Santa Pola. Sunday 28th October 2018
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| At the end of our walk on the beach on Saturday at my favourite picture spot and with Pippa of course. |
Last night the clocks went back. I hate it when the clocks change, especially when they go back which means we shall have one hour less of sunlight in the evening. I do hope that one day we will do away with the clocks changing and I hope it's soon.
Last Sunday was a sunny day. We went for a glorious walk with the dogs while Oli went swimming. We are all in need of exercise are't we?
Last Sunday too I wrote about the march in London for the people's vote. They weren't the only ones marching that day. For some weeks now, a growing group of Hondurans, up to 4.000 people, have been marching from their poverty stricken and violent country through Guatemala and Mexico hoping to get through the border there to the USA and to a better life. Trump will stop them of course. He will do anything to stop them and calls them all criminals. I doubt they are. They are a sad group of bedraggled and hopeless people and 25% of them are minors.
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| The Honduran caravan people's march to the USA |
They are like the Irish who left the famines of their beloved country to make a new life in the USA in the 19th century. But they were lucky as the world didn't have the borders it has today. Trump is still hell bent on building a wall on its frontier with Mexico. Another wall, nearer to home, in Melilla that Spanish enclave in Morocco, is also full of desperate people, mostly from North Africa, trying to climb over it to a better life in Spain. They have great difficulties too.
Andy, meanwhile, drove up into the mountains outside Madrid and attempted to climb the highest of them all, Peñalara (2400m). He didn't make it to the top as it was far too foggy. I have never been up it and am not sure I want to try. The Tambaron near Montrondo at 2.100m is enough for me.
I made chicken curry for lunch that day and it was a pleasure to have Olivia join us. We all had a very lazy afternoon including the dogs. Here they are frolicking together. It's great to see Norah on the mend. I sent the photo to Marianne, the little French girl who stayed with us in the summer. I wrote a message in French to her via her Mother to say Norah was better. Then I had a doubt between the two words "mieux" and "meilleur". I wrote "Norah est meilleure" but am not sure whether I should have used "mieux". I looked up the difference but found the explanation rather confusing. I would have to ask Helene, our French teacher later explain it properly.
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| The dogs frolicking together last Sunday afternoon |
We had an early dinner on Sunday as Oli had to leave to go back to her apartment as she would be working all week. She would be joined by Miguel on Monday and later in the week we went to their place for dinner.
It was time for the news when Oli left. On Sunday night, the governments of the UK, France and Germany, issued a statement condemning the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and demanding urgent clarification on the circumstances of his death. Angela Merkel went even further and put a stop to the selling of arms from Germany. Where was Spain in this picture? Missing I'm afraid. Not so long ago, there was a big issue when the new Minister of Defence tried to stop the export of a consignment of bombs. Her move backfired as the sale would have affected the supply of 5 corvettes which in turn would have meant a loss of jobs at a shipyard in the north of Spain. So dependent are we on Saudi Arabia here in Spain, that we cannot join forces with our allies in their condemnation of the killing of Khashoggi? I was disappointed.
Later we tried to watch episode 6 of La Otra Mirada but the RTVE app was not working well with the video buffering the whole time. Thus we switched to terrestrial TV and saw a horrific film called Colonia . Set in Chile in 1973 during Pinochet's coup against Allende, it tells the story of a young German photographer, sympathetic to Allende, who is rounded up and taken to the notorious Villa Baviera at the "Colonia Dignidad" where he is tortured. His girlfriend, a German air hostess, infiltrates the cult group to find and rescue him. I'm not sure whether their story is true but what is true is that Pinochet used the installations to torture and kill his prisoners and. The Colony was run by the infamous and mad lay preacher Paul Schafer. Here he ran his own "world" which was closer to a Nazi concentration camp than anything else. What a story. It had a profound impact on me.
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| Sunday's film was not for light viewing |
The film also gives a hint at the collaboration of the German Embassy in Santiago de Chile. I was worried I would have nightmares afterwards but thankfully I didn't.
Monday dawned and it was to be a beautiful sunny day. Other parts of Spain weren't so lucky. Last weekend many parts of the south and south east of the country were battered by flash floods. Some areas, mainly in Malaga, got more than half the rain they usually get in one year in just a few hours. 20 people have died in these floods and those of a few weeks ago. Remember Majorca and Valencia? Well this time it was the towns and villages on the Costa del Sol. There has been more than 30 million euros in damages. That's an awful lot. Perhaps the image which made most impact was that of the falling wall of the famous Arab baths in the beautiful town of Ronda. If you haven't seen the video, here it is. I think that the damage to the baths shows just how strong the floods and wind was this weekend. The baths have obviously seen and survived all sorts of weather and this must have been the worst since they were built over 500 years ago.
No wonder the freak floods have been called "historic". They nearly ruined history too. Both Eladio and I have been shocked by so much damage in the last few weeks from some unprecedented weather in Spain and elsewhere. That, my friends, is climate change for you and it's not going away.
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| Part of the walls of the famous Arab baths in Ronda were destroyed in the flash floods in the South of Spain last weekend |
While people were clearing away debris, mud and water in these areas, we carried on with our peaceful life. I realise we live in a real bubble of peace and that our life is untouched by the horrors of the world. We only see them on television and in the news. We are indeed lucky.
That morning saw us on our walk with the dogs with Norah completely on the mend. It's shedding time for Elsa and on each walk these days, we carry a special brush to shed her as if she were a sheep hahaha. I had no idea when we got Elsa, that labradors shed their coat of hair twice a year and that it is a long process. We do our best to keep her out of the house, apart from the kitchen, and to keep it as clean and tidy as possible. Thankfully Lucy hoovers the carpets on the stairs every day.
Being Monday, the day the Villaviciosa fruit and veg market opens, off we went after our walk to stock up on lots of it. We dedicate a large portion of our shopping bill to fruit and veg and this is the stall we buy most of if from these days.
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| The stall where we buy our fruit and vegetables at the Monday market in Villaviciosa de Odón |
Later a friend sent me an article from The Guardian with fruit and veg in the headline. It was about a story I included in last Sunday's post on the subject of Spain being expected to top the world life expectancy by 2040. The Guardian's correspondent in Madrid, Sam Jones, thinks it's fruit, veg and family life, as well as a great health service that are the reasons Spaniards are living longer. I already knew fruit and veg and the good health service were great contributors and can only agree that family life, so important here, is a vital factor too. People here look after each other, especially families. For me there is nothing more important in my life and I didn't get that from living in Spain. It has been ingrained in me since I was a child. Maybe it's a Russian thing too, I don't know. The only issue I have with our family life at the moment is that our oldest daughter Suzy is living so far away and we have so little news from her. I sent her the article too, hoping it might make her realise that happiness is not in Indonesia but here in Spain with her family. She would appreciate the bit about fruit and veg as she is a vegan. Hope she reads it. Miss you and love you Suzy.
The rest of the day was very quiet. I sat outside in the afternoon with my cup of tea (decaf) and actually bumped into my two Norwegian lady guests who would leave on Tuesday morning. I had hardly seen them and wish I could have spent more time with them or introduce them to my Father, such a lover of Norway. They seem to have spent all their time out shopping, mostly for Spanish hams and other foods, and with Lise's son who is studying here. They told me they will be back in June for his graduation. I hoped they would leave me a good review and they did, yet another glowing 5 star review.
I made a special effort for dinner that night, making one of our favourite dishes; fresh or so-called fresh giant prawns with avocado, lettuce and mango from the fruit market. Lots of fruit and vegetables you see.
We were in bed early watching the news. There was a story on freak weather in Rome that night. More freak weather in Europe I thought, oh gosh no. The beautiful capital of Italy was covered in ice after a giant hail storm. Imagine. Thankfully no one was injured.
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| Rome covered in ice after a freak hail storm on Monday |
Another story of interest that day was more news on the murdering of the Saudi journalist and regime critic, Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi authorities have made a huge botch of their communication on the issue which is now dominating the world's news and worsening the kingdom's image by the minute, as if it wasn't already bad. The news that came out on Monday came from the CNN which showed footage of a man, acting as Jamal Khashoggi's double, leaving the consulate, dressed in the journalist's clothes but with different shoes, in an attempt to make it seem he had left alive. As the reporter wrote, they must have been still warm when he put them on. The Turkish authorities were quick to point out the man in the camera surveillance footage was not Jamal but a man acting as his double. Secretly, well no, not secretly at all, I am enjoying the cringing embarrassment the whole issue must be causing the Crown Prince, who, few doubt, is the man behind the killing, despite all his efforts to hide the fact. I read he is very angry with the news coming out and that he had totally underestimated the west's reactions. I just hope the whole issue topples him off his crown.
When the news was over, we turned to RTVE on our Amazon Fire stick. That night the buffering issue was not so bad so we enjoyed and devoured episodes six and seven of "La Otra Mirada".
We were asleep by about midnight. I woke up on Tuesday morning very early, at around 6.05. It was to be another sunny day, one of the last before the cold weather forecast for this weekend.
Before our walk that day, we had a video call with Suzy with whom we hadn't spoken to for a long time, although we are in touch on a daily basis with the family whatsapp group. Oh I do miss her. She is so far away. However, she seemed in very good spirits. She will be moving to new accommodation on 1st November, near to her Spanish friend, Ari who heads up the Monkey Surf Camp she stayed at in the beginning. She needs a decent place of her own with good wifi for the English online classes she gives. I asked her for a recent photo and this is what I got, a picture of her and her Indonesian boyfriend, Dous, They both look very happy. If she's happy, I am happy.
It was just after our morning walk and over my second cup of coffee of the day, I got a sudden reservation from 2 Spanish workmen from Jaen, coming that evening for 2 nights. It was a good job Lucy had already prepared their room, the "green room" which the Norwegian ladies had just vacated. I can't believe the number of reservations for October that I have had with only one night free if you don't count our lodger, Andy. This month we have had 16 sets of guests, a record month and three more than September. November is looking quieter though as we move into the low season. The truth is I was actually looking forward to a quiet period with fewer guests, mostly because we wanted to get away for a week or so to either our house in Montrondo or our apartment near the beach. We hadn't been away since the end of August and I needed some time off and a change of environment. We chose Santa Pola in the end as the weather forecast was better.
It was such a sunny day that in the afternoon, before our guests arrived, Eladio and I sat by the pool terrace on the wicker sofas. That's such a lovely spot to sit and read in and we don't use it much in the summer as we prefer the cool of the garden.
For dinner I prepared "chard" (acelgas in Spanish) I had bought at the fruit and veg market. Luckily we had finished our meal just before the guests started to arrive. Evgeniy from Odessa was the first to come in his little rented car. It's his first time in Madrid which he described as "such a cool city". He came to attend dental training at a prestigious clinic in nearby Boadilla del Monte I liked him immediately. He loved his room and then I showed him round the house. He wanted to see the pool which he would later swim in. No doubt he will be the last guest to do so this year. I asked him how life was in Odessa and whether it had been affected by the troubles in the Ukraine. He said it hadn't and that it was the pearl of the Black Sea and was a peaceful lovely place. It sounds so exotic.
Not long afterwards Juan Manuel and his colleague, both from Jaen in Andalucia, arrived. They are our first worker guests, turning up in dusty overalls. They came to the area to do a a renovation job at a nearby shopping centre (Las Lomas). Our new guests then all went out in search of food and we were able to retire to our room to get ready for bed and to watch the news.
There were more developments that day in the murder case of Jamal Khashoggi. Erdogan, Turkey's PM, had promised to "reveal the naked truth" in Parliament that day. He did not reveal though, the tapes where the murder is supposedly recorded and stopped short of accusing MBS. Later though, Sky News reported that the journalist's body parts had been found in the Consul's garden!!!! What Erdogan did say though is that Khashoggi was a "victim of a ferocious pre-planned murder" which is something most of the world believes. Meanwhile, in Riyadh, King Salman and his son, MBS, the crown prince and de facto head of the kingdom and most likely mastermind behind the murder, summoned the journalist's son, Salah Khashoggi and his uncle to court. They wanted to pay their condolences. What must the poor son have thought when having to shake the hand of his father's murderer? Inside sources of the royal family have said that Salah Khashoggi and other members of his family were being closely watched and were not allowed to travel outside the kingdom. However, there must have been some pressure from the US government as Salah has dual Saudi and US citizenship and on Friday we heard news he had left his home country. I bet every news outlet in the world would love to interview Khashoggi's son but I also guess he has to keep mum, to safeguard the rest of his relatives.
Another piece of news interested me and many people, I imagine, as it was on Tuesday that China's premiere, President Xi Jinpeng, opened the "world's longest sea-crossing bridge" At 55 kilometres long it will connect Hong Kong and Macao to mainland China.
It took 9 years to build and cost 20 billion dollars (!!!). I was in Hong Kong last year in May and saw part of it being built. Until now the islanders had to reach China by sea. I so remember taking the famous "Star ferry" from Lantau island where my hotel was to the Hong Kong main island. I did it on many occasions during my fascinating 10 day stay in Hong Kong and each time marveled at the views of the sky lines of the different islands. Hong Kong is such an amazing place but I could not live there, at least not on the busy main islands. I also remember visiting the "New Territories" island to see the famous Big Buda and this was where I could see the new bridge being built.
With the house full of guests, all of them male, we fell asleep late after watching 2 more episodes of "La Otra Mirada".
Wednesday came and I was up at the crack of dawn at just before 6 a.m. Suzy rang me which would be the second day in a row that we have spoken for quite a while. That was lovely and set me up for the day. She is far away and sometimes I feel as though I have lost her. But thanks to modern technology it's easy to be in touch. She's arriving on 12th December and she told me that she and Oli, if she is not travelling, will be singing in their school choir (St. Michaels) at a special Christmas concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the school. Both girls sang in the choir which was directed by the very talented and young choir master and music teacher, Javier. Suzy was often the solo singer. Those were happy days and we enjoyed going to their concerts. An ex member of the choir had the idea of old choir members coming together to sing this Christmas and I think it's a wonderful idea. The concert will be on 14th December at the San Francisco el Grande church in Madrid and I won't miss it for the world. Suzy won't be able to take part in the rehearsals but they will send her the music to study. Suzy has a great voice and is singing again in Indonesia. She rang me that morning to ask me how to set up a blog as she wants to do one for the new music group or band she is creating, "Los chuches" - an inside word the girls and their group of friends use. It was Oli who first used it when she was young, calling her sister Chuchi instead of Suzy and now all the girls use it as a term of endearment. I am so happy Suzy is singing again.
The day panned out quietly. It was another lovely sunny day. After our walk I had a sort of free morning as on Wednesday Lucy made the lunch, lentils a winter dish we favour in this house.
Pippa joined us for our siesta as she often does. She always has to have human contact and I couldn't resist taking this photo of her lying in between Eladio's legs. It's so cute.
The afternoon was quiet too with no sign of our guests. I would only see Andy that day. We were invited to dinner at Oli and Miguel's that night. I offered to take along some food as they would both be home late and not have much time for cooking. I made Spanish tortilla and misjudged the amount so ended up making 3 small ones, 2 of which I took to their house. And here they are; delicious I can tell you.
Miguel made some mushrooms with ham which we had with the omelets as well as fresh tomatoes, asparagus and "lomo". The table was heaving with lovely healthy food. And here we are in a selfie taken just before we started our dinner.
We were up late for us - we go to bed so early - and enjoyed the food and the company and especially the "sobremesa", a word meaning the banter around a table after a meal which has no translation in English. We went for dinner that night as on Friday we would be off to Santa Pola and wouldn't see Oli for some time.
We were home by 11.30 and after seeing to the dogs and giving Norah her medicines, were in bed by nearly midnight. It was late but we couldn't resist watching a bit more of "La Otra Mirada".
On Thursday I was woken up by the sound of Elsa eating - perhaps devouring is the word - her breakfast in the kitchen - she makes so much noise when she is fed, haha. Lucy was up earlier than me and I was down by 6.05! We are early birds I must say.
Thursday saw the last of the unusually sunny weather and we made the most of it. Our walk was lovely, rather too hot actually and when I got home I changed into a summer dress probably for the last time.
I had a lunch appointment that day but before going I had to do the weekly Mercadona shopping, so as to leave enough food for Lucy and my Father in our absence. Meanwhile Eladio went into Madrid to see his Mother who is staying with one of his brothers and where he would have lunch that day. I took the opportunity to have lunch with my best friend Fátima who, although she lives nearby, I don't see enough of. I joined her and some members of her family on Thursday where we had a meal at a quite good Asturian joint nearby, El Cielo. They offer a "menu del dia" at 12 euros per head and on Thursdays serve the popular "cocido madrileño" winter dish. This was what we had for a main course which is served after a bowl of broth with tiny noodles (caldo de cocido in Spanish).
Fátima was with her brother Manolo, his girlfriend Susana and their niece Sara aged 27. It was a lovely family meal. I am not part of their family but often feel like it. Here we are around the table.
I was home by about 4ish and soon Eladio arrived. It was a bit late for a siesta so we turned to video streaming to watch more of La Otra Mirada on RTVE till we did sleep a bit. Amazingly we got up after 6 pm. So what! After a nice cup of tea, we both retired to the pool terrace to read. We were, of course, joined by Pippa. Here is Eladio reading that day.
And here am I reading opposite him with little Pippa in my arms.
We had an early dinner although I wasn't very hungry after the "cocido" and then it was up to our room again to watch the news and more of La Mirada. I was continually interrupted by Airbnb messages. First there were notifications from Alba, a student from Alicante, coming that night. Then came a new booking for next week - just when I had hoped there would be no new guests while we were away and then a message from a guest who had booked for mid November that very morning. He wasn't very familiar with how Airbn works and we messaged backwards and forwards while I missed vital developments in our TV series. At around 11 pm, Alba arrived and I had to go out in my dressing gown to receive her. She loved the house and I loved her. She is just 23 and looks like an angel. Its a pity I wouldn't see much of her as we left for Santa Pola the next day.
The next morning, Friday, there would be no walk with the dogs as we were coming here. I gave Alba a cup of coffee and then the clever girl called an Uber which, for just 5 euros, takes her to the University in about 5 minutes The bus costs about 2 euros and takes ages so thank goodness for Uber. She will be coming back to stay at least 20 times from now until June as she is doing a Master's degree in, guess what? Well, she is a physiotherapist and her master will be in the approach of treatment to women's pelvic health after giving birth. Tell me about it! I then said goodbye to Evgeniy, knowing I would be leaving him in the good hands this weekend of Zena our weekend carer who is also from the Ukraine. I would have loved to be there when the two met.
Just as we were leaving, I got yet another Airbnb reservation, this time from a UK couple coming to see their son who is teaching English in Boadilla. It's for the middle of November. I didn't expect many reservations for November as it is the low season, but I now have about 6. The guy who did the professional photography for the listings (Airbnb word for adverts) assured me that with them I would get many more bookings. I think he is right.
So we left in our old Volvo (my ex Nokia car) with Pippa at about 11 am feeling happy. Everything was in order at home and we could leave for a week. I just hope all continues that way while we are in Santa Pola. It's a 4 hour drive but always takes us longer as we stop for lunch. Lunch on Friday was on the cafeteria terrace of the Parador in Albacete. It was very quiet but sunny. We were leaving the beginning of bad weather in Madrid for the sun of the South East coast. However the temperatures in this area have gone down today and rain is expected. In fact, it's expected everywhere in the country. As I said, we had debated going to Montrondo but the weather forecast was abysmal.
We got to our flat which was nice and clean, the way we had left it at the end of August, at around 4.30. It took us a while to install ourselves. We had brought new covers for the wicker chairs for the terrace and a new set of china from Ikea. I love bringing new things here.
By 6.15, Pippa and I were out of the door and going for a walk to the lighthouse cliffs. Eladio stayed behind as he was tired from driving and needed a short nap as he had missed his much needed siesta.
It was a balmy evening and would be light until nearly 8 pm, not today unfortunately. We walked peacefully along the road to the end of the path which leads to the lighthouse cliffs. This is the view as we entered the path.
It's a walk I always enjoy and never tire of the view. It takes about 1.5 hours there and back if you count the stop on the cliffs to sit and contemplate the view of the sea and island of Tabarca which we have now come to love. I had no one to take a photo so had to make do with a selfie and not a very good one. I am so full of wrinkles but I am 61 and have to accept them.
I tried to take one with Pippa with the sea in the background but it was mission impossible. Here I am with my darling miniature dachshund who is my shadow. Where I go, she goes and I wouldn't have it any other way.
There were far fewer people than in August which made the walk even nicer. We were home by about 7.30. Before we had dinner, I had some work to do. I had to update my Airbnb paperwork, mainly to include all the new reservations. What with Alba planning to come 21 times from now until next June, the task took me until well past 8 pm.
I made a lovely simple dinner with lots of veg and fruit, most of which I had bought at the Villaviciosa market on Monday. We had lean ham with steamed asparagus, a platter of tomato with avocado and humus with carrot sticks. Dessert was melon with fresh figs. Of course Pippa got to try some of our dinner too. After all, she had been up since 6 that morning, had been on a long walk and her stomach was very empty by then.
Later we watched the news and then a very interesting documentary on the fate of more than 7000 Spaniards at the hands of the Nazis. 5000 of them died, mostly at the Mathausen concentration camp. They were not Jews and little is known of their history. They were exiled in France after the Civil War and were all Republicans who had fought against Franco. It was Franco's regime who handed them over to Hitler to do their dirty work. Most of them were rounded up in Angouleme in 1940 and we learned that the first convoy of prisoners to a concentration camp at the hands of the Nazis was of Spaniards. There are very few survivors and no homage has ever been paid to them in Spain. How unfair is that.
Later we fell asleep over another documentary, this time about Spain's number one drug trafficker, Sito Miñano from Galicia. We had seen the TV series, "Fariña" and were interested to know about the real man behind the actor who portrayed him in the series. But we fell asleep at around 11 pm and it was time for bed after a very long day.
Saturday dawned and it would be a lovely day. I was in need of a different routine after so many weeks at home, making everyone's lunches and taking care of my Airbnb guests. After a delicious breakfast - toast instead of porridge - we went into town to the Saturday market in Santa Pola. The fruit and veg on offer was a spectacular display of local and non local produce. It is much cheaper than the market in Villaviociosa. Most things were at a euro or two per kilo and we had a field day choosing and buying fruit and veg to last us until next Thursday when we shall go the same market, a smaller version of it, here in Gran Alacant. And here I am at the stall where we bought most of our provisions.
The sun came out when we were at the market but it wouldn't last long. Later we drove to the beach to have a coffee and it began to rain, although very slightly. However, it was still warm at about 22c.
Some people were even bathing. We had more shopping to do before going home and after our coffee, we headed to Mercadona where we bought enough, I hope, to last until we go. We came home to unload everything and by then it was time for lunch. Of course I used some of the fruit and veg - a vital part of our diet - such as the mushrooms, miniature green peppers (pimientos de padrón) which we had with some pork. Dessert was grapes, victoria plums, figs and even fresh dates. The latter grow here locally in Elche. They were delicious.
We had our lunch watching the news on the TV. That day they had caught the culprit who had been sending letter bombs to prominent democrats in the USA. Thankfully none of them detonated. We also were horrified to hear later of the shooting in a synagogue on the Sabbath in Pittsburgh where 11 people died. Awful. These are hate crimes and terrorism, the scourge of our times.
After a restful siesta and a cup of tea, it was time for our daily walk and we went down to the beach with Pippa. It was a very different beach to when we go in the summer or when we were last here in August. There was zero problem parking and the beach was nearly empty. There were a few people strolling with their dogs and some doing exercise. What I found funny was to see two wedding photo shoots. Of course I had to photograph them, like this couple in front of a row of colourful beach cabins.
I wondered whether the photos were being taken ahead of the wedding, the day of the wedding or a few days after the wedding. The latter seems to be increasingly popular. I could only suppose the couple were having photos taken after the event as later I saw them going into the sea and the bride's dress becoming impossibly wet. Surely she wasn't going out to party afterwards?
We did not go in, neither did we fancy it. It wasn't cold but very windy. Pippa thoroughly enjoyed our windy walk on the beach yesterday. She ran here and there, rushing back to us but never venturing into the water which she hates. I had to bathe her though when we got back, something she is resigned to but never likes hahaha.
We walked to the end, to my favourite spot where the rocks begin and people go fishing. We only saw two people fishing that day. There is one particular rock I love and where I always sit when we get to the end of our walk. I have countless photos there and the photo Eladio took of me there yesterday is the one I have chosen to illustrate this week's post. It is from this point where you can see our apartment block and here I took a photo of Eladio pointing it out. I remember 19 years ago when we walked on this beach for the first time and looked up at the block of apartments where we had bought ours and being so happy with our choice.
It's a modest little place, nothing fancy, but suits our needs for holiday accommodation near the sea and we love coming here together.
We walked back, this time with the wind in our favour. It was getting dark already at 7.15. Today it will be even earlier. What a shame.
We came home to read a bit and potter around before making a lovely dinner of prawns with more produce from the market - avocados, lettuce and mango. That makes a delicious combination. Just as we were leisurely making our dinner it began to pour it down. Storms in this area - the Levante - can be ferocious and I was dreading anything like what had happened in Mallorca, Valencia or around Málaga. The skies were alight with lightening and the thunder was so loud, poor Pippa was scared and wouldn't leave our side. It bucketed it down for about an hour but thankfully the storm wound down not so long afterwards. When I took Pippa out to the garden later, there were already dry parts but some of the paths were a little flooded. I hope we don't get another storm like that today. In the north of Spain it has snowed, so no doubt it may well be all covered in white in Montrondo and far far colder.
We finished the TV series, La Mirada, last night and made ourselves stay up late so as not to wake up too early this morning because of the clocks going back. Thus we started on a new series on Netflix, The Bodyguard, which seems very promising.
Today I woke up early, too early and forced myself to stay in bed until 7 0'clock new time. It was nice to see it already light outside. But it was cold in the apartment as the temperature had plummeted after last night's storm. Thus the heating had to go on; our gas stove and our electric radiator which soon warmed up the apartment.
And here I am finishing writing this week's post with just Pippa for company. I'm not sure how today will pan out but no doubt you will read about it in next week's post.
I hope you enjoy reading the stories of this week. More from me next Sunday. Till then, cheers, Masha
Before our walk that day, we had a video call with Suzy with whom we hadn't spoken to for a long time, although we are in touch on a daily basis with the family whatsapp group. Oh I do miss her. She is so far away. However, she seemed in very good spirits. She will be moving to new accommodation on 1st November, near to her Spanish friend, Ari who heads up the Monkey Surf Camp she stayed at in the beginning. She needs a decent place of her own with good wifi for the English online classes she gives. I asked her for a recent photo and this is what I got, a picture of her and her Indonesian boyfriend, Dous, They both look very happy. If she's happy, I am happy.
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| A recent photo of Suzy with her Indonesian boyfriend, Dous. |
It was such a sunny day that in the afternoon, before our guests arrived, Eladio and I sat by the pool terrace on the wicker sofas. That's such a lovely spot to sit and read in and we don't use it much in the summer as we prefer the cool of the garden.
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| The wicker sofas on the pool terrace. |
Not long afterwards Juan Manuel and his colleague, both from Jaen in Andalucia, arrived. They are our first worker guests, turning up in dusty overalls. They came to the area to do a a renovation job at a nearby shopping centre (Las Lomas). Our new guests then all went out in search of food and we were able to retire to our room to get ready for bed and to watch the news.
There were more developments that day in the murder case of Jamal Khashoggi. Erdogan, Turkey's PM, had promised to "reveal the naked truth" in Parliament that day. He did not reveal though, the tapes where the murder is supposedly recorded and stopped short of accusing MBS. Later though, Sky News reported that the journalist's body parts had been found in the Consul's garden!!!! What Erdogan did say though is that Khashoggi was a "victim of a ferocious pre-planned murder" which is something most of the world believes. Meanwhile, in Riyadh, King Salman and his son, MBS, the crown prince and de facto head of the kingdom and most likely mastermind behind the murder, summoned the journalist's son, Salah Khashoggi and his uncle to court. They wanted to pay their condolences. What must the poor son have thought when having to shake the hand of his father's murderer? Inside sources of the royal family have said that Salah Khashoggi and other members of his family were being closely watched and were not allowed to travel outside the kingdom. However, there must have been some pressure from the US government as Salah has dual Saudi and US citizenship and on Friday we heard news he had left his home country. I bet every news outlet in the world would love to interview Khashoggi's son but I also guess he has to keep mum, to safeguard the rest of his relatives.
Another piece of news interested me and many people, I imagine, as it was on Tuesday that China's premiere, President Xi Jinpeng, opened the "world's longest sea-crossing bridge" At 55 kilometres long it will connect Hong Kong and Macao to mainland China.
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| Longest sea-crossing bridge in the world linking Hong Kong and Macao to mainland China |
With the house full of guests, all of them male, we fell asleep late after watching 2 more episodes of "La Otra Mirada".
Wednesday came and I was up at the crack of dawn at just before 6 a.m. Suzy rang me which would be the second day in a row that we have spoken for quite a while. That was lovely and set me up for the day. She is far away and sometimes I feel as though I have lost her. But thanks to modern technology it's easy to be in touch. She's arriving on 12th December and she told me that she and Oli, if she is not travelling, will be singing in their school choir (St. Michaels) at a special Christmas concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the school. Both girls sang in the choir which was directed by the very talented and young choir master and music teacher, Javier. Suzy was often the solo singer. Those were happy days and we enjoyed going to their concerts. An ex member of the choir had the idea of old choir members coming together to sing this Christmas and I think it's a wonderful idea. The concert will be on 14th December at the San Francisco el Grande church in Madrid and I won't miss it for the world. Suzy won't be able to take part in the rehearsals but they will send her the music to study. Suzy has a great voice and is singing again in Indonesia. She rang me that morning to ask me how to set up a blog as she wants to do one for the new music group or band she is creating, "Los chuches" - an inside word the girls and their group of friends use. It was Oli who first used it when she was young, calling her sister Chuchi instead of Suzy and now all the girls use it as a term of endearment. I am so happy Suzy is singing again.
The day panned out quietly. It was another lovely sunny day. After our walk I had a sort of free morning as on Wednesday Lucy made the lunch, lentils a winter dish we favour in this house.
Pippa joined us for our siesta as she often does. She always has to have human contact and I couldn't resist taking this photo of her lying in between Eladio's legs. It's so cute.
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| Pippa having a siesta with us this week |
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| The tortillas I made this week |
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| Dinner at Oli and Miguel's |
We were home by 11.30 and after seeing to the dogs and giving Norah her medicines, were in bed by nearly midnight. It was late but we couldn't resist watching a bit more of "La Otra Mirada".
On Thursday I was woken up by the sound of Elsa eating - perhaps devouring is the word - her breakfast in the kitchen - she makes so much noise when she is fed, haha. Lucy was up earlier than me and I was down by 6.05! We are early birds I must say.
Thursday saw the last of the unusually sunny weather and we made the most of it. Our walk was lovely, rather too hot actually and when I got home I changed into a summer dress probably for the last time.
I had a lunch appointment that day but before going I had to do the weekly Mercadona shopping, so as to leave enough food for Lucy and my Father in our absence. Meanwhile Eladio went into Madrid to see his Mother who is staying with one of his brothers and where he would have lunch that day. I took the opportunity to have lunch with my best friend Fátima who, although she lives nearby, I don't see enough of. I joined her and some members of her family on Thursday where we had a meal at a quite good Asturian joint nearby, El Cielo. They offer a "menu del dia" at 12 euros per head and on Thursdays serve the popular "cocido madrileño" winter dish. This was what we had for a main course which is served after a bowl of broth with tiny noodles (caldo de cocido in Spanish).
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| The "cocido madrileño" we had for lunch at El Cielo de Asturias on Thursdday |
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| Lunch with Fátima and her family |
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| Eladio reading by the pool on Thursday afternoon |
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| Reading with Pippa on the wickerwork sofas by the pool on Thursday afternoon |
The next morning, Friday, there would be no walk with the dogs as we were coming here. I gave Alba a cup of coffee and then the clever girl called an Uber which, for just 5 euros, takes her to the University in about 5 minutes The bus costs about 2 euros and takes ages so thank goodness for Uber. She will be coming back to stay at least 20 times from now until June as she is doing a Master's degree in, guess what? Well, she is a physiotherapist and her master will be in the approach of treatment to women's pelvic health after giving birth. Tell me about it! I then said goodbye to Evgeniy, knowing I would be leaving him in the good hands this weekend of Zena our weekend carer who is also from the Ukraine. I would have loved to be there when the two met.
Just as we were leaving, I got yet another Airbnb reservation, this time from a UK couple coming to see their son who is teaching English in Boadilla. It's for the middle of November. I didn't expect many reservations for November as it is the low season, but I now have about 6. The guy who did the professional photography for the listings (Airbnb word for adverts) assured me that with them I would get many more bookings. I think he is right.
So we left in our old Volvo (my ex Nokia car) with Pippa at about 11 am feeling happy. Everything was in order at home and we could leave for a week. I just hope all continues that way while we are in Santa Pola. It's a 4 hour drive but always takes us longer as we stop for lunch. Lunch on Friday was on the cafeteria terrace of the Parador in Albacete. It was very quiet but sunny. We were leaving the beginning of bad weather in Madrid for the sun of the South East coast. However the temperatures in this area have gone down today and rain is expected. In fact, it's expected everywhere in the country. As I said, we had debated going to Montrondo but the weather forecast was abysmal.
We got to our flat which was nice and clean, the way we had left it at the end of August, at around 4.30. It took us a while to install ourselves. We had brought new covers for the wicker chairs for the terrace and a new set of china from Ikea. I love bringing new things here.
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| Finally the wicker terrace chairs have new covers and they match the new sofa covers too. |
It was a balmy evening and would be light until nearly 8 pm, not today unfortunately. We walked peacefully along the road to the end of the path which leads to the lighthouse cliffs. This is the view as we entered the path.
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| The lighthouse cliffs |
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| At the lighthouse cliffs |
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| With Pippa - a selfie by the lighthouse cliffs |
I made a lovely simple dinner with lots of veg and fruit, most of which I had bought at the Villaviciosa market on Monday. We had lean ham with steamed asparagus, a platter of tomato with avocado and humus with carrot sticks. Dessert was melon with fresh figs. Of course Pippa got to try some of our dinner too. After all, she had been up since 6 that morning, had been on a long walk and her stomach was very empty by then.
Later we watched the news and then a very interesting documentary on the fate of more than 7000 Spaniards at the hands of the Nazis. 5000 of them died, mostly at the Mathausen concentration camp. They were not Jews and little is known of their history. They were exiled in France after the Civil War and were all Republicans who had fought against Franco. It was Franco's regime who handed them over to Hitler to do their dirty work. Most of them were rounded up in Angouleme in 1940 and we learned that the first convoy of prisoners to a concentration camp at the hands of the Nazis was of Spaniards. There are very few survivors and no homage has ever been paid to them in Spain. How unfair is that.
Later we fell asleep over another documentary, this time about Spain's number one drug trafficker, Sito Miñano from Galicia. We had seen the TV series, "Fariña" and were interested to know about the real man behind the actor who portrayed him in the series. But we fell asleep at around 11 pm and it was time for bed after a very long day.
Saturday dawned and it would be a lovely day. I was in need of a different routine after so many weeks at home, making everyone's lunches and taking care of my Airbnb guests. After a delicious breakfast - toast instead of porridge - we went into town to the Saturday market in Santa Pola. The fruit and veg on offer was a spectacular display of local and non local produce. It is much cheaper than the market in Villaviociosa. Most things were at a euro or two per kilo and we had a field day choosing and buying fruit and veg to last us until next Thursday when we shall go the same market, a smaller version of it, here in Gran Alacant. And here I am at the stall where we bought most of our provisions.
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| At the fruit and veg market in Santa Pola yesterday |
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| Eladio and Pippa by the beach in Santa Pola yesterday morning. |
We had our lunch watching the news on the TV. That day they had caught the culprit who had been sending letter bombs to prominent democrats in the USA. Thankfully none of them detonated. We also were horrified to hear later of the shooting in a synagogue on the Sabbath in Pittsburgh where 11 people died. Awful. These are hate crimes and terrorism, the scourge of our times.
After a restful siesta and a cup of tea, it was time for our daily walk and we went down to the beach with Pippa. It was a very different beach to when we go in the summer or when we were last here in August. There was zero problem parking and the beach was nearly empty. There were a few people strolling with their dogs and some doing exercise. What I found funny was to see two wedding photo shoots. Of course I had to photograph them, like this couple in front of a row of colourful beach cabins.
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| Photo shoot on the beach yesterday |
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| Bride and groom in the water! |
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| Eladio and Pippa on our walk on the empty beach yesterday |
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| Eladio pointing out our apartment block yesterday on our walk |
We walked back, this time with the wind in our favour. It was getting dark already at 7.15. Today it will be even earlier. What a shame.
We came home to read a bit and potter around before making a lovely dinner of prawns with more produce from the market - avocados, lettuce and mango. That makes a delicious combination. Just as we were leisurely making our dinner it began to pour it down. Storms in this area - the Levante - can be ferocious and I was dreading anything like what had happened in Mallorca, Valencia or around Málaga. The skies were alight with lightening and the thunder was so loud, poor Pippa was scared and wouldn't leave our side. It bucketed it down for about an hour but thankfully the storm wound down not so long afterwards. When I took Pippa out to the garden later, there were already dry parts but some of the paths were a little flooded. I hope we don't get another storm like that today. In the north of Spain it has snowed, so no doubt it may well be all covered in white in Montrondo and far far colder.
We finished the TV series, La Mirada, last night and made ourselves stay up late so as not to wake up too early this morning because of the clocks going back. Thus we started on a new series on Netflix, The Bodyguard, which seems very promising.
Today I woke up early, too early and forced myself to stay in bed until 7 0'clock new time. It was nice to see it already light outside. But it was cold in the apartment as the temperature had plummeted after last night's storm. Thus the heating had to go on; our gas stove and our electric radiator which soon warmed up the apartment.
And here I am finishing writing this week's post with just Pippa for company. I'm not sure how today will pan out but no doubt you will read about it in next week's post.
I hope you enjoy reading the stories of this week. More from me next Sunday. Till then, cheers, Masha
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