We are going back



It has been decided that we shall be returning to Andalucia in Spain for our main holiday in 2011.   The location is almost the same as last year.   We shall be staying next door to the property we had last year.   It is all on the same level with a larger and deeper swimming pool as well as a hot tub.   We really loved Andalucia and there is so much more to see.   In fact we could go for a further 10 years and this would still be true.   It is a beautiful area, vast in size.

This time we shall not be flying to Malaga.   We are going to book the 24 hour cruise from Portsmouth to Santander and drive a further two days down to southern Spain.   On our return we shall have more time and so hope to see something of Northern Spain.   Who knows, we may even drift over the border into France!

We hope to visit Gibraltar, Jerez and San Luca de Barrameda where our favourite sherry, Manzilla, is produced.   Now that we know our way round the local supermarkets and butchers I am looking forward to cooking a few Spanish dishes!

Watch this space!

Andalucia is simply breath-taking

We eventually got away on time on Wednesday, 8th September on our first holiday in Spain. We had visited the Canaries and Majorca & Menorca but had never seen mainland Spain. For many years I had dreamed of visiting Spain and seeing its plains and mountains. I had seen occasional films showing these features but to see them in person was completely different. Pauline and I were amazed at the stately grandeur of the mountains we saw. We stayed in a rented farmhouse on the edge of the Montes de Malaga. we were sandwiched between two valleys and the views were impressive. The photo above is an example of what we saw each day as we emerged from the house.
We hired a Fiat Panda which has a 1200cc engine. It was not up to the task we set it. On the motorways it was often difficult to ascend to fifth gear because it was so under-powered. The roads in Spain are quite exceptional and put the UK roads to shame. Their road signs were very much to the point and the language difference was not a problem. Some of the road signs were really cartoon depictions of what the driver needed to know. Outside of urban areas like Malaga the motorways or autovias as they are known in Spain were extremely quiet except when siesta time was approching!
There were plenty ancient towns with period features and some of the old villages seemed to hang from the hill and mountain sides. My only problem was that I could not safely stop at the side of the road to take photos that presented themselves. There was always a ditch on either side. The old towns and villages were built high up to fend off ancient invaders who happened along. There was always a castle to defend the community. There was far more apparent history than we have in the UK.

The first old town we visited was Antequera. We parked in the underground car park and walked up the main street until we found a group of people sitting at tables outside a bar. There we ordered beer and tapas followed by a glass of Manzanilla. It was relaxing to sit there in the street under an umbrella and soak up the atmosphere of Spain. After our wonderful meal we collected the Fiat from the car park and drove to the top of the town where there were lovely rooftop views as well as one of a former Roman baths. In the distance we could see the outcrop of rock from the plain. This was to be repeated wherever we went.

Two days later we drove to the ancient town of Cordoba but were bitterly disappointed to find parking was impossible. We drove back to Colmenare via Montilla, a well known town for white wine.

The Michelin Guide referred to a drive of 101 miles around some lovely villages so we took this route, going clockwise instead of the suggested anti-clockwise. One small village really stood out. It was Zuheros which seemed to cling to a steep mountainside for dear life! Here there was a huge rock with an ancient castle standing on it. By the rock was another rock which looked as if it had been split from the larger part with a giant cleaver. From below it was magnificent but I could not stop, blocking the road, to take a photo. The village streets seemed so steep that they were at 45 degrees to the vertical. It was bottom gear all the way! At the far end of the village I was able to get a shot of the castle on the rock but it would have been better taken from below the rock. The views at this point were of millions of olive tres planted in perfect rows on the hillsides. Most of the drive gave us views of such neatly planted trees. I wondered how the harvest was organised because even an army of workers could not have knocked all the olives down when they had swollen with October rain. The tour ended with vistas of a huge man made lake. The water had a rich green colour and stretched for miles. We had to cross the concrete bridge which was controlled by the only set of temporary traffic lights we saw. Workman were slowly renewing the concrete road surface and the bit in use was very bumpy indeed.

One day we visited a pueblo called Frigiliana near Nerja. It was a modern version of the many old villages arranged like an amphitheatre. Another such place, but far more beautiful, was Mijas Pueblo, where we met some friends. I had last seen Judith over 15 years ago when she worked for NALGO, the former local government union. She and Mike had bought an apratment in Riviera Del Sol and were there for a month. It bwas great to see them again. We liked Mijas so much that we went back another day to do some more exploring. Previously we had been sheltering from a bad thunderstorm, so it was good to see it in full sun.

The piece de resistance, though, was the town of Ronda, about 70 miles from our base. The town was in two parts, separated by an ancient bridge some 300 feet high from the bottom of the gorge. I felt very queasy as I looked down from that "supernal" height to the river below! After viewing it from every conceivable angle we returned to find we had been booked for illegal parking! Not to worry, though, it could not spoil our lovely holiday.

By the time we boarded the plane for home we agreed we would return. Spain is a huge country and we had not even seen the whole tip of the iceberg. For years I had listened to Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez and imagined the Spanish countryside going on for hundreds of miles. Now I have seen a little and it is so good to be there in person rather than see it in a film.

We thoroughly recommend Spain to anyone who likes tourism rather than flop holidays. No wonder so many British people have settled there! We encountered many of them in the supermarkets we visited.

Disaster struck recently

It was some months ago that I booked a small cottage with private pool in Andalucia, Spain. We had experienced a lot of illness during the early months of the year and were looking forward to this trip. We had never visited mainland Spain so it was exciting in prospect.

Our first holiday this year was Anghistri in Greece and we had not been home long before I received an urgent email to say that the cottage was not available because there was a serious problem with the drains. However, the good news was that a farmhouse owned by the same couple just happened to be available and we were offered it on the same terms. This was arranged and we looked forward to it.

We were due to fly out to Malaga on 5th September to start a fortnight's holiday. It was late afternoon on the Friday that I went into the garage to get some food from the freezer and found the central heating boiler leaking copious amounts of water! We looked at the water and realised we were not going to be able to fly on the Sunday. I asked a neighbour, who was a heating engineer to take a look and he advised that it seemed to be the heat exchanger that was leaking and that this was an expensive repair. However, he recommended us to ring the manufacturers and ask for help.

Help eventually came on the following Monday. It was discovered that the water was emanating from a split flow valve and this was replaced and the boiler generally checked out. Immediately we got on the world wide web and rebooked the holiday to commence Wednesday, 8th September and run for two weeks. The owner of the farmhouse had already advised that the place was vacant after our booking so we knew we could have the same period of time there.

Previously we had spent some time on the phone cancelling our flights, car hire and a night in an airport hotel prior to leaving on the early flight. We also set up a travel insurance claim through our bank.

For some years now we have been booking holidays independently and this time proved the value of working this way. With no package to deal with it is just like changing arrangements for any sort of travel. The cost of the rebooked travelling is also less than the original plan, so we gain once more.

So, today, 7th September we are getting ready to leave for Manchester and a visit to our children and grandchildren in Rochdale. One grandaughter starts at senior school today, so she can share it all with us. Her cousin will be really smiling because I am taking her my desktop PC complete with printer and separate scanner which are components she doesn't have! She even gets a full set of ink cartridges for the printer!

Wish us luck in getting of to Spain on the 7.45am flight tomorrow!

Bridgemere Garden World

Lots of people enjoy a visit to a garden centre. They go there with high hopes of creating a lovely sunny garden at home. Garden centres vary from small limited outlets for bedding plants etc to large areas including sales of clothing, bird food, human food and so on. Depending on where they are set up the visit can be very enjoyable.
Some days ago we decided to visit Bridgemere Garden World on the border of Cheshire and Shropshire, not far from Nantwich. I hasten to say here that this was classed as a day out that included the purchase of plants. The establishment is over 100 miles from our home in Anglesey! After driving for almost two and a half hours we arrived on the car park of the Swan Hotel in Woore, the village just down the road from the garden World. It was over 5 years since we last used the Swan and we were looking forward to sampling their lovely food for lunch. Shock, horror! The place was deserted! We did get a cheery welcome from the young woman in the bar. Yes, food was available. We ordered what we thought would go down well and waited. When it came it was served as a bar snack and it tasted acceptable. The trouble was that we knew what food there used to be like and this was not the same. Still, we had our lunch and left for Bridgemere.
Even Bridgemere Garden World has changed over the past few years. Cotton Traders have an out let there as well as other similar people. The plants were there aplenty and we had a lovely time walking round and choosing things for our garden. We met a lovely old lady from Stoke on Trent who was recently widowed and had a chat with her in the pelagonium greenhouse. There was a special electric bus taking visitors round the display gardens which we thought was a good idea. The usual quality of plants was still a feature of our experience and we appreciated this. We enjoyed afternoon tea. Pauline was able to order Earl Grey tea and I had English Breakfast tea - both with coffee gateaux! the sun shone and we relaxed before setting off home to Anglesey.
It had been a great day out, despite the Swan Hotel disappointment. Driving through Cheshire with its distinctive red brick architecture is always pleasant. We arrived home, glad for a day out after a long period when we felt restricted at home during our heath problems which had begun on 28th December. The weather has been good since that day so the plants are out in the garden with just two wall baskets to fill and place at the front of the bungalow.
All in all we thought it a good escape that day. We shall go again and spend some time in the display gardens which we felt would take up too much time this time round. It was much better than paying a fortune to visit Chelsea Flower Show and see everything artificially grown and displayed at great expense. In the meantime we shall continue to visit Fron Goch Garden Centre near Caernarfon where we can purchase lots of wonderful plants any day. To find this pearl you drive along the main route for Porthmadog, cross the roundabout where you can turn down to the Welsh Highland Railway terminus, and then turn right . The signpost says "Saron". You go past an old hospital which is up for sale and continue along a fairly narrow road. Not far after a level crossing on your right you arrive at the Garden Centre. They also have a sales outlet for Hootens, the farm shop in Anglesey - recommended!

Our plans for this year

So far it has been a difficult year in terms of health. Pauline is still suffering greatly from bursitis which really restricts her movements. A new hip joint would make no difference because the burser is a sac which exudes the lubricant for the joint. It is leaking. For my part I have had a chest infection since being in hospital over the New Year. Chest infections can cause havoc with my underlying condition known as COPD. If I have another exacerbation I will suffer scarring to my lung tissue. Allowed to continue like this, COPD will kill me. I am waiting to get on a course lasting 10 weeks where I discover different ways of exercising to keep me fitter and more able to fight off this blight.

All this has made us realise we are not invincible and that if we are to enjoy travelling in retirement the time is now, before we are too restricted to travel abroad. We had hoped to travel in France this year, but when we started to look for villas/gites etc they were all unavailable. So we simply said, "Let's go back to Anghistri for 3 weeks." Anghistri is the small island we often visit 20 miles from Athens. We know many people in the village where we stay and are always welcomed with open arms by Christos and Beverly, our hosts. We therefore looked for flights and were able to book two using Easyjet who now fly from Manchester to Athens. Bev confirmed room 10 and the trip is on for July.

A few days ago we decided to take a look at villas in Spain. We found a suitable cottage for two weeks in September and made the enquiry. Yes, it was available, and it has a pool which provides excellent therapy for our respective medical problems. The flights were booked, a car hired and the deposit transferred today via the Internet banking service. All that remained was to book the car into the Shuttle Car Park at Manchester Airport for each holiday. Job done!

Travelling to Anghistri will be like going home for a break in July. The Spanish experience we hope will be quite different! Holidays in Menorca, Majorca and the Canaries are not what you think in terms of Spain. I have always wanted to visit Granada, Seville, the Alhambra Palace, Gibraltar etc and all are within driving distance of our little cottage up in the hills of Andalusia. The photo above shows a view of Mount Maroma from the swimming pool. We understand that there will be a welcome like Anghistri provides when we go to the village for supplies. That is very appealing!

Watch this space for news of our travels. It might be some time before I provide a report but do keep a look out.

Christmas Shopping in Manchester

Some time ago, my wife expressed a wish to visit Manchester to do our Christmas shopping. We agreed in late October that we would go. However, in the meantime, life took a slight turn which affected the decision. We volunteered to take care of our friends' daughter on any occasion necessary during her younger brother, Mally's, hip operation in Alder Hey Children's hospital in Liverpool. Liz, his mum, would be staying with him in the hospital, and David, his father, would be shuttling between Anglesey and Liverpool. This meant waiting until we knew what day or days we might be required. There was a delay in Mally's return home because the hospital had to be sure he would be OK if released back to his foster parents' care.

During this period I had problems with COPD from which I often suffer. This entailed an x-ray and a subsequent doctor's appointment. When the doctor discussed the x-ray result with me I learned that my chest was free of infection but that my heart appeared to be slightly enlarged. the result was an appointment a week later to have an ECG done. Whilst I was not worried about this there was always the possibility that a further appointment might be necessary so we could not arrange our 2 days in Manchester until this was clear. However, the ECG gave a good result and an earlier colesterol blood test proved OK too.

So, now the way was clear to book the two days. No city centre rooms were available unless we were prepared to pay a silly price. So we booked in at a Rochdale hotel for one night, knowing we could dine there too. We drove to Manchester and parked outside House of Fraser where we began our shopping. We had a pleasant lunch at Cafe Rouge in Deansgate and explored Waterstones bookshop across the road. Next we walked across to St Anne's Square to the Christmas Market to see if it compared to last year's experience in Salzburg. It didn't!

As the afternoon wore on we completed our shopping and then went to the hotel to pack presents ready to deliver to our family in Castleton and Mildrow.

Next we called on our daughter who was, naturally, surprised to see us. We spent a short time with her and our grandaughter, Ellie and then drove over to deliver secret Christmas presents to our son's home. He was away on business but we delivered the parcels and I kept the girls entertained so they would not see where their mum was hiding our presents. It was lovely to see everyone.

We returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner. The rest of the evening involved dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant attached to the hotel. Next day we drove back to Manchester to continue shopping in the city centre. It was not long before we realised the centre was not a shadow of its former self so we left to continue in the Trafford Centre. We completed our shopping and had lunch during our stay in the Centre. At three o'clock we set off back to home in Anglesey.

The weather was very strange indeed. From large remaining puddl;es we could see there had been heavy rain in the afternoon. Spray was a hazard on the motorway and visibility was bad because there was the largest and lowest black cloud hovering above us as we drove. It was so dark we checked the time! But after a few miles it improved. We were homeward bound and the light was better in the west.

On arriving home we lit the fire and settled down with our feet up. They were really aching after all the walking we had done. It was good to be home and we decided we would not repeat the experience again. Manchester would not be a choice for Christmas shopping. Home is where the heart is and our hearts are firmly established in Anglesey.

Venice in Autumn 2009

We recently decided to spend 4,000 Air Miles and fly to Venice. To say it was eventful is not an overestimate. On Monday this week we checked in at Manchester Airport and found the flight was delayed due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft. It turned out that Zurich Airport had experienced fog that morning and many flights to and from there were delayed. Of course, we were concerned about arriving in Zurich in time to catch our onward flight to Venice. This is where Swiss Airlines excel!

As we approached Zurich Airport we received the usual information on the monitors telling us the gates from which our onward flights were leaving. Where passengers had completely missed their flights but there were later ones they were booked on them. If there was no possibility of flying on a Swiss flight passengers were directed to the transfer desk. Where the connection was still viable we were given the relevant gate numbers. We fell into the latter category as the flight was delayed by the earlier weather problems but was wanting to leave asap to try to make up time.
It is a long time since Pauline had walked that quickly as we changed flights! Only the other day she had experienced painful arthritis. We got to the aircraft which was a Fokker 100. As soon as we boarded the door was closed and take off was being organised. As we waited for the pilot to get permission to push back and start engines we saw the baggage man drive up and our suitcase was loaded. A few minutes later we were taking off for Venice Marco Polo Airport and the flight took 45 minutes.

On arrival we collected our suitcase and set off down the long walkway to the water bus station. A half hour later we were heading towards Venice across the lagoon. But by this time we had been visited by hundreds of mosquitos and Pauline, unknown to her, was bitten in many places. A little over an hour later we arrived at the San Zacarria landing stage and we disembarked and walked across the wide pavement to our hotel which was opposite. It was Hotel Paganelli, according to the badges on the coat hangers, a Best Western establishment.

We soon unpacked and went out for dinner close by. The food was very good indeed and we experienced some Prosecco Sur Lie for the first time. Later we returned to our room and went to sleep. In the night I experienced heartburn and had to take some tablets to deal with it. This disturbed my sleep to the point where I had to take a morning nap to counteract the feeling of being wiped out. Pauline went out alone and came back with a massive set of insect bites on principally her arms and legs. They were beginning to itch like mad! Not funny!

That afternoon we took it easy and just wandered around the streets and canals once the sun had lessened.

That night we discovered another restaurant and had another excellent meal. The waiter there explained how Venice was more humid than countries like Greece and experienced very little wind. This plus the fact that the whole airport and city was built on a swamp explained the large mosquito community. By this time, Pauline had bought some hydro cortisone cream to put on the bites but it was not as effective as hoped. Like the brave woman she is, Pauline endured the agony in order to get her money's worth out of the visit!

Next day , after breakfast, we walked down to St Mark's Square and witnessed the cafes ripping off visitors to a high tune. Later the queues of visitors to St Mark's Basilica had grown less so we joined them and viewed the inside. It was dark and dismal and we were not impressed at all. There was a charge to ascend the stone staircase to the balcony and another for a visit to the golden altar backing. I think there was one too to see the treasury.

After this we had a walk round the streets and returned to the hotel to collect cameras etc. On the way there we are stopped by a well dressed man who asked if we would like a free boat ride to the island of Murano to see glass making. Is there really such a thing as a free ride we wondered. We told him we were going to our hotel and would return quite soon. Later we returned and located him again. He gave us two complimentary tickets for the speedboat and asked us to follow him. Soon we were bumping across the waves as we sped towards the island of Murano, famous as the place where Venetian glass is created.

We arrived at the private landing stage for the glass factory and were shown in to large area where two furnaces were roaring away and men of different ages and experience were creating glass objects. One young man took his molten glass from the furnace, rolled it on a steel table, and then shaped it with tongs to create a prancing horse. It was beautiful. Next he took another lump of glass from the furnace and turned into a beautiful bulbous vase in about two minutes.

Our next stage was to be ushered into the complex of showrooms to browse the creations displayed. Some objects we were ugly whilst others were tacky. But, for the most part there was a treasury of beautiful glass created by fine craftsmen. We bought a small vase and paid for it as it was carefully wrapped to withstand the journey home. We love it! We expected to be charged for the return trip to Venice itself but this was free too. We shared the speedboat with two of the loveliest Americans we have met - they were two gay men from Hawaii. Chatting with them and enjoying their company, the journey was soon completed.

It was later that day that Pauline and I went shopping for a leather handbag and eventually located the shop we had seen earlier. We also found a glass shop where we bought a Murano dish for a friend who had expressed a wish for some glassware. Along the way we found ourselves in many streets and by many canals we had not seen before. It was fascinating.

On Thursday we had to make our way back to the airport. It was a slow journey by water bus that edged its way slowly through thick fog on the lagoon. On arrival we found another delay with the arrival of our aircraft from Zurich! We had to exercise patience once more and hope the delay was Zurich weather again and that we would make our Manchester flight from Switzerland. Eventually we boarded the aircraft and flew to Zurich. On approach we learned that, whilst others were facing further delays we were lucky and should be able to catch the Manchester flight.

It was harder this time because Pauline found walking difficult with weeping blisters etc on her feet and legs. Eventually we were approaching the area for Terminal B and showed our passports. Next we had to go through security. A member of the Swiss Airlines staff called out for passengers for Manchester and asked the queueing passengers to allow us priority. It was a quick passage through security and then we were collected in a minibus which delivered us to the aircraft. Soon we were flying home on the last leg of our journey to Manchester to collect our car and drive back to Anglesey. Sadly, this time our suitcase didn't make it to the aircraft so we reported this to Global Baggage Solutions who arranged for it to be sent on to us. It arrived the following afternoon.

We had enjoyed our city break and looked forward to our evening meal at the Tre-Ysgowen Hotel and Spa, ten miles away to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was to be a wonderful experience with excellent food cooked well and presented well. It was even less than we had paid in our favourite waterside restaurant in Venice!

Coming away from the Manchester check in area, Pauline noticed Mark Lawrenson, the football commentator and pundit, heading into the check in. As we boarded the aircraft later we found he was travelling on the same aircraft. He was sitting in Economy across the aisle from us. It turned out that he was flying via Zurich to Florence where Liverpool FC were playing that night. The Sky football commentator was flying Business Class!

We have had an eventful time this visit and we are glad too that we went. I suppose this qualifies as a success. Venice is lovely in parts and ugly in parts, particularly where scaffolding is covered in a tacky fashion to allow work not to impinge on the image of the World Heritage Site. It is also over expensive and most of its prices are nut justifiable. But there you are, if you want to see this special city you will have to accept the prices. So we did. But we refused to be ripped off by taking coffee in St Mark's Square like many others. There were very few tables occupied, even though string quartets were playing lovely music for the patrons.