Five more days in Spain

On the familiar balcony enjoying drinks with Richard and Elizabeth 

We pulled into the little station, we hadn't even known existed, on a much better air-conditioned tram. Got off to find a beaming Elizabeth. Straight into the car and we were at the house in 10 minutes. Glass of wine with lunch as we settled into our very pleasant routine for the next few days. 

Whilst enjoying the amazing view of the mountains from that balcony

Unbeknownst to us the Friday and the Monday were both Bank holidays, so shut shops and supermarkets. We did manage to visit a couple over the weekend, to stock up with wine and water, the heavy things to carry, and to buy what seemed like the only chicken on the Costa Blanca. 

This is part of their house from their driveway in early evening with the setting sun picking out the contours of the amazing Bernia Ridge towering overhead. Always satisfying to know we have traversed the entire ridge and every peak of the mountains in the other photo too

It was a nice surprise yesterday (Monday) to pop into Altea, for a coffee, to find that actually some of the shops were open so we managed to get all the bitty things Elizabeth said she needed. Saucepan, washing up bowl, bathmat, solar lights, wine glasses, all those odd things, but a very successful coffee stop.

Down in Altea La Vella for a yummy Indian meal

I rushed out of the restaurant to take this photo of the whole ridge in the evening sun

As ever we ate a lot, drank a lot, quizzed, chatted and laughed. A couple of meals out, at the places my father still feels comfortable in and three good home cooked meals. Peaking yesterday with a joint effort of a yummy roast chicken dinner. This sadly wasn't followed by the planned steamed syrup pudding as the bowl 'escaped' while Elizabeth was trying to put the lid on. Uncooked sponge mix and syrup all over the floor, the kitchen, Elizabeth and me. The amount of mess it made was quite indescribable. Brian was sent to wash two pairs of shoes, Elizabeth to put on a clean dress while I scooped it off the floor and got the mop out. When we opened the oven to put the chicken in, it was in there. When I lifted the lid of the vegetable steamer, it was in there. Such was the carnage we were quite put off the whole idea, with even father having the sense not to ask where pudding was at the end of the meal!

The little cafe in town that we visited most days had a very friendly cat

Quick as a flash it's all over and we are sitting at the airport, waiting for our delayed flight back to Birmingham. We did manage a few jobs, between relaxing but we don't expect to be sitting in the sun and eating outside when we return to Birmingham.

That wanted to sit on everyone's lap, including Elizabeths. She was hoping it wouldn't, but the cat had other ideas!

The photo Jackie's dad didn't want me to take. He'd cocked his sun hat over to shield him from the sun. Of course, once he said that I immediately took a photo!

They have another area by their pool that's shielded by trees, keeping it cooler in the hot late afternoon sun. It gives an excellent view of the ridge that Jackie was taking full advantage of with binoculars 

As it was a long holiday weekend in Spain, there were many people out on the ridge, some leaving it until late to come down after dark. This photo is on a long exposure, long after dark, so a bit blurred. You might just see three of the stars of The Plough co stellation and, below it, the light of a torch from someone descending after dark

The view from our bedroom window, every morning as we lay in bed with our coffee

This very cute squirrel came to visit us every evening to get water from the watering can. I made sure it was full for it every night

Time to go - see you tomorrow!

Theres a little gecko (in fact one of several) that tried to catch the mosquitos to stop them biting us

Elizabeths new solar lights. Arrangement by me!

Final view of the mountains from the balcony this morning as we waited for our taxi to the airport this morning. At least our delayed flight allowed us to do this post! The planes in now and we should be boarding soon. See you back in Blighty!

Spain via cruise - days 7 to 8

Formal dinner with our table mates. LtoR me, Karen, Mark, Tom, B and Jackie. This was the table to be on, great conversations and we were regularly last out, often missing the start of the show. Thanks guys, you were great! 

We had our second formal night, dressed in our finest and followed dinner with the show in the theatre. The scheduled singer, who we'd seen before, was out of action, he'd lost his voice apparently, so Corey, the entertainments director stepped in to do a one man show. We were very dubious about this, thinking it wouldn't be very good and nearly didn't go. So glad we did though as he was fabulous. Full of humour and really good singing, he's definitely a star.

We scrub up reasonably well!

Our last port stops today, Melilla. A Spanish city, but an enclave in Morocco. It's not a common tourist destination as it's not that easy to get to. They are trying their hardest to become a regular cruise port though. This may have been the first time that Fred Olsen has been here so the red carpet was really rolled out. The town was full of people wearing Hi-vis jackets, all there to send us around the town and help with anything we wanted. What was surprising was the number of English, Scottish and Irish accents among them. Apparently there is a big English school here and Fred had approached them to help. Not that we normally get that sort of assistance, but it didn't appear in the Rough Guide, and there were no free walking tours and with only a half day there we were very grateful. 

In Melilla Vieja. The old fort has been beautifully restored 

They had obviously spent a lot of time and money on renovating the various fortifications which all looked very new and fresh. We walked through the old town and up to the lighthouse and the military museum, definitely getting our steps in.

The lighthouse. We walked to it and up it's spiral staircase to the top

The city had also laid on a welcome at the port, a flamenco demonstration, (which we didn't see) and a half hour show at the Bullring. This fortunately wasn't of bullying fighting but of dancing of the many different cultures in the city. Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. All accompanied by some riders on horseback cantering around the outside. Not quite sure what it was all about but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. That was it, back on the shuttle bus (no walking through the port) and back aboard for lunch and a 13.30 departure.

Walking over a footbridge in the old castle we saw a bunch of snorkellers/divers setting off from a small beach in a gorge

That's them down there. Not sure whether the orange thing is a breather or a float, but they'd dive down from it to look at the underwater rock formations

A couple of glasses of wine with the seafood buffet, well it was the last chance and then to pack. Apart from sleeping this is the longest we spend in a cabin, packing and unpacking, so an inside cabin really isn't a problem. We got done in time to go to the talk by the astronomer about Apollo 13. He may be a very good astronomer and know his stuff, he was an aerospace engineer after all, but he's not the best of lecturers. It was however still very interesting. He overran though so we were a little unpopular arriving late for the quiz, we had to get Abi to repeat the first 6 of 20 clues! 

The old fort walls and, beyond it the harbour and our cruise ship

Walking through the park to the bullring for the show

We were joined by a couple of dancers with whom we commented that it was a shame there was so little dancing on our last night. Really the only opportunity was going to be at the Captain's leaving cocktail party. We are going to both sessions they said, for those on early dinner as well as our late dinner sitting. This seemed very cheeky, but we thought we'd join them, a little more dancing and two lots of fizz and canapes! What's not to like? Not that the Captain could be bothered to turn up to his own leaving do, apparently he had a cold so Corey had to step in and introduce us to a selection of staff from the various departments. It's good to see Kevin the gym guy, along with housekeeping, sanitation and bar staff recognised. It does make everyone feel valued, which leads to a happy crew and then a happy ship.

In our seats in the bullring waiting for the show to start

We weren't sure what was going on, but it was very entertaining

One of the riders galloped round with a hawk on her arm. It seemed to like it as it had its wings out in the breeze

This was continued at dinner as the waiters and chefs were brought round the dining room after dinner for a round of applause. Another reason we like cruising with Fred.

The finale. A really nice show and we were all made to feel very welcome. Well done Melilla!

Not a good final night sleep. We'd put our luggage outside by 02.00, as requested, but then you worry you've somehow not got a pair of pants, or shoes for the morning, or that somehow your luggage will get swept off to the airport with the transfers to Gatwick or Manchester.

None of these happened, though I was fast asleep when the alarm went off at 07.00. Dress, breakfast and vacate the cabin. We finally had to go through immigration into Spain, but actually didn't have to do the whole finger print thing. They must have registered when we left last time, after all.

A brisk 2.5km walk from the ship to the tram station to sadly arrive about 2 minutes after a tram to Benidorm left. That's a shame, we could have saved an hour, but it's ok. Standing at Benidorm station for our connection to Altea though it's much warmer than we've had anywhere else. I might even go in the pool when we get there. Even though it is October!

A tug pulling us out of Melilla port ready for our trip across the Med to our final destination, Alicante

Halfway there! At Benidorm

With our luggage!