Another quiet week by the coast, and the Oscar goes to "The Elephant Whisperers", a trip to Benidorm where it all began, three years since the first Covid lockdown, two brothers in Santa Pola, lunch in Calpe, home again and other stories of the week.

Home again, Madrid, Sunday 19th March 2023

Back to the scene of the crime - at the bar in Benidorm where we fell in love in the summer of 1980. 

Good morning again friends and readers. How are you doing? We are now back from Santa Pola feeling rejuvenated from our time in the sun; as if we have come out of hibernation. In a way we have.

Last Sunday saw us down at the beach again. On our way we went to a cheap Chinese shop to buy a new parasol and a beach chair. One of our Airbnb or Booking guests had broken the former and the fourth chair was mysteriously missing like so many objects in the flat, such as a cork screw. I honestly don't get why people want to pinch every day objects. Chinese shops are popular in Spain where you can buy literally anything under the sun, including beach furniture. This time we got a blue and white striped parasol which is larger than the one we had which, as I told you last week, was 24 years old, the time we have had the apartment. 

It was sunny on the beach but not overcrowded. The weather was extraordinary for the beginning of March and once again I went into the sea. Eladio could not be persuaded. He preferred to sit in the shade under the new parasol. Here he is saying hi from our spot on the Playa de Carabasi last Sunday. Life felt good. Life has its ups and downs and I do love the ups.

Eladio saying hi from our spot on the beach last Sunday

As it's still not high season, there were no beach bars to get a coffee so we walked up the wooden path to the main road where there was one very full bar. We got a great coffee and some free biscuits but there was no chair or table to be had. Thus we drank our coffee on a bench overlooking the sea. That was fine for us. We returned to the beach where I went into the water again and read for a while. I didn't feel like another long walk as the day before we had walked over 15000 steps and one of my feet ached - probably because I walked on a slope in the sand.

We stayed until nearly 2 pm which is when we made our way home. We are not ones for spending the whole day on the beach. We had got quite a sun tan and thankfully that day I had applied sun cream.  Lunch was simple: gazpacho, steak and runner beans washed down with a small glass of red wine and followed by fruit salad.

Our afternoons at the flat were very lazy. We spent the time sleeping, reading, writing or watching content on our PCs and in my case, my iPad. That afternoon I was looking forward to a Skype call with my dear Uni friends Sandra in Brussels and Adele in Brittany. I wish they could have been with us in Santa Pola. If they had, my afternoons would have been more lively, hahahaha. 

Sunday night was the night of the Oscars. Many, many moons ago, I often watched the late night ceremony from the sofa of our TV lounge in Bradford. These days I can't be bothered. I love films but of a specific kind and I don't think there were any in my limited category nominated for an award that night. In any case, these days I do not stay up late. That is a thing of my teenage past. Some strange sounding film called "Everything everywhere all at once" was the overall winner and I won't be watching it at a cinema or anywhere. The  only film that grabbed my interest was a short documentary made in India  called The Elephant Whisperers about how a tribal couple in South India adopt an orphaned baby elephant. Raghu and later Ammu are adopted by Bomman and Bellie. To this couple who live in an elephant camp in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalia Tiger reserve, these baby elephants become like their own children to them. Marvelous story. 

Bomman and Bellie with Raghu their adopted elephant calf. 

It is on Netflix and I watched it that afternoon and loved it. For someone like me who loves animals any positive story about  about human and animal interaction always fascinates me. I read somewhere this week that gorillas have been taught sign language and that also fascinated me. The Indian film which won the  best documentary short film, is the first ever to win an Oscar.   India went ecstatic and so it should.

Monday dawned and it was another marvelously sunny day. We both decided we wanted to go a bit further afield, do something different and have lunch out. We know the region backwards from coming here for so many years. It's funny but we both had the same idea, go to Benidorm  - about 48km from our place. Benidorm is where it all began for us. It is of course the super tacky mecca of Spanish tourism but it has its saving graces; mainly the weather. It is also where I would go with my parents and family to the beach all the way by bus from Callosa or in my Aunty Masha' battered old car. The summer of 1980 was when I met Eladio. I won't go into how we met - it's such a long story, but we ended up falling in love in this area and our love was consumed on a beach in Benidorm. We could have never have known at the time that we would marry, Eladio would leave the church, I would leave England, we would have a family, live in Madrid and even buy a holiday apartment in the area. How could we have? Our first "date" was to the rather nicer beach, the Playa de Poniente outside  the centre of Benidorm. After that we went a lot. We would always eat or drink coffee at a run of the mill bar called Vimi which we have been back to countless times. On Monday we went back to find again it only to hear it had closed but the good news was it had been taken over by Aruba Gastrobar and was in the same place; so, good enough for us. We both definitely felt very emotional being there again and told the waitress who loved our story. She is the one who took this week's feature photo. 

We took our own photos too which you can see below. To think we were returning to the scene of the crime after nearly 43 years. We wouldn't have imagined that either.

The Vimi bar now called Aruba Gastro Lounge

In those heady days when we fell in love we would spend the day on the beach opposite, the lovely Poniente Beach which is far less full than the Levante Beach in the centre of Benidorm. It's probably because there are fewer hotels at the former and more apartment blocks. In any case, it was wonderful to be back. Ah, and before I forget, here are a couple of photos of the beach that Monday in March. No wonder Benidorm is the capital of Spanish tourism; if only so much of it wasn't so tacky.

The Poniente beach in Benidorm as seen last Monday

Instead of sitting on the beach which was a temptation, we decided we would walk all along the Poniente Beach and into the beginning of the centre of town; about 4km I reckon. There is now a new promenade much fancier than the one that existed when we first met. It was mostly retired people like us walking on it as well as quite a few Brits and Nordic people on holiday. They were lucky with the weather. I couldn't believe how many mobility scooters I saw which are not a common sight in Spain; only in Benidorm hahahaha.

We got as far as the end of the beach and had a rest sitting on a bench - like true pensioners, hahahaha. Well, I deviated actually when I walked into a boutique. I came out wearing a new green short sleeved t-shirt and carrying two more t-shirts in a bag. It was a long walk back but there was a prize at the end - lunch and not only any lunch. We had both decided we wanted to eat paella. After all paella is from this part of the country. Strictly speaking paella is from Valencia and Arroz a banda, its "cousin", is from Alicante. We spied quite an upmarket looking restaurant called El Barranco and had a very decent meal. The paella with seafood was excellent; so much so we nearly finished it. This was it before we dug in.

The sea food paella we had in Benidorm on Monday, where it all began. 

We could have spent time on the beach afterwards but we like our quiet time/siestas after lunch so drove back. We stopped at the local Lidl to get some more wine for our evenings there and more provisions for when Eladio's brother and wife came on Wednesday. I have to confess I could not resist buying chocolates, biscuits and ice cream too. I think Lidl has an excellent selection. The excuse was they were for our guests but the main indulger would be myself. Must go back on my diet now that I am home.

We were not hungry for dinner but I did have one of Lidl's marvelous mini chocolate and almond ice creams. I slept well that night after another wonderful day in the sun.

Tuesday came and we could tell the weather had changed a bit and the temperature had gone down. There was lots of wind. Even so, we got ready to go down to the beach. We got as far as the car and came home deciding it was not warm enough for a swim. Funnily enough it got warmer later. We did leave the house though to go for a long walk as far as the lighthouse, one of our favourite walks there. It's an hour there and back, so just under 10.000 steps. I love that spot on the cliffs from where you can see the small island of Tabarca where about 10 people still live. Not sure if you can see it in this photo I took.

The view from the cliff tops near the light house on our walk on Tuesday morning

As we walked back we spoke about our beginnings at Gran Alacant and how the whole area has changed so much since we bought our apartment in 1999 - 24 years ago. Wow! So many more have been built since and so many shops and restaurants have opened. Some people now live here permanently. It's not a bad place to live, especially because of the good weather.  Talking of our modest little apartment, here is Eladio in front of it. Our is the one with the green blur on it. It's tiny but spacious at the same time and it's best feature is the open terrace overlooking a Mediterranean garden and the communal swimming pool. Unfortunately one of the trees has grown so much we can no longer see the sea. I have written twice now to the people who maintain this place and I really hope it gets trimmed soon so that we can get our sea view back, please ...... 

Eladio in the garden in front of our apartment

I made comfort food for lunch; spaghetti carbonara which I love. The highlight of the afternoon was the weekly Skype call with my dearest and oldest friend, Amanda. That day was her wedding anniversary. She and Andy met when we were teenagers. He was at BGS and she, like me, was at SJC in Bradford. Their first kiss was in our house at 6 Heaton Grove at one of my parties which both my mother and I witnessed. They didn't marry for silly reasons but later in life met again and their love took off from there and has never been stronger. We went to their wedding in 2005 with my dear father, so this year it is their 18th anniversary. This year will be our 40th. Talking to Eladio the other day we commented on how I think I am the only one of my group of girlfriends who is still married to her first husband. Funny but true. These days, at least in Spain, it seems marriage is rather out of fashion. Olivia and Miguel are in no rush to marry and they already have two kids. They are not the only ones in their generation; it is quite the norm. Call me old fashioned but marriage for me is everything but then I was lucky and married the right guy. I suppose he thinks likewise about me. I know he does, bless him. 

Wednesday  15th March, was the third anniversary of the first lockdown in Spain because of Covid. In many other countries the first lockdown occurred too in March. We shall never forget. I think what we lived through is the worst thing that happened in our lives on a global scale on a par, in a way, with WW2. Lives were not lost fighting but to an unknown and very contagious virus which the Americans now believe came out of a lab in China by accident. Some people think Covid was invented, didn't exist or if it did exist it was planned to cull old people off. These, for me, are conspiracy theories not worth dwelling on. Facebook reminded me that morning of our first day in lockdown. While we were at home, my son-in-law, Miguel was working as he is a cameraman for TVE and press continued to work of course. He was kitted out as if he were to land on the moon or similar. This photo sums up the fear we all had of the virus.

Miguel. my son-in-law, working on the first day of lockdown in Spain, 15th March 2020, a day we shall never forget. He told me later that day he was filming from Benidorm which would have been deserted. 

We cannot forget either how many people were infected or died of Coronavirus; 680 million people in the world. Of those over 6.8 million died. In Spain alone there were 13 million cases and 119.000 deaths. These are chilling figures. 

But Wednesday was a special day  for us in a much more positive way, as Eladio's brother José Antonio and his wife Dolores were coming to join us. For those of you who don't know, it was Dolores who brought us together. They were with me in Callosa in the summer of 1980 when Eladio joined us there. It was thanks to them I met him. The rest, as they say, is history. So it would be 4 pensioners at our apartment, not just 2 hahahaha.

We went to pick them up from the train station in Alicante. Going there always reminds me of the first time I got off the train there having travelled all the way from England. It was the early or mid 70's and I didn't know a word of Spanish. I remember walking out into the hot sun carrying my huge suitcase with no wheels and trying to make my way to the bus station to take the bus first to Benidorm and then on to Callosa. What an adventure. I was stunned by the scenery, the rocky mountains, the sea but above all the orange and lemon trees which I still find exotic today, not to mention the palm trees. 

They came on the Ave, the high speed train which takes just 2h from Madrid, a long cry from what travelling by train was like in Spain in the 70's. Everything was dusty, dirty, hot and smelly, a bit like a third world country but I loved it. I found it all so exotic. Spain has progressed enormously since then and is on a par with France which I always found cleaner in those days. There is no difference today. It was good to greet "Toño" and Dolores, both retired teachers, like Eladio. Toño taught philosophy and Dolores was an English teacher. We drove them back to our modest apartment and I think they felt at home. The last time they had been here was in 2016. How time flies.

We treated them to an aperitif with prosecco which I bought for a few euros at Lidl - delicious - and some nuts before we sat down to a home made lunch. 

After the men had their siesta - a short one - we left the house and drove to Santa Pola where we parked by the port. From there we walked to the square by the castle and sat and had coffee and cakes at the lovely patisserie there. 

Eladio and his brother Toño in Santa Pola on Wednesday afternoon

Toño and Dolores had once been on holiday in Santa Pola in 1981 and remembered the castle which they wanted to visit. So we did and it was more or less our first time. It is a 16th  castle which was built to keep away the pirates from the nearby island of Tabarca. Initially the town of Santa Pola or village was contained by this enormous castle. Santa Pola, before tourism, made its money from fishing which it still does and at the castle there was a museum about the sea and its significance for the townspeople there. I honestly thought it would be boring but it was wonderful, a bit like the Castle Museum in York but all about the sea and fishing in older times. We loved it. 

Some photos of the sea museum inside the castle at Santa Pola

And here are the two brothers outside the museum, happy with our visit.

2 brothers in Santa Pola - here by the museum in the castle at Santa Pola

It was still light and warm enough for a short walk on the promenade. Santa Pola has vast sized beaches but is nowhere near as crowded as places such as Marbella, Benidorm or Torremolinos. It's more a family type seaside location with hardly any hotels. 

We drove back on the old coastal road and I pointed out all the caravans to Toño and Dolores, full, I think of "energy tourists". I have never seen so many there.

We came home to have another aperitif and then a cold dinner - tuna fish salad - which I think looked spectacular.

Tuna fish salad for dinner

One of the reasons I was happy to have Dolores with me is that she also likes playing ludo - you know I love it - so we played on my huge double board until late. It was a really great day and Thursday would be too. 

I love Thursdays in Gran Alacant as it is market day. Dolores loves markets too, not so much the men I think. We both bought white summer trousers and nice tops and then went to explore the fruit and veg stands. Oranges are what we like to buy here as they are grown in the area. I especially like the big juicy ones which come straight from the trees with no polish on them. We got about 15 kgs between us for less than a euro per kilo. I also got huge mandarins which you just don't see in Mercadona for instance. Just look at these two!

Huge juicy mandarins straight from the tree - bought at the local market on Thursday

Next on the agenda was the charity shop down the road. While the men went to the "hole in the wall", we bought second hand clothes, mostly t-shirts and shorts at 50 cents per garment!!! From the charity shop we drove down to the beach near Arenales and before heading for the sea, had a coffee together at the only bar on the promenade, Milla, I think it is called. This by the way is the beautiful palm tree lined promenade which was built not so long ago. 

The promenade in Arenales del Sol

Coffee in the sun by the sea in March was most civilised. Being a pensioner has a lot going for it, that is if you are still relatively young. 

Coffee in Arenales del Sol

I was looking forward to more time on the beach but first for a photo of the lovely view from the promenade. I never tire of it. Notice the new green t-shirt I bought last week in Benidorm?

Happy to be by the sea with Eladio, Toño and Dolores

From the cafe we walked down to the beach and placed our chairs in the usual spot. There weren't many people being the middle of the week in March. This beach never gets too full, thankfully. And here are the two brothers again, this time on the beach. But they didn't go in the water; only I did; the mad English woman, hahaha.

The two brothers on the beach

They didn't swim but they did walk. We took them on our walk to the end of the beach, one of my favourite spots, where we sat on the rock where Eladio lost his phone last time we were there. Thankfully we got it back. 

Soon it was time for lunch. We had all agreed we wanted to have a rice dish. So we headed to Restaurante El Batiste, the best place in Santa Pola. It's rather traditional and a bit old hat, but serves good quality food. You might be interested to know that this restaurant was frequented a lot by Spain's former PM, Mariano Rajoy who went back to his job as property registrar in Santa Pola when he was ousted from government. 

And this my friends was the "arroz a la marinera" and "arroz a banda" we had between the four of us and wow was it delicious. 

Our paella like rice dishes at Batiste on Thursday for lunch

By the time we had finished our lunch we were all tired and ready to go back to the apartment for a good rest. More than anything, I needed a shower after my swim in the sea.

The rest of the day was spent quietly "at home" and come dinner time we were not really hungry so mostly ate some of the delicious fruit from the market.

Friday was our last full day in Santa Pola. The day was ours for taking and we could decide to go anywhere. That is the luck of retirees, like us. Dolores wanted to revisit the charity shop again which we did together. I mean, at 50 euro cents a garment, you cannot look a gift horse in the mouth. This is the shop by the way where no doubt I shall be going back to. I promised the kind English ladies who run it that I would bring them some of our old clothes next time to contribute to their charity which is rescuing animals. I like that. 

The charity shop in Gran Alacant where you can get second hand garments at 50 euro cents a piece. 

On our way back we popped into Quicksave, the small British corner shop across the road from our apartment. I picked up my pre ordered Easter eggs, indulged in 2 small cream eggs and also got a big pack of Imperial Leather soap - love it. 

Once back in the apartment, our men were ready and both dressed with clothes from the charity shop hahahha. We had two proposals for that day; a day out around Callosa (where my parents used to have a house in the 70's) including lunch at Algar or lunch in Calpe, the pretty seaside town further north of Benidorm. Eladio voted for Calpe so off we went. In the local Valencian dialect it is called Calpe as Alicante is called Alacant. The Valencianos don't seem to like an e at the end of words hahahah.

The route is very familiar to me from all my summers here as a teenager and afterwards of course. It is equally familiar to Eladio and we have been many times to the port in Calpe to indulge in seafood where there are lots of restaurants to choose from.

Calpe has a famous landmark called El Peñón de Ifach or the Rock of Ifach. So we headed to the beach by the port from where we took photos. I honestly don't think you can climb it as it looks like sheer rock and I do not like climbing.

In Calpe on Friday morning

 I far prefer a walk on the flat on a beach. It was not really beach weather that day as the temperature had gone down a bit. Even so, some people were tanning themselves as it was sunny. 

Eladio in his charity shop clothes by the beach in Calpe

That particular beach is not very large so we soon found ourselves meandering around the port in search of a restaurant we could all agree on. My companions wanted fried fish and I wanted seafood, what is known as a "mariscada" in Spain. And that's what we had at the modest but well run restaurant called El Carro I. What we liked is that you could see the food on offer on platters so you knew what you were ordering. 

The food on offer at the restaurant in Calpe on Friday

This was my seafood platter including lobster which is my favourite food in the world. I often tell you I am not really a fish fan but love seafood and on Friday I got my fill. 

The seafood platter I had all to myself for lunch in Calpe on Friday

On our way to Calpe we had passed the new Russian Orthodox church on the road from Altea to Calpe and decided to visit it on our way back.  We last visited it a few years ago and it really is a gem. It was built in 2002 and funded by local (mafia) oligarchs who brought in Russian experts to build it. I also read it is a copy of a typical 17th century wooden Russian church. I think it is spectacular. I heard on the grapevine that the domes and there are five, are all solid gold. This is it. 

The Russian Orthodox Church in Altea which we visited on Friday

For me it was very special to be there again. My mother's family were Orthodox and I was baptised in the Russian Orthodox church in Paris, not to mention my grandfather was a priest and two of my mother's sisters were nuns - a lot or religion in my family as you probably know. When I was last there I cried inside the church surrounded by icons, candles and the smell of incense, so typical of the Orthodox religion. And it happened again on Friday. As soon as I stepped in, kissed the main icon and lit my candle, I felt the presence of my mother, my Aunty Masha, my brother George and even my father. All I could do was cry and there was my darling husband to hold me while I did. It was a very emotional moment. I can hardly imagine what it will be like for me when I finally visit my grandfather's church or my Aunty Olga's convent in Bulgaria. 

From the church we drove home. I would have liked to stop for a coffee in the pretty town of Altea but I think our driver was a bit tired, bless him - again. I do so love him.

We were home an hour or so later and able to wind down, etc. I had a bit of guest work to deal with and then I was free to read on the terrace. 

And then it was Saturday and it was over. All good things come to an end and we had to go back, the man reason being that guests were arriving that evening. I hope they enjoy themselves as much as we did.

Our drive back was pleasant although the car was rather full with so many oranges hahaha. We stopped once for coffee and then for lunch at the overcrowded Venta San José in the village of Zafra de Záncara. We dropped off Toño and Dolores near their house in Madrid and shortly afterwards were home ourselves. Pippa, as usual, was the first one to greet me. I had missed her dreadfully but Suzy looked after her like a mother. Suzy was making cakes in the kitchen and it was great to see her too as it was Lucy. We had 5 guests but I didn't see any of them until today. 

The best thing about being home was sleeping in our own bed and once again I got a good night's sleep - nearly 7.5 hours. Wow!

Today, Sunday, is Fathers' Day in Spain. Oli and family can't come for lunch so we shall meet for coffee some time this morning. I can't wait to see little Elliot and Juliet after such a long absence. 

So this is it for this week my friends. Hope you are all well and hope you enjoyed the read. Cheers now until next Sunday. All the best,

Masha