Hello everyone and greetings from Spain.
This is double whammy today, a blog and Christmas
Greeting all rolled into one.
So let’s start
with the latter. To friends far and wide, most of whom I will not see
personally, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015. To people who read
this in the North East I am home 20th December till 4th
January and would love a chance to catch up.
Our trip to Isla Plana lasted three nights, the campsite
Los Madriles ticked lots of boxes for me and only 16 Euros per night. The only
negative was the lack of any real action in the bar, no food and closed Sunday
and Monday and wine at 2.50 Euros a glass. On the positive side it was a tiered
site, which makes for nicer pitches, we had a sea view, well maintained with
hedges dividing off pitches. It was spotlessly cleaning and there were a lot of
German campers, not sure which comes first clean campsite or demanding
customers!! There was plenty of hot water in the showers, laundry and wash up
area and a system of recycling and add to that two swimming pools and what more
do you need?? It was a 1k walk to the town of Isla Plana, quite a lively little
place.
Saturday 6th we headed off on the bikes
further round the bay to La Azohia, it was very fresh and although sunny, very
breezy. Some people were wild camping right near the beach, the views were
fabulous. We had a coffee in a shaded spot in the sun and set off to ride back,
past the campsite and on to Isla Plana. We needed some food for the weekend and
I spotted a little butcher's, but as I walked down there was also a fishmonger.
I bought a whole “Bonita” a small fish of the tuna family and he filleted it
for me. Then in the butchers, as often is the case in Spain there wasn’t very
much in the fridge, I asked if they had lamb and she did me six chops. Perfect
meals for the weekend.
On the front at Isla Plana is the Centro Social, the
local meeting place but also run as a cafe and we had drinks in the little
harbour. A cycle back to the campsite and we ate outside in the sun, Chris
barbequed the fish and we ate it with salad. We walked into town in the evening
and had a couple of glasses of wine to round off a lovely day.
Sunday we decided to cycle to Mazarron but the wind was
even wilder so plan B, get the bus to Mazarron and walk the 7k back. The
timetable said the bus was 11.05; the stop was outside the campsite so we got
there at 10.55, in case it was early. About 11.15 an elderly lady asked if we
wanted a lift, for some reason Chris wasn’t keen so we waited and finally at
11.25 the bus arrived.
In Mazarron there is a little enclave near the
supermarket , Mercadona, where you can get an English newspaper, a cup of tea
and a bacon sandwich, scone or toasted teacake. We walked up there and it was
closed!! I did get a Sunday Times in the Spar, so not a wasted walk. On the
seafront, in the harbour, we had Spanish sausage sandwiches and did a bit of
people watching. When we have visited previously during the week there are a
lot of tourists and ex-pats but this was a holiday weekend and there were lots
of Spanish families. We walked back to Isla Plana, some of it on the promenade,
some on pavement and some on the beach. Our hoped for halfway coffee didn’t
materialise and we stopped in Isla Plana where it was fiesta. The front was
mobbed and the singing on the stage was pretty ropey so we found another bar
and had coffee.
I went and had a lounge in the pool for a short while,
hoping to avert a painful knee in the night. It is six months since the
incident in Istanbul and it is never painful when I exercise but it does get
achy when I go to bed, a rub of Ibuprofen gel usually eases it. Chris was on barbie
duty again and cooked the lamb, this time too cold to eat outside. The mountain
backdrop to the campsite meant that once the sun went down it was pretty cold.
Monday we packed up and headed north to La Manga, on the
Mar Menor. The campsite, Caravanning La Manga, was huge with more than 2,000
places. We stayed two nights and although it was the same price as Isla Plana,
16 Euros, it was not as good. The shower block was okay, the dishwashing and
laundry was only cold water and there was hardly any lighting in the area we
were in. On the positive side the bar and restaurant were busy with nice food
and reasonably priced drinks and right on the beach. Tuesday we got on our
bikes to ride up La Manga, if you look at the map you will see it has the Mediterranean
on one side and the Mar Menor on the other. Cycling was great, totally flat and
most of the time in cycle lanes. A lot was closed and afterwards Chris said it
felt like we were riding through deserted Army barracks, which tells you a bit
about the charm of the place. We did
about 20k in total, had a coffee stop then a cake stop. Spain is a very good
place to eat unless you want nice cake or pastries, they don’t really do coffee
and cakes. A Belgian lady had a cafe with
gorgeous pastries, yummy; I had prune tart with gorgeous crisp sweet pastry.
Made the cycle worthwhile.
Wednesday we set off, again driving north to visit our
fellow travellers Steve and Glen. They were staying in Torrevieja and whilst I
was looking forward to catching up with them Torrevieja is the biggest urbanisation
in Europe. Predominantly they are built to attract foreigners to buy a house in
the sun, many of which are on “estates” with no charm whatever. However I was
pleasantly surprised, Steve and Glen were in a block in Cabo Severa with sea
views and we had a lovely coastal walk finishing off in a little sunny square
for coffee. In the evening we went off to a quiz and were a bit embarrassed
when we won, the prize was 3 bottles of wine. It was a great team effort with
four people with differing interests and knowledge. We also were drawn to
answer the snowball question, worth 95 Euros which I got wrong!!!
Thursday we set off in the car and walked at Cabo Roig,
a lovely cliff top walk and sat in glorious sun drinking coffee looking at a
very calm Med. Lunch was a real treat, we went for Chinese buffet, an advantage
of being in an area with lots of foreign visitors and residents. The food was
delicious, cooked fresh how you wanted it. We then had a quick visit to
Iceland, the shop not the country, to stock up with a few treats from Blighty.
Normally we shop and cook with local food and make a range of different meals,
we have goat for tonight, but just occasionally it is nice to have a treat from
home-for Chris a loaf of Soreen, for me some bacon.
We had a lovely time and it is good to be with
like-minded souls, Steve and Glen travelled constantly for about 15 years till
Steve’s illness. So they are way ahead of us. It is interesting too that Steve and
Chris are both pretty laid back people and Glen and I are the two verging on
OCD with the coloured stickers and the need for order!! Thanks for a lovely
catch up.
We drove back to the house on Friday, got back in time
for veggies in the market and have not done much since due to the inclement
weather!! I know people get fed up with
me saying how sunny it is so this is retribution.
Yep the sun is shining today for the first time since Saturday
and whilst for us it stops our normal outdoor life the fields and trees look so
much better for the 3-4 episodes of rain we have had.
We have a few more days before we head home on Saturday
for Christmas to spend time with our respective families. Just when you think
things are quiet the unexpected, on our way back from lunch at the bar our
neighbour Juana Maria said they were about to kill their pig!! Sure enough out
came the table and lots of strong men and a rope and after lots of squealing
the deed was done and eventually it was slung up on the tractor for its innards
to be taken out. Chris watched some of it but I know meat equals killing
animals I don’t really want to see and hear it in the street. They also killed
a little black pig too. We were watching the third Lord of the Rings so much
the same !!
I am looking
forward to meeting up with friends and of course my two lovely daughters. Imogen seems incredibly happy with her new
boyfriend Keith, but despite a new role at work Amy has had a hard time
recently so it will be good to have two weeks together.
Looking forward we have my Jubilee year to look forward
to and the first “event” is the girls coming out to Spain for my birthday.
Best wishes
Norma xx
