2 January Our Last Day And A Walk Round The Port

Woke up early, but Zorro had already left, he had texted from the airport to say all had gone well with his trip to the airport apart from his case nearly getting squashed in the lift. No sign of Brian so had breakfast and did some cleaning in the kitchen, this was when I discovered my charger for the tablet was missing, I searched everywhere I could think of in my bedroom and the main room with no success, I had a special battery pack that was supposed to provide a charge in emergency, the only problem was it did not seem to be working the only time I needed it. I e mailed Zorro just in case he had picked it up by mistake. Then got on with some packing.

Brian got up had breakfast and we did some sorting out and cleaning in the flat, then decided to have a good walk down to the port before returning to the flat for the last time. We had a mixture of food left so decided we would use this up if possible at lunchtime, unfortunately my cold was taking more effect as the morning went on so I was not feeling that well but did not want to spend the last day inside.

So off we went, unfortunately the weather was cool and overcast, the streets were quieter today as we walked, and there was the odd drop of rain. The port had looked very impressive yesterday from up the hill but not so this morning, maybe it was all the clouds, there were plenty of small boats at the marina but no sign of life on them, the ferry was loading lots trailers on, there was an attractive roof which created an effect of waves, when we reached near the end of the harbour Brian noticed the sea was clear enough to see fish by the harbour wall, from small to at least three foot long in a range of colours,

We had planned on stopping for a drink or snack but suddenly there was the odd drop of rain, the area was very open and I had nothing to protect me from the weather so we decided to walk back, there rain never started although it did get cooler, when we got to the front door we struggled with opening the front door, eventually we managed, at least it was to be the final time we would have to do this.

For lunch I put together an unusual combination of food based on what we had left, which comprised of an omelette, accompanied by sardines and tomatoes with a banana and apple to follow, we finished off cleaning up the flat I went and had a bath to help with my cold then went to bed after searching again for the charger, we had heard back from Zorro to say all had gone well on his trip to the airport and he was relaxing in the lounge.

Brian rested until I got up, we discussed the holiday and things that had happened, felt that I had learnt some things about what I wanted from holidays but part of this was different to the others, From my understanding Brian preferred a more leisurely approach, whereas I wanted to see as much as possible in the time we had. We talked about the fact they wanted to talk about the Spanish language watch TV particularly the news and discuss this and also the culture of the country. I said my holidays were a mixture of wanting to see different places and record what I saw to look back on in the future. I did say I had surprised at how often we had spent eating pizza rather than native food, maybe some of that was down to being in a self catering accommodation.

We finished all our packing and waited for the arrival of the owners daughter, unfortunately she had not arrived at 5 as promised so rang brother who said she would be with us shortly, she came we presumed she would want to inspect the property, but just returned our deposit, we then left, only to remember after we had left some food in the kitchen but it was to late to do anything about it, we walked to the station, bought tickets for the last time and boarded the train.

At the airport it was a fair walk to the check in Brian mentioned how long we had to wait, we found the counter for the baggage drop, but there seemed to be only one desk for two flights, so it took quite time before we reached the front, I do wonder what it is that takes some do long to sort out, we decided to find somewhere to have a snack, unfortunately we discovered that the only place was Burger King which wad quite ironic after the discussions we had had about using fast food places. I joined the queue, but there seemed to be an issue about payment by the people at the front of the queue, time wad passing, also one counter closed so again there was a delay before we were served, finally we had our Whopper meal. When we finished I checked and it was time to proceed to the boarding gate.

When we got there it looked like we were at the end of the queue, but at least it was moving forward, Ryanair had recently announced that passengers could now bring an extra small bag on board, this was interesting because when we reached the boarding gate others before us and myself were told at the last minute that our hand luggage wad to go in the hold so we needed to remove any valuables from it, well I had all my papers money and large camera, luckily I had carrier bags but the indignity of having to sort it out did not help. I will be writing into complain, both to them and Travel Which on my return, what was odder wad that they did not bother with Brian.

The plane was full but we found aisle seats which are better for me and settled in for the flight. This was uneventful until shortly before we landed when the plane was buffeted by the high winds, but we landed and proceeded to collect our luggage, the only issue was that the screens were not working do we did not know where to expect our luggage, a little later it finally arrived and we went to seek out our taxi. There he was waiting so off we set, there was a pleasant surprise in that Kate our friend who is his neighbour had kindly given him two lots of bread rolls and milk for us, what a lovely person, first Brian was dropped off then myself.
It was now gone midnight we had left the flat 6 hours ago, I was not tired so decided to sort out my case and letters, my cold was much worse by now, I did not sleep well despite painkillers, the next morning back to reality, sorted out washing and other tasks, but also a lot of the day in bed, the weather is cold wet and miserable, a long way from that left behind. I sadly being addicted to Emmerdale and Corrie have been trying to watch this whilst falling asleep in the chair, hopefully I will soon be over this cold and back to normal.

1 January 2014 A Trip Up To The Castle

Well readers thats the end of 2013 a very mixed year with a very long different ending to that which I expected, but back to the plot and the latest episode of our trip to Malaga. When I eventually awoke nothing was different, Zorro was sat at his computer Brian in bed, so made my breakfast and discussed plans for today and tomorrow, because he leaves early tomorrow morning for a month in Tenerife. He said he had things he wanted to do today, so would not be joining us when we went out. Heard a noise outside, it was a small group of young people making their way home, they must of been to somewhere formal and the men were dressed in dinner suits but by the look of them still recovering from the night before. Checked Brian ok and eventually he appeared had breakfast, he was still not right with his cold or virus, but wanted to go out.

I was going to charge my mobile phone but the charger has disappeared despite looking everywhere it seems to of gone, so was unable to chance texting or phoning people to wish them a happy new year, because I felt it best to conserve the battery for emergencies, but where is it I have used it whilst on holiday, lets hope it turns up bego5re I go home or I will have to buy a replacement, maybe I can order one online when finished tonight so I will not be stuck
We decided to see if we could find the path up to the castle as it would give very good views and photo opportunities, so off we set. I noticed that the streets had all been cleaned quite different to back home also that the rubbish was being collected from the bins, so different to back home on a bank holiday.

It seemed a long walk to get there but it was a warm pleasant day. eventually we reached the path and started to climb, Brian mentioned that the last time we were here I was reluctant to try the trip up, I did say since then I had had a stent to help with breathing but also this morning a strong painkiller to help with my back pain. He was struggling but I think it was down to the infection he had, so we had frequent rests on the way up but also took plenty of photos on the way.
The views were great at each place we stopped and there were plentiful viewing areas and seats to rest, plus a mixture of people from different countries, we could see the port, the bullring and the bays we had walked along on previous days.

Eventually we reached the top and castle, after discussion we decided to go in, one if the joys of being pensioners was that we paid a much lower price. I forgot to say earlier I had realised very unusually for me I had forgotten my water bottle but was needing a drink with the heat, there was no facility to buy on site, the only water was a dribbling water fountain, today they would of made a lot of money selling soft drinks. We again took lots of photos before deciding to go back, my suggestion was to take the bus but Brian wanted to walk, we reached a compromise and went down the road rather than the path back to the main road.

We then set off towards the botanical gardens, we found a small supermarket and Brian kindly bought me a bottle of water and a Magnum ice cream, so I could take a further pain killer, to help me on the walk back to the flat. We came across 2 sets of cyclists, as at home they were totally oblivious to pedestrians although I felt it wad not an area they should be riding particularly in such large groups.

Eventually we reached the flat I had a sandwich, then a bath as I was exhausted and went to bed for a rest, when I woke Zorro was doing e mail I think whilst Brian cooked us a pleasant stew to use up some of the food we had left then I did another omelette for Brian and I Zorro settled for salmon sandwiches instead. After we say for a while the others watched TV whilst I caught up with things on the Internet. Shortly after Zorro said good night and good bye as he will be leaving before we get up in the morning. Then Brian said he was having an early night also leaving me on my own yet again, never mind, had a couple of e mails from Andy to day he is following my Blog, do that makes at least one reader LOL.

So here I am sat in the living area at the tablet, tonight listening to Nat King Cole as I one figured type this, its coming up to 11 here and there is nothing I can make sense of on the TV so I think shortly I will have an early night, as usual readers thanks for taking the time to read the story.

I must apologise readers for the delay in posting the end of the story, this is down to the fact that somehow I managed to mislay my charger for the tablet, I searched everywhere for it on the last day and again when I got home, plus my friends have checked they did not pick it up, also I did not have a spare charger or connection cable. Also I had acquired a full blown cold possibly the one Brian had and am finally feeling up to the task of writing up the end in the early hours of Sunday morning.

31 December 2013 New Years Eve A Different Beach To Explore

I will start at the end for a change today as its new years eve, I do realise when I am typing this its still not midnight back home, but here its 29 minutes past and I am sat here all on my own, bangers keep going off outside, the good news is that although its a quiet area there are two police cars outside a little down the street.
My two friends retired to bed earlier, I am not into Spanish TV and all my friends seem to of disappeared from the various websites. I would of gone out to see what the crowds are up to but we are still having issues with the lock on the outside door, so here I am sat at the table, at least its warm in here and I am listening to Burt Bacharach as I type.

Earlier I rang my friend Anne back in UK for a chat,(its times like these I really appreciate mobile phones) update and a bit of company, she unlike me wanted to be on her own over the holiday period, we talked about back in the 70s when we first knew each other and rang each other to cope with being on our own and how different it would be one day in the future, well here we both are 40 years on both on our own with nobody for company, well not quite true I suppose she has sleeping cats and I have sleeping friends LOL, where did I go wrong, or maybe this is as good as it gets, at least I am warm and health is not to bad, apart from the pain killers for my bad back

Back to the plot Zorro and I had a lie in no sign of Brian when we got up, had breakfast then checked at 10 he was ok, which resulted in him getting up, we decided to walk down to the port and have a walk along the front, since I was last here they have extended the port do was a longer distance before we reached the promenade.
I walked a little by the sea, it was so quiet without the traffic noise, eventually we came to an area for us oldies to exercise,

I should of used tablet to take photos of us children playing instead you will have to wait until I return home readers. Near to there was a very large high chimney, with an even larger one in the distance, we later learnt these were all that was left of a factory, the larger one had a device for measuring time inside.

The others felt they had walked long enough, plus they resisted my suggestion of a trip to the nearby Burger King for a Gigantic Whopper so we wandered down the backstreets seeking somewhere for a sandwich. By good luck we came across a small cafe that seemed to fit the bill, the young lady waitress spoke no English so between my sign language and Zorros Spanish we enjoyed drinks and sandwiches. From there I suggested we find somewhere that do cakes to finish off and or an ice-cream.

Zorro led us to the main supermarket where we stocked up with more food for tonight and possibly the rest of our stay, unfortunately we did not find cakes or ice-cream unless we bought a number. As we walked along we noticed a number of people lay down by one of the offices, Zorro mentioned the fact that none seemed to have alcohol, rather water milk or juice we carried on and eventually found a place, we each chose a different one, again there was a strange group of people near one of the churches, going by the mixture and clothing we wondered if they were waiting for some sort of food or other hand out, a sad sign of the times, as we were now tired we went back to the flat, I had a bath then a sleep, whilst the others did tasks on their computers. When I got up I assisted Brian with preparing the meal, which turned out a great success followed by our cream cakes, we then relaxed for a while before as already said they went to bed.

Its now 1.30 and bangers are going off still, its odd there seem to be no pretty fireworks lighting up the sky, I am not sure if we are over the worst or it will get noisier, so going to have a quick look at other sites before I try to sleep

I hope you are enjoying the read and I wish you all
A Happy New Year