Socialising and preparing for the autumn season

...We met Laurence and Tony yesterday afternoon for drinks in the Marina. We thought Jonathan, Joanne, Donna and Joseph may join us but i forgot Jonathan was working later. After a few drink Laurence said, come up to our place we will have a drink and then walk down to the Chinese restaurant. So we did. We have never seen their villa but heard so much about it.



Its in a town calle la Nucia, which is just outside of benidorm. when we arrived we could see it was a lovely home, very Spanish and very private. As we walked in there was an entrance hall, with a general bathroom to the right, the hall opened into a very big lounge which has 3 settees and the centre piece is a grand piano, which Laurence plays like a professional. They gave us a tour, we went into the garden where their pool has a patio surrounding it with sunbeds. And yes we saw the shed...and as of now it is no longer going to be called the shed because it is a wonderful extension to their patio. It is built of concrete with tiles adorning the walls and floor, there is a built in barbecue, once finished it will be a remarkable addition to the villa especially in winter.



We had out drinks whilst Laurence tickled the ivories, then we went down to la Nucia, to the Chinese which was exceptionally good. All in all we had a brilliant night out thanks to our hosts Laurence and Tony. We now owe them a return date which will be when they return from the UK, and we will have them round to ours for a meal.



I was sat in the marina bar earlier, and this little known phenomenon appeared, its apparently called a rain cloud. It meant I had to cover my drink with my palm so it wasn't watered down, so unusual in August, but our temperatures have been in the 40s C which is very hot hopefully the rain with de-humidify.

Jack who frequents the Marina bar will be half-way through is sojourn back in England, and by now he will be texting John about how he wishes he was back in Spain, but when he gets here he moans about it being hot. But the middle to the end of September is when the long-term stayers arrive. They tend to get a 6 months lease on an apartment from September to march. The full time ex-pats are quite happy they come and go because when they come back they receive gossip and they can give gossip.

In September Roy (the grim reaper) and his wife Jennifer will be back for a month. So I will start to alert the emergency services at the end of August that he is here and they can double the number of Ambulances on stand-by. I have sent him a few emails telling him the news from the bay so he won't have a lot of catching up to do. The first thing he will want to know is if Amancio's building is being demolished yet, and I can tell him the plan is for it to come down after the summer season. This building has been illegal for 25 years and only part built a good gust of wind would blow it over anyway.

Then we will have 'Eric' Pollard. I still don't know his real name everyone calls him Eric, but anyway he plays the keyboard in the marina in the autumn and winter. Its a bit like community singing for the elderly. You can imagine them all sat in the London underground in World War 2 singing these songs to keep their spirits up. As the sangria flows and the time for their Horlicks approaches they tend to launch into dancing the jitterbug, or Charleston or some such thing. If this was the New town you would be inclined to call them lager louts but as the average age is 75, then perhaps they are the Geriatric drunkards. This is when the Marina bar splits into two communities the more mature inside singing dancing and drinking, and the less mature (although a moot point) outside sat under the calor gas heaters but at least being able to chat.

The place also begins to feel less Spanish and more cosmopolitan, there are many permanent ex-pats here than native Spaniards during the winter, the trend reverses in summer due to the Spanish holiday makers. But as my mate says I am glad its no longer the holiday season after all this is our country......