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"...

Gas heaters and sandstorms

..There is very little to do when it rains because Spain is an outdoor country. It's been chilly and a little cloudy for days and now and then we get rain. This can be a drizzle or a deluge. Upsetting for the visitors I know, but it is a seasonal event and unstoppable. So us ex-pats have to find alternatives. This involves British TV if you can get it, and DVDs if you can't.

Going out is still possible and to a degree we can sit outside the bars, particularly the ones with gas heaters like the Marina Bar. Last year the heaters they had were a bit dilapidated. And there are burn marks on the awning from the heat generated which also radiates through the top of the older heaters heater. And whilst I am on about the awning, above the Marina is the La Cala hotel. And two things happen people place wet towels on the balcony rail and they throw lit cigarettes on to the awning. So in Summer we are dripped on from the towels and in winter we are dripped on through the holes in the awning created by the cigarettes.

During the first year I met Dave (Pete was working then and Dave used to come out to keep an eye on his apartment on his own) we sat outside the Marina bar watching, on the far side of the beach, tornado's of sand swirling in a very strong wind. It started to drift in our direction, until we were beginning to get sprayed with sand. Sand in your eyes, but more importantly in your beer, is not good so we decided to move in-doors. By this time the waiters had closed the glass doors to stop the sand blowing in. We just got settled and we witnessed a scene that was reminiscent of a sequence out of Ghost busters in the courtroom scene where a poltergeist is let loose amongst the tables and chairs. in a kind of Mexican wave all the tables and chairs in the Marina bar and la Cala Cala bar next door were scooped up by the wind and flung on to the beach. The furniture from la Cala Cala bar went into the sea, but the Marina bar seating blew on to the dry part of the beach, and all the staff from both bars went scurrying to catch it up and bring it back to where it should be. Dave looked at me and said "Now you don't see that every day"...

There is also the Marina Bar singers. They are employed by Pepi in particular, when he thinks the amount of customers are dwindling. Most of the entertainment is English but a Belgian lady plays the keyboard on one of the nights and a Spanish chap plays the keyboard on another night.

The thing is, although the singers a quite good considering the environmentin which they have to work, we tend to go into the bar to chat. That is impossible when they get going. The music is too loud. So as Pepi is shrewd he obviously witnessed some people leaving when the music started, hence the awning over the patio and a side screen to ease the wind and two gas heaters to warm it up. So he has the groupies and the golden oldies inside cheering on the acts, and the great debaters outside putting the world to right. This of course isn't a panacea for everyone, there are some people who can't sit inside because it is too loud and can't sit outside because there is a draught. And to my loyal readers you note I never mentioned any names.

If we are really desperate due to the weather we have to go to a bespoke indoor venue such as Heroes. Heroes is a large working man's club type venue. A stage at one end for the acts, a sound mixer desk and disco deck at the side and the bar as far away from the stage as possible.

We went there last Christmas Eve with Trevor and Andrew, my son Ian, Ange and I, and we met up with Nick and Brian. Nick works behind the bar there and issues generous whiskey measures. The place was wall to wall packed and a great Christmas spirit going on. There was a free buffet, which was good (I hadn't had sausage rolls for a couple of years). My son had clocked a young lady and was doing his best to chat her up. But her mother was with her and I think he was finding it a bit difficult. Andrew, Trevor's partner said "...don't worry, I come chat up the mother Ian, whilst you chat up the daughter". In the mean time Trevor was texting him helping him out with sensible tips NOT! I suspect. It got to finishing time and we ambled home leaving Ian, to continue his womanising.

Autumn and Winter is a time when a lot of us tend to have more nights in, which makes the Carrefour offer of take three litre bottles of Famous Grouse whiskey and pay for 2 meaning each litre bottle nine euros each, or £7.30p at today's pathetic exchange rate, an even better offer when we are stopping in.

And just when you need telly because you can't go out, the storms come and interfere with the signal. Today is such a day we can't get BBC1, BBC 2, ITV 1 or channel 4, we can get channel 5, UK Gold, and ITV2, now and then. So the cookery competition on ITV1 is not on and I am getting earache from Ange because no television signal is clearly my fault.

For such an occasion we have various DVDs - nearly all of Peter Kay's stuff, Little Britain series 1,2 and 3. various films, the first two series of "Benidorm", and a few recorded TV programmes.

But we still prefer to socialise if we can so the best time is late afternoon into early evening, if it is a clear day it will be a warm day. Yesterday was such a day and Jonathan and I sat in the Marina, later being joined by Rick, then Andrea and her mum Margaret came and joined us. They had been out for an Indian, but we had decided to go Molly Malone's for pub grub. So we left the girls under a heater saving the seat and off we went. Once eaten we returned. The girls were still there so we joined them again. Margaret and Andrea had flown over from England that morning. Margaret lives there and Andrea had a gig at the weekend. So they were up at 0400 that morning, and the alcohol was having an effect, Andrea was on wine and Margaret her usual whiskey.

Margaret was telling us about a Spanish chap that who is keen on her, and Jesus came out at one point whilst I was there and he was doing a bit of match making too. Margaret was making is plain that she wasn't interested in him or any man for that matter at least at the moment. So when he came out we were all taken a bit aback when she said to him in English, which was quickly translated by Jesus, "Do you want to marry me" and once translated he answered back, Jonathan translated it to Margaret... "he said he would marry you now Margaret..." Jesus always the pragmatist said "he a bery bery reech man..." We managed to hold Margaret back before she ran after him......