Never a dull day hosting guests, 1000 days since Putin invaded Ukraine, farewell Rafa Nadal, to Santa Pola for a few days for work and not play, good news, Christmas comes early for Elliot and Juliet and other tales of the week.

Gran Alacant, Santa Pola, Sunday 24th November, 2024

A happy moment in Santa Pola this week

Good morning everyone from our apartment by the sea where we came on Wednesday to put it back on the short term rental market. We did not come on holiday. They say a break is as a good as a rest but it's been mostly work and no play. I have been up to my eye balls in sheets and towels, copying keys and tweaking tariffs on Booking and Airbnb but we managed to find some  free time for ourselves too, a meal out, a walk here and there and of course we appreciated the good weather  with maximum temperatures reaching 24ºc in November. 

But let me wind back to last Sunday which was quiet as most of the week was; a far cry from my time with Olivia in New York or in London. That day 3 guests checked out, leaving us with just Mohammad and Betty; or that's what we thought until a young boy, XXX, from the Philippines arrived to stay. He is XXX's son who was coming back this week but had to come earlier to be with him.  I won't go into the details but he was brought by the police as he had had some kind of  breakdown. As a friend remarked when I told her "never a dull day". No, there isn't. I could have refused to take him in but I'm a mother too and the boy was in distress and in need of  shelter, after having been expelled from his residence. I felt very sorry for his mother who arrived on Wednesday. Otherwise, it was a quiet day (hahahaha).

Monday came and was another sunny day. Madrid has escaped all the rain storms that have so affected Valencia and other regions. We went on our walk and then into Boadilla on errands where we bumped into our friends Roberto and Mari Carmen. Mari Carmen is a pharmacist who owns a chemist and I was keen to get her opinion on the new wonder drug; ozempic that seems to be the miracle drug for losing weight and is much talked about in the press. It is supposed to suppress the appetite and I was thinking of trying it out (after Christmas,of course hahahaha). Her advice was strongly against it, mostly because of the side affects such as headaches which have afflicted me all my life. She also said that Ozempic is really only effective for morbidly obese people, which, bless her, in her opinion, is not my case. 

It was at lunch that day that Suzy announced she will  not be returning to Santa Pola and will be living  with us. She also admitted what we already suspected that she had weaned herself off her medication and would not be continuing her therapy. On the one hand we were happy as it means she is safe with us but on the other we are worried about how to go forward. At least she is stable at the moment and we are living in relative harmony. But she does worry me. We far prefer her to be with us than alone at our apartment here.  After her announcement I set about putting the apartment back on the rental market with one big problem; my neighbour, Lucy, is no longer able to clean the flat. She sent me a couple of contacts but nothing will be the same without her. Our main task here has been to find someone to replace her.  There were lots of other things to do to start renting again, both on Airbnb and Booking and at the apartment itself. This is the listing by the way. That had me very busy on Tuesday morning and the rest of the week. I had new bureaucracy to comply with for my Booking listings which required two long distance calls to customer care that lasted over half an hour each. One was with an agent in Los Angeles and the other was with a pleasant chap in Bogotá. That's customer care for you these days. As there was so much to do at the flat too  we decided to go this week.

Tuesday was very much a repeat of Monday with not much to report. We went on our walk and had coffee at Alveran. I always love our coffee times together and our wine and pistachio moments. They always bring us together and are often when we make plans or decide on important things.

Doing things together nearly always includes watching the news but of course with mobile phones we usually already know the headlines before. The main news this week, on the international scene, is definitely about Ukraine. Both Biden and the UK and French administrations have given Zelenski the go ahead to fire their rockets on Russian territory. That had Putin furious and I wonder what will happen now; nothing good of course. I am worried about help from the US when Trump returns to the White House. He wants peace but doesn't care about the price for Kiev in terms of loss of territory.  This week marks a 1000 days since Russia invaded its neighbour. Oh how I hate war;  this one in particular and the one between Israel and Hamas. The other news is about Trump, of course and who he is appointing to his administration - all the wrong people like a climate change denier in charge of energy!!! 

The news in Spain is all about the aftermath of the deadly floods in Valencia where reconstruction could take months or years. The floods did not only destroy lives, homes, businesses, cars and infrastructure, it also created a political storm between the central and local governments. This in my mind, will only hinder reconstruction. The King and Queen revisited some of the worst hit areas this week and this time were not pelted with mud. The King, very wisely, stated that the different administrations have to work side by side to help the people affected and quickly. Funding has been promised but is very slow probably because of Spain's notoriously complicated bureaucracy and need of paperwork. There are many examples of why. Here is just one: over 100.000 people have lost their cars but in order to claim insurance they must provide photos. How on earth can they do that if they can 't even find their cars bogged down in mud in garages or piled up in flood affected streets? It's a catch 22 situation which does not help the people affected.  I hope the King's words have not fallen on deaf ears.

Wednesday came, the day of our departure and the main sports news that morning in Spain and in the world was Rafa Nadal's official retirement while he competed for a final time in the Davies Cup in Málaga. Honestly I love the man, Spain's best sport figure ever but honestly I wish he hadn't left the game losing as he did. I think he should have retired at the top of his career, maybe after his last victory at Roland Garros. 

Rafa celebrating his first title  in 2005 in Roland Garros where he beat Federer aged just 19. He won his 14th title aged 36 in 2022. No one will ever beat his 14 victories there. The King of Clay retires this week and tennis will never be the same without him. 

There were accolades from all around the world in his farewell and for his achievements which are amazing but I found the way he left the game rather sad and depressing as if he had just pushed his body too far. However,  I shall always respect him and admire him for all he has done for the game. Rafa, there are no words to describe your career. You are loved everywhere and are one of those few people in the world who will always be remembered. Tennis will not be the same without you and no one, no one, will ever beat your 14 wins at Roland Garros. Adios, gracias y hasta siempre. 

We couldn't leave for Santa Pola as early as planned that morning as we had to wait for an electrician who came to fix two bathroom mirror lamps which took some time. There are always things to be fixed when running a huge home with guests. Thankfully the young boy's mother arrived that morning to take care of him but I won't see her until we return this afternoon.  

Our journey to Santa Pola brought back so many recent bad memories with all the crises Suzy had here which are impossible to erase. We stopped for lunch at the Parador in Albacete which was very quiet and arrived here in the middle of the afternoon. Thankfully Lucy had cleaned the apartment for one last time so we found most things in order. What was not in order was the bed linen, always a nightmare here which I had to sort yet once again and I won't go into the details. We were finally sitting on our terrace with some wine and pistachios by 7.30 and enjoyed the moment. It was much warmer here than at home.

I slept relatively well that night and woke up at 7.30 on Thursday morning. The apartment wasn't warm in the morning though and on this visit we have been able to experience and test the new heat pump which is also an air conditioning unit. It is amazing and I honestly wish we had installed it years ago. It heats the apartment in minutes. We had lots of errands to do and some cleaning. I did lots of the cupboards and threw out so much junk. That afternoon we interviewed two potential cleaning ladies but they were just not up to standard. That had me searching the web and I came up with a local cleaning company who sounded, on the phone, as the solution to my problem. We would  meet Alicia who looks after 45 apartments in the area on Saturday morning as well as another contact Lucy gave me and another professional cleaning company I found online. I hoped and prayed one of them would be my solution. Without a cleaning service I cannot rent the apartment as you will appreciate. 

By the time I had finished it was wine and pistachio on the terrace moment again after which we had a pleasant dinner followed by the news. We then resumed a Spanish series - Night and Day - on Netflix which we both enjoy. I slept 7 whole hours that night and woke up feeling great on Friday morning.

My morning was rather spoiled by Booking when I realised that a glitch in their system had spoiled all my tariff work. This listing appeared with the same tariff for every night of the year. I only realised that when I got a reservation for 6 nights in August for a song. That had me on the phone again and on my PC. I had finished by noon and out we went for a much needed coffee. I suggested to Eladio that we also go into Santa Pola for a walk by the port and beach and lunch in town. I needed the break. 

The place was thriving and we soon found a restaurant we liked; La Sal. This is it. We were both keen on having a rice dish but never agree on which one. Eladio likes the traditional paella and I prefer a dish called "arroz a banda". So I booked a table and then we ambled along the port and to the nearest beach. You will have noticed there have been no photos so far in this week's blog post. So Friday was the day to take them. Eladio took the one  I have chosen for this week's feature photo and I took some of him  like the one below.

Time out in Santa Pola in the good weather on Friday

It was great to walk in the sun and forget for a while about sheets, towels, cleaning ladies, etc.  But I wasn't completely free as I had to liaise with a guest arriving on Sunday earlier than planned. Only when I was finally mentally and physically free was I able to enjoy some free time in Santa Pola with Eladio. I may be officially retired but I still work hard my friends.

My prize that day was lunch and I was very sorry I forgot to take a photo of the "arroz señoret" (paella with shelled fish) to show you. But I did get one of Eladio pealing all the prawns from our first course, bless him. I love prawns but refuse to peal them at a restaurant as I hate getting my hands sticky - maybe I'm a bit OCD that way (haha).

Eladio pealing all my prawns at lunch in Santa Pola on Friday

Once home, there was no peace for the wicked. I had to finish organising all the sheets and towels, after new purchases at the cheap local Chinese store and on Amazon. When I was finished it was time for my weekly Skype call with my dear friend Amanda who was back from her niece's wedding in Belfast. We had lots to tell each other and she cheered me up enormously. 

It was  after our call that we got the good news of the week or more like  the good news of the year. My youngest daughter Olivia who has worked for quite a few years for Spain's main broadcaster, RTVE as a TV reporter, has been given a permanent contract. As RTVE is a public service and company, a fixed contract is similar to being a civil servant and is generally a job for life. The main reason for earning this status was her passing the feared exam or oposición in Spain which she took and passed a few years ago and which makes her an official public worker; no mean feat in Spain I can tell you. So well done darling. We are very pleased for you and can't wait to celebrate. It was the news she had been waiting for, along with many others in her position, and finally it happened this week.

Oli sent us the news while out with her husband Miguel who also works for RTVE and the kids, Juliet (3) and Elliot (5). They had taken them to the much publicised Christmas theme park "Mágicas Navidades"  at at town called Torrejón near Madrid. Here are some photos of the lovely time they had. I am not a fan of beginning Christmas before December but was happy to to see my grandchildren's smiling faces while enjoying themselves that evening.  For them Christmas came early this year.

The kids enjoying themselves at the Christmas theme park near Madrid on Friday

I had a quick look at the website and "Mágicas Navidades" is apparently the largest Christmas theme park in Europe. It looks a bit over the top but must be a lot of fun for children, especially those who still believe in Father Christmas and in the Three Kings (in Spain).

After another 2 or 3 episodes of "Night and Day" on Netflix, we retired to bed just before midnight and I slept until 7.45 on Saturday morning. I woke up to rain which is unusual here but I suppose good for the crops and reservoirs. That day we were interviewing 3 candidates for the cleaning job and I desperately hoped we would find the right one as we were leaving the next day. Gina from Romania came at 9.30 and seemed perfect for the job. Alicia who runs a small cleaning company came at 10.30 and Nawal who runs a big one came at 13.30. We debated between Gina and Alicia and in the end chose the latter who, although she is a more expensive option, can offer us a much better overall service; taking care of any problems with the apartment which we can't deal with from afar. We will hand her the keys this morning and hope we have made the right choice.

Unfortunately on our last morning the rain robbed us of a walk on the beach or coffee out. Instead I went to Quicksave, the British supermarket across the way. There I got lots of English Christmas fare to take home including not very good quality crackers, Christmas pudding, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce; all essential for our Christmas lunch next month. I also got chocolates including some of my favourites such as walnut whip, Terry's chocolate orange and some bounties. Naughty but nice.

The rest of Saturday was very quiet, except for a scheduled Skype call in the evening with my Uni friends Adele and Sandra who live in Brussels and Brittany respectively. Adele showed us her newly completed house in Brittany where they moved 2 years ago from Orleans. It looks fabulous and is a dream come true for my friend. We chin wagged for 1.5h and it was a great catch up. What we have not yet agreed upon is our next meet up. I hope it will be soon as I so miss my 4 best friends who all live outside Spain.

And today my friends  is Sunday. I was awake far too early this morning and woke up with a headache, thanks to last night's wine and chocolate - the worst combination. Our mission here is now complete or so I hope. At least we achieved what we came out to do. It's just a pity we didn't have more free time to enjoy our stay here more.  But there will be other times I know.

I must leave you now to have breakfast and pack before we go. Have a great Sunday my friends and cheers till next week,

Masha

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