Last day with Sandra and Adele, Oli's birthday, the pool ready for the summer , off to Santa Pola, a trip to Callosa, Algar and Bolulla where it all began, Real Madrid win their 14th European cup and other tales of the week.

Santa Pola, Sunday, 29th May, 2022

In Callosa de Ensarría - where it all began 

Good morning everyone. If last Sunday I was just back from  Asturias in the north of Spain with my dear Uni friends, Sandra and Adele, here I am today publishing my blog from the south east of the country. We are at our apartment near Santa Pola in the Alicante region with Suzy, my eldest daughter, and came on Tuesday the day after my friends left. We have come to see Suzy of course but also to find a new cleaner to look after the apartment and guests. Before I tell you about our time here, let me wind back to last Sunday.

Last Sunday was the last full day with Sandra and Adele. We had had a blast but all good things come to an end unfortunately. It was to be a busy morning and day  as it was Oli's birthday. She turned 37 that day!!!!! So I had lots to do to make the day perfect.

It started off with a much needed walk in the woods opposite our house with my friends and dear little Pippa who was in dire need of some exercise. I love May in Spain because everything is still green and there are lots of spring flowers which, like my father, I always admire. I had to record the moment to share with you today.

Our walk last Sunday

As soon as we were back, my friends and I went out again. I had to get some provisions for the birthday lunch - always home made fish and chips with mushy peas and go to Alverán to pick up Oli's spectacular cake. It's our favourite.

Oli's stunning birthday cake

I could have done with Lucy's help that day as there was so much to be done but I had my friends to help me peel the potatoes, lay the table etc. Meanwhile, Javier, the "swimming pool man" was here giving the pool a final clean after it had been painted. At about 1.30 he would start filling it. The pool is pretty deep and needs 75000 litres of water. God knows what that will cost. It would take a whole day and a whole night to fill. We took advantage of the moment before the water went in to step into the empty pool and have a bit of fun as you can see in this video - a moment of hilarity once again with Sandra and Adele. I took some pics too, like the one below.

Just before the pool was about to be filled with water - 75000 litres of it!

By 2 pm Oli and family were here and the fish and chips were ready on the table - delicious I have to say. 

Fish and chips and mushy peas for Oli's birthday lunch

And here we are around the table about to dig in. The only person missing, of course, was Suzy but we would see her on Tuesday when we drove here. 

The family birthday lunch last Sunday

Elliot was not particularly interested in this number one British dish but he was interested in the cake and the lighting of the candles and the opening of presents. I caught Oli and her family on camera at the moment she and Elliot blew out the candles. Happy birthday darling. I can hardly believe you are now 37, a grown up woman, a mother and amazing professional. I hope she enjoyed her day which I tried to make special. 

The photo of the day last Sunday 

We oldies were all full and tired after the walk and the big lunch so had a siesta. Later we convened by the pool to be with the family. I took lots of pictures but I particularly like this one of Sandra with little Juliet who behaved perfectly as she always does.

Last Sunday - Sandra with little Juliet smiling in her arms

As if we weren't already enough people in the house - Eladio, me, my 2 friends, Oli, Miguel, the 2 babies and the Chinese family of 4, the numbers increased when our new guests arrived. Deren and his group of scientists - a party of 5 from Imperial College London arrived during the afternoon. They would be staying until this Friday. That meant we had 9 guests this week - a bit too much but manageable. They are an interesting group who have been before. They are working on a medical project about muscles below the waist with a local hospital here. Although they all live in London, none of them is English. Deren and Simon are from Cyprus but Deren is a Turkish Cypriot and Simon is a Greek Cypriot and they are good friends. Ari is from Calcutta, Shibo is from China and there is another guy who is from Hungary whose name escapes me. You have to agree my house is a bit like the United Nations. Sandra whose mother was Hungarian and who was born in India was in her element with our young scientist guests and so was Adele who recently retired and is missing her University students.  They are the perfect guests and I am very fond of them.

They went out to dinner and we had ours on the kitchen patio - the "last supper" with my friends and it was marvelous as was the time we spent by the pool later with the sound of the water filling it. I think we went to bed after 11. For once I slept well and was up at 6.40 on Monday morning.

The girls were leaving and I was to take them to the airport. Meanwhile, Eladio was putting the finishing touches to the pool and pool area. Here he is tending to it.

Eladio tending to the pool on Monday morning

It was still not completely full and had taken 48 hours to fill. The girls and I had a photo by it just before we left. It was to be our last photo together.

Me and my girlies - our last photo together. 

At 10 am the three of us set off for the airport. Oh, how quickly the week had gone past. I had to drop off Sandra at Terminal 2 and Adele at Terminal 4 which is 5km away. Sandra's flight to Brussels was at 12.40 and Adele's to Paris was at 15.45 so she would have some time to wait. We had a last coffee together with Sandra and then left her at the check in queue.

After dropping off Adele, I started my return journey home which is quite a distance - 45 km. As soon as I was home off we went again, this time to do some shopping. We needed to leave Lucy some essentials and household products while we were away in Santa Pola. Our Chinese guests moved rooms that day and Lucy had to prepare the girls' room. Each week they are here they change rooms as I have other reservations from other guests and it's all a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. 

I was only free after lunch. I had a short siesta while Eladio mowed the lawn by the pool and brought up all the swimming pool furniture. I watched a bit of that silly series Succession (the "f" word seems to be in nearly every sentence) and then went down to the pool to sit and read Anatomy of a Scandal on my kindle. Everything looked perfect.

The pool and surroundings all ready for the summer

Normally I would have been the first one in but it was not warm for me - about 22ºc. Our young scientist guests did though so they were the first this year. We had our dinner at 8 as usual and then went up to bed to watch the news - mostly about the Emiritus King of Spain's visit to Spain after 2 years in exile. He would leave for Abu Dhabi again that day - sadly I thought - "good riddance".  He was such a good King or seemed to be and now he has ruined it all with his financial scandals. Stupid man. 

I did not sleep well tossing and turning and coughing for a lot of the night. I was up on Tuesday morning, the day of our departure, at 5.45. We left the house with a car full of groceries at around 11. It was good to get away again, especially from such a full house with 9 guests. We stopped for a coffee and for some petrol and at around 2 pm (our usual lunchtime) at a little town called Chinchilla. We had a damn awful lunch at a damn awful roadside cafe and will not be going back hahahaha. 

Suzy, bless her, was waiting for us when we arrived at around 5 or 5,30. We hadn't been back to our beach apartment since last September and it was good to see Suzy again. It was funny to walk into a lived in apartment and to see she had changed the furniture, etc. After unpacking we sat on the terrace. The salient point about our apartment is the lovely little terrace overlooking the garden and unfortunately now with the view of the sea obstructed as the trees have grown so much. Here are father and daughter deep in conversation. Suzy was telling us all about her plans and they were not easy to follow. Suzy is a free spirit and is rather anti system so it is far from easy to be on the same page. 

Father and daughter

I love our gardens here and Pippa does too. I took her down later and just marveled at the view. Let me share it with you. I'm afraid a photo doesn't really do it justice.

A view of the gardens, pool and sea in our complex, a sort of gated community. 

It was much warmer here than in Madrid but later got cooler. I have to suffer mosquitoes in this area big time but had come prepared with repellent, spray, anti mosquito devices - 2 types and after bite. Thankfully now we have anti mosquito nets in the bedrooms. Even so I got one bite. Without all the above no doubt I would have been bitten all over.

We had a pleasant dinner together and then watched a so so series on the TV. I had a coughing fit again but a glass of honey and lemon with boiling hot water did the trick and I had a relatively good night's sleep. It was my last night of coughing up till now so I am crossing my fingers my coughing bout is over. 

I was up on Tuesday morning at 7 am which I consider quite good. Over my coffee I was devastated to read about yet another mass killing at a school in the US, this time in Texas. I read that an 18 year old had killed 19 children and 2 teachers. Joe Biden wrote on Twitter: "The idea that an 18 year old can walk into a store and buy assault weapons is just wrong. What in God's name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone". I wrote back "For God's sake do something about it". The other news that day came from London. The Sue Gray report about "partygate" was finally published and the culture of drinking and disregarding the Covid rules during lockdown were laid bare. Boris Johnson said he "was humbled" but I don't think he was. More like he was cross to be have been found out; doesn't think he has done much wrong and has no intention of resigning. In my mind he should have resigned this week. What a liar we have in Downing Street. He represents the Conservative Party, the party my father always voted for. If he were still here, he would be ashamed of his party. I am disgusted. 

Far away in this quiet little apartment, we had lots to do that morning; mainly household tasks. If a year ago I had bought new towels and sheets I now had to sort them out as they were all over the place. I need to have at least 12 sets of each with the added difficulty that one of the bedrooms has a bigger bed. So there you had me, with Eladio's help seeing which ones were for which beds. That took me a while. Another task was to draw up a list of things needed; some replacements of old things such as, yes toilet brushes, etc as well as cleaning agents, new knives, new scissors, adapters for the plugs and a long etc. That meant a trip to a large ironmonger and then to Mercadona.  To record the moment here are Eladio and Suzy carrying some of the bags from the car to the apartment.

Coming back with provisions

Once we had put everything away, it was time for lunch but I was damned if I was going to cook it so suggested we eat at the pizza (and other food) place across the road; Soleluna. It's a nice place but oh so slow. I don't think we will do that again. 

Lunch with Suzy at Soleluna on Wednesday

Eladio spent time in the afternoon fixing things in the apartment - I always count my blessings that he is so good with his hands - and I read and did my accounts and updated my bookings calendar. I'm very busy with that these days as we approach high season. I then read and fell asleep by mistake on the sofa and woke up at 7pm. What had happened? Well, I had caught up on some sleep which wasn't a bad thing. I took poor Pippa down for her physical break poor thing as she must have been waiting. That's when I met Marina and Andrei, 2 Russians who had escaped Putin a year ago. They told me of their plight because of the sanctions on Russia and I felt for them. I told them my own family had fled Lenin and they had fled Putin which was a very similar situation in some ways. I spoke a few words in Russian and was happy to hear Marina say my accent was very good. If only my mother had taught us Russian but she didn't because she wanted us to feel English. As I always say though, if she hadn't, I would have been a very different person. Marina told me that now with the war in Ukraine they are ashamed to say to anyone that they are Russian. I can relate to that. 

Dinner was salad again; just the 3 of us after which Eladio and I watched a series called "Entrevias" but soon fell asleep. Again that night I slept well and woke up on Thursday morning at 7 am. PS I did not cough that night hurray. Thursday was to be the highlight of our stay.

Early in the morning, I  was quite astonished to see a man high up in  a palm tree cutting the branches. I thought that it was a dangerous but skillful job and had to record the moment in the photo below. 

A man cutting the branches of a very tall palm tree outside our apartment

On our way to the open market shortly afterwards I congratulated him on his work. I also commented to him that I would like to see more trees pruned as since we bought the apartment back in 1999 they had grown so much they now obstruct the view of the sea from our terrace. The view from the terrace was one of the key selling points. He told me they would be cutting down more so I hope the view of the sea can be restored and soon. 

I love the Thursday morning open market in Gran Alacant and we went to buy some fruit, mainly the juicy and sweet locally sourced oranges. Here I am in my element. 

At the market on Thursday morning

That day we had planned a road trip down memory lane, something we do every now and again when we stay at this apartment which we bought in 1999.  My parents bought a ramshackle house in the town of Callosa de Ensarria about 25km inland from that monstrous holiday town Benidorm. It nestles within orchards where a typical fruit called "níspero" hails from. The name in English is apparently "loquat fruit" but I've never seen it outside Spain. My mother bought our house there in 1972 when I was just 15 and my famous Aunty Masha bought an even more ramshackle one for a few hundred pounds further up the road and into the mountains in a tiny village called Bolulla. We would spend every summer there  until my parents sold the house shortly after we married. I have so many memories of our summers there that they often merge and I can't remember the years specific things happened. What I do remember is always inviting friends to join us and many of them have become friends for life.  To think my parents were in their early 50's and now I am 65. We are talking 50 years ago. But Callosa and Bolulla still have the same attraction for me;  the memories of my teens and happy summers in Spain. In 1972 we knew no Spanish and it was Franco's backward Spain that we enjoyed. We found it most exotic. I also think the villager found us exotic as we were the only English people there. Today that has changed and more foreigners have found their way there. Callosa means a lot too because it is where Eladio and I fell in love in the summer of 1980. He was then a priest who had decided to leave the church and I had just graduated from Nottingham University. He was 35 and I was just 23. So now you understand why Callosa and the region means so much to me. This is our first ever photo as a couple and it was taken in 1980 in the pretty village of Guadalest. That was more than 40 years ago but our love is still going strong. I always say I won the lottery of marriage.

Our first ever photo taken together - summer of 1980 in Guadalest

It was Suzy who drove. She has memories of the area but from long ago and I was keen to show her "my villages" in Spain. Callosa is absolutely nothing special apart from the orchards and mountains which are spectacular. I remember as a 15 year old girl seeing lemon and orange trees for the first time. I wanted to take Suzy and my husband to an old haunt - a modest ice cream parlour called La Jijonenca which brought many happy memories back. But we couldn't take Pippa inside and there were no tables outside. Thus we walked up the road to Bar Europa which has been there for years and years. Here we had a coffee on the road which is a busy crossroads with roads leading to Bolulla, Guadalest and Alcoy and to pretty Altea. Here Suzy took photos of us and I have chosen the one of us kissing as our very first kiss happened in Callosa de Ensarría. This is where it all began and what eventually led to my moving to Spain forever in 1981 and marrying Eladio in 1983. This year we will celebrate our 39th anniversary. How things have changed since then.  If you had told me when I first came to Callosa in 1972, aged just 15, that I would come and live in Spain and marry a Spaniard I would never have believed you.  In 2008 when my darling Aunty Masha died I wrote a post about how Spain became part of our live and I came to live here which you can read here, if you want to know more. 

From Callosa we took the road to Bolulla where we would stop at what are now famous waterfalls - Las Fuentes de Algar. Here my brother George, our cousin Sasha and I would bathe in the natural pools because we couldn't afford the swimming pool entrance. Today they charge to see the waterfalls. But first we wanted lunch and we chose Casa Marcos where we often came the year we met and in successive years. The owners do not remember us but we can never forget.

Lunch at Casa Marcos at Algar

Just next to our table was a lovely terrace looking out over the mountains and surrounded by fruit trees. Suzy fell in love with the view and had to have a photo. It was funny to take our daughter to the area where we first fell in love. She had been here as a baby, child and teenager but had not been back for years. I was happy for her to see where my roots in Spain grew and where it all began. 

Suzy at Casa Marcos in Algar

After our lunch we ambled across the path to the pool which we can now afford. In fact it is free if you eat at the restaurant. Both Eladio and Suzy had a siesta while I read Anatomy of a Scandal with Pippa at my feet - for once dogs were allowed.

The pool at Casa Marcos in Algar where Suzy and Eladio had a siesta

The pool and surroundings brought back many memories too as would our visit to the waterfalls. When we first went we could only bathe at the bottom by the big waterfall. Today there is a path that leads up into the rocky mountains where you find more waterfalls and more natural pools. Every time we have been there we have gone in the freezing cold water and swum with difficulty to the main waterfall, sometimes going under it. But that was impossible on Thursday as there was so much rapid and rushing water it would have been suicidal. So we had to make do with just looking. 

The main waterfall at Fuentes de Algar

We walked up the very steep path with even steeper steps and I climbed with great care owing to my troublesome knee. It was worth the effort as the sights as you walk up are to die for. It was only when we got to the very top that we could venture into the water at a shallow point. Suzy went in and I just paddled while Eladio looked on. Had it been 1980 we would have gone inside like a shot. 

Suzy in one of the natural pools at Algar on Thursday

From Algar we drove to Bolulla as a trip to Callosa and Algar are never complete without visiting my Aunt's village. I was keen to see her house - a very modest affair which had cost her just a few hundred pounds and where  a donkey lived! A few years ago my cousin Sasha sold it. I think if I had known I might have bought it. It's on the Calle Mayor and we could see as soon as we approached that it had been completely redone and was now a green colour - not sure I like the green. This is it.

My Aunt's old house - the left of the yellow and white one

We walked all around the little village and were a bit upset to see that the bar was closed. We walked back to the car from the far end of the village. I remember the green, the smell of jasmine, the bright flowers, the river, the fruit trees and the mountain in the background and wanted to walk towards where my Aunt used to park her car. 

Approaching Bolulla

Just as we were going past the first houses on our right I spied a man on his terrace. It was Francisco, perhaps the only person in Bolulla today who remembers us. I said to him in Spain "dichosos son mis ojos" (how lucky are my eyes). He was stunned to see us and said he had just been thinking about us when we appeared. How amazing is that? Francisco was a fruit grower and lived with his mother Elvira on the same street as my aunt. I remember him before he was married. Once when we went with the girls when they were very young, he took Eladio into his orange groves at the crack of dawn which is when he always got up to go to work. Today he is 78 and looks that or more. My husband is 77 and looks 10 years younger. It was great to talk to Francisco who remembered all my family so well. What a chance encounter and perfect end to the day.

With Francisco in Bolulla - we first met when we were young

I would have loved to stay but it was getting late and our apartment is 88km away - an 1h and 15 minute drive. So we parted and I wondered if we would see him again. We were home on time for dinner - a frugal affair after which we watched a bit more of our series "Entrevías". We were in bed by 10.15 pm and I felt so tired after the day's exhaustion both mental and physical. It was a bitter sweet trip down memory lane.

Friday dawned and that day we finally made it down to the beach. Suzy stayed behind as she is not a beach person. Thus it was just Eladio and me and as it still not high season the beach was not full at all - it never really is as this is not Benidorm, thank heavens. It was a warm day with temperatures reaching 25ºc and I couldn't wait for my first bathe in the sea this year. Here is Eladio looking the perfect tourist hahahahaha on the walkway down to the beach.

Eladio walking down to the beach

We sat  our old blue chairs which really need replacing but still serve their purpose. I should have brought some sun lotion as later I realised that I had caught the sun and was quite red in parts. Not good. The water was fresh and clean and I bathed many times. We also walked to the end of the beach stopping on the way back to have a coffee at one of the "chiringuitos" (beach bars). Life felt good. It was only after our walk that Eladio ventured into the sea which it seemed he had all to himself.

Spot Eladio bathing in the sea on Friday

We stayed for about 2 hours as we are not the kind to spend the whole day on the beach. Once home, Suzy joined me at the pool. I have to say the pool is the apartment's best feature. It is spectacular, large, clean with grass to sit on and above all amazing views of both the sea and the Mediterranean garden here, another key selling point; not that we will ever sell this place. We had the pool to ourselves too and here is Suzy who you have to spot in the photo below.

The empty pool on Thursday

Lunch was a simple affair after which I fell asleep over the TV, tired, I suppose from so much sun. My knee hurt too after the long walk on the beach. 

At around 5 pm our quiet afternoon was interrupted by the arrival of a possible cleaner for our house. Stupid us, we explained everything before negotiating a price. Her price was far too steep so she left. In the end it will be our neighbour who will continue to do the cleaning as she is so good and her price is quite reasonable. We still had to find a key holder; someone who would have the keys and look after the guests. That is proving more difficult.

Suzy and I then drove to Lidl, initially for a chocolate fix but we ended up buying a few more provisions for our meals here. Our evening ended in the same way most of our evenings have ended here; watching an episode of "Entrevías" and so to bed. 

I surprised myself by waking up at 7.20 on Saturday morning. Saturday was quiet. We stayed at home. I did housework, mostly getting rid of unwanted stuff that accumulates over the years. Eladio set upon the task of washing the curtains and then sewing the hems which had come unstuck. He then went about ironing them which is a huge and ungrateful task as they are so big and the iron isn't very good. I remarked it would have been better to take them to the dry cleaners. I hate household tasks and always have apart from cooking. I made a simple lunch of spaghetti bolognese and spent a lot of my day reading. Yes, I can read again but only simple novels, nothing erudite I am afraid. When he wasn't mending the curtains, Eladio was engrossed on his computer. I caught him on camera when I came back from one of my outings to take Pippa down to the garden.

Eladio engrossed on his computer

Yesterday was the final of the Champions League and Real Madrid were playing Liverpool. For once we could watch the match as it was open on TVE. The stakes were big. Real Madrid were going for their 14th cup and Liverpool for their 4th (I think). Maybe as a person born in England I should have been rooting for Liverpool but I have lived in Spain for 40 years so know where my loyalties lie. We had dinner watching the match - well Eladio watched it and I only glimpsed occasionally to make sure "Los Blancos" were doing their job. And they did it after a goal from the young Brazilian forward, Vincius Junior. But the man of the match was the Belgian goalkeeper Curtois who stopped 9 possible goals. Wow. Real Madrid won again as they have so many times. 

Real Madrid, champions again

They now have 14 cups, double the amount of the next club, AC Milan, which has the 7 and is the second club in the ranking of Champions League wins. Wow! These are the years Real Madrid  has won.

Madrid's 14 European cups

They have played 17 finals and won 14 of them. Impressive too. I went to one of the finals once. It was in 1998 and would be the club's 10th win. It was played at the Amsterdam Arena. Again it was won with just one goal. The Serbian player Milosovic scored the only goal in the match and it was at the very beginning meaning we were on tenterhooks until the match finished. I can't begin to describe the atmosphere outside. It was electric and a bit frightening. I wonder what it was like on last night outside Le Stade de France in Saint Denis with 80.000 spectators. 

This year Real Madrid have won both La Liga and the Champions League. This 14th cup makes them the best club in Europe of all times. I think you will agree. But the match was marred by very bad organisation. There was trouble at the entry point with fans getting in without tickets and many with tickets having to wait a long time to get in. Then there were troublemakers who went along to make trouble and the police had to intervene quite viciously. That meant the match started half an hour late; something pretty unprecedented.  I may not have watched the whole of the match but I loved the ceremony at the end where the Spanish King was present. Present too was Real Madrid fan, Rafa Nadal. Like Real Madrid he has won  the French Open 13 times and if he wins again he will possess his 14th cup too. He is up to stiff competition though with both Djokovic and the upcoming fireball Carlos Alcaraz being the players who may stop him. As I write all three are through to the last sixteen. May the best man win and may that man be Rafa (or Carlos). 

Today is Sunday and it will be a warm day. We have no particular plans. I'm not sure I want to go down to the beach again as my skin still feels burned. It will probably be another quiet day here.

So my friends, I have reached the end of this week's tales and will leave you now to publish this. Enjoy the read. 

Cheers till next Sunday

Mashha