The Rain in Spain....

....happened mostly while we were on the plane.

Here's part one of the story of our recent trip to Spain and France (calling at Bristol, Geneva and London)

Wednesday 28 March 2007
After a smooth ride up to Bristol on a train carriage apparently designed by some Porsche bloke (it didn't make the train faster) we arrived at Bristol Airport. Now provincial airports in the UK are always a bit hit and miss and this was no exception - especially on the land side. Airside in the departure lounge there was one saving grace - a Starbucks.

Here we were able to sample the new Cinnamon Dolce Frappucino. Now I'm a big Frappo fan but this was Vero's first time and she loved it. I must say it certainly tasted good all the way down although there were the inevitable instances of 'Brain freeze' as I gulped too much of the icy mix too fast. Ouch!

Also airport shop prices are inflated but I never expected the crisps to be the same.

So one Easyjet flight later we arrived in a cool and cloudy Alicante - we didn't see much from the plane but I did get some snaps away of some clouds once we were up. Apparently they had two or three days of very wet weather just before we arrived....everything was crossed for an improvement!

The ride home was dark, the shadows and silhouettes giving hints of what we would see in our stay there. We did see the salt factory and its 40 foot high salt mountains on the salinas at Santa Pola and approached Quesada, we saw thousands of lemon trees being lit up on either side of the road. Vero was gobsmacked...
Once at the house in Spain I didn't waste time finding the San Miguel and a bonus bag of big pretzels. Oh and I think we opened some Rioja too. The standards had been set.

Thursday 29 March 2007
We awoke to cloudy and cool weather, with a hint of rain. This led to a lazy morning with a ride out to Carrefour. yes, the Frogs had invaded Spain too. In fact there were quite a few 'French' shops/outlets/businesses I recognised from several trips to V's homeland.
After a potter around Carrefour we headed to Guardamar, a small resort town near Quesada. It was quiet however the sand sculptors were still hard at work.

We had lunch in one of the beachfront restaurants - it was nothing special (summing up most Spanish food really) and then went fro a stroll towards the Dunes.

On the way we were accosted by some Spanish teenagers who were on a field trip and loaded with a questionnaire to ask to tourists like us. They asked Vero in French and one of the questions was 'what symbolises Spain to you?'. Her response...Tortilla. The kids left obviously put out by this slur on all things Spain is famous for.

The rest of the day was spent in yet more supermarkets before returning to the house. I think Mr S. Miguel and Mr Rioja joined us yet again.

Friday 30 March 2007

Today the sun came out and we went on a proper trip, due south towards the Mar Menor. This is a lagoon near San Javier, and is where you can find the famous La Manga resort. The first stop was the coastal village of Lo Pagan, a typical combination of old (windmill) and new (tack shops, cranes and cafes!).

There was a long causeway leading up to more windmills which was endless so we stopped halfway - I'm sure it would have been nice but our hosts were waiting back on dry land. Plus the view was somewhat spoiled by more Spanish landmarks in the distance.

On the ocean side there were some decent sized salinas and yet again more mountains of salt. The salt lakes here are apparently used for mud bathing but the only creatures bathing was a about 4 dozen little grebes.

After this we headed in the general direction of la casa (home) stopping for a 2 lunch/sunbathing stop at a beach near El Mojon. Now a lot can be said about our packed lunches. Fresh baguette bought at the bakery the same morning filled with about four different types of meat (chorizo, salami, serrano and good old ham) with lovely Spanish cheese which had a soft but yet smoky flavour. Wonderful. We then stopped for Ice Cream in La Zenia where we were joined by some gatecrashers (see left!)

That can't be Al in Alicante, can it?

Saturday 31 March 2007

Again pleasant weather started the day but there was the threat of rain later. The decision was made to head North past the Salinas del Brac del Port (where we saw a few pink flamingos) to Santa Pola and see how things went from there. Santa Pola is much more Spanish than Quesada or Guardamar, and seemed a little more laid back. It had a nice little stretch of beach with small breakwaters stretching out into the sea for fishermen.

After an hour or so slowly wandering across the shore and round a few shops, we headed back to the car and took the decision to head into Alicante seeing as the weather was holding nicely. We took a quiet coastal road which was very rugged and gave excellent clear view towards the grand port itself and the stunning mountains beyond.

We parked right on the quayside ideally placed for a bite to eat at one of the restaurants on the front. Again - OK but nothing to write home about (so I won't). Vero had a little bit too much wine and looked a bit red-faced afterwards.

Once her mini-hangover had worn off we decided to head up to the Castillo Santa Barbara, an old fort perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the city. To this we had to find a tiny orange tunnel which was about 300 meters long, at the end of what was a coin operated ticket machine with some Spanish guy set next to it, was as helpful as a chocolate teapot. Once we had bought our tickets we climbed into a lift which resembled at best something from a derelict 1960s office block. I even had its own 'operator' who took us up though a couple of 100m of rock and suddenly we were in a different world. The noise was gone, the sun burst out and the fort was magnificent. Lots of winding old paths adorned either side by wonderful Mediterranean shrubbery led us either up or down the Castillo, with different views at different points.

After all that exertion it was back down and back towards home. On the way we stopped at the same salinas we drove past in the morning as there were many more birds around and some very nice scenery, despite the ominous looking clouds.

Sunday 1 April

No fooling around today, as we took the morning off soaking up what was the warmest day yet in the front garden. I say front garden but there's no road outside the front gate and it was as quiet as anywhere. We even tried the balcony because we could (or maybe because the garden was just too hot).

After a lazy lunch and a siesta, we headed to Torrelamata beach, near Torrevieja. Leaving Lin and Bob to sunbathe and drink yet more Spanish coffee, we headed up the beach on a walk of Anastasia beach proportions (its in Florida for those who don't know). Not quite as pretty but the similarities were there. Dunes to the left, the ocean gently lapping the shore to the right and soft sand and wading birds in between.

They say lifes a beach....

...and if it were Spanish then there would be occasional areas of nudity dotted along the route!

Monday 2 April 2007
The morning was spent waiting around the house for some local delivery guys to bring along a new sofa and some cabinets. Vero and I went for a walk to downtown Ciudad Quesada winding through the quiet roads looking at all the expensive villas. The town is low rise, well established and very floral and with some warm sunshine bursting through the walk was very pleasant.

The delivery guys turned up just before lunch and set to work on installing the goods. We asked them if they could take the old clapped out sofa bed away and they said they had no space in the lorry. So where did they put a huge sofa and 3 sizable cabinets then? Duhhhh.

Anyway with some hasty rearranging the living room looked much more homely than it did (not saying it wasn't nice in the first place).

After a nice cooked lunch (Vero's first attempt at a kind of paella), we decided to head for a drive inland, taking in some of the rural scenery which is only a short journey away. Then you get a real feel for how many citrus groves there are in this area - it is mind blowing. They grow really well because of the low humidity and all the salt in the air from the several large salt lakes dotted along the coast.

We drove through Benijofar, San Miguel (no beer though) and then onto Embalsera de la Pedrera, the local reservoir which although man-made was quite stunning, nestling in the hills above. Here it was so quiet and the colour of the lake was wonderful. We then drove over the 3 dams that hold all the water in taking in the spectacular views before descending down a very rural road past almond and olive groves towards Orihuela. now according to the guide this was a nice place to visit however after half an hour of trying to work our way around the one way system and find somewhere to park we decided it was nothing better than a dump and escaped. It was a typical Spanish town where the streets are so narrow but the buildings a 4 or 5 storeys high meaning the pavements and those poor people who live above the shops never see the sun! We certainly didn't see anything picturesque.

We cruised back through some more typical Spanish villages and via a quick drink stop by Quesada's golf course, we returned home. That evening was spent in the local Italian restaurant eating yummy pizza and yet more nice local wine.

Tuesday 3 April 2007
Today the sun shone all day and we spent our last day at the beach. We went to Playa La Marina which was an excellent long golden sandy beach with nothing but dunes and hammock surrounding it. La Marina itself was nearly a km away and there was no cranes or concrete in sight. We left the old fogeys to sunbathe by the dunes and went for a very long walk south to the inlet that separates this stretch of beach and the Guardamar/Torrelamata stretch.

The waves were crashing in and the sand was so soft to walk bare foot on. Then we saw the signs - 'Playa Naturista'. Many people were walking along like us along the shore and we did occasionally encounter a couple of fat Germans waving their bratwursts in the sea breeze. Yeukk.

After our two hour trek we spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the sand and eating yet more loaded meat and cheese baguettes. That evening, back at the ranch it was (kind of) barbecue time on the terrace as we wound down our stay on the Costa Blanca.

French Exchange

Wednesday 4 April 2007

Today it was all change. The sun rose one last time over the tomato field behind Bob and Lin's house as we prepared to say hasta luego to Spain and bonjour to France.We had a mid-day flight out of Alicante to Geneva and then a two hour train ride to our next destination, Vero's parents place in Ruy, near Bourgoin-Jallieu, France. The flight was uneventful except for the first and last 20 minutes. We had some great views of the Costa Blanca, including the Gibraltar-like Penon de Ifach, a rocky prominence in the town of Calpe, before everything disappeared under cloud.

As we descended towards Geneva the Alps rose gracefully from the sea of cloud and shimmered magnificently in the sunshine. Snowfalls had obviously been good. The descent was fun as the Alpine winds whistled up the Rhone valley throwing the plane around like a paper bag. Some screams came from the back of the plane but I was more worried about my final loaded meat and cheese baguette which I had just savoured. A local lady sat next to me was completely unperturbed by the roller coaster ride and with he limited English said 'it's winter, it's Geneva' and carried on reading her book as if she were sat on one of the beaches we had left behind. Luckily my lunch stayed down and we touched down safely.

It was freezing waiting for our train to France at Geneva station - 7 degrees apparently. We were glad to get into the comfort of the SNCF and enjoyed our cruise alongside the Rhone before arriving safely (and promptly) in Bourgoin.

Thursday 5 April 2007

This stay in France was never going to be all out tourist action as we were not really near anything too touristic. Thursday morning was spent at the local market watching Vero and her mum go through the usual ritual of fighting with several other grannies over cheap clothes. One good point was a trip to the local chocolatier/patisserie mmmm.

Lunch was typical Mallau fare at home - we are always so well fed there, before we took a walk in the countryside above the village. Always plenty to see and a nice way to spend the afternoon.

The sun came out and it was getting very warm, as warm if not warmer than Spain. The evening sunshine really put an accent on the garden, where spring had well and truly sprung.

Friday 5 April 2007

After a lazy morning chilling around the house and a very nice Good Friday lunch, we headed out with Vero's friend, Carine and met up with her sister and family at their place. We spent the late afternoon playing rugby with Joris, who's nearly two and already in training to beat les Rosbifs at Twickenham in 20 years time.

That evening we met with more friends at a restaurant in a village in the hills. 15 euros for 3 course can't be bad, especially when you see the quality of the food.