Gran Alacant, Santa Pola, Sunday 12th March, 2023
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| Waiting for my coffee in the sun on Friday morning in Santa Pola |
Dear all,
It's Sunday again but a different Sunday to the usual as we are at our pad on the coast. We bought this apartment in 1999, the year my dear mother died. I only wish she could have seen it. She would have loved it. We love it too. It is simple and practical; there is nothing luxurious about it but it's a home away from home with the advantage of being near the sea and in an area with perhaps the best climate in Europe. Nearby Alicante is the sunniest city in Europe or so I read in some rankings.
I could only dream about the sea last Sunday at our real home near Madrid. The sun only made sporadic appearances, it rained a bit and was rather grey. Even so, we went for our walk and, naughtily, to the local churros bar for a coffee and a "porra". Lunch was with the whole family and was peaceful as Elliot was asleep. Oli had bought cakes and one of them was a lemon meringue pie which I could not resist. It must have helped me sleep a siesta though and I felt bad when I woke up to find Oli and the family leaving.
Suzy and I watched a film together that afternoon. She had recently come across the name of Helen Keller. No doubt you know who she was; the deaf and blind girl born in the US over a century ago. Her story was made famous by the 60's film we watched, "The Miracle Worker", about how a teacher, Anne Sullivan, taught her words, words that opened up the world to her Before that she lived like a pet or animal, a sort of feral child. Once she learned the word water she entered a world of comprehension. Amazing to think she was the first blind deaf person to get a degree. Like Suzy, I remember being fascinated by her story and also watched the film with my mother many many years ago.
I have her book, The story of my life. I may have written about it before because it is intriguing. My mother who was equally interested in the story, found it at a second hand book shop and I still have it. I showed it to Suzy. At the beginning there is an inscription to none other than Alexander Graham Bell giving him thanks. Keller even signed the dedication. I looked up her signature online and it looks the same. Could this really be the book that Helen Keller gave to Alexander Graham Bell? If so, maybe it is worth a penny or two. Who knows? The only grating thing is that it is the 1923 edition and her dedication is dated 1903 which makes little sense to me. One thing I did find out though is that she had strong links to the inventor of the telephone. I wrote to the Helen Keller foundation, and sent them photos of the inscription. I wonder if they will reply.
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| The very old second hand book my mother bought with the dedication to Alexander Graham Bell. |
PD for those who don't know the story, Anne Sullivan, remained at Helen's side all her life, as her faithful "teacher", one of the first words she taught her disabled pupil.
PHOTO BOOK
The film is old and really bad quality but gives you an idea of Helen's very difficult beginnings. I cried at the end and I think Suzy did too. We agreed we'd watch another film together another time.
Dinner was a simple and small meal after the excess lunch we had had because of the lemon meringue pie. The news was depressing as usual. The situation in Ukraine is a sort of stalemate with fierce fighting in the town of Bakhmut. Since the war started in February last year, I think we have all learned a bit more about the geography of this invaded European country.
Again I slept well that night and was grateful to wake up at 7 am on Monday morning. By then our Canadian guest, Faz, had left for Toronto. He was with us for 11 nights and was one of our best guests ever. We really liked him and I know Pippa would miss him too. She isn't usually partial to new people but she fell for Faz. Another guest (Ignacio) was arriving in the afternoon and Marina and Mónica came on Thursday and Friday respectively. That's not bad for low season. We have hardly had a guest free night since the beginning of January and again I thank God and my lucky stars for that.
Monday was quiet. Of interest, a young photographer came from Airbnb to take photos of my father's room. Airbnb did professional photos of the whole house a few years ago but I added what we now call "The Book Room" later. The offer was free which was great. It's all down to being a super host I suppose. They wanted to take a profile picture of me but I'm happy with the one I have. This is the listing with my old photos. Let's see what the improvement is like when I get the new ones. There is a problem with the room; a bit of damp near the shower which is coming through the walls that is quite unseemly. Eladio kept trying to fix it but in the end rang the insurance people. There is always something to mend or fix in a large house like ours.
Ignacio duly arrived in the later afternoon. I was intrigued that he is from the same town and area as us. There was an explanation. He is going through a divorce and needed somewhere to live near his son and he chose our place. He wanted to stay semi permanently but later told me he was going back home. In a way, I was very pleased for him. But he knows where we are if the going gets tough.
The day was much like other days; our walk, lunch together, quiet time/siesta and then either TV or reading. Eladio spent some of the time talking to the electricity people who supply our house in Asturias. The bill that came was astronomical and no one had been there except for one group of guests in January. It beggars belief you have to pay for something you don't use.
Tuesday was different. I had a lunch date in Madrid with an old colleague. Jorge L worked at my Motorola and Nokia PR agency, Perception & Image and we go back a long way. He was in his 20's and is now only in his late 40's. To think I am nearly 20 years older than him. He is in his prime and has set up his own PR agency. Good for him. He booked a table at an intriguing restaurant on Calle Orfila just off Génova near the HQ of the right wing PP Party. Called Farey, it serves dishes from Israel and Argentina - quite an experiment I think. We loved the food and had humus, fried broccoli and lamb kebabs followed by baklava (of course). It was great to catch up and reminisce. I have been retired for a year now and have no desire to return to the corporate PR world of telecommunications. I had an up and down career, made more difficult because I was a woman. That is the truth. I had good times and bad, had to fight my way up the ladder, earned less than the men, had a worse car than the men, was bullied at times by some (jealous people) and loved by others. The corporate world, especially in Spain, is a battle field. I only wish I had thought more when I left Uni. If I had known then what I know now, I would have tried to join the BBC and become a journalist. That is what I was cut out to be. Instead I worked as a journalist but for telecom companies where it's a difficult world for women. Jorge was part of the good times and we worked well together. He is a bright guy always coming up with great ideas and not scared of challenging work. His hardest task was translating the unintelligible Nokia Network press releases into plain Spanish. They were awful and we laughed about that. I am completely cut off from that world now which was mine since 1999 but do not miss it. I do miss though great people like Jorge. We parted promising not to leave it another 10 years until our next lunch together.
I felt good walking out of the restaurant onto the sunny streets of Madrid. It was rather a tonic to do something different. On Calle Génova I spied the new branch of Balbisiana, an incredibly upmarket patisserie; its second in the city. Even though I was full, I couldn't resist going in to buy some cakes, mostly for Suzy and me as Eladio isn't into cakes. I went for the raspberry tarts, fruit pavlova and a small pecan pie. I hid them in the guest fridge to be eaten at lunch the next day. PS, if you live in the Spanish peninsula you can order their cakes online which is how the business started out and how I came to discover it.
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| The amazing selection of pies and cakes at the new branch of Balbisiana in Calle Génova |
I then took the metro at Alonso Martinez to Colonia Jardin where I had parked my car and was home within under an hour.
I was on time for my weekly Skype call with Amanda who lives in Devon. As you know, we have been friends since the age of 11 when we first met at school (St. Joseph's College in Bradford). It was great to catch up with her too and also commiserate on our lack of sleep and domestic issues. I also wish Amanda lived down the road. I don't know when I will next see her but I hope it is this year.
We had good news that day; the Mini was ready which meant we could leave for Santa Pola on Thursday rather than Friday.
We picked it up on Wednesday morning. Wednesday 8th March was International Women's Day, something to celebrate but also to reflect on.
We still have to fight for parity or gender equality as it is called today.
The very idea of having an international day for women is because women are not equal to men and never have been. I am not only thinking of women in Afghanistan who are possibly the worst treated in the world, but of women nearly everywhere. We are not equal to men. António Guterres, the UN head, said this week that it will
take another 300 years to reach parity. Meanwhile, this week, in Spain, where equality for women is a huge thing, the government announced quotas for top jobs for women in politics and businesses of at least 40%. That includes companies with more than 250 employees. It made me think of Yoigo/Másmovil. In 2008 or so I finally joined the Yoigo management board as the only woman and it didn't feel good. The CEO's comment at my first meeting was "finally we have a pretty face". Was I only a pretty face? The government, and I'm no great fan of Spain's left wing / communist coalition, is right to introduce quotas. Otherwise parity would not happen naturally. When I left Yoigo after the Másmovil take over there was not one woman on their management team. Now they will have no other choice. Men have been in charge of the world from the beginning. Some men are scared women are taking over - they are not - and some think quotas are not fair. I think they are. It's not a question of being the superior sex; there is no superior sex. It is a question of men and women being equal. Until that happens we shall continue to celebrate women's day if ·"celebrate" is the word. I asked Chat GPT what women have to celebrate about being women in 2023. There was a lot of bla bla bla, but one phrase struck a cord and this is it: "
Greater recognition of women's rights: Women's rights continue to be at the forefront of social and political movements, leading to greater recognition and progress towards achieving gender equality". So, yes we have come a long way. 100 years ago international women's day didn't exist. Only 50 years ago in Spain, under General Franco, women could not open a bank account or take a job without their spouse's permission or had to give their job up after marriage. They could not have abortions, use contraception and divorce only became possible after the dictator died. Spain has come a long way as has most of the western world but I really hope it won't take 300 more years to reach gender equality.
On a personal level and in my marriage I have no complaints about gender equality. My husband who was born in Franco's Spain, sees women equal to men, as he should. We share domestic duties and do many together too. I look after what I am good at doing and he looks after or is in charge of what he is good at doing. It's as simple as that. We do have a woman looking after us, Lucy, who cooks and cleans but we treat her the same as if she were a man. We love Lucy and she makes our life easier. One duty we do together is the food shopping although I draw up the list - I am good at that - and that was our task after picking up my lovely Mini. We had coffee too, together at Alverán and then lunch with Suzy. For lunch I got out the Balbisiana cakes which I think I love more than Suzy or Eladio do. Eladio does not have a sweet tooth.
The afternoon was quiet as was dinner which we had as a threesome again. I slept well that night but woke up at 6 am on
Thursday morning; a bit too early. About two and a half hours later my dear grandchildren, Elliot and Juliet were being taken to school by their father. Oli sent a
video of them making their way to the car in their garage. I just love the way Juliet walks in her wellies and rain coat. Of interest, I found that raincoat abandoned late in the evening last May at Bolton Abbey. I wonder whether the owner could ever have guessed it would end up in Spain, hahahahahhaa.
Elliot and Juliet on their way to school on Thursday morning
That was the day we set off for Santa Pola in search of the sun and the sea, warmer temperatures and a change of scenery.
We loaded the Volvo in the end and it was full of food so as not to have to do too much shopping in Santa Pola. We left around 11 am and the drive was smooth. We stopped for lunch at a cheap roadside café;
El Cruce in a village called Caudete, about 85km from Alicante. It serves a brilliant menu of the day for just 14 euros and the choice is endless. It's not haute cuisine but is good old fashioned home cooking with decent portions.
We arrived mid afternoon to 22ºc which seemed like heaven to me. It was actually the same temperature at home but it's the sea that makes it so attractive here. The flat was in pristine condition after Lucy, our neighbour, had cleaned it. It looked lovely too with the new upholstery and matching table cloth. In the old days we would arrive and have to clean everything before settling in. Honestly, it's money well spent. So we soon settled in. We were a little tired for a walk and I spent the time reading and watching TV until "tea time". Again Lucy came up trumps as she had made us some Spanish tortillas and soup for our dinner, bless her. Entertainment was the amazing film,
Operation Finale, about the capture of Adolf Eichmann (played by Ben Kingsley) the mastermind behind the "final solution" - the death of 6 million Jews. The story is true and even though I was only 5 at the time of his trial in Israel, I remember it being broadcast worldwide. I was brought up on WW2 stories because of my parents involvement and that is one I remember from a very early age.
I found it very difficult to sleep after it finished as it must have disturbed me a lot. So I turned to my kindle where I started another story about the Jewish fate in WW2. I finally fell asleep at 2.15 am according to my smart watch and woke up at 7.45.
I got a bit of a surprise that night when a woman called Caroline wrote to me on Instagram late that night. I don't know her but she had seen a video of me and our house where we rent rooms on Airbnb. She told me it had been posted on Tiktok of all places and sent me the link. I was dumbfounded as to how she had found me and still don't know. I watched the video various times and saw that it has had nearly 1000 views!. You can see it
here and if you keep the browser open you won't have to install Tiktok. As you will know Tiktok is the new Chinese owned social media site so popular with young people. But it worries governments who think the Chinese state may be spying on you. That my house is on Tiktok doesn't worry me at all as it's great advertising for my little rental business. Here is a screen shot for you to see.
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| My house where we rent rooms on Airbnb on TikTok of all places |
I remember the TV report the video must have come from. It was done by ex colleagues of Oli's from a programme on Telemadrid called "Mi Cámara y Yo", when I first started my journey with Airbnb in 2017 - I was thinner then hahahha - but have no idea how part of that report has ended up going viral on TikTok. Unbelievably too, Carolina, wants to come in April with her partner and she will be confirming soon.
On our first morning back at what I call our "pad near the beach", we had a leisurely breakfast, not very similar to Elliot and Juliet's. You can see them having breakfast
here (and below hopefully) before school on
Friday. It is delightful; especially when Elliot touches Juliet's face. It's also good to see how Juliet aged 1 and a half is able to feed herself, albeit very slowly, bless her.
Juliet and Elliot having breakfast on Friday morning
For once that day, Oli warned us in advance about a live report she was doing. It was about the grave accent on the word "sólo" which is different to "solo" without the accent. When it has the accent, often called "tilde" in Spanish, it is equivalent to "solamente" as in "only" rather than "solo" which means alone or solo as in English. The RAE (Royal Academy for the Spanish language) had abolished the accent some time ago although many still used it. When they did that, purists and writers went up in arms. Recently the RAE announced it had come back or rather as Oli explained in the report - it had never gone but is now accepted with or without the "tilde". Confusing right? Very. This has had most of Spain criticising the Academy. I am a purist and don't want to see the accent removed.
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| Watching Oli live on TV from our apartment on Friday morning |
I made a stew with chickpeas for our lunch and a bit later out we went to enjoy the sunshine. It was 22ºc again but very windy. This area is named after the famous "levante" wind so it can be quite breezy here but with the sun nearly everything is acceptable.
We decided to drive to the nearest town, Santa Pola, about 7km from our "pad" which is in a semi gated community called "Gran Alacant". We headed for the port and parked there to walk into the centre. We went past the ferry boats that take you to the island of Tabarca and also past fishermen mending their nets which I always find very biblical. Here is a photo of Eladio beside the boats and the nets. It's a lovely sight.
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| Eladio by the port of Santa Pola |
We headed for the main square next to the old castle and sat at a table belonging to a wonderful bakery and cafe called
Dalua. I had to go inside to examine the cakes which are exquisite. I bought one covered in white chocolate to devour later as well as some chocolate biscuits and a freshly baked croissant to have with my coffee. Bliss.
Eladio took a photo of me sitting at the table in the square enjoying the sun and the moment and wearing short sleeves. That had to be this week's feature photo.
To work off the croissant we then walked down to the beach and out of the town so as to get our 10.000 steps which is our daily objective. It was warm but oh so windy, the paper bag from Dalua nearly flew away. When we got in the car to come home it was boiling and we had to put the air con on, in March! We drove the coastal way and I saw all the caravans - lots of them - and remarked to Eladio that many of them probably belonged to "energy tourists" - mostly retired people from the north of Europe taking advantage of the good weather here and avoiding electricity bills at home, in these days when it costs so much, because of the war in Ukraine. Good for them I thought.
Lunch was my delicious chickpea stew which was followed by a short siesta. I was later busy dealing with new bookings for our house at home, uploading photos, reading, etc. I was busy until dinner time when we had a frugal meal of leftover tortilla - thank you again Lucy.
Entertainment was watching a Spanish series on Netflix called "
El Príncipe" (The Prince) which we had seen about 5 years ago. It's a detective series and and am impossible love story set in the the troubled neighbourhood "El Principe" in Ceuta, next to Morocco and is about drug trafficking and terrorism which had me riveted the first time round. I adore the main characters, José Coronado Alex González (the detectives) and the beautiful Hiba Abouk, sister to a drug merchant.
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| Detective Morey (Alex González), Fatima (Hiba Abouk) and PC "Fran" (José Coronado) from the Spanish series "El Principe". |
Eladio is not to keen on watching films and series he has already seen so he left me for his PC where he whiled away the time on YouTube until it was time for bed.
That night I slept a record straight 6 hours and then another hour so woke up feeling refreshed. It was Saturday and the forecast was for the highest temperature of our stay. I read it could reach 30ºc which is crazy for the beginning of March.
Before heading for the beach we went to the ubiquitous Mercadona - Spain's leading low cost supermarket chain - to top up mainly on fruit and veg until our next shop. When the task was over and the food stored away, we made our way to the beach, first stopping for a coffee at 12 noon as we are creatures of habit.
We were down at the beach shortly after 12 where we found a place to park the car; mission impossible in the high season. We walked down to our lovely unbuilt upon beach, "Playa de Carabasí". Instead of buildings there are dunes where turtles live and there are various wooden walkways down to the beach. I had to have a photo of Eladio on the wooden path we took to capture the moment of delight of seeing the sea again for the first time this year,
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| Walking down to "our beach" yesterday morning |
It was easy to find a spot on the beach for our two 24 year old beach chairs. We bought the flat in 1999 and they are still going strong except that one is missing. I tend to find that guests "pinch" things but thankfully there are no objects of value at our pad here. This is what the beach looked like yesterday morning for those of you who were enjoying the snow in England or colder weather elsewhere. That is the benefit of living in the warmest country in Europe, I suppose.
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| The beach yesterday |
I was determined to take my first bathe of the year and the cold sea water took my breath away. But I thought to myself, if I could swim in the River Aire at Bolton Abbey in the winter as a child, this sort of cold (about 13ºc) was perfectly bearable. I plunged into the cold but clean water and enjoyed the sensation but didn't stay in long. I shouted out to my dear husband to take a photo to record the moment on this blog. This is it, proof that I bathed in the sea at the beginning of March. I remembered later that our last bathe in 2022 was here too and it was at the beginning of November, nearly winter.
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| Bathing in the sea in March, almost unheard of but not in this part of Spain. |
Because the water was colder than the air, I came out feeling warmer than in the sea. It was a lovely sensation and I then sat on my chair with my face towards the sun. I mused that I needed some good old Vitamin D (the sun vitamin) which was the only element from my recent blood test which was abnormal. Eladio was less daring than me and didn't go in. I had, though, persuaded him to wear shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt which I am sure he was thankful for when we saw the temperature was 33ºc!!
Soon it was time to get in our 10.000 steps so off we went for our walk towards the end of the beach where rocks form. I love that part and we always sit on a natural stone bench which we claim as ours. We always too talk about how we first bought the apartment, an investment we have never regretted.
It was only when we got back to our spot on the beach we realised Eladio's mobile was missing. He had been carrying it in his back pocket which is a bit short. It was a horrible moment realising he had either lost it or it had been stolen. I rang it and rang it to no avail. I could only think he may have dropped it when sat down on the rock bench at the end of the beach but it was too far and hot to walk there again. But I didn't give up and we drove the car nearer to the rocks and took the long walk down. I called and called his phone until a woman miraculously answered it. She had found it on the rock and heard the jingle. We raced there and were delighted to retrieve my husband's phone. It was such a relief. We mused afterwards just how important they are to us.
That episode with a happy ending made us very late for lunch which we had at about 4 pm but who cares? We didn't. Sleep evaded me afterwards although my husband slept like a baby. Amazon arrived bringing me a new milk frother for my morning coffee. It came with a sort of stick to make patterns in the foam; how sophisticated I thought.
We spent the rest of yesterday in peace and harmony in our home away from home. Today is
Sunday and we shall go down to the beach again but this time be more careful with our phones - yesterday was a good lesson. It also showed me there are some good people in this world. I think the lady who found it was Russian which made me happy too.
It will be another warm but windy day here by the coast, a tonic for our bodies and souls a bit like coming out of hibernation.
Wherever you are, I wish you a happy Sunday and all the best for the rest of the week. Until next Sunday, cheers my friends,
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