Rest, relaxation and a bit of rain in Spain COMPLETE 11/10 About This Page:

[chezp]

Sunday 11 October – part three: stormy skies, sun, swimming and sangria

We wandered back to the car, getting some photos on the way:



Then we headed back to the villa. There were some quite stormy skies over the mountains inland from Benidorm as we drove:


At one of the toll booths...

... isn’t it amazing what you see on the roads in Spain?

Dave and Barb had invited Geoff and Jan round for coffee and, again as yesterday, as soon as I got in, I changed into my swimming gear and headed into the pool. This time, I was able to do a bit more than yesterday, without getting too tired, which was a step forward. As well as some exercising, I was actually able to swim a few strokes, which I hadn’t felt up to yesterday.

After that, we all sat there chatting and enjoying some snacks and some of the wonderful hazelnut liquor that we’d bought last night. Boy, that stuff is good.

Geoff and Jan headed off after an hour or so and then we sat outside talking, reading and getting some more photos.


The living room

The pool area

Some of the flowers around the villa

Trying to repair their fountain!

Lemons – once they ripen!

Some of the chopped down palm trees – they had been “trimmed” not long before our arrival


Eventually, the sun went down and it got cooler outside, so we headed in. The evening was spent watching the TV (thank goodness we could get one of the major channels in the UK! ) and having dinner, which consisted of very nice frozen pizza and cake and of course the obligatory sangria. Well, it wouldn’t be a Spanish holiday without sangria, would it?

The weather today was low to mid 80s and very sunny.
The best thing today was our wonderful lunch.
The worst thing today was what some people were – or should I say weren’t – wearing in Benidorm.
Today we tried visiting Benidorm market.
And the result was it was fun, but very crowded and not relaxing, because of the threat of pickpockets.
The most magical moment today was being able to finally swim, after so many months.

Next: a swim with a difference!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures! Sounds like a great night!

[Lumieregirl]

Me wants a spanish villa! Thanks for sharing, Cheryl! And so glad you've gotten to do some swimming - wonderful to hear

[KMB733]

Gorgeous pictures of Spain!!!

[chezp]

Monday 12 October – part one: a swim with a difference!

We slept much better last night and, as a result, were much later in getting up. It’s always a more promising sign when it’s actually getting light outside when you wake up!

After breakfast, we sat around and worked out what to do today, bearing in mind that it was a national holiday and we didn’t know what – if anything – would be open today. There was certainly no point in driving any great distance, especially if there was the chance that we could turn up and discover that the place we’d come to see was closed. So, instead, the plan was formed to go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea that this entire coast feeds into. Before we headed out anywhere, I grabbed some photos from around the villa:



Looking through the new windows that were only put in a couple of days earlier – still no glass at this stage!

We headed a little further down the coast towards Calpe and found a beautiful, quiet beach called Cala de Fuestra, which only had about half a dozen people on it when we arrived at around 10.30am. It was the perfect place with beautiful blue sea and lovely sands and very few people to have to share it with. Now, I’ve never swum in the Mediterranean before, at least not that I’m aware of. To be honest, I’m not much of a sea swimming person, I’d rather swim at a hotel or apartment and I’d certainly rather not inflict myself half naked on too many people, if I can avoid it.

Therefore, it’s perhaps surprising that, after a couple of shots…






… within a few minutes arriving, I headed into the sea. Oh my goodness, this was a lot colder than I thought it would be! I had been told that it would be much warmer than the swimming pool, but I got a shock when I first stepped in it. It didn’t feel much warmer! : I kept going and, although it was a shock to the system at first, you did quickly get used to it and, once you did, it was absolutely fine.

The next issue was then persuading Mark to come in and join me. He ventured in a little way, still in T-shirt and screwing up his face at every chance he’d got. Yes, he was finding it pretty cold as well. After a lot of moaning, he did get in and, once he did, he loved it. He went out much further in the water than me, mainly because I was still a bit wary of how tired I might get and I didn’t want to be too far, should that happen. And just to prove we were both in the sea...




In total, I guess we swam and floated out there for about half an hour. We found there were distinctly warmer patches, where the sun was obviously catching the sea and warming it up and the water was also very salty. We knew that from the taste of it on our faces and also from the fact that we didn’t have to do too much work to float.

Finally, my body felt that it had had enough and I headed back to the beach, with Mark still bobbing away in the distance out at sea…


Yes, that really is Mark to the left of the shot!

Seaweed on the edge of the beach


A few minutes later, he came back and joined the rest of us and we all sat or stood there talking, as we dried off. By now, the sun was a lot stronger than it had been earlier when we first arrived and, soon, despite the factor 50 suntan lotion I had slapped on, I was beginning to feel the burn factor, so we retreated to the shade of the beachside café. We sat there for probably the next hour or so, just enjoying the shade and our soft drinks. We did consider eating here, as the food looked pretty good, but couldn’t see any prices for any of the items marked up, which is never a good sign. Our instincts were right, as when Mark went to pay for the drinks, he discovered that even a sandwich was about €9 (about $13.50). Not the best deal somehow…



Some views from the cafe

Next: reason to celebrate!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great time on the beach!

[BritDisFan]

Great update!

[Hugmonster]

Great updates so far. Happy to see you are having the energy to swim, but knowing when to say when.

[pamcarey]

Sounds like a lovely time at the beach! Not nearly as crowded as the one in Benidorm!

[Lumieregirl]

Enjoying your TR! Can't wait to hear about the celebration

[lauriep]

The villa and beautiful flowers look wonderful, as does the un-crowded beach. The 4-course meal you had for under $10 looked amazing--a much better deal than the sandwich on offer at the beach cafe!

[KMB733]

The Beach looks wonderful!

[Minnie Lor]

Nice morning.

[Nimros]

Just getting caught up...what a wonderful time so far!

Love your meals (and drinks!) Such beautiful photos, too. I think I want a Spanish villa. And I'm so happy you got some swimming in, especially in the Mediterranian. Mark is very brave to swim out that far.

Can't wait to see what you celebrate!

[Sandra Bostwick]

Wonderful updates! I could do with out the stinky fish market. This photo was my favorite.