Today we seemed to return to the land of the living, we'll, semi living. Val as always was her bubbly self, even though she's not one hundred percent running on all cylinders. She spent most of the day talking to family and friends back in Blighty and when not doing that she was trying to get some upgraded insurance for her trip to The Big Apple. We think we have it sorted, fingers crossed.
We moved to a new pitch, where have I wrote that before. I had to ok it with the rally stewards and the site. It was hard work but well worth it. It's firmer ground with a better view and we're on the end of the row which is more private. We met a guy from Bridlington who chatted for a good hour telling us all about the wonderful cycle routes.
I was up and down like a woman of the nights drawers, to reception to make use of the Wifi so it was late afternoon before we good get out for a walk and have a look at our new surroundings. It's a big site so we haven't seen it all but we've made a start.
We have BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and ITV2 but just to give us an alternative I downloaded a couple of episodes of The Crown. We can also pick up The Bay radio, it's not the one from back home but the format and scheduling suggests it's the same company. There is a Burns Night on the rally but it's unfortunately come a little to soon in the recovery process. The Spanish lessons in the morning" is a different matter. On the mend happy campers.
26 January 2017
We were off to class in the nick of time. Images of Sister Ranilda's French class flooded my mind and I was back in 1965, bloody hell, daydreaming already and we've only been in the classroom five minutes. Get a grip this is Spanish not French.
An hour later and school was out, time to do the washing and get everything out on the clothes horse we got from reception, €15 deposit. In between Val had to deal with a veritable plethora of bureaucratic gobbledegook being thrown at her by the insurance company. It looks like she is going to be chaperoned back to London after having some kind of fit to fly test before boarding the plane.
Pétanque was the afternoon activity with me trying to pick Val's boules up. We played together and won three out of the four matches we played. Not bad to say that some of our opponents were wily old dogs. It was good exercise and we ended up meeting someone who was on the Albufiera Rally last year.
The big question of the evening was found Manchester United grasp the wonderful opportunity of progressing to the final of the League Cup. We made our way down to the sites clubhouse as opposed to the rallies clubhouse, more in hope than expectation. It was banging music that greeted us as we walked through the door and a gathering of old git's much like ourselves trying to gyrate in some kind of rhythmic way, without much success I hasten to add. There was football on TV but it was Lionel Messi and co. We headed back to the van for an episode of The Crown and kept an ear on the radio to try to catch a score update. We got the result we wanted to hear and climbed into bed happy bunny campers.
27 January 2017
The weather forecast predicted rain but the actual weather was warm and sunny. Val's insurance team seemed to be permanently on the phone. They couldn't get a chaperone on her scheduled flight to Gatwick and wanted to transfer her on to a flight to Manchester. They got a shock when she informed them she was flying on to New York.
We went out on the bikes for a couple of hours for a bit of exercise and to get some shopping. The nearest small town of Catral is only about a couple of miles away so after a run along the country lanes we headed there to pick up some supplies.
It sounds like the insurance company have given up on the idea of chaperoning Val back to the UK as there are no spare seats left on her flight. They have suggested her being escorted from a different airport here in Spain and to a different airport back in the England. All suggestions would mean lots of extra hours travel, extra stress and would not necessarily fit in with her onward flight. Poor Miguel who had the job of phoning has finally bit the bullet.
We managed a couple of hours reclining in the sunshine. It's not been the warmest of days but when the sun shines it's very pleasant. We have had the odd spot of rain but hardly any.
It's film night in the clubhouse with two films that have us salivating with anticipation. Tarzan and the Apes is preceded by Independence Day. I don't know if there's a new Tarzan field doing the rounds but it's probably not going to be Johnny Wiesmuller. We were talking with a chap called Ian earlier, a pragmatic Mancunian whose assessment of Independence Day was America using big bazookas against a load of Ailiens and giving them a good spanking.
28 January 2017
The day dawned bright and breezy. So much so that our tent was slewed sideways in the wind and needed more pegs to hold it down.
It was a day of admin and packing ready for Val's trip. Boots were cleaned with some spit and polish and clothes were neatly folded. We kept in touch with the FA Cup through Bay Radio and at 7:00 pm it was time for the Sausage Sizzle. Two old fashioned sausages on a roll with onions and mustard, delicious. We didn't stop for the race night but rather came back to the van for a couple of episodes of The Crown.
An early night with the alarm set to get Val to the airport for 9:30 in the morning.
29 January 2017
Val was in the shower before the alarm went off. We were packed up and on our way to Alicante airport ten minutes ahead of schedule. I dropped a nervous Val off and then had to wait for a text letting me know she was boarding, then another text to say she had landed in the UK. I was almost as nervous as Val that everything went off without a hitch. I think she had visions of not being allowed to board the plane because of her recent heart attack.
Mid afternoon Lisa let me know the first part of the trip had gone well and the girls were checking in for the transatlantic part of the journey and were enjoying the fare in one of the airport lounges. I spoke to the girls on the phone and they were enjoying themselves and all Val's fears were unfounded.
My entertainment was mapped out by the football starting at 5:00 pm Spain time. There was a great radio show leading up to kick off with the highlight being the Top 10 from January 1967. There where one or two tracks I hadn't heard for a while. Another week has flown by. It's not been the best week weather wise but it's much warmer and drier than the weather at home. The forecast for the next few days is good with temperatures predicted to reach 18°. Fingers crossed.
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