Sunday 4th July, 2021
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| On the cliffs by the lighthouse near Santa Pola with Pippa - one of my favourite places in Spain. |
Good morning all and Happy Independence Day to any American readers who follow my blog. Have a good time "guys".
We have had a good time this week. That's for sure thanks to our summer break at our apartment near the beach at Gran Alacant (Santa Pola). But let me rewind to last Sunday, the day after the end of facial masks in Spain. Again, I am sorry, I have to report on Covid and the worldwide figures for infections and deaths which that day were 181.669.092 and 3.932.982. Today the figures stand at 184.247.157 and 3.987.458. I count my blessings that nobody in my family or close to us has been affected. Now, by the way, my friends, I am fully inoculated as my 2nd jab was over 2 weeks ago. But I still have to be wary as does everyone as the damned Delta variant is on the rise and it is much more infectious than any other of the Covid variants we have seen so far. In the Spain we are having a 4th wave with many young people catching the virus. Thankfully the mortality rate is very low.
That's enough of Covid for the beginning of this week's story. Last Sunday, Eladio, Suzy, Pippa and I set off for Santa Pola. I had booked us 5 days until the next set of guests were coming. I count my blessings too for all the bookings for our beach apartment and our new house in Asturias, not to mention our home in Madrid which also includes renting out the pool. That day there were 6 bathers enjoying both the pool and the barbecue. Tanya left me a glowing review on "Swimmy" as did the guests leaving Santa Pola the day we arrived.
It was our second trip away since lock down ended on 9th May but this time we were heading for the sun - thank goodness. With the car packed full of our cases, picnic paraphernalia and some food, we didn't actually leave till 12 noon. It's a 4 hour drive without stops but I had made a picnic lunch which we had in a shady park in the little village of Chinchilla on the way. Now, how lovely is that?
We arrived to an immaculate apartment. Lucy, my neighbour, who cleans it and hosts my guests, had done a good job as usual. Thus we only had to put our own stuff away. It was hot and after unpacking and settling in I went to the spectacular pool which is exclusive to our blocks of apartments. Hardly anyone was there. I came back to have a good shower and wash my hot body and dirty hair. Suzy prepared our dinner with the food I had brought - enough for dinner and breakfast - which we had on the terrace. The salient part of this little apartment we acquired in 1999 with my Motorola severance pay is the terrace which overlooks a Mediterranean garden and the sea.
There are sea views too from the other side of the apartment of the Alicante Bay and it's my favourite view. When I see it I know I am at our home away from home.
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| My favourite view from our apartment |
I had some more bookkeeping to do before dinner - always keeping my hospitality business register up to date and contacting upcoming guests to arrange for their arrivals and it keeps me busy. Only after dinner was I able to have some Grey's Anatomy time. I watched till past midnight when I flopped into bed.
Monday came and I was up at 6.15. Suzy had left the apartment to walk to the lighthouse to see the rising sun at about 6. Dusk comes many hours later at around 10.30 pm. Oh how I love this time of year with so much sunlight.
We were busy that morning doing the shopping and also getting more towels and bed linen for the apartment. We went to Carrefour, didn't find anything and there and then I did my shopping online on Amazon and Ikea. I hoped the sheets, pillow cases and towels would arrive before we left. There was time for a coffee together and then more shopping at Mercadona where we stocked up on food for our stay and more basics for the apartments to leave for the guests (bog roll, toiletries and cleaning products). The latter was necessary as I have another 10 or so reservations this summer at the apartment.
Suzy and I had decided that we wanted lunch out on Monday. Keen to try out Soleluna, an amazing pizza place opposite the apartment, we were disappointed to learn it closes on Mondays. Thus I rang our favourite restaurant (La Picola) but it was closed too. My third choice was the very well known and traditional sea food restaurant, Batiste, next to the port in Santa Pola. It was the former Spanish PM, Rajoy's favourite when he worked in Santa Pola as a property inspector for the local town hall - a job he went back to when leaving politics. He has good taste. Batiste may be traditional but it is excellent. We had lunch outside on the terrace and appreciated not having to wear a mask.
We went for the "arroz a banda", more popular here than paella from Valencia. It was amazing.
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| Arroz a banda at Batiste in Santa Pola on Monday |
Eladio was as pleased as punch with his rice dish as you can see from his beaming face in the photo below.
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| Eladio enjoying his rice dish at Batiste |
It felt like being on holiday and on holiday we were and the feeling was good. We went home along the coastal road admiring the deep blue of the very clean sea water and views of the nearby island, Tabarca. We came home with a doggy bag too for the next day. I ate quite little, not wanting to leave the restaurant feeling bloated especially in hot weather.
We rested at home and at about 6.30 made our way to what I call "our beach". It is just down the road from the apartment but it's a very steep road and much easier to go by car. I call it "our beach" as we have been going to it since we bought the apartment in May 1991. The real name is "Playa (beach in Spanish) de Carabassi.
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| The walkway to "our beach" |
That is 22 years. I remember just how pleased we were when we bought the apartment. We had entered a new club in Spain, as members who hav a second home by the sea. It's a very modest apartment but we love it. It was to be our first bathe since September in Asturias in much colder waters. After all this is the Med and not the Atlantic and the weather here is guaranteed at this time of year. The beach is in between Arenales del Sol and Santa Pola and different parts of it have different names. The part we go to is called Playa de Carabassi and I love it as there are no buildings and it's all dunes and not that many people. The water was still that day with the green flag out and Eladio and I went in together reflecting on how we first met and bathed when we were young. I was 23 at the time and he was 35 and it was the summer of 1980. The rest is history except we are now officially "old". Oh my God where did time go?
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| My first bathe on Monday since last September in Asturias |
One of the signs my husband still loves me is that he still takes photographs of me, like the one above. Time has passed but one thing for sure, we are still "loved up" to use the new expression which is not generally part of my English vocabulary as I left my home country for Spain which is now my adopted country in the summer of 1981.
I was happy for my adopted country when I learned later Spain had thrashed Croatia 5-3 and went through to the Quarter Finals of the Euro Cup. Later Switzerland surprised the football world when it beat France, the last World Cup winner. Thus Spain would play Switzerland in the next round. Spain can be brilliant but it can also be downright bad. You just never know. Equally exciting or more would be the match between England and Germany at Wembley on Tuesday.
It must have been the sea air that gave us an appetite for dinner and we enjoyed a healthy meal of scrambled eggs with asparagus followed by thick, juicy, black cherries - my favourite. That night I was delighted to get another international group of guests for our house in Madrid. A family of 6 is coming in August for 7 nights. Wow! I was happy too to get an amazing review from my last group of bathers who booked our pool on "Swimmy". It was on Monday that the report which included our house when the cameras came a week ago or so, was broadcast on TV. I didn't see it as I was on the beach. The Communications Director had assured me that if my pool appeared in a TV report, requests to book were guaranteed to increase. I'm not sure it works that way but the free publicity was a bonus for my little hospitality business. I did see it though the next day when Swimmy sent me the TV clip. This is it.
The TV report where my swimming pool featured and me too. I was described there as a pioneer. I like that hahaha. Here too is a still of me on camera.
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| A still from the TV report on renting out swimming pools |
Tuesday dawned and I was outside on our terrace with my cup of coffee when I literally saw the sun rise over the sea. What a spectacle. Tuesday was a quiet day. I spent the morning working and attending to guests, writing to future guests and updating some of the house information packs. I was pleased to get even more bookings too. Right now I have about 45 bookings to handle for 3 houses and have to juggle those at our house in Madrid as I rent out individual rooms too. That is a lot to handle and I have to be on top of my game the whole time, anticipating guests' needs, making sure the rooms or houses are prepared for their arrival and anything that can come up during their stays, etc. The work is never ending. We had a group of Argentinians at "home" this week who I didn't see but I was in contact with to make sure their stay went well.
This summer is going to be a boom and it is a direct result of people wanting to travel after so many Covid restrictions. However, I wondered whether there would be more and some of my reservations cancelled because of it. That day in Spain we reported 7000 cases, a high spike. Lots of the cases of are of final year school children who went on end of term trips. Now many of them are in quarantine in hotels, mostly in the Balearic Islands. What the hell were the school authorities thinking when they organised those trips?
We ventured out for a coffee and took Pippa along, at around 12 which is my "elevenses", to a little Spanish café across the way. When we got home and I was busy making a simple lunch, Amazon arrived with some of the house linen I had ordered. It's so funny to think you can order stuff on this giant online retailer and that the next day or the same day a man in a lorry arrives. Eladio went out to get the towels and pillow cases and I caught the scene on camera. It's a sign of our times; something none of us could have dreamed about 40 years ago when all we had was a postal service and not much more.
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| Amazon arriving on Tuesday - spot Eladio and spot Pippa too (a bit more difficult haha) |
Lunch was giant prawns which we had with the amazing leftover rice from our meal at Batiste. It was great not to have to make a proper meal. I am much more lazy about cooking when away from home.
That afternoon was a bit cloudy so we opted for a walk rather than time on the beach. The obvious walk in the area is to the Santa Pola lighthouse on the cliffs overlooking the little island of Tabarca. We have been countless times and it remains one of my favourite spots in Spain. I got Eladio to take the customary photo of me with Pippa overlooking the sea; a crystal blue colour. I chose it for this week's feature photo.
While we were on our walk, England was playing Germany (and all that that means) in the Last 16 of the Eurocup in Wembley, a stadium that means so much in the football world. I didn't watch the match but did hear the roars of "goal" from a few Brits around here who were watching the match from a bar near our place. I was happy for England as I was happy for Spain. England would then play the Ukraine who beat Sweden and as I said, Spain would play Switzerland. What I wouldn't want to see though is a Spain England final. I don't think I could bear the tension.
Walking back I felt hungry and a sudden desire to have dinner out. Eladio and Suzy agreed so we just walked across the road to Soleluna, an Italian "joint" which serves the most divine pizza. They make a mean mojito too which Suzy had and a quasi sangria called "tinto de verano" (Summer red wine). It was a happy dinner with the three of us in high spirits. For once Suzy let me take a photo. I thought she looked radiant. She did. Here she is with her father, my beloved husband.
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| Eladio and Suzy at Soleluna on Tuesday night |
Suzy and I ordered their divine pizza with its crusty but soft inside edges. Their pizza is as good as any I have ever had in Italy. Suzy went for a vegetarian pizza and Eladio chose the ossobucco.
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| Our mouthwatering dinner at Soleluna on Tuesday night |
None of us could finish our meal so we got a doggy bag and would eat the rest for lunch the next day. We skipped dessert - I am not that keen on Italian desserts, and had ice cream at home instead. Well, Eladio, being more healthy and having less of a sweet tooth, had fruit; delicious apricots and thick black cherries.
For once that night I went to bed early and slept relatively well. I was up on Wednesday at 6.50. Suzy had already left for the lighthouse to enjoy it at sunrise.She loves that moment in the day. I love it too; the silence, Pippa's company, my cup of coffee, the headlines and time to gather my thoughts for the day.
The day would be quiet and pleasant. I had work to do in the morning on all my bookings. I am so busy but so happy with my "businesess" haha. Obviously this is the high season and things will quieten down in the autumn but for the moment this is non stop. That day, among other bookings, I got one from a group of people from Denmark. I am now beginning to get international guests. My only worry is Covid and the number of infections going up in Spain. If we go into lockdown again, all my work will have been for nothing. I hope not.
We stopped for coffee at midday and the three of us went to a local cafe across the road. The views of the sea from there are magnificent and as we left I made Suzy and Eladio pose for me. Here is a lovely photo of father and daughter.
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| Father and daughter next to our apartments overlooking the sea |
Of course I have another daughter as you well know. Olivia, our TV journalist who is now 7 months pregnant (exciting). She was at the gynecologist that afternoon for her monthly check up and ultrasound. Juliet, her baby to come, now weighs 1.7kg so if she was born today she would survive. She is due on 4th September and will be a big girl with a predicted weight of 3.5 kilos. We have something enormously exciting to look forward to.
Suzy who was with us spent a lot of her time job seeking and it seems she has quite a few openings. I hope it goes well for her. She was too busy to join us at the beach that afternoon so we went alone. We went at about 6 pm and it was still hot of course but there not too many people and there was plenty of space for social distancing. Thank God we don't have to wear face masks at the beach anymore.
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| Our spot on the beach (Playa de Carabassi) on Wednesday afternoon |
We enjoyed a bathe and then went for our customary walk to the end (where you can see the cliffs - our apartments are on the cliffs) and back and I bathed again. We left at about 8 pm and I headed straight for the swimming pool which belongs to our block of apartments. It's never ever full but that evening I had it all to myself. Wow that was wonderful I have to say.
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| I had the pool all to myself on Wednesday evening |
I came home to have a shower and wash my hair as well as some pampering while Eladio and Suzy together made our dinner. I didn't have to help at all bless them. This trip has really been a break for cooking for everyone. I think I deserve it.
I was in bed at around 1 in the morning which is not too late for me these days and up at 6.30 on Thursday morning. Do you know that day day would have been Princess Diana's 60th birthday? Oh how we miss her. Her boys miss her most of course and no doubt she would be sad to know they are estranged. They were there together for the unveiling in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace and I wondered if they would try to make up. She would have loved that. They actually put on a show of brotherhood and I really hope that a least a part of it was genuine. As to the statue, well it brought mixed feelings. I like the idea but just think the statue did not to justice "England's fairest child". I wonder what you think.
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| The statue being unveiled. Do you like it? |
That morning was market day at Gran Alacant. It's just across the road from us and apart the normal stuff you get at markets all around the world - mostly cheap sweat labour clothes - it's the fruit and veg we go for. We bought fruit and veg to take home and to take to Olivia. I forgot to take a photo in all my enthusiasm for the delicious fruit and veg we bought.
Later we had coffee again at the same little bakery and bumped into a family from Virginia, USA. I didn't know the Amercans were allowed into Europe but I suppose they are. I gave them all sorts of tips of what to do and where to visit in the area. Lunch that day was, my friends, to be fish and chips. Now I hadn't had this most British of dishes for 2 years and it really is my favourite. Derby's Chippy which we have been going to for years had closed so I was delighted to find out it had been bought up by another British couple and is now open. Called The Chippy 2 it is pretty near our apartment and we were there at 2 pm sharp. Jenna (if that' show you spell it) who if from Hertfordshire is the owner and served us. She was very sweet and kind and efficient too. Fish and chips was only 7 euros each which is literally peanuts. My expectations were not particularly high as, after all, this is Spain and not the UK. But my was I in for a pleasant surprise. These fish and chips were as good as any you get in the UK or in Yorkshire, which in my mind is where you get the best. The picture below does not do them justice.
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| Fish and chips at The Chippy 2 |
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| Eladio and I, about to enjoy fish and chips in Spain |
I could not finish my plate nor could I be tempted by the very British desserts on the menu - including apple crumble - as I was too full. We came home feeling full of course but also happy to know that there is a new fish and chip shop near our apartment which we will be going back to again and again.
We all did our own thing when we got back. With time on my hands I acquired my EU Covid vaccine certificate which came into force that day. Not that I shall be needing it as I have no plans for traveling in the EU this summer but it's good to have. It was all done on the Health Service app here in quit a quick and efficient process. Not long after I had downloaded my certificate to prove I am fully vaccinated. Stupidly I posted it on social media only to be warned by friends not to do so as it could be used fraudulently. Thus for this post I have blacked out any personal details. This is what the new EU vaccine certificate looks like.
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| My new digital EU Covid vaccine certificate |
That afternoon we had new friends over for drinks. Did you hear that? We've never done that before because we do not have any friends here, except that on Thursday we made new friends. They are our new neighbours a Polish family from Sweden. Stessi and his wife bought the apartment on the same floor as ours a year ago and we had only greeted each other a couple of times but his daughter Magda and her two sons (Elliot - yes like our Elliot - and Andrian) had arrived that morning from Stockholm. We got talking and there was an immediate connection and Magda said we must come over for drinks during her stay. When I said we were leaving the next day we arranged for "tea" at our place at 5.30 in the afternoon. I had no alcohol but our new friends brought a bottle of chilled white wine which we had with some of the giant Moroccan pistachio nuts I had bought at the market that day.
They left at around 8.30 - yes we had been chatting for 3 hours - and it was our dinner time. All we wanted for dinner that night was some fruit. Then it was TV and bed time. That night I slept surprisingly well.
It was so nice to have friends over; our neighbours and it was an immediate hit with Magda. Of course I know and love Stockholm from all my visits there when I worked for Yoigo. But this family has a story behind it. They are from Poland and during the Solidarity uprising in the 80's (remember Lech Valesa?), Stessi was arrested while attending a wedding and dressed in a Tuxedo and put into prison for 6 months. His wife, a doctor and their daughter Magda, aged 4 at the time, must have had a terrible time. Somehow they managed to get political asylum in Sweden. Sweden was a haven for people seeking political asylum. They left everything behind and had to start from scratch in a country where their qualifications were worthless and where they did not know the language. Magda's mother had to repeat her medical degree and in Swedish. I haven't met here but I think that is incredibly laudable. Don't you?
Their story is quite amazing or rather their beginnings. Now they are happily settled in Sweden and Magda and her boys are totally integrated. It was such a pity that we only met them on our last day and who knows when we will meet again. We will meet though on whatsapp and on social media as I think a friendship has struck up.
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| Our new friends and neighbours |
I was up at about 6.15 on Friday morning and Suzy too. Who was up far earlier was my daughter Olivia, the TV journalist. She was up at 4.30 as that day she had to be one of the early morning presenters. As we prepared to leave I left my iPad on so we could watch her. I am so proud of her and loved seeing her presenting with her 7 month pregnant bump which holds dear little Juliet who will be born at the beginning of September.
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| My beautiful pregnant daughter presenting on TV on Friday morning. |
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| Oli with Mónica López on the latter's last day with the programme |
All this she would tell us that night for dinner at my younger daughter's new flat.
So we left in a hurry and arrived to find Miguel glued to the match. Elliot was not at all interested and nor was Oli. It was great to see them. Of course I had seen lots of pictures of our grandson while we were away but I wanted to hug, kiss and hold him. One of the pictures Oli sent us was significant as it was a sort of official school photo; not school but nursery really. That day a photo of the class with their teachers had been taken and sent to the parents. I loved it. I know I am biased but Elliot is the most beautiful child in the picture. I'm biased aren't I?
We were not joined by Suzy who had plans with her great friend Elenita. In any case she wouldn't have liked the dinner as it contained meat and she is a vegetarian verging on being a vegan but we missed her of course. There was time to play with Elliot which is what he likes best but as he gets older he spends more time playing by himself, bless him.
Our departure from our apartment was a bit hectic. Unbelievably our new weekend guests arrived at about 9.30. They had left Madrid at 4 in the morning. They obviously hadn't read the information document I sent where it states check in time is at 3 pm. It has to be that late in order for Lucy to clean the flat when guests check out which is at 11 am. She needs that window. We needed it too on Friday so offered the guest, Larissa, a set of keys to use the pool and if they wanted to leave their luggage with us. They asked to leave the food in the fridge but our food was still full! Damn it. In the end we left at about 11 after saying our goodbyes to our newly found neighbours and now friends and of course Lucy. Our new guests, from Moldova, by the way, moved in shortly afterwards.
The drive home was hot and sticky, at least outside the car. We were going from about 26c in Santa Pola to the mid 30ºs in Madrid and we could notice how it got hotter and hotter. We stopped for a coffee at a pathetic little bar in a dirty street but I, at least, needed the caffeine. Finding a spot in the shade for our picnic lunch was more difficult. I am always disgusted at how Spaniards do not care for the outdoors and leave litter everywhere and nasty litter at that too. I had to drag Pippa away from a used tampon. How disgusting is that. We did find a relatively shady area to set up our picnic but it wasn't ideal. In any case we enjoyed our lunch on the way.
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| Suzy and Eladio (and Pippa) posing for our picnic lunch photo on Friday on our way back from our apartment by the sea near Santa Pola. |
Friday was 1st July and we were heading for Madrid. It was obvious from seeing the traffic going in the opposite direction and towards the coast that all of Madrid and his brother were going on holiday. July and August are the busiest holiday months in Spain. Thus we had planned to return before the hoards arrived hahahaha.
We were home at about 5 pm. It was lovely to see my father who said "oh great" and "you're back" when he saw me. I was holding lots of chocolate bars and biscuits I got from the English supermarket, Quicksave, across the way from us at Gran Alacant. He had been well looked after.
We had to unload the car and put everything away. While we were finishing the Quarter Final match between Switzerland and Spain had just started. It was being played in St. Petersburg. This year's Euro Cup is being played all over Europe. I wasn't keen to watch the match but of course I wanted Spain to win. At first you would think Switzerland would be an easy team to beat but not at all. After all they had knocked out France, the World Champions. Oli had invited us for dinner but Eladio was glued to the match and we couldn't go until extra time started when the teams were drawn at 1-1.
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| Eladio glued to the match between Spain and Switzerland on Friday |
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| Elliot's first official "school" photo. Spot him on the front row - third from the right and dressed in blue. |
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| Elliot and his grandfather on Friday night at their place |
The photo was taken after the match finished. At the end of extra time, neither team had scored so it went to a penalty shootout. I can't stand them so went outside the flat for some quiet time although I was interrupted by shouts of "goal" from enthusiastic Spain fans in the building. I went in just as Spain scored the winning goal which takes them through to the finals. They were to play the winner of the next match between Belgium and Italy. The latter won 2-0 and next Tuesday Spain faces Italy in the Semi Finals. Italy will be a tough nut to crack. I didn't watch the football but read reports more or less saying that Spain had "scraped through". Luis Enrique's squad will have to do better on Tuesday.
Only when the match was over could we sit down to dinner. Oli made a delicious bolognese sauce to go with gnocci and accompanied by lots of stir fried vegetables. Dessert was sweet melon and water melon and great big thick black cherries.
We left at around 11 and were home to a quiet house. This weekend I had blocked the calendar as I didn't want anyone here when we arrived. Our last guests, a group from Argentina had left early on Friday and our next guests arrive very soon this morning. On Friday our first guests for July arrived at our new house in Asturias. I was sorry for them as it would rain throughout their stay with the temperature not rising above 20c. See how Spain's climate changes so much depending on the area.
We were in bed by 11.30 and watching a new series on Netflix called Traitors but soon nodded off. Luckily we nodded off in a room cooled by air conditioning.
Saturday came and we had the house to ourselves. Suzy went on a road trip to the mountains outside Madrid to Rascafría with her friend Juli, Oli and co were having lunch with Elenita and our Russian lodger was out. Originally after returning from Santa Pola we were going today to our house in El Cueto as there is a lull of 4 days with no guests. In the end we decided to postpone it to next Sunday. The reasons: we were tired from our travels back and the weather in the north of Spain is not good at the moment.
Thus we went out to do some food shopping to tide us over until we do the serious shop this week. Of course we had a cup of coffee together which we always love. I came home to help Lucy make our lunch - fish and chips but not as good as the ones in Santa Pola. I also decided to make home made fruit ice lollies on the spur of the moment. It was hot that day and will be for a long time here so they will be very refreshing. This is the batch I made. The fruit inside includes strawberries, pineapple, flat peach, apricot and some soy coconut yoghurt.
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| My home made ice lollies |
As the house was empty I spent some time by the pool. I think it was only my second or third bathe and it was great to be able to skinny dive (hahaha). I had bought clams for dinner to make my new dish "almejas a la marinera" (clams in seafood sauce) and they were delicious.
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| My "almejas a la marinera" which we had last night for dinner |
England was playing Ukraine that night for a place in the semi finals where they will face Denmark who beat the Czech Republic. If Spain scraped through to meet Italy in the semis, England sailed through and thrashed the Ukraine team 4-0. They could well win. My prediction is that England and Italy will make it to the final and that England will win. They are certainly on a running streak and need this win as they haven't won a major tournament for decades. As to Spain, well, we have won the Euros 3 times but when facing Italy we have only won 4 matches out of 13. By this time next week we will at least know who will be playing the finals at Wembley, by the way.
I actually fell asleep after goal one and only woke up after the match was over. It was then I found it difficult to fall asleep again but I eventually did. I woke up this morning at 6.15 - pretty early. Today we are receiving more guests; 3 young girls here to enjoy the pool and spend the night. Everything will be ready for them.
Today will be a quiet day which you will hear all about this time next Sunday.
Cheers till then my friends
Masha
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