Saturday 3rd September- It’s a Zoo down there

We met the party in the breakfast room and it was really a zoo down there and just like the back end of a Boeing 747 on a flight full of kids and so we were all glad to leave and get away from the noise.

Back to Roger and Sues for a swim and little rest and then get tarted up for a trip to Javea which is just up the coast and which we had visited last year and enjoyed and excellent meal and so we went back again and had a great lunch overlooking the bay and the sun bathers and swimmers.

The food was excellent and even the house wine was really very good indeed and a lovely time was had by all.

We retired back to the swimming pool and then started packing the car with all the camping gear to get ready for our departure tomorrow to go North.

It was our original plan to go South down to Malaga and Cadiz and sround Portugal but after an ernest discussion earlier in the week Noel had the idea not to go there but to see if there was a ferry operating from Spain to Italy and after some research we are booked on a car ferry from Barcelona to Rome, or the nearest port, where we shall camp for a few days and explore Rome. After this we intend to visit Tuscany and the Italian lakes and then over the hills in to Switzerland. Sounds great!. Tomorrow we have a short day and spend the night in Valencia in the same hotel that we stayed last year.

 

Friday 2nd September- Alicante Airport and Benidorm Palace

We left Moraira shortly after 11.00 and took John and Lyn to Alicante Airport for them to connect to their Monarch flight home which was due to leave around 14.00 hrs.

After than we headed in to to Alicante and just by pure chance located a Burgerking where we duly enjoyed the traditional double whopper before collecting the car from the car park and then on to Benidorm. At an event easrlier in the week we had met some of Roger and Sue’s friends who were going to Benidorm for the show at the Benidorm Palace which has a good reputation and we had been invited to join. We arrived at the Hotel and found the party enjoying fish and chips down the road from the hotel at the Admiral Nelson pub where we also had a few bevvies before goint back to the Hotel.

A brief clean up and then on to a small bar, yes we had another drink, and then arrived at the Benidorm Palace where a table for thirteen people had been prepared. The show started around ten pm and after a short thirty minute half time break went on for another hour and half. The show was very good with acrobats who were amazing and then finally on to the finale where some of the ladies allowed to lights on their upper bodies, Oh to be young again. This was a really good night with mixed views over the food but we hadf a great time and then back to the Melia Hotel at around two pm just in time for bed!

Thursday 1 st September- a trip to to Guadalest in the hills

We left the house and drove for about an hour and arrived in the foothills and climbed the mountain side and arrived in this lovely village which stands on the top of a hill. It is quite touristy and but we were able to get some really great views and so see the Phanfare photo blog for more.

We had lunch in a super little restaurant which also had a shop attached which sold wines, fruit and some lovely orange flavoured olive oil. We had a slow drive back down the hill and then spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool to get ready for the evening event. Roger had booked us a German Restaurant on the open balcony and we all had a great steak and the German potatoes with onion and bacon etc and of course a few bottles of the local rioja wine. This was the last night for John and Lyn who would leave for the airport the next morning.

Tuesday30th and Wednesday 31st – Same both days

These two days were spent sunbathing and having great food in a number of excellent restaurants including an evening at a super BBQ and Steak restaurant in downtown Moraira. Also on Tuesday we had a trip out on Rogers & Sue’s power boat and did some swimming etc. and so overall we took it quite easy and spent a few hours at the gold club overlooking the Calpe Rock.

Monday 29th August- Another chill out day

We all had a quiet morning around the pool with a light snack for lunch and then back to reading, blogging and sleeping where appropriate.

In the afternoon we headed down to the marina where Roger and Sue keep their power boat and then off sor an afternoon swimming in thje sea which was lovely but we did not go to far as the sea was a little rough which would/could make it dangerous for getting back up the ladder on to the boat. A very pleasant afternoon indeed and it was great to swim in the sea again.

Following a shower and clean up we went up to the Golf Club for a pre- dinner drink overlooking the bay and the rather beautiful Calpe mountain and then back to one of Rogers famous curries and natiurally a touch more of the rio tinto. A very nice day indeed.

  

Sunday 28th August- Should not have had the extra Brandy

Oh dear, Oh dear we were all suffering a bit this morning and clearly we were not going to far except perhaps for the planned lunch up in the hills.

After a few cups of coffee we left for a late lunch in a restaurant that we visited last year overlooking Moraira and although Roger had phoned several times to make a booking there was no reply. Any way, after a 45 minute drive through the hills and passing the German Restaurant from the previous evening, where we all looked at with daggers and then we arrived only to find the place we planned for lunch had closed for the summer. Oh. Anyway there is a place over the road where we tried and were very pleased with the food and the lady who served us so well. So we sat in the shade eating roast lamb and with a glass or two of riot into of some year but excellent all the same.

Then back home for a late afternoon cool off swim and some had a light snack but most of had a sleep before watching the Belgian Formula One GP which was very good indeed.

Bed time came early tonight as we were all pretty tired and so by 10 pm we had all departed for our night’s sleep which we all very much needed.

Saturday 27th August – Chill out day

We all decided that a chill out day was due and so we hung around the pool and sunbathed and had a really relaxing time.

In the evening Roger and Sue had organised a dinner at a German Restaurant where there would be a BBQ and also some of Rog and Sue’s friends would join and so a party of 13 would spend the night enjoying german sausage or so we thought. Although Roger had visited the restaurant earlier in the week to agree a table plan whilst the friends had done the same we arrived at 8pm only to find every table full and the owners being terribly evasive and blaming each other for the mix up and they also became rather rude and so we left and went to a Swiss Restaurant where they went out of their way to accommodate the 13 people who suddenly without notice descended on them. A great evening ensued and the food was excellent and portion sizes too large for me and so we drank a few gallons of Spanish plonk before heading home around 11pm. We should have done the right thing by going to bed but we did not and ended up perhaps drinking to much of Rogers brandy supply before retiring around 2 am.

Friday 26th August- On to Moraira to stay with Roger and Sue

We had to repack the car to accommodate John and Lyns baggage which took a little while and although we got it all in it was rather packed with little space left anywhere.

Alicante is only just only and hout away from Moraira and so we did not hurry but took the coast road and popped in to little villages here and there and eventually stopped for an iced coffee where the owner of the café took a liking to us and introduced us to his special coffee of Absinthe Liquor in crushed ice and it was most potent.

We slipped ion to Benidorm for a quick look to find the fish and chips and Watneys Red Barrel but we must have been at the Spanish end and not the  end where the Brits go, oh well another day.

We arrived in Moraira where just down the road we dressed the car with British Flags and put on our red and white Brit gear and arrived to great laughter. Unpacking the car was completed and shown to our respective rooms where Roger and Sue has made iup some signs with our nick names, what a lovely thought.

The  pool beckoned and so we spent the afternoon relaxing, swimming and chatting before enjoying a lovely dinner of Chile Con Carne with one or two glassed of wine before hitting the bed which was still rather warm after the hot day and sun beating down.

Thursday 25th August- Saragoza is a nice city

After an early breakfast in the Hotel we walked out and across the river to the old part of town which was mostly closed as it was still rather early for the shops to open. The large open squares are dominated by the Basilica which is massive in size and very impressive inside although we wer not allowed to take photos which is a shame. There was a service taking place at one end of the building whilst the confession boxes were also busy with people waiting for their turn. We walked up and down the old streets looking in the shop windows and taking a few photos here and there. And then back past the Basilica where Jennifer noticed all the statues on the outside were little boys, Humm!!

We did a little shopping in the supermarket for lunch time and then checked out of the Hotel and down in to the very hot and crowded garage, boy they make them small in this country and extremely tight for our Land Cruiser.

Leaving Saragoza we followed the signs to the Motorway and soon heading at 75 mph in the direction of Valencia travelling through pretty boring hilly and rocky countryside and just outside of Valencia we pulled off at a petrol station and restaurant area to have our lunch and was appalled at the amount of rubbish lying around the place. Then on to Valencia which we by passed and followed the road to Alicante where we arrived around 5.30 pm and it had been 38 degress centigrade en route but in the air conditioned car you did not realise is.

The AC Hotel was very modern and the rooms nice and we waited for our friends John and Lyn to arrive from the airport and then later in the evening we had dinner in the Hotel as we were all a little tired and with no wish to traipse the streets looking for a restaurant. And so to bed.

24th August 2011- We are leaving for Spain

A littler late leaving after a good breakfast and the weather looked bad ahead and eventually we had heavy rain and grey skies as we headed towards Toulouse and then towards Pau through the countryside and after a few hours we found a supermarket where we had a good salad as the thought of having lunch in a car with the rain pouring down was not to appetising. So about mid-afternoon we arrived at Pau then headed up in to the mountians and through the long tunned in to Spain where immediately the weather changed and the temperature climbed about 18 degrees centigrade and then down the mountains the other side heading for Saragoisa where we planned to stay the night. Halfway down the mountain road we were stopped by a police road block with tough guys with guns which looked a little worrying and so we hid the cocaine and marijuana and ecstasy pills and hoped for the best but they let us pass through with a nice wave and no smile.

Arriving in Saragoza we headed for the Ibis Hotel which is nicely placed in the centre of town and across the river from the really interesting area of the old town. We found a little café just down the road from the Hotel and had a light snack as that was all we needed as we were both rather tired after a long day driving of about nine hours and much longer than indicated on the Sat Nav.

We walked around the old town and as we were both rired we did not bother to get the camera out the car park in the basement of the Hotel which was stifling hot and no I regret no having done so as the vews of the Basiolica lit up at night wer quite stunning. We walked around the old town which was full of cafes and bars for about ninety minutes and then headed back to the Hotel for a good night’s sleep. We planned an earlier morning start so we can look around the town some more.

Tuesday 23rd August 2011- Towards to Lot

We left the Hotel shortly after 9am and took to the Motorway down through Brive to Near Rocamadour where we exited and headed off to the  Chateau LeComte Caravan site where we stay quite often to drop of some towels and other stuff for the owner friends. We stayed about an hour and drove around the site and it was still quite busy but we did not meet anybody we kknow except for the gardener with whom we chatted for a while. We left the site and headed to Laboustide Murat to the Carrefour supermarket to purchase some wine as presents for our next stop with friends in their converted barn which is east of Cahors in a nice area called Puy LeRoque.

We stopped for lunch in the park in the centre of town and sat under the trees eating Ryvita and some brie cheese and tomatoes which was very good and then had a quick 30 minute siesta in the car before leaving town

We arrived at David and Lorraine’s house which is set in a small enclave and surrounded by farmland and very peaceful indeed  there mid-afternoon and also pleased so see they had some other mutual friends staying with them  and so we had a good swim and a few glasses of wine and then a BBQ, a lovely night indeed.

Jennifer went to the bedroom and discovered a bat had got in and could not get out and so there was laughter over that and then to sleep but it was a very warm night indeed with a storm promised for tomorrow.

Monday 22nd August 2011

Noel, it’s your Birthday and yet you are up to get an early ferry from Portsmouth, what’s up with you?

Well, we are off again and this time to see friends in The Lot Valley in France and then on to more friends in Spain before going camping around the South of Spain and up via the Portuguese Coast and back in the Spain again before heading North East tio Switzerland and Germany and it promises to be a long and interesting trip. So here goes.

Yes so its about 0545 bthat the alarm cranked in to life and about 30 minutes later we are in the car en route to Portsmouth to meet up with now famous LD lines fast ferry to Le Havre. We boarded on time and thought wow this is not bad and then by 0815, some fifteen minutes early we left the Port and I was just thinking Wow again and the announcement came over the speakers saying that due to a malfunction in one of the engines it would be a slower trip than planned. So having left Portsmouth early we arrived almost forty minutes late, brilliant.

Le Havre weather was appalling and it was the same for the next two hours as we drove south and it was pouring with rain and dark as night.

We keet heading South and the rain stopped but now we hit some long traffic jams and eventually much later than planned we reached Limoges for our first nights stop at about 8pm.

The Hotel was fine, a small family run place with smallish rooms but all you needed and close to the motorway for a fast getaway. We had a nice  dinner in the Hotel Restaurant and the food was very good and then to bed.

Sex scandal forces Cathay Pacific to postpone ad campaign | News | Breaking Travel News

Sex scandal forces Cathay Pacific to postpone ad campaign | News | Breaking Travel News