...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.....
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