Autumn break in Santa Pola, air crash in Indonesia, Real Madrid manager sacked, picking dates, visiting Alicante, a trip down memory lane to Altea and other stories.

Sunday 4th November, 2018

At the castle in Alicante high up from the ground, beautiful day and beautiful views

Hi again everyone, readers and friends.

Last Sunday we were still in Santa Pola. It was to be a strange day weather wise. In the morning it was sunny and quite warm but it got colder and colder as the day advanced and later there were strong winds.  In the many parts of Spain the weather was much worse, especially in the north which is a bit unusual for the end of October.  It snowed there and also in our beloved village Montrondo. I almost regretted not having chosen to go there instead of here as I love Montrondo when it snows.  Here is a photo Jenaro, one of the villagers, posted on his Facebook. He said there was about 15cm. Oh I would have loved it.

Snow in Montrondo last Sunday

We spent the morning in the flat and ended up spending the whole day there, as it was too unpleasant for a walk in the afternoon. I only ventured out a few times to take Pippa down to the garden to do her business. The garden was ours for the taking. There never seems to be anyone there, only Pippa and I. I always love the view of the pool and the sea and had to capture the image on camera. Spot Pippa by the way hahaha.

In the gardens of our apartment blocks on Sunday morning

We went up after my own private photo shoot of the gardens and we spent the morning reading on the terrace in the sun. In between chapters I got up to prepare our lunch which would once again be full of fruit and vegetables.  I had bought artichokes at the Santa Pola market which we would have with some spicy sausage which was a delicious combination. To keep them as white as possible, once you have removed the hard outer leaves is quite difficult. I always use lemon but the fruit stall seller told me also to put them in cold water with lemon and fresh parsley which is apparently a natural anti oxidant. It actually worked partly. 

Lemon and parsley help keep the artichoke hearts white. 

I had also bought a giant custard apple which was still unripe but wow was it big. It is the season for this unusual fruit. I only got to know this delicious and very exotic fruit when I came to live in Spain. I didn't even know its name in English. In Spanish it is called "chirimoya". When Olivia, my youngest daughter, who loves this fruit, was very small she couldn't pronounce the name and mixed it up with the word "gilipollas" in Spanish which means "a stupid fool" or similar. I was very embarrassed when once at a fruit stall she asked me to buy some "gilipollas". Thankfully it made everyone laugh. We have never forgotten it.  This, by the way, was the huge "chirimoya" or custard apple in question which weighed just under one kilo.

The huge custard apple (chirimoya) I bought at the market in Santa Pola last week

I would have joined Eladio for a siesta but was interrupted by more Airbnb business. I shall be having not one but 2 young students of that master in women's pelvic health (haha) staying 2 or 3 times a month for 3 nights each time from now until June. So I had to update the calendar and all my documents again which took me quite a while. 

As I said it was too cold and blustery to go out. Thus we had the perfect excuse to curl up on the sofa and continue watching our new series, The Bodyguard. It is intriguing and very much a story of our times. Set in London it's about a veteran soldier who has seen war in Afghanistan, and who is assigned to be the Home Secretary's bodyguard. I think her character is supposed to partly portray Theresa May when she held that post. It is of course about terrorism and there is a love story but it's also about inside political intrigue and sometimes you are not sure who are the goodies and who are the baddies. Well worth watching if this is your kind of genre. It certainly is ours.

The hot new series from the BBC which is now on Netflix 

We stopped to take Pippa down to the garden and to make dinner. We enjoyed our meal watching the news. It was on Sunday last that the far right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the elections in Brazil and will soon become the President. I never like "far" anything in politics, neither far right nor far left. He has promised to eradicate corruption and lower the country's high crime levels. Politicians are great at promising but not so good on delivering. Remember when Lula promised something similar? Well he's in prison now. Only time will tell. One thing I didn't like was when he went on stage to celebrate with his "third wife". I don't usually trust men or women in that position. I'm a bit old fashioned in that way.  I also don't trust men who leave their wives to marry their secretaries who are many years younger. Jair Bolsonaro, aged 63 divorced,  to marry his 38 year old secretary,  Michelle de Paula Firmo Reinaldo Bolsonaro. 

Jair Bolsonaro and his 3rd wife Michelle de Paula Firmo Reinaldo Bolsonaro who is 25 years younger celebrating his win on Sunday.

If I wasn't happy with that news, I wasn't happy to hear the outcome of "El Clásico". While we were watching our series, Real Madrid and Barcelona were playing in the "Camp Nou". It was only televised on pay per view channels. Eladio was cross he couldn't see it but I suppose he would have hated to see Real Madrid thrashed 5-1 in the match. That is so humiliating. Real Madrid are going through one of their worst patches in history. Their coach, Lopetegui, had been criticised for their poor performance and in a way he was a man sentenced to football managerial death. On Monday he would be dismissed. He was, you may remember, the Spain coach who left the country's squad on the eve of the World Cup to take up his position with Real Madrid. He left them orphaned and now he is out on the street. I bet he will regret that move forever. 

Later we watched a documentary on TV about last year's political fight for independence in Catalonia. It was supposed to be the inside story but some of the main characters were not included, i.e. those who fled the country and those in prison. Those who tried to create an independent republic are those who have created a huge scision in Catalonia and in the country and one big mess in politics. I'm a bit fed up with their pleas for independence. Who are they to cut up the country without all of the inhabitants having a say?

By midnight my eye lids were dropping and it was time for bed.

Monday came and it was a terrible day for weather. The strength of the wind had increased and it felt like a gale force wind. So strong was the wind that when I opened the door of the apartment to take Pippa out, she turned on her heels and went back into the house. It would be like that all day and again I only ventured out for her to do her business. Pippa preferred to curl up on the sofa on her favourite blanket. Here she is curled up and warm thanks to the blanket but also to our gas stove.

Pippa keeping warm on Monday

There is a saying in Spanish for what to do when there is bad weather and it's "sofa y manta" which means a sofa and a blanket from where you watch the TV in a warm house when the weather is awful. She would stay on that blanket most of the day.

I woke up to terrible news in Indonesia. There had been an air crash of an airplane leaving Jakarta. Suddenly I was worried about Suzy who had told us the night before that she would be travelling to Jakarta with Daus her boyfriend who would be performing in his band there. The band, Antrebez, was formed in prison by inmates which rather shocked me too. I read that the plane belonging to Lion Air left the Indonesian capital destination for Pengkal Pinang. Suzy had promised to let us know when she arrived in Jakarta but she never did. My mind raced. Could she have been heading to Pengkal Pinang after Jakarta? God please no. I rang her and rang her and finally sent a message to Daus. Luckily she replied a while later to tell us she was alright. They had landed in Jakarta just as the doomed plane had crashed. It killed 189 people and no one knows why yet as the airplane was brand new. It was a new Boeing 737. Indonesia has had its share of air craft accidents in the recent past so I hoped Suzy and Daus would arrive safely back in Bali after their trip to the capital. We are always worried about Suzy so far away. If it isn't earthquakes it's air crashes that seem to plague the country she now calls home. Keep safe my darling. Air crashes terrify me as, as a family, we were affected terribly by one. In 1971, my Father's sister and all her family, Gloria, my Aunt, her husband Derek and their children, my cousins, Jacqueline (12), Michael (9) and Antony (7) all died when their plane crashed upon landing on the island of Rijeka. So God bless the families and friends of the victims of Monday's crash in Indonesia as I know the tragedy will live on with them always as ours has.

A Lion Air Boeing 737 crashed in the sea of Java after taking off from Jakarta on Monday. 

After that we had a very quiet day. We felt a bit cooped up but decided it would be a day for the sofa and a blanket, although it was Pippa who hogged the blanket hahaha. I had some work to do in the morning and got on with it. I made lunch and the morning passed quickly. We had a siesta and decided afterwards that the weather was too awful for a walk. That would be 2 days in a row without a walk; not good. We turned to the TV to watch the 2 remaining episodes of The Bodyguard which we would finish after dinner.

The main news in Spain that day was the official sacking of Julen Lopetegui, Real Madrid's manager. He was a doomed man after Barcelona's thrashing on Sunday but also before that as the team under him had lost most of its matches and is now far down the La Liga table. RM can't seem to find a suitable manager or rather can't agree to some of their terms. It's a difficult job to take as a manager only lasts while the team does well. Lopetegui was in the job for just 139 days. For the moment Santiago Solari, the manager for Madrid's B team, will take the reins. He is from the Argentine and played for Real Madrid until 2005. His role is provisional. Let's see how things turn out. For the moment, no doubt, the saddest person in this saga is Lopetegui who exchanged his job as country squad manager only to be sacked so soon after becoming Real's manager. The picture below is of him during the match against Barcelona. It is in stark contrast to when he became the manager and in the official presentation he cried tears of joy. But don't worry about his future as no doubt his severance pay will be sky high.

Lopetegui during the  clásico

We finished watching The Bodyguard and were now bereft of anything good enough to take its place. By midnight we were both closing our eyes and it was time again for bed. It had been a very quiet and somewhat boring day. I hoped Tuesday would be better.

Well Tuesday was better. Finally we could leave the apartment and go for a walk. We chose the walk to the lighthouse cliffs and of course took little Pippa along. 

Pippa had the cliffs to herself on our walk to the lighthouse on Tuesday morning

There were hardly any other people and those we saw where "mature" couples like us hahah. Many of them were non Spaniards as lots of English, French and Scandinavian people have property here.  We walked to the end of the path where the rocks start and where it could be easy to tumble down the cliffs. I always get a bit of vertigo if I go too close to the edge. Ah and here is Eladio, in his puffer jacket, enjoying the fresh air and the walk.

Eladio on our walk on Tuesday morning

It rained a bit but was not cold. The weather was far worse in other places. It continued to snow in the north, mainly in Asturias and no doubt in Montrondo again. It wasn't only Spain that suffered extreme weather that day. No, it was the turn for Italy. Deadly storms nearly flooded the beautiful city of Venice with the water rising higher than it had for 10 years. Tourists were walking around in wellington boots! 

A high tide caused floods in Venice

In other parts of the country, the freak weather killed at least 10 people. What is happening with the weather? Why are we getting these terrible episodes of freak weather? This is something new to our times and it is rather frightening. 

Luckily we didn't get much rain in the morning and enjoyed our walk. On our way back as we walked through the gardens of the apartment block we noticed lots of ripe dates hanging from the palm trees. Many of them were loose on the ground. Some hung so low we were able to pick them. Here is Eladio picking some for me.

Picking dates from the apartment gardens here on Tuesday morning

Both Pippa and I ate one to taste them and they were delicious. I suggested to Eladio we bring a stool from the apartment to pick more but he wasn't game for that. I found it very exotic to be picking dates and amazing to be picking them for free. How many people have date palm trees in their gardens I wonder? Not many. That's Spain for you. 

We came back to the flat. I had some work to do and then Eladio had to go off to the local petrol station to buy a butane gas canister for our stove as well as more bottled water. Pippa curled up on her blanket again.

Soon after lunch the rain started and it would rain all day but gently thank goodness. I had lots of work to do in the afternoon, so much so that I became totally absorbed and then suddenly it was nearly 8 pm and time for dinner again. We had duck salad with mango and avocado - superb. This is a salad of my creation and both of us love it. 

That night we started watching a new series, "Covert Affairs", on Amazon. It had good reviews but we found it very trivial and did not like the script. It's about a young and beautiful CIA agent and a blind supervisor. We would not continue it. Frankly it bored us and thus we went to bed early, well early for us, at 11.15 pm.

Wednesday came and the sun was shining and I pondered what to do with the day. I didn't want to be cooped up in the flat again.  I decided on what options we had for a day out and suggested to Eladio we visit Alicante. We have been to the city many many times but I, at least, had never visited the castle which stands 170m from the base and is quite a climb up. You can see the castle even from our apartment.

The view from our apartment on Wednesday morning the day the sun came out. You can see the Santa Barbara castle from our place. 

Every time we go to Alicante we only ever walk along the "Explanada" (like the Ramblas in Barcelona) along the sea front, go  to the small Postiguet beach and visit the port but have never explored the city itself beyond the sea, apart from the train or bus station. I had heard the castle was not worth much apart from the views but I was wrong, it was amazing. We also wanted to visit the old town which we had never seen, called "Barrio de Santa Cruz". The castle's foundations were built in the 9th century when Spain was ruled by the Moors from 711 to 1296. It was captured by Alfonso X El Sabio in 1248, conquered by James II of Aragon who reconstructed it. Later it was further reconstructed by successive Spanish Kings. In later years the castle became abandoned only being open to the public in 1963. It's funny but I have been coming to Alicante since the early 70's yet had never visited it. Wednesday was the day I would see it for the first time and I was impressed.

The walk up to the imposing Santa Barbara castle in Alicante

Alicante is a city that enjoys 300 days of sunshine and it was on Wednesday that the sun returned and it would be a glorious day.

After parking we by the port we walked with Pippa across the main road to the Explanada which we know so well.

View of the port of Alicante in the sun when we visited it on Wednesday

From the Explanada we ambled into the old town and across the square where the town hall is. From there we walked up the winding streets towards the Barrio de Santa Cruz and we were not disappointed. The latter reminded us of Plaka in Athens with its steep stony streets and houses with flowers. At the top we would reach the base of the castle.

Eladio and Pippa on the steps of the Barrio de Santa Cruz on our walk up to the castle

The castle can be reached three ways; either on a lift by the Postiguet beach, by car or on foot. We, being great walkers. chose the latter. We had read the walk was steep and tiring but we didn't find it so. In fact we loved it. Pippa didn't find it difficult either.

Soon we entered the castle walls and were rewarded with amazing views of the city and the sea. We could also see 2 large cruise ships and most of the people visiting the castle that day seemed to be on a cruise. There was a large contingent of British, American and Canadian tourists. We talked to some of them including a family from Toronto who were Russian but originally from Lithuania. They had left Vilnius in 1973 and I asked how they had been able to leave a communist country. It turned out they could because they are Jewish and left for Israel. I paid my condolences for the massacre of the Jews in the synagogue in Pittsburgh last weekend.

Eladio and Pippa at the very top of the Santa Barbara fortress on Wednesday

The views were amazing but I was also impressed with the castle and grounds themselves. Everything was pristine and I kept taking photos. A kind American from Utah whose parents were born in Essex took the photo of the two of us which illustrates this week's post.

We spent at least an hour at the top exploring all the corners of this amazing fortress. My expectations had been so low that I was bowled over. It's probably the best castle or fortress I have ever seen. We will be back.

As we were leaving we saw another bride and groom doing a photo shoot. They were a sight to see and I had to have a photo. Later I wished them a happy life together.

The walk down was wonderful in the sunshine and again we went past the Barrio de Santa Cruz. Here we chose a different street to descend and came across a house with so many flowers I was intrigued as to their upkeep. The family who owned it were sitting out in the sun and the lady who lives in it told me she spent nearly all her time looking after the flowers. She does a great job.

The house with so many flowers in the Barrio de Santa Cruz with the castle in the background

Very soon we were back at La Explanada and from there made our way to the car park to get our car. I took one last look at this lovely walk way with its mosaic tiles and had to have a photo.

A view of the mosaic paved Explanada in Alicante on Wednesday

Our day wasn't going to end there. We decided to have lunch out and I wanted to try a restaurant Miguel and Oli had recommended in Elche, some 15 or 20km south of Alicante. I made a reservation at El Misteri d'Anna and after getting slightly lost, we found it on the outskirts of the town and were sitting down for a lovely meal by about 2.30.

Eladio sitting down for lunch at El Misteri d'Anna on Wednesday

Poor Pippa had to stay in the car but she didn't mind as she was exhausted after the long walk to the castle and back and slept happily during our lunch.

The food was very good, quite creative and with lots of little appetisers. We were not very hungry so did not go for the amazing menus to choose from. Rather we shared a starter and then had a main course each and a dessert of course. Here was our starter, crab, probably my favourite food along with lobster.

Crab salad - the starter we had at Misteri d'Anna in Elche for lunch on Wednesday

We enjoyed a very leisurely lunch and were in no hurry to go back to the flat. All in all it was a great day out, much helped by the sunshine. Thank goodness the sun was back. Everything is much nicer when it is sunny here.

We came back to our apartment which is our bolt hole or get away place and which we seem to appreciate more as the years go by. We weren't hungry at all that night and ended up having  just a bowl of my home made vegetable soup followed by fruit.

Entertainment on Wednesday night was a film on Netflix called The Long Walk: The true story of a trek to freedom. Set in a gulag under Stalin in Russia in 1940 it tells the true story of the escape of Gulag prisoners who walk all the way from Siberia to India over the Himalayas. Amazing.

Thursday dawned and it was another sunny day. It was 1st November and also All Saints' Day which is a holiday in Spain. Many people would take Friday off thus having a long bank holiday weekend which is generally called a "bridge" (puente in Spanish). It was also Halloween, a holiday or tradition I was not brought up on in England and which is becoming very popular here in Spain. I hate it as I hate fear and all the dreadful things Halloween seems to celebrate. My Facebook and Instagram feeds were full of friends in the most frightening outfits. We never celebrated Halloween in England when I was a child. England's equivalent is 5th November, Bonfire night. Well that I do like. 4th November used to be "Mischief night" and being quite a naughty girl I used to like that too. One of the few things I miss from my life in the UK here in Spain is Bonfire night. But no, Halloween is not for me and Eladio and I totally ignored it.

On Thursday we decided on another excursion or day trip. We considered the options again and came up with Altea. Altea is a pretty little town on the Costa Blanca about 15km south of Benidorm but is the extreme opposite of Spain's equivalent of Blackpool. It is one of the prettiest villages in Spain and certainly the prettiest in the province of Alicante. It's on the coast and funnily enough the beach there is stony, something I always found strange for the Costa Blanca. Being just 15km too from Callosa, the village where my parents bought a house in the early 70's we went there often. What's pretty about Altea is the "poble antic" (old town in Valenciano) where time has stood still and where the lovely white houses stand out against the deep blue of the Mediterranean sea. It is a steep walk up from the sea front up narrow and winding streets and it is dominated by a a blue domed church in the square at the top. You see these type of churches all over the Alicante region. I love them. Being 1st November, All Saints' Day there was a mass being offered when we arrived.

The church in the old town of Altea with its typical blue dome

I imagine it is much like a Greek island. When Eladio and I first met and fell in love, our very first dinner out together as a couple was to a restaurant in Altea. I think it was called El Caballo Blanco. Obviously it no longer exists, although it does very much in our memories. So it was to be a trip down memory lane for us. Here we are setting off in the car feeling so happy and free. Pippa came with us of course and there is a photo of her too in the back of the car. It was to be her first visit to Altea.

In the car starting our trip down memory lane to Altea

Pippa in the car with us.

Altea has grown so much and attracts many tourists, far more than when we used to visit in the 70's, I hardly recognised the outskirts of the old village and we nearly got lost getting to the top. After finding a spot for our car, we walked along the main street towards the church square, falling in love all over again with Altea. I do wish now that instead of buying an apartment in Santa Pola we had bought one there.

Eladio walking up the main street towards the church square

It was a beautiful sunny day again which of course added a lot to our nostalgic visit of Altea. We stopped at the square to join the many others enjoying a drink or a coffee at one of the many cafés there. It was a sight for sore eyes.

At a café in the old town of Altea

We had plenty of time before lunch to explore the old town and that we did. There are endless miradors to view the horizon where just beyond you can see the tops of the horrible sky scrapers coming out of the skies of Benidorm.

One of the views from the top of the old town of Altea

It was the pretty steep and narrow little streets we wanted to explore and that we did. We went down and up each little street leading out of the church square.

One of the steep streets leading down to the sea front of Altea

The streets and squares vied with each other for their beauty and I loved them all. Above all I loved that they were so well kept.

In one of the old streets in Altea on Thursday

After exploring the delightful streets and some of the rather expensive boutiques, we decided to walk down to the sea front before coming up again to the old town where we would have lunch. While having a coffee earlier I had looked up a good restaurant and came across "La Claudia" which boasts its own private terrace with spectacular views of the sea and beyond. That turned out to be a good choice.

It was a steep climb down along winding streets with flowers everywhere and glimpses of the sea at every corner. I was gob stopped at the beauty of the place. We even saw lemon trees in the gardens. Just how exotic is that? The views going down were breathtaking too and I kept taking photos. Eladio and Pippa are in most of them of course.

One of the views walking down from the old town to the sea front in Altea

We enjoyed a sunny walk along the seafront which was full of bank holiday visitors like us. The sea was blue and calm and some people were sunbathing and swimming. Mercury reached 21c that day!

The beach in Altea

It was a long walk up again and steep too but great for working up an appetite. We had booked a table at 2.15 at La Claudia and were there on time.

Eladio outside the restaurant where we had lunch in Altea on Thursday

Spain is not a dog friendly country and Pippa wasn't allowed in, even on the open terrace where we had booked a table. We could hardly leave her tied up outside in the street and our car was a bit far away. So when one of the waitresses, a lovely girl from Colombia, Fernanda, suggested taking Pippa up to her flat next to the restaurant which she would occupy with  Fernanda's French bull terrier, we were very grateful. I went up with the waitress to her flat which has a terrace looking out on to the restaurant terrace. Thus we would be able to see Pippa from our table hahaha. I was a bit worried the dogs would fight but no, they got on well and kept each other company.

Soon we were sitting on the delightful terrace with its magnificent views of the bay of Altea and beyond. This is the terrace. It's small but very cosy. You can spy Eladio at our table in the shade as he held his arm up for the photo hahaha.

The terrace at La Claudia

Our fellow guests on the table next to us were from Brussels and were Flemish. We got to talking about Puigdemont, the ex President of Catalonia who fled justice there. We told them they were welcome to him hahaha. Well, they are.

We loved the menu at the restaurant. It was all rather original but incredibly tasty. The dishes we ordered were all out of this world and I know we shall be back. For starters we had "pastela" (Moroccan) with oxtail inside. Eladio then had a fish dish he said was delicious. I went for the Angus beef which was served with soya noodles. It was wow. The dessert was wow too; almond cake with cherry ice cream.

The "pastela" with oxtail filling at La Claudia

We enjoyed every moment of that delicious lunch in such a beautiful setting and I can highly recommend La Claudia although I am sure there are lots of other great restaurants in Altea. During our lunch we spoke about how we first met and of course about our first dinner there as a couple. If someone had shown us then a photo of us today or told us how our life would turn out I would have been very surprised. We were a young and love struck couple only thinking about the present. We both agreed that we have had more good luck than bad and have nothing to complain about; the opposite in fact. We couldn't have been luckier. To think we are still in love today, 38 years later, is short of a miracle. The trip down memory lane on Thursday made us reflect on just what a happy life we have had so far and hope to have until the end of our lives together.

We finished our lunch quite late and after picking up Pippa who was more than excited to be with us and after thanking Fernanda for her hospitality, we left beautiful Altea and set off home. I would have loved to explore further, see Alfaz del Pia where my Aunty Masha is buried or even drive to Callosa but it would get dark soon so we hit the road. We were home just under an hour later and back in our cosy flat. We had both missed our siesta so took a short nap, albeit a late one, and were awake again at about 7 pm. Neither of us was hungry that night but we ended up eating as one does, but most of it was salad and fruit.

That night we started another series on Netflix, Deadwind a Finnish police series. It's a bit slow and soon we were both falling asleep. We went to bed at about 11 pm after what had been a lovely day and trip down memory lane.

Friday was our last full day here. The day was overcast although not cold but certainly not a day for another trip away. Thus we stayed at home. We had to do a bit of shopping so off we went to Mercadona which was full of shoppers as on Thursday all the supermarkets were closed because of All Saints' Day. We came home again to unload our shopping and out again, this time with Pippa for a walk to the lighthouse cliffs. There were plenty of people doing the same but it wasn't crowded like in August. As you can see the sky was overcast but even so the view of the sea and the little island of Tabarca was still lovely.

The view from the cliffs with an overcast sky on Friday morning

While I explored the cliffs, Eladio sat on his favourite bench accompanied by little Pippa.

Pippa and Eladio with his trusted walking stick by the cliffs on Friday morning

The sun kept trying to come out from behind the cliffs and it did for a while. Just as we were walking back I heard the familiar ping from my Airbnb application. I had a sudden reservation for that night for the only room free this week, the green room. A guy from Mexico was coming for 4 nights. That would mean we we would be fully booked over the weekend. Whoopee. It's always nice to know the house is earning money for us when we are away. I quickly messaged him with arrival instructions and alerted Lucy about his arrival as he would come in our absence. I counted later and we have had 95 groups of guests this year so far compared to 65 last year. What a great idea it was to start offering rooms in our house on Airbnb.

We came home to a warm house and soon I was making a simple lunch of spaghetti bolognese. I read in the afternoon while Eladio and Pippa took a siesta. I wanted to continue watching Deadwind on Netflix but our Amazon Fire Stick streaming device, for some reason, was giving no signal. I suspected it needed updating and as our TV here is a bit outdated, we would have to update it when we got home.

We spent a quiet and relaxing afternoon and evening. Dinner was simple but delicious. Once again I made prawn salad with the last of the avocados and mangoes we had bought at the street market in Santa Pola the Saturday before. This is what it looked like. I love colourful food and I love those three ingredients together. They make a great combination.

My delicious prawn, avocado and mango salad

There was not much to watch after the news on terrestrial TV and I fell asleep not even knowing what was on. We are so dependent these days on TV streaming there is no comparison. Thus it was early to bed in our quiet apartment on the last night of our stay here.

On Saturday, rather unfairly, I woke up to brilliant sunshine. What a pity the weather was going to be great the day we left.  I would have loved to stay but we can't really go away for more than a week at a time as we have my Father to take into consideration, the dogs too who don't get their daily walk and of course we have to be there to replenish the food cupboards which, no doubt, would be quite bare by the time of our arrival.

So it was with a heavy heart  that after breakfast, we had to start the ritual of packing, cleaning, washing the sheets, etc and leave our happy little pad by the sea. We love it here. We were ready to set off by about midday and instead of driving straight home, decided at the last moment, to visit Jumilla, a small town in Murcia where wine is made. We were prompted to visit the Juan Gil winery after tasting a bottle of their wine while having dinner at Miguel and Oli's. Miguel told us we could buy it locally at a wine shop called "Vinoteria los Chilines". I rang the "bodega" too but it's closed on Saturdays. We arrived in the sleepy little town of Jumilla, not far from where my friend Jacky lives at around 1pm. We would have loved to have stopped to see her but it would have been too late to warn her. Next time Jacky if you are reading this!

We found the wine shop and parked outside and here we bought 14 bottles of wine, 2 for Miguel and Oli and the rest for us. The owner recommended other wines too from the region so we got a variety.

At the Vinotería los Chilines

I had booked a table for lunch at a local restaurant, San Agustin but not until 2 pm which gave us plenty of time to explore Jumilla. It was 3rd on the list of best restaurants in Jumilla but yesterday they were all full. It was cold but sunny with a maximum temperature of only 14ºc as we walked from the modern part of the town towards the "casco antiguo" (old town). There was not much to see and many of the locals seemed to be immigrants. I suppose they have jobs with the wineries in town.

One of the streets in the old part of Jumilla

Perhaps the most interesting thing to do in Jumilla, apart from buy wine, is the visit the imposing castle but there was no time for that yesterday. We shall have to go back if we want to see it.

View of the castle in Jumilla

After a cold but brisk walk around the rather empty streets of the old part of Jumilla, we made our way to the restaurant which was very full. It seemed popular. As soon as we sat down we ordered a glass of wine and it had to be Juan Gil. Here I am holding both my glass and the bottle.

Drinking Juan Gil wine in Jumilla on Saturday

I have to say service was fast and the food was delicious. The helpings were so big we had to ask for a doggy bag. We left quite late and I slept off the wine for about an hour in the car while poor Eladio drove. It seemed a long drive home and it was. I think we got back at about 7.30 or nearly 8 pm. It was too late to greet my Father who was already in bed. There was no sign of the guests although we did see later our Mexican guest, Samir who has an Arabic name owing to a great grandmother being from the Lebanon. He lives in "Aguas Calientes" near Guadalajara in Mexico. He will be here until Tuesday.

We were in bed by 9 pm and happy to be in our own comfortable bed which is like being in heaven compared to our bed in Santa Pola. It was good to be home. There is no place like home but it was also great to have been away for an Autumn break.

And today is Sunday and the sun is shining. However it is cold (4ºc!). This morning Oli and I will have our French lesson and I haven't done my "devoirs". So I must publish this as soon as possible and get on with them.

Wishing you all a great week ahead, cheers until next Sunday.
Masha

Flash floods in Malaga, dinner at Oli's, off to Santa Pola, the clocks go back and other tales of the week.

Santa Pola. Sunday 28th October 2018

At the end of our walk on the beach on Saturday at my favourite picture spot and with Pippa of course. 

Good morning again friends and blog readers this time from our apartment in Santa Pola near the beach in the province of Alicante. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

Part of the walls of the famous Arab baths in Ronda were destroyed in the flash floods in the South of Spain last weekend

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

A recent photo of Suzy with her Indonesian boyfriend, Dous. 

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.

The wicker sofas on the pool terrace. 

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.

Longest sea-crossing bridge in the world linking 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.

Pippa having a siesta with us this week

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.

The tortillas I made this week

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.

Dinner at Oli and Miguel's

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).

The "cocido madrileño" we had for lunch at El Cielo de Asturias on Thursdday

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.

Lunch with Fátima and her family

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.

Eladio reading by the pool on Thursday afternoon

And here am I reading opposite him with little Pippa in my arms.

Reading with Pippa on the wickerwork sofas by the pool on Thursday afternoon

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.

Finally the wicker terrace chairs have new covers and they match the new sofa covers too. 

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.

The lighthouse cliffs

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.

At the lighthouse cliffs

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.

With Pippa - a selfie by the lighthouse cliffs

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.

At the fruit and veg market in Santa Pola yesterday

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.

Eladio and Pippa by the beach in Santa Pola yesterday morning.

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.

Photo shoot on the beach yesterday

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?

Bride and groom in the water!

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.

Eladio and Pippa on our walk on the empty beach yesterday

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.

Eladio pointing out our apartment block yesterday on our walk

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