happy and sad New Year

...Now as far as first groupie meetings go the marina Bar groupie night was small but full of quality. we had 4 people who can be classed as UK based, 2 classed as Spain based and 2 betwixt and between. However we had a good old drink and chinwag.

The Marina bar is in Winter mode now. It also seems that the proprietors Pepe and Antonio have felt the recession. There are some entertainers now. Brian Pollard tickles the Ivories on a Monday and Thursday which is aimed at the elderly rather than the young, but the elderly are the main La Cala Inhabitants. And judging by the behaviour of some people in the bay I think care in the community comes to mind. Cheryl does her show, but Pepi decided not to employ Andrea this year.

My son Ian was here for an extended stay over the Christmas break. Having observed a certain ritual between two (I assume) Spaniards, I predicted to Ian what was about to happen, when we were sat people watching at the bar in early January. "You see the guy with short legs mincing down the road towards the sea?" I asked him. "Well here is what is going to happen. He will walk down to the sea, look out towards the rocks at the end of the beach, shade his eyes as though shielding from the sun, as he searches for someone or something. He will then about turn walk fast along the road to the other end of the beach and walk back again." (I hope you are still with me) "When he returns, another guy with a mohair coat sporting a moustache, dark glasses and carrying a walking stick, will be walking down the same road in the direction of the sea. Person number one on his return, will overtake him smiling, as though he doesn't know the other guy, who will sit on the seat facing the sea. Man one will circle him like the Indians around a circle of wagons in the wild west, and man number two will try to trip him up with his walking stick. After a few minutes this ritual will end and they will embrace as friends and carry on walking together." To Ian's utter disbelief this prediction took place before his eyes. He said "why do they do it?". I said "I haven't a clue but they do it every day and one day I will have to go and ask them...."

During January I went to England for a number of reasons, one important reason was to see my Dad. He had been suffering some ill health lately and when I saw him he looked very frail. After chatting with the Doctor it was clear that he was unlikely to recover but would continue comfortably with the medication he was on for a long while, Knowing I was to return to the UK on the 31st March I flew to Spain, to return early if he deteriorated. The Doctor said I would have time to return under such circumstances. In reality it was only days after when I returned to arrange his funeral, full of regrets that I hadn't stayed until the end, but hindsight is 20-20 vision. He died aged 92 with his best pal Sam and his beloved grandson Ian by his side. He had a good send off with a Scottish piper leading the funeral procession in to the chapel.

I have therefore been in England for the end of January and will be for all of February. I have a flat in the UK and have therefore decided to do some repair work. Today I am having the windows replaced for UPVC double glazing. In Spain I wouldn't think twice about sitting on my balcony in a T shirt at the end of February and into March, but I am currently typing with no lounge window in wearing a thick overcoat and a Bobhat, and a 16KW fire burning.

So dear reader I haven't left the planet but under current circumstances I am not composing my blog on a regular basis, but normal service will resume in March when I return to the sunny Spanish shores.

But for your general information Andrea who sings under the name 'Just a Girl' and also does a 'Madonna' tribute show, is now performing in the Cala Cala bar next door to the Marina, and I think Pepi will regret not employing her this year. ..

Our next major event in La Cala will be San Juan on the 23rd June and it will be a superb event.

Christmas time mistletoe and wine

...We had a traditional Christmas dinner at home, but as Dave and Pete invited us for dinner last year, we decided it was our turn to invite them and so they came. The dining table is shown left before we all got to work on demolishing a 5.5 kilo turkey.

We felt like watching the annual Christmas day swim in the bay before celebrations began and before Pete and Dave arrived. So we went down to the bay and stood outside the 'Ship' pub where the swim was scheduled for 11.00 am. We managed to get a coffee and it was time for the swim , so 20 to 30 assorted fancy dress people dived into the sea, and the chattering of teeth was a good impression of a pneumatic drill digging the road. We also managed to bump into several friends there, Barry, Kevin, Pat, Graham and more besides, so Merry Christmas was wished several times. We were then suitable ready to hold our Christmas celebrations so we went home.

Ange had the cooking under control, the bird had been slow roasting over night and just required a blast to crisp it up. We were doing a traditional dinner. Soup to start, turkey, parsnips, carrots, sprouts, mashed and roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing covered in gravy. To finish, Christmas pudding and white brandy sauce, mince pies and cheese and biscuits. We had white and red wine, beer whiskey, Bacardi, martini, vodka and brandy, along with a couple of obscure liqueurs in case.

Dave and Pete promptly arrived at 2pm, and we decided to have drinks on the balcony as it was reasonably warm. We had all bought token gifts for each other in order to make the experience more Christmassy, so we did the exchanging and more drinking, so that by the time dinner was ready we were all sufficiently injected with the yuletide spirit.

When we sat down to dinner the lads described what they had been doing prior to arriving. "we went down to 'Christine's' (an English book shop in the bay) and bought a Eurodirect phone card to ring home with." Dave explained. Most ex-pats have these, from a phone box it allows about an hour of phone time for 6 euros, and from a land line it allows about 300 minutes. "Well I got to the phone box and I had scratched the part where it reveals a pin number"...Dave continued. "...and the phone display had the words Tarjeta o dinero (meaning card or money) meaning I had to insert a card, so I did, but I couldn't see the pin number now and I started to get a bit annoyed." We could imagine the scene. "He told me to go back to the shop and get the 'correct' procedure, so I went in and asked Christine for a pen so I could write down the pin number." Pete interjected. "Christine asked me why I wanted to write the number down, and I said well when we insert it we can't see the pin number to tap it into the phone, at which point she collapsed in fits of hysterics. she said to me," "that's not how you do it, you scratch the card to reveal the pin number, dial the number on the card 1701, then press 1 for English, then key in the pin number and finally key in the number you want to ring." So Dave followed this 'correct' procedure and was connected to the person he wanted to speak to.

The dinner was complete and we decided to rest for a while before we had the Christmas pudding, which was fortunate because some Spanish neighbours came to wish us 'Feliz Navidad' or Merry Christmas. The older lady is Guadalupe, we call her lupe for short was accompanied by her daughter Soria, who was over for Christmas, she normally resides and works in London. o they stayed and chatted for a while. We all drank lots of wine and whiskey and Bacardi and were getting nicely merry. At about 9 pm Dave and Pete decided to make a move home but not before Dave told us all about the telephone card once more in minute detail.......

Christmas comes once a year....most places!!!

...Everyone is preparing for Christmas now. We are having 5 for dinner including us. This means getting the shopping sorted by the end of this weekend. Neil from Paneil's kindly offered to get a Turkey for us whilst he was shopping, later, we needed to phone him and he said to Ange: "...you know the full turkey I am going to get for you?" We wanted a full turkey as opposed to a turkey crown because I am partial to dark meat "...yes" she replied, "well its a full turkey, but it hasn't any legs." Now the Spanish do some silly things, but surely a 'full Turkey' when advertised should at least have legs and wings as well as the rest of it. Anyway after a bit of a chat, we decided we would go to the Ex-Pats shop and buy a frozen one from there we had noted that they were in tact. That is what we did and got a 5.4 kilo turkey for around 24 Euros.

The Spanish eat a lot of game and poultry. In most supermarkets you can get a full Rabbit, chickens, turkeys etc. One thing you need to be wary of though is when you prepare to cook a chicken check inside the neck, because they usually keep the head there as well as the neck, giblets et al. I found this out when we lived in Fuengirola and I heard this scream from the kitchen when Ange first discovered this fact.

The council of Finestrat Pueblo have responsibility for La Cala bay and that includes the Christmas fiesta, and the decorations associated with it. This year in order to be helpful to the environment, and to be prudent in the current credit crunch, they decided to delay the lighting of the Christmas lights until last night, and very nice they look too.

The other day I went into the Marina Bar and the usual red plastic tubing with lights all the way along it, which was the focal point of the Bar's Christmas decorations, was missing. This doesn't totally surprise me because the other night, the first half was lit and the second half, the bit that tends to be noticed, wasn't. I, wrongly thought, that they had merely discarded it, but I should have had more faith. As the bar was fairly quiet, Pedro produced this red coil and stood by the glass main entrance door. It was his intention to pass the plug end of the 'New' lights between the open door and the wall and drag it in towards the sockets located behind the door. It was hilarious, he was pushing the wire as far along the door as he could whilst with the other hand trying to grab the plug. However, his arms weren't long enough and there was a 3" distance he couldn't bridge. So I went over and grabbed the plug for him before his plan failed miserably. "Thank you Boss" he said with a clear grin, noting the futility of his original plan. Next he rolled it outside, against the wall up over the side todos screen along the top and across the forecourt to the tree, finally coiling it up the tree until he ran out of lights he clamped it on each coil between two cross head self tapping screws previously placed for this purpose. None of the coil on the patio was covered in gang tape or secured to the ground. (In England, the Politically Correct brigade, Health and Safety Executive, Ambulance service, Fire Brigade and Police Force, would by now be launching individual prosecution notices for health and safety infringements, danger to public health, causing fear and harassment, affixing self-tapping screws to a palm tree and the danger of electrocution) Happy in his labours, Pedro retired inside the bar for the grand switch on. On it went and it certainly brightened the forecourt up a treat. Now only a few days ago they had two new televisions installed which now seems to provide a full English TV package and a full Spanish listing. So they can now have football from the English league, anything from the Spanish league and all other international matches. But, they can't have all of this and the Christmas tree lights on because they have no sockets left, so the football always wins after all the Spanish are a macho race and nothing stops football.

The seasoned marina bar customer has learned to put up with their ways. So when Jesus ignores you, hits you with his tray, pulls your hair, pinches your skin or affectionately slaps you at the back of the head, he is merely being playful, and when you ask Pedro for a drink and he says. "...no you 'av to come back tomorrow" (and most annoyingly Jose has started doing the same) he doesn't mean a word of it. Salvador on the other hand is generally moderate in mood and happiness. These insults are not just for Christmas they last the year round.

It isn't just their habits that can be odd. No matter which football match or sporting event is on the TV, they have music blaring out both inside the bar and outside on the patio. In the interests of not boring you the reader I will not list all the songs and lyrics, because I have heard them all so many times I could do, but as far as us Brits are concerned, Christmas never went away, we have been listening to 'Auld lang sine', 'I wish it could be Christmas' 'We're having a gang bang, we're having a ball' 'The hokey kokey' and many more every single night, interspersed with 'She sang shang-alang' various Abba, Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra medleys and music you wouldn't take with you on Desert Island discs. I think Antonio and Pepi think we Brits like it.

My son on one of his visits did record a CD with more up-to-date tracks but still middle of the road enough to be enjoyed by all. This was the equivalent of introducing the beatles to the Queen Elizabeth I Court. It was played once and never again. Recently we have been getting some new stuff: Neil Diamond 'Rattlin' Rosey' 'Build me up Buttercup' by .... I forget, 'Is this the way to Amarillo' (the original, not Peter kay's) and 'I am the music Man' .... enough to turn a man to drink...

The nearest we get to Traditional Spanish at this time of year is a daily sufferance of a Lady (of some longevity) who comes every year and plays Spanish Flamenco music, mimes to it, and struts around like a demented whirling dervish, when it's warm in a dress worthy of a Flamenco dancer, but as its cold right now she has taken to wearing jeans and gloves, which doesn't half knacker the image. After her 'performance' she walks around the tables with her hat in hand touting for payment for the entertainment. This is interesting for body language enthusiasts, The British embarrassingly scurry into their pockets/purses looking for the smallest denomination they can find, The Nordic folk ignore her completely, but the Spanish look her in the eye and stare as if she has lost all of her senses, until she can't hold the stare any longer and moves on towards a more vulnerable victim. The only other hawkers we tend to get are the Chinese 'bling' sellers, rose sellers, and a Spanish chap, dressed quite dapper in a suit, wearing a very 'spiv' hat and an arm full of gold-looking bracelets and necklaces and trying to sell them. When we give him the 'No gracias' routine, he just laughs, well at least he is happy in his work.

The Chines 'bling' sellers achieve a modicum of success. Their bits and pieces usually contain flashing blue, red, green, yellow lights it isn't just moths who are attracted to bright lights, tourists also like them. Sometimes they are key-rings, or hats with flashing lights and at the moment they sell these gaudy coloured sunglasses with flashing lights all the way up the ear pieces and around the lens. You may ask what sort of people buy such things?.................well...do you remember me mentioning Pete?...

Polished off the steaks and varnish off the trousers

..Plans are well on the way for Christmas in La Cala, although unlike the UK the Christmas lights and trees etc. are confined to British homes here, the Spanish tend to start in the penultimate week to Christmas. Having said that, most of the big stores have been selling Decorations and trees and lights since mid November. Christmas is also a sad time in La Cala, The Marina bar actually closes for Christmas day and Boxing day so if I want to go to a bar it has to be another one. But this year we are entertaining. Dave and Pete and our son Ian will be having Christmas dinner with us and we will therefore be drinking at home and not venturing to the bars at all.

The Spanish celebrate Christmas quietly. They will attend church on Christmas eve and then go home to open presents and have a family meal. Christmas day is a family day and most go back to work on boxing day which is not a traditional holiday here. Their celebration if Christmas is on the 6th January which is Epiphany. That is the day when the three wise men are said to have visited Jesus in the stable and took him gifts. The Spanish call the day "The three Kings" re-enact the event in all major villages, towns and cities. La Cala is no exception and on the lead up to the arrival of the three kings on camels, Christmas carols abound around the bay. When the three Kings arrive they distribute gifts to all the children who have been nominated by their parents.

As always there are celebrations right up to and beyond Christmas and of course we all meet up in the Marina for a drink and discuss what we are all doing this particular year.

Yesterday Ange and I were invited for dinner at Dave and Doreen's. We were asked to be there for 6 pm, so we set off a little early because they live at the top of "Cardiac hill" and as the local name implies the hill is very steep. So what with my heart problems and Ange's aches and pains, we thought an early start would be the best thing.

We managed the tortuous journey slightly ahead of schedule, so whilst panting like a bull mastiff I worked out which button to press to talk to Dave over the intercom in order to be let in. Once at Dave's floor he met us from the lift. As soon as we entered the room his opening words were "What a day we have had" he said adding "Can you smell anything in here", I acknowledged I could smell something like turpentine. He said "well we were just sat here taking the sun and it became too warm, so we decided to go down to Pepi's (The Marina Bar) for just an hour to cool off and get some fresh air." We could see that this was leading to an explanation of Dave's obvious state of agitation. "we sat down and after a while I could feel something damp and sticky, I stood up to look at the chair and realised there was varnish on my trousers." Apparently Antonio and Pepi had decided to varnish the wicker chairs and obviously as they are the only chairs they have it has to be a quick turn round. Now considering they shut for only a few hours a day (at the busiest time of year 4 am until 7 am, they didn't have much time to do it and clearly not enough time for the varnish to completely dry.

These wicker chairs have been in the Marina since opening day and to say they are a little tired is like saying the titanic is letting in water. When you sit on some and grip the arms you can feel the nail heads which have started to come out, and some of the wicker arm supports have fell off. There are two types of chair, one that is comfortable and one which has such an incline at the back the locals have named them "birthing chairs". You can often see Pepi on a slack day with his drill and some screws doing alterations. So news that they were re-varnishing wasn't a complete surprise, but one would have thought they would ensure that the chairs were dry. They may wish they were once Dave has finished with then because his trousers were in the washing machine and the smell of turps drifting from the hall around the place.

We were at Dave's for his 'piece de resistence' fillet steak. He had noted how we preferred our steaks, mine medium to well, Ange medium, Doreen well done and Dave was medium rare (in fact so lightly cooked that a good vet could get the beast back on its feet). We did indeed have a lovely meal. Later we chatted with a few drinks and we decided to go home around 9.30 pm.

We had to pass the marina bar on the way home and you've never seen the place so empty, we thought about calling in, but the thoughts of buying turpentine the following day ruled that out...

Food glorious food, and occasional false economy

...This is a photo of the Marina Bar from my Balcony, as you can see it isn't very far away. When my wife Ange found our apartment back in 2005 she told me we had a great sea view, so on the basis of that I went straight into Dixon's in England and bought a pair of binoculars. After all a sea view means passing ships and sea activities. But the added bonus is I can see who is in the Marina bar. I think she is being a little unfair when she refers to them as my perving glasses, but I manage to ride the dig by ignoring it. However, as well as seeing if friends are in I can also avoid those I would prefer not to sit with, fortunately that is a very small number of people.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the bar and ended up sitting with Dave and Doreen who have a hotel in Cornwall. Not long after I arrived Andrea joined us. Dave and Doreen had been out for lunch and seemed jolly enough, about 2 bottles of wine jolly I guessed. They were currently drinking Mahou lager. I was also on Mahou. Now whilst it was sunny it was very windy and therefore quite cool. I was wearing jeans, vest, shirt, jumper and cardigan. Dave had shorts and a short sleeved shirt on. Andrea also felt under dressed for the weather and I could see she was shivering. So Andrea ordered a coffee and continued to brave the weather.

Dave and Doreen do like their food. They like a bargain too. So Dave was telling us about his experiences at "Deja Vu Too" which has a sister restaurant in the Old Town called simply "Deja Vu". We Will get the joke out of the way now, cause you are all thinking it, when we went we did say to Ron the owner "I feel like I've been here before". Anyway, the owners once had a bar in the bay called "Changes" which they sold and is now called "The Bay View". Dave and Doreen liked the food there, so it seemed sense to go to "Deja Vu Too". They said it was very good and they enjoyed the food. Although Dave did say at first when he asked what the Menu del Dia was, and the waiter had to go outside and look at the board, "...I started to panic a bit if he didn't even know what was for sale". Dave had a seafood starter which he said was very good and they both had Chicken Kiev for main course, "...which was substantial" said Doreen. By the time he had explained the "Deja Vu Too "meal mine and Andreas teeth were chattering and we made an executive decision to go inside.

When I first arrived, Dave was bemoaning the price of his drinks. He said "last Wednesday when we came in Doreen had a brandy and cafe con leche and Pepi charged us 2 euros 40 cents for the brandy", "...yesterday we came in and had the same and Pedro charged us 4 euros for the same brandy, so I have been chewing Jesus' ear." Whilst he was telling me Jesus was fussing around patting me on the back and telling Dave "...dee boss es number wan jefi in the marina" (Jefi meaning boss). "...eee come in dees bar ebery day.....he bring mucho friend.." This was clearly Jesus' way of telling Dave he comes in every day you come twice a year, see the difference, but Dave was letting that one go over his head. Dave continued his story, "...and Jesus said there are different prices depending on the measure, the small measure is 2.40 but the larger measure is 4 euros". Dave, as I have mentioned before does like a bargain. And he was feeling that this was less that the bargain he was looking for.

"Now you take a can of diet coke, in my bar that would cost you 90p, in here its 1 euro 75...that's a rip-off". Dave was on a roll, "...In Les Dunes a hotel on the Levante beach front, a diet coke is 1 euro 20." I asked him. "Do you get a free one at the end when you leave." .... "No but its still cheaper" Now I had to challenge this one. "So you pay 1 euro 20 each way each on a bus 4 euros 80, then miss out on 2 free drinks at your prices another 2 euros 40, so that is 7 euros 20. And you save 55 cents a drink....so you need to drink 14 cokes to break even. That means you would be awash by the time you come home." I think the maths wore him down.

However, when Dave first arrived I agreed to pick him up from Alicante airport. I was given his flight number and arrival time, which was 1110 pm, and persistently checked it on the net to see it was on time. I arrived at the car park at 11.15 because I estimated it would take 30 minutes to come through customs. Just as I was parking, his son rang me and asked where I was. Apparently the plane was in 30 min early and Dave and Doreen were at terminal 2 waiting, so off I went. before I got there his son rang again and said he was on his way home in a taxi. "..So I just go home then eh...?"

The next day I bumped into Dave and Doreen. "What happened I said". "You weren't there". "I was there at 1110" "We arrived at 1035" the short story is, he they had arrived early, came through customs with no delay, and were waiting and Doreen was concerned there were few people around them so she wanted to get a taxi out of safety's sake. Dave tried to ring my mobile and when we checked he had my old number, so I was part to blame. In fairness Dave was very apologetic, but I had to take some of the blame for my number change.

So, it was especially nice of him to put this proposal to me last night. He said "..If you drive, I am happy to treat you and Ange to a meal at a restaurant in Albir and it will make me feel better for not being there when we arrived at the airport." I replied "Dave that's very nice of you but you don't need to, I was partly to blame." In the ed he wouldn't hear anymore and we agreed we would go but needed to pick a date. It is going to be Tuesday. The place is called "Sacrosanct" and apparently they do an excellent fillet steak and pepper sauce.

Andrea by this time had drank 2 coffees and although she didn't feel like it, set off to La Marina shopping Centre to sort her Mobile phone out, Dave was tapped on the shoulder and Pedro handed him a bottle of Mahou and said, "dees ees from mee" Dave never one to look a gift horse in the mouth said "Is it really from you?". He later got his bill and Pedro once again brought a Mahou each "On dee 'ouse" (now I worked out that to be a saving of 5 euros 70 for them, so I think Pedro had in effect given them the difference between a 4 euro brandy and a 2 euro 40 brandy. Hopefully peace has been restored.....

Apartment specifications and flat rainy days

...Apartments in general are similar in a resort town, such is the case here in La Cala, but there are some peculiarities from apartment to apartment, usually this depends on the build specification that the owner paid for when he bought the property. For example, every apartment will have the option for air conditioning, but not everyone will buy it. And in some cases the price includes finished to completion or finished up to fitting stage. If it is up to fitting stage, quite literally every fixture, Bathroom suite, kitchen suite, lighting, air con, curtain rails, light switches, sockets etc. are missing. In some cases there isn't even a plaster ceiling in place. So the new owner has to either fit them him/herself or pay for tradesmen to come and do it for them.

So, when it comes to renting an apartment like many of us do, we have to have a good memory for what the minimum standard must be, or go to view with a list of musts and must nots. We thought we had considered everything in our apartment until we wanted to switch the light on in our utility room and discovered we had a switch but no light fitting. In fact there was no wiring from the switch to the ceiling at all. Equally some of our friends don't have air conditioning and a couple we are friendly with didn't even have an oven or space for one.

A new neighbour in our block bumped into me and asked if we had air conditioning, which we have, and could I show her how it works. I went to her apartment and did everything I would do with ours but it still didn't seem to work. I advised she went back to the Realtor and ask him to get it checked.

This will give rise to the next problem with rented accommodation, who pays for what? The first thing the agent will say "I teenk you 'ave to pay" well in my experience don't be fobbed off. The gas boiler in our apartment stopped working. The pilot light would not stay lit. The first time this happened, my friend Julie was here to stay with her children and former husband. This was particularly embarrassing for us because we couldn't have hot showers. So I went to the agent. "I teenk you 'ave to pay" was his set piece, so I arrange for a 'Technico' to attend and he took off the pilot light, shoved a pin down the nozzle, and gave me a receipt asking for 37.00 Euros. I paid, and kept the receipt, photocopied it and then when we paid the rent, we deducted it from the rent and took the receipt down to the agent, and I said "I am not paying, it is a fixture and you should organise a regular inspection and maintenance for health and safety reasons." He disagreed, so I told him if he pursued it I would put in a denuncia (basically denounce him to the authorities) for breaking Spanish law. He backed down. Eighteen months later the same thing happened and we went through the same procedure once more until he backed down again.

Its time like that I am driven to drink, but that wasn't my excuse the day before yesterday, Dave and Pete said lets meet in the bar at 2.00 pm, so off I went, unfortunately they didn't turn up for a while and I may have had a few more than them ultimately. In the mean time Dave and Doreen came in and sat adjacent to me. Dave told me that he had been to 'Les Dunes' a hotel along the Levante beach, for a coffee and something to eat after having been to the Sunday market. However, nearly every time they chose a table a waiter came along and slapped a reserved label on it. and pointed to it, in other words move elsewhere. Dave was, not surprisingly, annoyed at this treatment so when he was leaving (having decided not to eat) he called by the manager and told him so.

I may have mentioned that Dave has a Hotel and Caravan park near Newquay in Cornwall. Dave is a canny Yorkshire man, and always looking for cost-saving opportunities. He has solar panels on his roof which heat his swimming pool back in Cornwall and heats his water too. I did suggest he passed on his savings to his customers to which he replied a resounding "no..." "You see Bob, we don't know how much they are going to use." he lamented, "..when they come to us, they forget to switch heating off and lights and they charge their phones and gaming consoles, so no I don't pass on the savings, because I am not really making any." He pointed out that many of the hotels in Benidorm have solar panels all over their roofs, clearly affording them savings on their bills. It seems that big hotels save and little ones like Dave's don't...that logic escapes me somewhat. He was also upset because he flies from Newquay to Alicante with Ryanair, who had emailed his son in Cornwall to say they were suspending the service from January to march from Newquay, which means Dave's next flight out is cancelled. So he will have to fly from Bristol next time which is a fair distance from where he lives.

Over the years Dave has built up a regular clientele especially caravan owners. But he feels a little let down by them of late. Dave has a restaurant and bar in the Hotel, which is there for the main use of his customers. Dave is renowned for his steaks, (although we try not to mention this in front of the grim reaper who if you remember swallowed half a pint of citronella just prior to Dave's last family steak-making supper in Spain). Like most landlords he is feeling the pinch from the no smoking bans in the UK and the ever increasing supply costs. The clients are suffering too, so their remedy is to buy their own booze elsewhere 'cheap' and consume them in their caravans, and cook their food in their caravans which are plugged into, you guessed it, Dave's electricity supply. So Dave ever the thinker is considering other ways of getting his money back. I think his ears pricked up when I suggested putting 'pay as you use' meters at each berth. You can take the man out of Yorkshire but you can't take Yorkshire out of the man!

We believe the new series of 'Benidorm' is soon to be filmed. That will be entertaining for us, we often find where they are filming and go have a look. For many of us ex-Pats we don't need to watch 'Benidorm' to spot the characters, we have our own in and around La Cala. No doubt to some I am a character too. But yesterday when in the marina, Jesus said to everyone around me that "Bob, dee boss, is numero uno jefe cameraro y Al capone de Cala Finestrat" (Bob, the boss is chief waiter and Al Capone of Finestrat) He also knows how many people I bring into his bar and he always looks after my interests.

Also in the bar were many Belgian and Dutch customers, and they too are characters. One lady, christened 'Yuppee' by the staff because the drunker she gets the more she shouts "Yuppee!" no-one quite knows why, but she seems to be happy. Her group have two other characters, one who sings when she is drunk and the other who comes and drapes her arms over me and my male mates telling us that we are her lovers. Her husband just smiles and says sorry.

Andrea has got a contract phone recently, Movistar the mobile phone operator has a good deal, no doubt we all will be on it soon. The phone she got is very good and she has been taking pictures like a woman possessed. So no doubt the results of these pictures will be featured in future blogs.

Today it is raining, yesterday me and Ange, Pete and Dave, Patrick and Neil, went to Mitico for lunch, Neil and Patrick had to go and open their restaurant but the rest of us went down to the Marina bar afterwards. The usual customers were in. We found a warmish seat to sit in, and before long the heaters were out and the toldos (awning and side panel) were in place. Pete and Dave go to England on Thursday for 3 weeks. I am taking them to the airport and watering their plants whilst they are away. So that means today (Wednesday) is packing and cleaning day. Dave said to Pete: "..maybe we can come down here for a last drink Pete..." Pete, said "..I won't be coming down, I will be too busy packing and cleaning." "Oh alright Pete.." said Dave sounding down in the dumps about it. " ...it doesn't mean to say that you can't come down and have a drink with Bob though." So I am not sure if he will be there or not and as it is raining, I can't say I am eager to go out. But I have printed off Trevor's Ryanair flight booking reference, and have to pass that to him, so I suppose I will go. Its a hard life here in Spain......but someone has to do it...

The future is bright....

...It's Fiesta time in Benidorm. This means lots of tourists from the UK and over Europe and a lot of Spanish visitors too.

Yesterday I met Pete and Dave in the marina bar. There were people in I knew up and down the bar and at the far end was Andrea and her mum Margaret, or "Margret, Margret" as we call her in deference to Matt Lucas in Little Britain.

At first, as the bar was so full we each stayed put at our allotted tables but as the afternoon grew cooler, people left and Dave in his inimitable gentlemanly style yelled across to Andrea and Margaret "..Oi you lot get over here and join us, I can't move I'm an old man" And so they did without much ado too. With them was Michael who works at a restaurant in town and his friend and I hope he forgives me because I have forgotten his name. So we turned into one rowdy group. No longer had we reassembled ourselves when friends of Pete and Dave arrived and sat behind us.

A similar grouping happened the day previously but it was minus Dave and Pete who were having an alcohol-free day, and plus several others Mike and Gary, Graham, and a couple of Graham's friends. They had come over for the Fiesta. However, Gary and Michael, hadn't had much food in the previous 24 hours since they arrived, having decided to hit the town big-style on their arriving night and partied until 6 am that morning. Such was the lack of provisions in their larder, breakfast for Gary was a Magnum! So they were determined to go for something to eat, which happened to be the restaurant Deja Vu 2.

This left Michael and his friend, Andrea, "Margret, Margret" and me. And we had equally consumed enough falling down water to be well on the way to merry. Margaret and Andrea have started to do every lottery they can get their hands on since a Medium said they were due a big win. I think the Medium was a representative of Lotto HQ and on commission, but that's just me. Margaret was convinced the medium was spot on because when she did a reading the first thing she did was tell her about the past. The Medium's view being if I can't see the past how can i see the future? "..And she even got it right about my school days, she told me I hated going to school." Now call me a cynic, but if the Medium is half intelligent and a bit of a social studies enthusiast, it wouldn't take much to work out that most 50 something year olds hated school. But to Margaret bless her it was a sure sign of clear seeing ability. Now if you use a fair deal of odds and intelligence and get the past sort of right, the future is your oyster, because it hasn't happened yet and no one can say you are wrong. So she proceeded to to tell Margaret about her fortune in future gambling opportunities.

Now from the belief in occult we moved on to Barrak Obama being President elect. See how easily we slide from one subject to another seamlessly. And his odds of surviving the days leading to him being Installed President, let alone his future in the hottest political seat in the world. Which of course expanded into a debate about Tony Blair and George dubbaya and their ill-fated war in Iraq, we were on a roll now, and so we had to move on to religion, I may have answered a little flippantly saying "...thank god I am an atheist" which isn't my stance but allowed a little humour on this solemn subject. We all believed in something whether it be a Power of nature, or a God, or whatever. So we then decided to keep clear of religion and politics and go back to small talk.

Anyway, yesterday different group and different issues but nearly all to do with eating and meals we've had in and around Benidorm. The friends of Dave and Pete had on their recommendation gone to Paneils for dinner last Saturday night and were extremely impressed with it. Also he mentioned another restaurant close by which is near the Bulgary restaurant. But I got the impression that the thing Dave and Pete's friend likes the most is quantity, whereas I much prefer quality. Still each to his/her own. One common view was that the Spanish restaurants in the bay had become expensive and of poor quality. The best one by far was Mitico at the top of the road. You are served quality at a reasonable price and it is well presented.

We all noted the cost of things is now becoming relative to our British income. As we are nearly all paid in sterling via pensions, the real increase in rent is a combination of Spanish inflation plus weakness of the pound making our rents up to 150 euros per month dearer. The Spanish have not really grasped this and they are putting rents up encouraging many Brits to seek cheaper accommodation or even returning to the UK. Also bar prices are now becoming equal to UK prices because of the euro/pound exchange. So instead of going out for a drink, people will start to buy drink and stay home especially in winter when its colder, and the Spanish need the all year round custom to survive the low season.

Still this apart, we were having a good time and wouldn't let that phase us for the time being. Andrea was telling us of an impending audition for the Queen's hotel, and had her fingers crossed for resuming her Monday and Friday night at the Marina. By this time the gas heaters were out, the awning down and the side screen in place and we were all beginning to feel our fingers once again. And as things started to quieten down, "Margret Margret" said to Andrea "....come on lets get that winning lottery ticket bought"...