WEDNESDAY 8-1-19

Well these have been a couple of nothing days, best laid plans and all that.

For the past two nights our TV viewing has been an episode of 'The Choir, Military Wives' with Gareth Malone and wives of Royal Marine Commando's away fighting in Afghanistan. It always brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye whenever I watch it. Maybe you have to have been a part of that Military environment to truly appreciate it. What he and the wives accomplished between them in what was the third series of such choirs, was amazing, and although there was, I think, just one series afterwards nothing touched what was achieved in that series AND they bagged the Christmas number one spot in 2011 That must have put Cliff Richard's nose out of joint. Following that was one more episode of 'Blacklist'.

In the end we didn't hire a bike yesterday, it was rather breezy and The Chef wasn't feeling 100% and so it wasn't worth getting the bikes out.

The afternoon was instead spent creating 'Satan 3', my latest answer to yapping dogs on site which have become more numerous recently, no doubt due to the increasing number of Brits who have been arriving. 'Satan 3' is more directional and upon detecting a dog bark, transmits an ultrasound signal, undetectable to humans, to a range of fifty feet.

According to the online BBC weather forecast we must expect a couple of cold days and nights as from tomorrow.

For that reason we are setting off for Castellon on the bus tomorrow for a day out, where we may well treat ourselves to a new motorhome kettle as there are signs of bits of rusting on the inside of the one we have. The problem is we can't buy just any kettle it has to be a low wattage model, able to cope with as little as 4 amps mains power, before tripping out the system.

There's a lot of influenza going around the campsite at the moment it seems. I guess that's what the miserable old sod in the pitch next to us went down with over Christmas. Monday at Petanque a number of people were saying they weren't feeling too good. Well thanks a lot, spread it around why don't you. So for that reason we didn't go up there this afternoon. I'd rather not go down with the Flu given a choice. But then I did say in a previous posting that it would be handy to have some folk go down with a plague or something to reduce the numbers currently attending Petanque. So it just goes to show we should be careful what we wish for.

HERE IS ANOTHER UPDATE ON THE ONE-WAY NEW VEHICLE RELOCATION SPECIALS – AND WE NOW FEEL THESE NEW SPECIALS WILL JUST KEEP COMING!

We now have not only Toronto to Vancouver or Calgary, and Minneapolis to several location, but also Chicago to Seattle!
Every PRICE we offer you includes:

200 miles per day (USA rentals to several other USA cities, from Chicago or Minneapolis) or 320 kms per day (Canadian rentals from Toronto to other Canadian cities).
Full insurance (C$/US$ 1500 excess) and all taxes on the amount paid is included.
PLUS there is NO ONE-WAY fee whatsoever for these very special rentals.
Minimum rental period is seven nights; there is no maximum rental EXCEPT the vehicle must be at the return location by the date shown.

Here is availability at January 9th 2019:

MONDAY 7-1-19

Well, it's been a pretty quiet couple of days. I had a late Saturday night trying to download the video I took of the three sales reps parading through the town centre. I think I was up until 00:30 trying to crack it.

Yesterday was a National Holiday here in Spain, so we sat around in the awning to give us a bit of warmth in the earlier part of the day, before setting off for a walk, again in the direction of the port. We had expected it to be very busy, with kids out playing with their new toys etc, but it was in fact rather quiet. Lots of restaurants were busy with families enjoying a lunch at the British taxpayers expense, given the level of subsidy we give the EU.

In the evening we enjoyed our weekly Sunday Roast meal up at the restaurant. We reserve a table each time and I am so flattered that the young lady there remembers my surname (well not exactly, but close enough, and I am truly flattered that she does, given the number of people she has to deal with). Maybe it's because we always leave a tip, but believe it or not so many people do not. I couldn't believe it, when, after our Christmas dinner on the 25th, cheapskates were slipping away (it was pre-paid) without leaving a bean. The poor staff had given up a day with their own families to pamper us privileged old beggar's, yet so few customers could put their hands in their pockets to say 'thank you'.

..................Now where was I? Oh yes, a very nice meal, with me polishing off most of the carafe of wine, thus saving The Chef from herself.

Today was back to normal, with the Spaniards doing what they do best ......... not very much , nor very quickly.

It was a rather a cool day, and we had a quick trot right through the 'High Street' to the other end in order to find out if the larger 'Macardo' supermarket stocked curry sauce in jars, they did not, so what a waste of time that was. We're determined to find out how many food items we can buy locally thus saving us the hassle of bringing some of them with us.

On the way back I bought from a Chinese shop a vital part of 'Satan 3' my cunning weapon against yapping dogs, the number of which have increased noticeably of late, probably because more Brits have arrived with their yelping balls of fluff. 'Project Fear' claim that the Pet Passport scheme may come to an end come Brexit..............bring it on!!

We just managed to get back in time for lunch before setting off for the Petanque pitches and an afternoon of fun in good company with fellow Brits and German campers (we don't mention the war).

I have today attached the Spanish propane gas cylinder to the motorhomes system , which, in theory, if I've got it right, will allow us to enjoy gas fired central heating using gas from the Spanish cylinder rather than our own.

On Saturday 12th we will be summoned to the Headmasters office to pay for our first month's pitch 'rent' plus our electricity consumption, which could be pretty high, hence, for us, the switch to gas for our central heating.

Tomorrow we plan to hire freebie bikes and go for a nice ride out of town, we do need to get off the campsite more.

SATURDAY 5-1-19

Another cool night but thankfully another blue sky this morning. Just a few chores to do before we popped down to the shops for a few bits, they're closed on Sundays and so we have to make sure we've enough fresh provisions to see us through to Monday

On our return we had a nice sit out in the sunshine, though most of it was spent in the awning with the side zipped out as there was a bit of a cool breeze. Lunch was late as we'd decided to barbecue some steak and serve it with chips, mushrooms and a lovely crusty baguette. This was to see us through to late evening as we wanted to walk in to town to see The Three Kings Eve parade starting at 17:30.

Three Kings Day, or Dia De Los Reyes in Spanish, and falls on January 6th every year, Epiphany. It's the day the children of Spain and Hispanic countries receive presents for Christmastime. Much like children from other parts of the world eagerly await Santa Claus on Christmas Eve night, the same can be said on the eve of January 5th, when children leave their shoes by the door with hopes that the Three Kings will leave them gifts in their shoes when they wake the following morning.

The day is also celebrated by eating the roscon de los reyes, or ring-cake (a term now used by Australian gays) of the kings, that is decorated to look like a crown that a king would wear. It is often topped with glazed fruits, representing the jewels on a crown. Buried inside it is a toy, often a figurine of baby Jesus. The person who finds it is said to have good luck for the year, or if they swallow it, a period in ITU on a life support machine.

In the Christian Bible in the book of Matthew, is the story of a group of travellers who followed a star to the birthplace of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. They gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The King James Version, an English translation of the Bible dating back to 1604, translates the word 'magi' to mean "wise men." Now I always thought 'Magi' made stock cubes, seasoning, dried soups and gravy granules. Thinking about it, what would Mary and Joseph have done with a load of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. How would Joseph have got that lot on the donkey for the return trip home, as well as Mary and Jesus?

Given that stories get changed as they are retold through the ages, I'm inclined to think that these three men on camels were probably sales reps for 'Magi' doing a bit of cold calling and chanced upon Jesus in the stable. Having a few free samples available they left some for the family to enjoy, which would have been more use to them than fancy gifts. And were they wise men? They arrived two weeks late. Granted there was no Satnav in those days, but everybody else managed to make the 'Crib Party' in time. Blimey, Jesus was a busy man, in his short life of some 32 years he had to change the world, and he didn't have time to hang around waiting for three lost sales reps. He was probably teething by the time they arrived.

Three Kings Day Eve

The days leading up to January 5th, children are supposed to write letters to the three kings asking them for gifts. The day before Three Kings Day is a day for parades and processions throughout Spanish cities, like Madrid, Barcelona (where the kings arrive by boat), or Alcoy, which has Spain's longest-running parade which began in 1885. The parades represent the journey made by the travellers on camels to Bethlehem. The three kings throw candy into the crowd. Parade-goers bring umbrellas to the parade and turn them upside down to collect the thrown sweets.

The parade itself wasn't as big as we'd expected. We have seen some really good ones here, never mind, it got us off the campsite rubbing shoulders with the locals for a while.

Tomorrow we plan to catch up with the washing before going for a nice walk in the afternoon. I expect the town and seafront to be very busy as it will be a really family orientated day.

Finally these celebrations featuring three wandering sales reps should not be confused with THE Star, THE King - Elvis Presley.

FRIDAY 4-01-19

Yesterday found us getting up face another bright sunny day, though a bit cooler than usual. First I set about doing the housework in the motorhome while The Chef tackled the inside of the awning. After that it was down in to town. First to the Sports Centre where we intended to complete the paperwork which would allow us to hire a bicycle each for up to seven days in a month, all for free. On our arrival the only member of staff available was a young man in the office behind the reception desk who was sat having a conversation on his mobile phone. But hey, no worries, this man can multi-task and whilst having his conversation with whoever was on the phone was able to assume what we wanted, and with phone still stuck to his ear, unlock the bike store and began unloading bikes, with us trying to tell him we didn't want them today, we just wanted to do the paperwork in advance. Eventually the penny dropped and he told us that the paperwork, passport check and deposit, has to be done on the day. So we didn't gain very much there.

Just around the corner was the weekly market which we had a quick look around and bought some more walnuts. We had intended to buy some more Satsumas but they didn't look too special, having sat around a lot over the Christmas and New Year period I suppose, so it was up the road to Lidl which is on the way back to the campsite.

The afternoon was spent soaking up the sunshine in the 'back garden' as there are so few hours each day during which we can do so.

In the evening we through caution to the wind and decided to use the motorhome's gas hot air central heating system, and I'm glad we did because it has a much better performance than a fan heater. So many people are using Spanish gas cylinders here that I'm guessing they've had their calculators out and decided that using gas is cheaper than electricity. We're due to get our electricity meter read in a week's time so we'll get a better idea of just how expensive keeping warm during the evenings really is. So we've decided, sod the expense, that we'll be using gas in future, with no nasty surprises at the monthly meter reading as we'll be buying the cylinder refills as we go along.

This morning was another exciting walk to Lidl for a few bits followed by an afternoon of Petanque. It really is getting popular up at the pitches. Today there was something like 26 people for four pitches. Perhaps we should start wishing for a nasty dose of pneumonia or Asian Flu to sweep through the campsite so that we can have a bit of 'Mother Nature's Thinning Shears', giving us a better chance of playing in smaller teams and maybe even winning.

Just about all of the Spaniards have left from the bungalows across the way, taking their feral kids with them. Throughout the Christmas and New Year period these little beggers completely took over the indoor swimming pool, and very noisily too.

I see on the BBC News website that Leo 'Pinky' Varadksar, Prime Minister of Ireland isn't talking quite so tough about the Irish border now that reality is starting to dawn on him. It has been recognised that his country will be the worst affected if there is a 'No Deal' Brexit, and that his country will feel rather isolated, surrounded by water and a border with a free UK nation. A bit like the Isle of Wight but with more rain and a thicker population. All we have to do now is keep a cool head and go for the 'No Deal' exit unless the EU comes back to us, and are prepared to talk sensibly rather than like the school bully. At the end of the day if we leave on 29th March with 'No Deal' then the Irish border problem will HAVE to be sorted, and with no complication regarding a 'back stop', back scuttle or anything else.

The icing on the cake has to be the story of Abu Hamza Al Masari, the former Imam of Finsbury Park mosque in London, and referred to as the 'Hate Preacher'. This is a man who stood in the street and preached hatred, and condoned the killing of our troops abroad. What came out of that man's mouth was unbelievable, and coppers stood by and watched him in action. After the government finally plucked up the courage to do something about it, this man was given access to Legal Aid and his spiv lawyers screwed all of us for a total of £1.9,000,000 in his attempts to avoid extradition to Jordan on terrorism charges. He went eventually, but not before the Home Office Minister at the time, one Theresa May promised to fund regular medical and welfare checks for him for a period of three years. This bill has now reached £200,000. Up until that point Abu Hamza was living in a huge private house paid for by the taxpayer because a traditional council house was considered too small for the size of family he had.

Now there are no prizes for guessing what happens next - he is extradited to Jordan, and his family continue to this day to live the life of Riley at taxpayer's expense, holed up in that same house. Well, not all of the family are living there presently as one son is busy fighting in Syria and has vowed to return to the UK when the war is over, whilst another son, Imran Mostafa Kamel, the sixth of Abu Hamza's children has just been arrested in London  and held pending the investigation of the murder of a security guard.

Do you think we'll ever have politicians with the courage to revoke the whole families rights to live here, kick them out and save ourselves a fortune? But we'd better get on and do it quickly before they commit terrorist attacks against us here on our home soil.

This whole disgraceful saga is an insult to young families across the nation who work hard, probably on minimum wage, worried about how to pay their bills, keeping their noses clean, probably still waiting to reach the top of the council house list.

I'm currently sat in the awning with hypothermia slowly creeping up on me with The Chef toiling behind me creating tonight's offering - pizza, chips and salad. Soon we'll go indoors and bask in the warmth of our gas central heating.

Tomorrow are the 'Three Kings Day' Eve celebrations - see you there!

WEDNESDAY 2-01-19

Well we did get to experience New Year's Eve Spanish style a couple of nights ago. What with the feral Spanish kids from the rented bungalows across the way running wild in the street, and the noise from the disco/band in the bar-cum-restaurant we didn't get to sleep until gone 02:00.

As we lay in bed in the morning I thought I heard the sound of a steam whistle, so I said to The Chef that I fancied taking a walk down to the miniature railway down the road in case they were running their trains today as it was a Bank Holiday. After we finally scrubbed up, off we went, only to find that it was very doubtful it was a steam whistle, even a small one, that I'd heard. Maybe somebody had trod on a cat. Never mind, it had got us out for a walk, and it wasn't as if the place was completely deserted, sheds were open and there were a couple of chaps in the engine shed working on something, but it wasn't a steam whistle or a train.

There were no shops open, quiet rightly too, and so we made our way back. Today's culinary offering was to be a spatchcocked chicken barbecued nice and slow with baked potatoes and salad. 'Twas I wearing the chef's hat today, and I have to say it all worked out quite well, and the chicken will do us for another two meals. Whilst patiently waiting for the chicken to cook we enjoyed a few nuts and a bottle of bubbles.

The evening was spent indoors again watching DVD's, which is a bit frustrating. Months ago I bought an 85cm satellite dish, tripod and a special decoder box to enable us to watch the main UK television channels down here in sunny Spain. Unfortunately I never got to test it out and practice the dark art due to the fact the three oak trees at the bottom of the garden were right in the line of sight for the satellite I needed to tune in to, and rather than make the effort to take the motorhome for a spin somewhere else and set things up, I chickened out and, due to the lack of storage space in the motorhomes garage I left it all behind. Chatting to a Cornish motorhomer in the morning he confirmed I had bought the right kit and it's what he uses down here, in fact he reckons we could use it all the way down to Gibraltar. Never mind, lesson learned, it will come with us on future trips, after of course, I have mastered the art.

This morning I went up to the Reception Office and asked to borrow a battery charger to try and breathe some life in to the motorhomes' engine battery. Clearly there was a breakdown in translation as a member of staff turned up with a vehicle and some leads to jump start me.

Off in to town we went as there were still a couple of shops I hadn't managed to look in on Monday because they were having a nice afternoon nap. No luck in either, but one of them did suggest I try the caravan shop on the edge of town. Not far when you're driving of course, but a bit of a hike where you're walking. We eventually found it, but no, lots of scruffy caravans in storage behind the shop, but in it, just a camping trailer and a few accessories, but no battery charger - it was a long walk back to the campsite. On the way we popped in to the Tourist Information Office for some info on bus services and what happens, and where, for the Three Kings celebrations (more of that at the time).

Upon my return I wound the laptop up and ordered another intelligent charger from Amazon.eu giving the campsites address. It should be here in a few days.

This afternoon we went up to the Petanque pitches for an enjoyable couple of hours of throwing balls about. Our neighbours across the way, Steve and Jane came with us for an hour or so.

This evening was Quiz Night, and I have to say that we're getting better, not good enough to win, but not worthy of being mocked.