July 2013 - Manchester

Our treat for July was a trip into the big city for afternoon tea and the theatre.

Being simple country folk we were shocked at a) the traffic on the motorway, b) how busy the roads in Manchester/Salford were, and c) the cost of parking.

We made the city before the shops closed, just, 5:30pm, having expected to get there by about 4:00pm. We found a car park in Salford charging only £4.50 but as we got closer to the centre we saw that parking meters now operate for 12 hours per day, seven days per week and two hours costs £8.50.

I took a watch into Watches of Switzerland to ask for an estimate for a replacement leather strap and a new watch glass. The quote was respectively £450 and £550 (granted the glass was included in the cost of a service as they wouldn't simply replace it) so I decided to leave it for now, especially as the watch isn't even mine. I'll maybe put the £1000 towards a new watch. I think they give you a free badge saying "They saw me coming" if you actually pay the price they ask for.

Still we had a lovely afternoon tea in Brown's before going on to the Opera House to see the delicious Flavia and her partner Vincent in "Midnight Tango".

 

What a show! An amusing and exciting dance routine set in a South American café.

The dancers and the band were excellent. The singer was very good and did not get in the way, and the barkeeper and his wife were very funny and could have stolen the show without too much effort. Some of the dances lasted for about seven or eight minutes so just shows how fit and strong these guys have to be.

We thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it highly.

We were expecting to go to see Mama Mia! this month in Blackpool as it was announced on the TV whilst we were in Spain. Kathie ordered the tickets for what we thought was a Saturday matinee but the booking was just one year out. When we looked at the tickets the date is in 2014 and we are on a Sunday matinee. Something to look forward to?

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June 2013 - Another summer migration

And a very hot one. The A/C on the car was packing up so the journey was not as comfortable as it might have been. We eventually had it fixed at Kwik Fit in Penzance for only £49.

We travelled the long way this time as we were not keen on the Santander ferry journey. Along the Spanish coast and straight up through France (over the Millau Viaduct) was our chosen route. Each day had been planned so that we could arrive at each hotel without feeling overtired which meant arriving by about 4:00pm.

This time we had three really nice hotels.

Our suite in Hotel Sant Jordi, Montbrio del Camp, near Cambrils, Spain

Our room-balcony and the restaurant with a view in Hotel des Rochers, Marvejols, France

The courtyard with its individual chalet-rooms, Hotel Le Cygne, Bracieux, France

Calais, however, let us down. The hotel is now off the "places to stay list". The area in which our hotel was situated was like the worst of Blackpool sur Mer  although the central part of Calais I would still recommend.

Having taken the Chunnel, we journeyed down to Cornwall from Folkestone in blazing sunshine and arrived at our hotel (The Mount View) but were not impressed with room, especially as we had booked it for four nights. New carpets, a good clean, and re-decoration would not go amiss.

We had a good time with John and Helen and even managed to get sunburned whilst sitting having a drink in St. Ives.

 Helen, Kathie, and John

 

 A perfect spot for a drink

St Ives, Cornwall

The longest day of the whole journey was the drive up to Yorkshire. We were in a traffic jam for a full half hour at Bodmin simply because the A3 reduces to single carriageway for a few miles.

But......

Home at last in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

 

 

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June 2013 - Novelda

Our good friends Chris and Martin O'Malley took us out for the day to the fairly local town of Novelda. The main attraction there is just outside the town and it is a beautiful church built in the style of Gaudi. It was designed by one of his pupils.

 

We were greeted by the gardener who opened the church up for us and turned on the organ demonstration. The area is famous for its marble and the organ pipes are all made from this substance. It will be many years before the organ is completed as they need to raise about a million euros for the church before they will have enough money to complete everything.



The empty organ loft awaiting its marble organ pipes

A local cyclist came into the church whilst we were visiting and very kindly gave us the full history of the church and explained the significance of some of the designs on the outside of the church and above the entrances.


 The Reception Rooms available for weddings

 Very simple stained glass windows

A stone commemorating the churches completion

We went down into the town to visit the Modernist Museum and Art Gallery but found that it is closed on Mondays. (Another visit?).

The town is a lovely place and is just how I imagined Spanish towns to look. We are a bit disapointed with how they look on the coast as they have been expanded by new houses so it was refreshing to see a typical old style Spanish town with its churches and Casino. As explained earlier, the Casino is a meeting place, not a place for gambling.


The town centre



Jorge Juan, patron of the town



Casino gardens



Casino entrance

 We will be returning to Novelda to see the Museum later in the year.

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May 2013 - "White Water" Rafting

The ex-Chairman of our local U3A (70 next birthday) is an active chap and likes to get out and "Do Things". He runs the Walking Group and gets about all over the area finding new things to take part in.

A few months ago he went on a "White Water Rafting Experience" and enjoyed it so much that he asked if we as a Group would be interested. About fifty people agreed to go and we had just a fantastic time.

I suppose in the winter there could be a modicum of white water on the River Segura but when we went in May it was deep and fast flowing but not like some of the Alpine raging torrents where the really adventurous get their thrills.

Considering that the fifty people on the water that day were mainly in their sixties and seventies we didn't do bad.

We set off in five boats with one experienced member of the organizers "steering" each one. For the most part the river is lined with bamboo type growths and I am sure that our steersman kept turning us into them. Of course this allowed the boat coming from behind to catch up and try to overtake but this was always met with a barrage of splashing and barging. It's amazing how much water you can lift with a paddle to throw at the "enemy".

We went through a couple of places where the water was shallower and thus formed rapids, then went over a weir.

A couple of miles further on we came to a giant weir which would have flipped the boat if we had gone over it so it was all out and the boats were sent downstream by the handlers then caught and tied up. We in the meantime waded out into the middle of the river and went over the weir individually.

 

 

After that it was back in the boats for about another half hour to take us back to town. Here we showered and changed into dry clothes then adjourned (as usual) to a local restaurant for a long lunch before taking our coach back to our starting points.

The time on the water was about three hours and it was enjoyed by everybody who attended.

Roll on next year when we have another one planned.

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April 2013 - Three years on the Costa Blanca

Well not quite but this is our 36th month here. We left England in May 2010.

Have I enjoyed my time here? I should say so! I was warned by my colleagues in my last job that I would be bored rigid, "What will you do all day?" "You will miss England" "You will not see your friends".

Let's go through a few comments. "What will I do all day?" Sometimes I meet myself coming back. We have a very relaxed life style in general but some periods of frantic activity. We have joined our local U3A and have become active Committee Members. We attend some of their Interest Groups and I run two of them. So between Computer Classes, Yoga, Classical Music, Shakespeare, Play Reading, Book Group et al, we fit in our social life of drives, cycle rides, lunches out, quiz nights etc. Committee work comes in batches, usually just before our monthly meeting when I may have as much as six or seven hours of printing to do. Sorry but no time to be bored!

"You will miss England". I did miss England for a short time but now that we travel back for the summer I can get my fix of green fields, rain, cold, expensive food and wine, each year. More cultural opportunities such as ballet or orchestral performances to go to in Spain would be nice but that's all.

"You will not see your friends". I made few friends in England so there are none to miss. My few true friends I see once or twice during our summer visit and we keep in touch via email. I have made so many new friends since being in Spain that the situation would be genuinely reversed should I have to return to England permanently.

This is not meant to be a dig at England merely a statement that I am very happy with my new life in the sun and can honestly say that I would not return out of choice. Here we can spend the winter enjoying outdoor lunches and activities. I could see us trying to have coffee mornings in steamy cafes with condensation running down the windows or constantly postponed walks etc. No thanks.

I will stick to the Costa Blanca for now!

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March 2013 - Barcelona

Good old Dave's Coaches once again provided the organized trip and we set off in the early hours for a five day, four night trip to Barcelona. On these coach trips they always sound quite long but you have to lop off a day at each end for the journey.

Unfortunately most of our photographs were taken in dull weather so have been omitted.

The weather was not too kind for the first two free days in the City and it was cold and raining. Trust us to pick that week. We made the most of it and got around using the fabulous and modern Metro. By buying a single ticket for less than ten euros we had ten journeys between us. The first person activates the entry gate then hands the ticket back to the second person. It is quite unique to Barcelona in that a single journey can comprise of a ride on the Metro and then you can complete your journey by bus as long as the bus ride takes place within a few hours of leaving the train. Not bad for less than one euro a journey.

We had the usual city tour upon arrival and were taken to the usual places to pay homage such as the Barcelona football ground, Las Ramblas, the Gaudi buildings, the Apple store and the sea front with the statue of Columbus. The Sagradia Familia is out of bounds to buses so we had to miss out on that. A bit of a moan here in that after a nine hour bus ride, a two hour city tour makes the day very long. Maybe it should have been optional.

A beautiful modern four-star hotel was our eventual destination. We were booked on a bed and breakfast package and although the food was plentiful in the mornings we found the usual Spanish habit of serving everything tepid. I complained to the boss and was given a plate of piping hot breakfast but I cannot understand this love of tepid food which seems to prevail here in Spain.

We went out to see the sights and started off at the Old Bull Ring. A massive structure which has been converted into a beautiful shopping mall/cinema complex. It is a huge structure and must have held a lot of bloodthirsty spectators in its time. Being so high, the views from the top were quite something, spoiled only by the dull weather. Bull fighting is currently banned in Catalonia.

The Old Bull Ring. Climb to the top and you can
walk around the whole open-air viewing platform

The National Palace of Barcelona

Inside the Old Bull Ring

We visited the usual sights as may be seen from the photographs.

Two of the Gaudi designed buildings

The Gaudi Park was a great place although somewhat of an uphill climb for us old gimmers. When we left it we took a taxi back to the Metro station. Only 5 euros and wished we had hired one to take us up the hill in the first place. The views from the Park were amazing.

Shame about the weather - but look at the view!

Who needs straight lines?

You can see the permanently-under-construction Sagrada Familia

The famous Gaudi lizard

Three scenes inside the Gaudi Park

One of the things we wanted to do was take a cable car from the port up to the Olympic Village but high winds and poor visibility prevented it. A reason to return!

Another reason to return is to eat food in a restaurant we came upon called "Tapa Tapa". They serve absolutely wonderful tapas, all freshly prepared, and each comes out looking like a mini-meal. Bit expensive but a decent meal with wine set us back about €25 for the two of us and we were very happy with it.

The extensive menu at Tapa Tapa

On our final day the trip included a visit to the monastery at Montserrat, about an hour's drive in to the mountains. What a spectacular place. We had views over to the snow clad Pyrenees as at last the sun had come out and made a spectacular day. We met some Americans on a tour with their choir who gave a performance in the main church just before the regular singing from the famous boys choir belonging to the school in the monastery.

A distant view of the Pyrenees, tinted by the coach window

The gateway to the monastery

A monument to the construction

The monastery sitting at the foot of the mountains

Kathie and her love of high places

The Black Madonna, way up behind the high altar, see next picture

The American choir

The choir from the boys school

A monument to the fallen

We had one last look around in the evening now it was dry again.

The Old Bull Ring

Looking across Plaza Espana to the National Palace

Barcelona is a great city to visit and we shall return. The only question is do we fly, take the train, or take once more the long coach ride? We will see.

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