!!). Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, well those that could remember anyway.
Another day we went up towards Javea again, but this time we went up to the peak at Cap de la Nau.  The view from up here was spectacular.  On a good day you can see across to Ibiza but as it was still warm and hazy we didn’t get the full experience of the view.

It’s not that far away, the hazy rock on the left is the Peñón de Ifach at Calpe

With all those mountains, you have to get around them somehow, or through.  This is the main coastal road between Altea and Calpe

On the way back we visited a very pretty village with a gorgeous cove called Plaja de la Granadella.  There was one very narrow and windy road in and it was the same road out.  We wouldn’t like to have taken our motorhome there and were amazed that there were a couple parked up near the beach.  These French will go anywhere in theirs.

Those rocks may have been there for thousands of years but I still wouldn’t live in that house on the top!

It’s not all new and exciting, we’re still eating out a lot because it’s so cheap, but we’ve changed things a bit, we’re drinking a bit more expensive wine these days, around 2E a bottle instead of 1.  I’m determined not to drink too much so I have a self-imposed curfew of generally no alcohol until 6pm at the earliest.  When I say generally, that’s not a hard and fast rule, if I fancy a beer with lunch then I’ll have one, occasionally, I just don’t want to get into drinking from lunchtime until fall-down time, it’s just so easy here if you are not careful.  The only real exception I make to this is on a Sunday, when we go to one of the local bars for a Sunday roast and have one or two, or even a few more drinks.  As I’ve said before, eating out is so cheap that it’s just not worth cooking with two courses at around 7 Euros (£5.60) including a drink.  The only problem with that is that if we are with friends then the walk home and the subsequent evening can become something like a scene out of “The Last of the Summer Wine”.
Jo has become a real bad influence on me!!!!!! I think not. But last Sunday we actually ate separately and then met up back at the campsite for a Soberano (Brandy).  Jo hurt her ankle some weeks ago (funnily enough on a Sunday afternoon) and James has now got her a “Madge” (mobility scooter named after the character in Benidorm who won’t get out of hers) to help her to get around. 

Well I decided that I’d put it away in their awning for them but then decided that I’d take it for a “Stability Test” first to make sure that it was safe for her to drive.  The men had both gone “for a snooze” by now so it was just the two of us and any unfortunate on-lookers who saw this despicable display of “Bad Brit” behaviour.  Luckily it is very quiet down our end of the campsite and so I had plenty of room as I don’t suppose for one minute that I kept to the 5mph site speed limit.  Well all I can say is that these things are so much fun.  Not much wonder that in Benidorm you have to prove that you are disabled or over 50 to be able to hire one.  Well I’m over 50 so that’s no real recommendation is it? I zoomed off at full throttle, leaving Jo giggling at the pitch.  After a few trial runs I found that you can turn full lock on full throttle and the thing still sticks to the ground.  After about 10 minutes fun I thought I would put it away for her as I had promised.  So at full speed ahead, I headed for their awning.  I managed to get through the door with no trouble and then cut the throttle.  What I had forgotten was that these things don’t have any brakes and they take a few feet to stop.  I suppose they can’t stop dead or you’d have all these old ladies catapulting out of them onto the pavement all the time.   So here I was already in the awning and still a few feet to go before coming to a stand-still.  Yes you can imagine, I had nowhere to go and it wasn’t going to stop until it wanted to.  I was screaming “It won’t stop” and then I managed to crash into the table and the step. Everything was starting to look horrible.  I then had to reverse back off the step to clear all the objects that I had sent scattering.  Of couse having been under the influence of copious amounts of Soberano (what an apt name for a brandy) I haven’t laughed so much in ages. I then scuttled off back to my own van in disgrace.  We also managed to get ourselves on the campsite facebook page (again) Cap Blanch facebook  but this time we were named!!!!  I’m still not sure whether the campsite owner is just putting up pictures of people enjoying themselves or if it is to gather evidence. It was a good job he wasn’t around when I was on the madge or I think we would have been evicted by now. At least being older, we don’t go on too late into the evening and have normally wrapped up our socialising by about 10pm – but maybe that’s because we start so early.

16th November, early evening, jumpers but still in shorts - Javier, James, Me, Jo and Iain

The Spanish gentleman on the left is one of the campsite workers.   He’s probably in his 50’s says he is a free-man, travelling with his push-bike and tent and going wherever there is a bit of work.  During the summer he also did some busking, but unusually with a dancing puppet and at the moment he spends 4 hours a day sweeping up leaves.  He laughs a lot and is always happy. You meet people from all walks of life when you live like this and everyone has a story to tell, perhaps one day I’ll find out what his is.
I’ve been keeping myself busy lately, I’ve nearly finished the three leather cushions for our settee, I say nearly finished, that’s because I’ve now got bored and moved onto Christmas decorations. I’ve decided that I’m going to make all my decorations this year and I want to go a bit OTT as last year we were on the road so I hardly had any at all.  I’ll put them up on 1st December and then post some pictures. I’ve joined the craft club which is another on-site activity so I’m going to see what new things I can learn. Most of the attendees are Dutch (only one other English woman), but I’ve already met a very nice Dutch lady called Didi who’s husband is Irish, so her English is very good. 
Pilates has gone by the wayside, I was really enjoying it but I exacerbated an old netballing injury during one session and had to stop.  So I’m going to wait until I am fully recovered before I return.  I can still ride my bike though, but I think it’s time I got a ladies bike instead of a men’s mountain bike as it’s getting a bit difficult to “get my leg over” so to speak.
James is so desperate to get a pet that he has now adopted a duck.  The duck just flew in about 5 days ago and comes back every day (so far).  James has found out that she (we can’t agree whether it’s a she or a he) loves tomatoes and yesterday she even came when Jo called her.  We keep joking about fattening her up for Christmas but now “she’s” got a name – Daphne, I don’t think that would happen.

One of the young Spanish campsite workers made a pile of leaves for the duck and she has become quite attached to her day bed.

Late afternoon – Jo firmly ensconced in her “Madge” – there’s really no need to salute me!

Connie has got over her op, the stitches have come out and her fur is growing back.  She’s an old lady now and we are surprised at how much she has acclimatised to the heat.  If the temperature goes below 15C she starts shivering. It’s really funny to hear her teeth chattering.  Now I’m not one of those who agrees with dressing up your dogs, but I’ve bought her a jumper – I just couldn’t resist. As soon as she gets up in the morning she runs outside to sit in the sunshine.  I bought her a really cool shower-proof coat in PINK as well.  That will no doubt deserve a picture soon.

I keep promising to give the van a good clean inside, but we’re saving that for a rainy day and we just don’t seem to be getting any.
I’m sure I’ve missed loads but I’ve got Xmas decorations to make so I’ll be back another time ……………………………………………………… One things for sure, we’re having a great time in the sun.

March Catch up

If you read on you will see that most of our friends have now moved on or returned home so I have had a break from partying and have had some time to catch up on my blog, I hope you enjoy reading it.

El Cisne – Saturday, Monday, Saturday

For weeks, Nick and Joy had been saying to us that we must go to El Cisne market as they really enjoyed it and seemed to go every Saturday since they had discovered it.  

El Cisne is a “flea” market on the edge of Benidorm on the main road and is held on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  It’s an antiques market and most of the outside part is tat but there are are some bargains to be had.  Now as we are not into collecting tat any more it’s something that we hadn’t been in a rush to do.  So having always had something else to do we had previously declined but a couple of weeks ago Iain wanted to watch the Rugby on TV so I decided to go with Nick and Joy to the market, thus saving Iain from something that I didn’t think he would like anyway.  

This was quite an experience to behold and I loved every minute of it.  An hour or so to go around the market, rummaging in the tat,  and then off to the bar (no surprises there), for a drink and lunch.  It is a fantastic atmosphere there and you get loads of free entertainment.  

Firstly you have John the Fiddler to entertain you with his eclectic mix of music. Ivan Travolta then often does a turn with his Grease Lightening and other rock and roll renditions – actually he is pretty good. During this you get a lot of people up dancing – some are really dressed up for the occasion and I did a lot of “Trannie Spotting".  I’m convinced that some of the ladies dancing were in fact men and I suspected that the ones that put the most effort into their appearance were indeed trannies.  It was nice however that over here anything seems to go and you are accepted whatever your tastes. 

Then you get a couple of dance acts.  Now these are professionals, not just amateur dance schools like you would get in England at a village fete.  The first act was a couple doing some very good dancing with some exciting throws etc.  I was amazed that they could put on such a good act in such a small space.   Then the highlight is the flamenco dancing – a group of 5 doing proper flamenco.  I was so mesmerised by the whole experience that I didn’t even think about taking any photos.  It was a fantastic day out and as I said the entertainment is absolutely free - we like free.

Now talking about free; El Cisne was to be open on the following Monday for St Paddy’s day so I committed Iain to coming with us.  They say there is no such thing as a free lunch but Nick, the social hand grenade, had blagged us a free steak lunch for the four of us.  It was one of the waitresses birthdays and she had booked 20 places for dinner.  Four people had already paid but had dropped out so there were four lunches going begging.  Well done Nick – we really enjoyed our free lunch.

Joy and Iain - St Paddy's day

As I said I had been so gob-smacked at the Saturday market that I hadn’t taken any photos but I did remember to bring my camera for Monday.  From the photo below you can see that a good time was had by all and I have never seen so much grey hair on a dance floor before.

Grey on the dance floor

We were sad to leave fairly early but we had to get back to the dogs who had been left home alone.

With the following Saturday being Nick and Joy’s last before leaving and as the Rugby had finished we all went along the following Saturday for a bit of a party.  This was the first of the “last” events that Nick and Joy would be party to during the days before they left.

That Saturday I did take my camera and got a few shots of the acts.  There was a fantastic act on first and they did all sorts of counter-balancing stunts to music.  That guy had arms like tree trunks.  Then he came on and did a brilliant act of a big black momma and her dancing partner.  The thing that made it great was that his legs operated the man and his arms operated the legs of the woman – if that makes sence.  Very cleverly done. The flamenco dancers were the same ones but as usual they were great.

Is Nick flamenco dancing?

Joy was very sad that this would be their last visit to El Cisne as I think this had been one of the highlights of her stay in Albir, so she was keen to have her photo taken with Ivan Travolta, just for posterity of course.

Those bar stools must be very uncomfortable?

We will return to El Cisne before we leave, especially as we are now we are going to have company. Where else can you buy Coffee and Brandy for less than Coffee and Cake - that's Spain for you.

Short Sunday

Another short day – this time a Sunday, and I can feel very self-righteous  as I was still not drinking (much).  A sober but very social day for me.

So it was Sunday morning, we planned to go to the market in Albir in the morning, stop for a swifter on the way home and then spend the afternoon relaxing, we thought we would have dinner at the campsite as we’d already bought the food – wrong!!!! 

So I’ll start again. It was Sunday morning and we went off to the market. We left the dog in the van as there are just too many legs for her – too many people and too much chance of her getting trodden on, along with the fact that we can’t really both browse while she is with us. Then, as often happens, we bumped into Nick in the market who had left Joy to search for some more bargains that they didn’t need.  We told Nick that we would be going to Oasis and he declined to join us - yes he did, he really did. They had booked a table at Wyndham’s with Jo and James for 2pm so could not join us for a drink.  Jo and James are also full-timers who have sold up their house in Nottingham and have been full timing for a bit longer than us.  

So still to plan we went to Oasis for a quick coffee and beer before lunch.  Lo and behold, we had not been there more than 15 minutes when Nick arrived to join us.  About half an hour later Joy came along and displayed the bargains that she had procured at the market.  We had a drink and then left together. N and J to go to Wyndham’s and us to go home to the van.  Joy and I were bringing up the rear when (he admitted later) Iain said to Nick that if they got a move on they could get a drink in Wyndham’s before we arrived.  I wasn’t very happy when I got to Wyndham’s to find Iain with a pint in his hand – here we go again I thought.  Jo and James asked if we were going to join them and if not why not so we decided that it would be rude not to especially as it was Nick and Joy’s last Sunday with us.

Joy and I went back to the van to collect the dogs and to give them a walk as they’d already been alone about 2 hours and it was quite a warm day. We came back and enjoyed a two course Sunday lunch, followed of course by some brandy (not for me) and at about 5pm we were all feeling very mellow!!!! 

It was of course too early to end the day so we ended up back at our van – easy to entertain now as the weather was warmer (we don’t have an awning) and we had acquired a site picnic table and chairs.  In fact it was a very nice sunny evening so we invited Meerke and Nol, our Dutch neighbours  to join us so that made 8. Incidentally Nol is short for Arnold. My maiden name was Arnold and I had never heard this abbreviation before, but rather liked it. My nephew was always called Arnie at school, but none of the rest of us ever had a nick name.

James was the first to crash and burn and we laughed as we watched him staggering back to his van for a well earned rest.

Nick, Iain, Jo, Joy, Me, Nol

Nick left next – also a little tired and confused.  And all this time I was still sober (‘ish).

Nol however was on a mission.  Meerke showed us some pictures of Albir that she had taken 34 years ago when there were just two buildings along the sea front.  It must have been lovely here then.  At about 8.30pm Meerke decided that she’d had enough and returned to her caravan next door.  Before leaving she said to Nol in English to “Come home after you have finished that drink” to which Nol surprisingly readily agreed.  As soon as Meerke was out of sight he moved his drink away and asked if he could have another glass – because if he didn’t finish the one he already had he would not have to leave – nice one Nol.

About 9.30 and now well into dark, there was just me and Nol left and due to the amount of alcohol consumed communications in two languages broke down irretrievably. Nol decided that it was now time to finish his original glass of B&C and return to his wife.

I must have been sober as I decided to clear up before going indoors.   All of a sudden I heard an almighty crash from next door and ran around to see what had happened.  Nol had decided to take a trip to the toilet and to use his bike to get there.  Not a good idea and it would appear that no sooner he had got onto his bike one side, he promptly fell off it the other.  Now Nol is not the most diminutive of men so this could be a problem. Meerke came running and once we had ascertained that there was no blood or lasting damage, some strong words were spoken by Meerke and Nol was ushered back into the caravan to use the local facilities.  Oh dear, I hope she doesn’t think we always do this?!?!?

Next day all the men were bright as buttons – it’s so unfair, I always suffer so much after a skinful.

A good day was had by all and yet another early night. A good last Sunday for Nick and Joy. This was the second of the “before we go home” celebrations that Nick and Joy attended with us and they still weren’t leaving for 5 days – it was becoming obvious that we would need a rest by the time they left.  

Quiz

Every Wednesday evening, Wyndham’s put on a quiz with Drew.  Drew is (as his name suggests) Scottish and we believe he lives alone, somewhere up in the mountains and we are sure that the Quiz is one of the highlights of his week.  He takes it pretty seriously but the questions are not particularly taxing and the quiz can be won on how many lucky guesses you make to pretty obscure questions rather than actual knowledge.  Some of the locals take it very seriously as the prize is a 3 course Sunday lunch for two at Wyndham’s.  We usually go to the Chinese opposite for dinner first and then turn up late at about 9.00pm just as he’s starting.

We of course don’t take it very seriously, the first time we joined a group of locals but they were so serious and there were a few arguments amongst the existing team that we decided we’d rather be alone, however sometimes we have a little help from our friends.

We try to brighten up Drew’s life with a different quiz team name each week and so often he just doesn’t get it and about half way through the quiz the penny drops. So far we have been:-

Quizteam Aguilera – took him half a quiz to get that one.

Dolly Parton’s Greatest Hits – say it fast – he got in quite a dither and hasn’t forgotten this.

Les Quizerables – he just couldn’t say that at all

Otrivia Newton John – one of his favourites

And one of my favourites, The Spanish In-quiz-ition.

And we’re saving Onward Quizteam Soldiers for our last week.

Everyone thinks we are really clever coming up with these names but I have to admit we just get them off the internet.

We’ve done pretty well so far even if it’s only been the two of us – but there were two memorable weeks:-

The quiz finishes about 11pm but unfortunately a couple of weeks ago we stayed on for a bit afterwards.  Having intended not to drink too much I had a vodka and coke rather than wine.  That was followed by a Bacardi and coke and another (we think there was another after that but I’m not too sure).  Over here they don’t do bar measures and by just pouring a drink you can get a lot more than expected.  Even at home, when I do drink spirits I always measure them so that I can keep an eye on what I’m drinking. 

Unfortunately events seem to have overtaken me on this occasion and I was a bit “wobbly bob” (as Iain put it) to say the least on the way home.

The next day I felt really ill, not the normal headache hangover but simply ILL.  And the next day, and the next day – I’d like to say that I had a “bit of a bug” but I’m afraid that I really believe that it was all self-inflicted.  In fact I didn’t touch ANY alcohol for 3 days and then nothing more than a couple of small beers a day for the next 4.  I’m still not drinking very much at all, except a glass of wine or two with dinner.  I think my body was trying to tell me something so I’m really trying to cut down as this can be too easy over here and I don’t want to make a habit of it.

The following week we attended the quiz but a very sober attendance for me!!!!! This time, Nick and Joy were going home the following day so they agreed to join us for dinner (only) before the quiz. We had met Steve and Claire in the week and invited them to join us.  Now Steve and Claire appeared to be on a Gap year of travelling Europe and then getting married in Spain in August.  Some take a gap year at 18, some like us take gap yearssssss at retirement and some like Steve and Claire seem to be taking a gap year before settling down and having children (although with the body clock ticking and so much fun to be had travelling that that decision seems to be more difficult for them now than when they started their adventure). Anyway with the “youngsters” on site it brought the average age of the campers down at least 5 years.

After dinner Nick and Joy (well Nick) thought it would be a good idea to join us “Just for the first half of the quiz” he said.

The quiz over – and we had won!!!! A free meal for two at Wyndham’s was on offer – Nick and Joy were leaving the next day and as it was so were Steve and Claire – so yours truly were left to enjoy the spoils – thanks guys.

Anyway after the quiz we all went back to our van – but as it was gone midnight then and I was still sober, we would not be able to sit outside (midnight curfew on noise) so I invited them all in – and Paddy the dog.  I thought Iain had gone to the loo, when I saw a lump in the bed and realised that no he wasn’t pleased to see me but he’d come home all confused and tired and gone straight to bed.  So there were six of us and two dogs in the van. It was a bit of a tight squeeze and reminded me of having friends round when I lived in a bedsit.  Now this isn’t the first time that I have gone partying after Iain has gone to bed but that’s another (and very expensive) story.

I chucked them all out at about 1 am and of course Nick and Steve had long drives the next day to look forward to.

Iain got up in the morning and said “I don’t know what happened last night, but someone broke into the van, drank all my booze and left me a pile of washing up to do”.

Joy and Nick going home

If you have read about El Cisne, Short Sunday and the Quiz you will already know that leaving celebrations abounded.

On the Monday evening we went out with Nick and Joy for dinner  to a very nice restaurant called Leonardos which is run by a Dutch couple. Not much to mention about this, just the food was excellent and the same great time had by all - again.

Tuesday we given a rest but N&J were still in party mode and  went out with Hannah and Tomas, they'd already had a long lunch with Jo and James a few days before. Wednesday was the quiz, which I have already written about and Thursday morning they were off.

N&J had spent days packing up their awning and fitting everything into the van. We on the other hand don’t have an awning (mainly because of storage space when on the move and also because I’m such a woos that I’m always terrified that it will get ripped off the side of the van in a storm and cause a load of damage). 

Their awning had however proven very useful for entertaining on cold evenings.  Not having an awning does however mean that we can be packed up and ready to leave in about 45 minutes and not take days like everyone else.  The time it took to pack was at one time extended  by Nick’s friendly face arriving at our van with two cans of beer saying “I thought I’d bring these up here to see if they taste different, do you want to find out?” – any excuse for a beer.

So come Thursday morning after a very late night, we all turned out  to say goodbye to them.  It was quite a send-off and the rumour was that “hard-man”  Chelsea F**king Dave was blubbing. We have never been in one place so long before that we had a chance to make friends but we do feel  that although we have met a lot of very nice people here this winter,  we will make life-long friends with Nick and Joy.  Iain said that Joy was the cherry on top of the icing on the cake and we will certainly be visiting them when we return to the UK. 

We knew that we were going to miss them greatly and they were the first of the group to leave. It just doesn’t seem quite the same without them, very quiet.  Since N&J left, Claire and Steve headed off the same morning (Claire had to drive due to Steve’s delicate condition after Quiz night), Hannah and Tomas left a week later, Nol and Meerke two days after that.  That only leaves Jo and James who like us are full-timers and of course Chelsea F**king Dave who lives here permanently. Like us Jo and James have decided to stay until after Easter as it is rumoured that campsites are really busy over the Easter holidays and the prices are hiked to peak season.  We have said that we should leave on the same day, otherwise there won’t be anyone except Chelsea F**cking Dave and his boxer dog Max to wave us off.  By the way, Chelsea F**cking Dave gets his name because he supports Chelsea and every other word is, well I think you can work that one out.

Claire, Steve, Joy, Iain, Nick, Tomas, Hannah, James and Jo

By the time of writing this Nick and Joy are already back in the UK. Love to you both (and Paddy) and see you soon.

Before I close off for March .............. Last weekend we put the clocks forward one hour.  This means that we now have lovely long daylight evenings until well after 8pm and with the weather being warmer in the evenings we are able to sit out until quite late. It took a while to get used to the darker mornings and the loss of an hour and we have been sleeping in until quite late , we missed the bread man at 9.30 the other day and bless him, he left us a loaf anyway. it was 10am before we woke  - but hey, we're busy doing nothing. 

Double Madge

As I’m still on catch up, things may be a little out of chronological order for the rest of March. I’m treating this blog as a diary of things that have happened so I’ll do it in headings rather than order. I hope that you enjoy reading some of our memorable bits from March 2014. What I can’t believe is that we have now been on this pitch for 3 months, a quarter of a year.  It’s by far the longest we have stayed anywhere because previously we were always on a two-week holiday so you packed as much into it as possible.  It’s now beginning to feel like home and the normal way of life.

Benidorm trip

In Spain, you can’t take dogs on buses or trains so we have been a bit restricted on what we can do.  We don’t like to leave the dog for more than about 3 hours alone in the van and if the weather is warm even that is really not practical as it can get warm inside.  We wanted to go to Benidorm (well you have to do it once) and the roads are a bit fast and scary for us to cycle. Thankfully, Joy and Nick offered to look after Connie for the day so that we could go on the bus.

It’s only 1.5 euros each and although it is only about 4 miles it takes about 45 minutes to get there by the time it’s been all around Alfaz del Pi.  Taking the bus is a bit of an experience, they are every 15 minutes so this is a great service but one thing we found is that the bus drivers here have no regard to the comfort of their passengers and don’t give a dam about speed bumps or screaming up to junctions and then suddenly applying the brakes. However the trip  gave us a good opportunity to view a lot of campsites on the way.  This did highlight that we have picked a really good campsite in Albir, it may not have all the facilities of the others but it is in walking distance of all amenities including the beach and town.  If we stayed on the others we would have to bus it everywhere and that’s no good if you have a dog.

The only experience we had previously had of Benidorm was the journey to and from the airport when the coach went around all the streets to pick up and drop off passengers.  At this time we weren’t in the best frame of mind so we hated it.  Also we had driven through and couldn’t find anywhere to park and there were so many traffic lights that it was a very scary experience (again I was driving and I was knackered from the concentration needed).   On all occasions it was a “Get me out of here” experience.

We had been advised to get the bus right into Benidorm and wait for it to turn around before getting off near to the old town.  The main road once you get into Benidorm seems to be filled with tourist shops, English (and Irish) bars and high-rise tower blocks which put most of the side streets in permanent shade.  We were sure to hate Benidorm but just wanted to walk around it to see for ourselves.

We headed from the bus stop towards the beach to have a look at the seafront.  The streets were buzzing with people and it is out of season, I wouldn’t want to go there in July or August, but I can see why young people would want to go there for hen and stag weekends (and give us all a bad reputation). Not to mention the TV series Benidorm that has made it even more popular.  Everyone wants to see where the series is shot and spot the celebrities. My view is that whilst I have to admit that I love it, the series is little more than “Shameless Abroad” and makes me even more embarrassed of my fellow Brits.  And before I move on yes they do ride around on Madge buggies.  Apparently there have been so many young people hiring them and racing around the town that now you have to prove that you are over 50, or that you need one.  And to whet your appetite here's a picture of a "Double Madge" - absolutely marvellous.

So what did we think of Benidorm?

Well to say that we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement, if you removed all the high-rise blocks it would be an absolutely beautiful place. Two fantastic crescent beaches stretching for over 4 miles, Levante Beach in the east and Poniente beach in the west.

Levante Beach

Poniente Beach

Separating these two is a rocky outlet which is where you will find the old town. I wouldn't fancy staying in this hotel though.

I can fully understand why it was developed as a holiday place and why people want to go there.  These fantastic beaches surrounded by mountains.  It’s just a shame that what has made it famous has also ruined it somewhat.

It’s well worth the visit to the Place de Castell which is a fantastic viewing point towards both of the beaches and where I took the beach photos from. 

Place de Castell

So time for lunch.  

Having joked that we were going to Benidorm to be Brits abroad and have a “full English breakfast”, we had been told that the old town is famous for it’s tapas bars – which is actually much more up our street. We found some pretty commercialised bars and then found a back street with some bars where the Spanish seemed to be eating – this will do nicely we thought and purchased 8 tapas and a bottle of Rioja for the princely sum of 8 Euros. 

Time now to get the bus back and check on the dog.  Having arrived in Albir, feeling mellow from half a bottle of wine each, and as the bus stop was just outside, we “popped” into Wyndham’s for a quick one.  Who should be walking along the road but Joy and Nick with Paddy and Connie (the dogs) and of course they just had to join us.  A couple of drinks later we left to return to the campsite and as we said goodbye to Joy and Nick, our “friendly” Dutch neighbours Meerke and Noel invited us to join them for a drink.  “Well it would be rude to say no” I said.  Another early night!!!!!

Benidorm Trip – part 2

Well we enjoyed our day out to Benidorm so much that we thought we would make another trip before Nick and Joy went home so that they could look after Connie for us.  No photos this time just a quick walk around and an enjoyable lunch planned.  This is worth a mention because it didn't turn out quite as planned. We wandered around the old town for a while to see if we had missed anything before.  Found the bar that we had used before for later reference.  It was a glorious sunny day and quite warm and I was wearing shorts and sandals although we did bring jumpers with us just in case.

We decided to stop for a quick beer before lunch and found a back-street café where the Spanish were eating – this looks like a good place we thought.  We bought our beer and I must admit that I do like seafood (or is it seefood and eat it) and as this was a seafood restaurant decided to take a look at the menu.  It certainly wasn’t as cheap as the tapas bar that we had intended to visit but hey, why not splash out once in a while.  

So having picked a back-street restaurant we expected something special for our money and awaited our meal.  Suddenly the wind picked up and it became quite cool, plus fairly heavy clouds had gathered in the sky.  I said to the waiter that it was a bit chilly so he beckoned for us to follow him inside.  I’d much rather eat al-fresco if I can but it was quite cold so I duly followed him.  We entered the restaurant which was a long thin building and then suddenly we were out on the street the other side.  

So wanting and thinking we’d found a back-street place we were suddenly out on the main drag, the one place that we had wanted to avoid. We’d already ordered so we decided to stay put – but this was a big disappointment.  The food was good though and the waiter showed us how to eat the small fish without spending ages picking at the bones with a knife and fork.  

It was getting pretty nippy now and the waitress brought out blankets for the diners – I was very grateful as I was wearing shorts. 

A bottle of wine, a couple of coffees and a brandy for Iain later, we left the restaurant having parted with 40 euros – not quite the 8 euro tapas that we had planned - c’est la vie, but we won’t be going back there again.

Motorhome Practicalities

Those who are not motorhomers don’t understand the necessity to have your holding tanks full and empty in the right order.  Fresh water in, waste out.  With regard to fresh water we just fill it using a watering can and it is amazing how little water you actually use when you have to go and get it. 

As as our black waste is a fixed tank we find it much easier to take the van to the disposal point and empty black and grey at once which we do on a regular basis.  

Normally with motorhomes the vehicle battery is trickle charged when on hook-up so it’s never a problem starting the vehicle.  However ours is American and it doesn’t seem to work the same.  So come the time to start the van what happens – yes you guessed it, whirr, whirr, whirr…………… nothing.  

No problem we say, we have an emergency start button.  This puts some charge into the battery from the leisure batteries  and hey presto we spring into life – or not.  Again absolutely nothing, not a flicker. It worked last time so why not now. Time to troubleshoot and I’m not the most patient person!!!! 

Firstly I’m using my set of keys and before starting you have to press a button which does something with the ignition (I don’t really understand what) and you get a set of lights on the dash which tells you that you are ready to start.  Now what is the problem, is it that the emergency start button isn’t connecting or is it my set of very clean keys.  Why are my keys very clean? Well that’s simple, Iain insists that I always carry my keys with me and a couple of weeks before, they were in my pocket when I washed my trousers in the washing machine.  I wonder if I have actually drowned the chips. 

So it’s now key button override time – apparently there is another thing that you can use to override the button – this is all getting very complicated now. So as I can’t reach the override while my keys are in the ignition, I use Iain’s keys – still no luck.  By this time I’m getting into frustrated mode (good job I’m up to date with my HRT) and we were both racking our brains to think what to do next.  I was looking around on the dash and as I flicked an unknown switch, I said to Iain, “You know this switch that we don’t know what it does” and before I could say any more all the lights came on.  Emergency start button depressed and hey presto – life.  So we’ve now learned what that switch does. 

It’s amazing how many switches and stuff that you have on a motorhome that you never seem to find out what they do and no-one can even tell you, they all have their little foibles. Often these things are fitted because there is a problem and it’s easier to put in something which by-passes the problem rather than fix it.

So we trundle off to the service point.  Me driving and Iain in the passenger seat.  Now an observation about people who have a lot of time being busy doing nothing.  Whenever a van is on the move it becomes a spectator sport, especially when a woman is driving.  Also because our van is a bit different it does attract a bit of attention.  So with this exercise being performed by us on a frequent basis, by the time we return to our pitch  we generally have an audience of about 15 people to see how this woman manages to park this large truck.  

There’s nothing like an audience when you are trying to manoeuver into a small space – but of course I’m well practiced now and take it in my stride – I even got out the other day and gave a little bow to a round of applause.

Still to come - El Cisne, goodbye to friends, quiz, morning brandy!?!?!?! Another short day!!!