Days 55-60 - I Can't Finca the Title

Not wanting to hang around in our prison cell of a hotel room for any longer than entirely necessary, we made a quick getaway first thing Monday morning (this is Monday 1^st October by the way – my blog writing efforts have been a little poor of late!) and headed to Barcelona-Sants station to catch the train to Alicante.

We had to put our bags through an Airport-style security scanner before getting on the train, which we hadn’t experienced before now.  Nick thinks it is something to do with ETA bombing Spanish trains in the past.  In the “Which Country’s Trains Are Best” game, Spain was immediately awarded a point when we sat down, as the attendant handed out free headphones that could be plugged into the armrest to listen to the film playing on the television screens throughout the carriages.  This point was promptly taken away however, as no sound could be heard over the white noise that was playing at only a decibel lower than the film!  During the journey we made our way to the restaurant carriage and had lunch – another first for me!

After arriving in Alicante we caught the tram to Benidorm where we were met by Svenja.  Quick side note:  while waiting for Svenja we decided to get a coffee from the train station café.  We ordered two cappuccinos and had to stop the “barista” from topping the coffee with not the foamy milk that we all know and love, but squirty cream (of childhood nostalgia fame).  We have experienced this a couple of times during our trip and I have to say I am not a fan.

As we don't have a photograph to illustrate any of these points, here is a map showing where we are.

Anyway, Svenja picked us up and drove us 20 miles to the Finca el Tossal, near the small town of Bolulla. The finca is a 7 bedroom hotel in the hills built from scratch by Svenja and her husband Thorsten, a German couple.  We were shown around by Thorsten and we had to resist voicing the “oohs”, “wows” and “oh my gods” that we were silently communicating to each other as we walked through the lit up gardens and pool area.  Here’s a link to the website if you want to have a look http://www.finca-el-tossal.com/gallery.asp

Needless to say it’s a big leap up from Andrew and Valerie’s!  But, as Nick pointed out we have something to thank them for, as if their place hadn’t been so horrible we would never have started looking at other websites for somewhere to escape to, which is how we ended up finding this place.

The next morning we were down in the kitchen ready to begin breakfast - our main daily task while we are here.  It probably sounds a lot more impressive than it is – we are not actually cooking anything, just setting up the room and laying out a buffet of breads, cold meats, cheese, cakes, fruit etc .  The presentation of the food has turned out to be the hardest part for me, but luckily this is something Nick is very good at so I usually leave the fiddly stuff to him. 

After everything is set out, Nick disappears off to “walk the perimeter”, looking for any pesky stray leaves that need sweeping up and to tidy the pool area.  This is involves half an hour of running a broom over the stones surrounding the pool so that they lie perfectly smooth (another job I would not have the patience for but Nick seems to enjoy!)  This picture is pre stone-smoothing just in case anyone questions Nick’s capabilities here.

While Nick is off playing Groundskeeper Willy, I am clearing away finished breakfast things, loading the dishwasher, wiping tables etc.  By the time breakfast is finished, Nick has finished his jobs and that just leaves us hovering and mopping the floor and restocking the beer fridge and by 12pm we are pretty much finished for the day!  The rest of the time we are free to do as we please, and a lot of this time has been spent sunbathing by the pool as the weather has consistently been between 25 and 30 degrees every day so far, not to rub it in or anything…It is set to get a lot cooler over the next few days though, dropping to a chilly 22 degrees.  I’m not actually joking - after two months of baking temperatures, every time I feel a breeze I get goosebumps!  Not looking forward to returning to the British climate.

Now for the best part….we get to enjoy the same three course dinner as the guests every night!  Highlights so far have been:  Starter –A mixed Veg and Feta cheese tower, topped with a layer of Caramelised goats cheese (this was especially a highlight for me as Nick doesn’t eat any cheese stronger than a Dairylea so I got to eat his topping too).  Main – Sirloin of Pork with Homemade chips and Oven roasted veg, and for Dessert – Chocolate Mousse with Fruit Coulis and Frozen Raspberries.  This is the terrace where we enjoy our dinner :-)

  

On Thursday we travelled a mile away from the finca to see the local waterfall!  We walked down a hill to the point where two mountain ranges meet, creating a narrow gorge between them.  There isn’t enough space for a path either side so the only way to get to the waterfall, is to go through the river! The path disappears at the edge of some rapids which we had to climb down into, before wading our way, waist deep, downstream.  Due to us not really preparing properly for this situation we didn’t manage to get all the way to the waterfall itself, as we had brought along a camera, phone and other items we didn’t want to lose along the way.  The plan is to try again without said items at some point soon.

Friday and Saturday were mostly spent sunbathing, interspersed with some HIIT (High Intesity Interval Training) that Nick has got me started on.  I decided if I’m going to be eating three courses every night I better start doing something to burn some calories.  So, that takes us to Saturday 6^th October, tune in tomorrow for the next week’s update!

Days 53 & 54 - The Rain in Spain is Brought by Strangers on a Plane

Saturday arrived and after two weeks of various fat loaded fry ups every day for breakfast I jumped at the chance when the healthy option of ‘Porridge’ was offered, with hindsight this was my first mistake. What I received was basically a bowl of salt, which to make edible I had to add 9 table spoons of sugar to! So much for the healthy start.

We made our way into Barcelona, and you know that expression, ‘No matter where you are in the world you’re never more than 6 foot away from a Yorkshireman’ well it turns out its true. While wandering the streets of the gothic quarter we bumped into a couple of strangers from back home. (Ok it might have been slightly more planned out than that, by why let details ruin a good story).

We found the nearest bar and went for a beer to share our travelling stories and catch up on the comings and goings from back home.  So, the original plan was to take in some of the sights of Barcelona and maybe hit the beach but unfortunately after having 2 months of near continual sunshine, it seemed our visitors had also brought the English weather with them. 

However like true English this hadn’t stopped them donning their finest shorts and flip-flops for their holiday!

But that’s ok, after all Barcelona is a city renowned for its art, music and literature so there’s plenty to do indoors too right?  And where would 4 cultured young adults make their way to; The Museu Picasso? The National Gallery Art de Catalunya? The Palau Reial?……..nope, the only logical choice was the Erotica Museum!

It seems for all people throughout history as soon as they developed a means of communication or expression, they then used it to share naked people!  I think this picture best sums the place up, although it does leave one particular question unanswered….why the hell is a dog (or whatever that is) getting involved?

As evening set in and the rain was still coming down, we decided to go on a Tapas crawl round some choice bars of the city. 

From classy establishments serving champagne cocktails, and traditional taverns offering up local wine and Spanish black pudding, through to a backstreet bar with beer and one euro self-service tapas, I think we just about covered the lot! There was only really one picture of this I could choose; I’m not sure Rory and Richard were aware they were sitting in the ’love corner’ under the glow of a heart shaped light, but in case there’s any doubt here’s the proof!

Glad to be out with some familiar faces we stayed until the last possible moment, but with the last train back to Sitges due at 23:51 and my watch reading quarter too, we dashed what should have been a 10 minute leisurely stroll to the station just in time to get aboard.

The next day we packed up our stuff, said our goodbyes to Val and Andrew and made our way back into Barcelona. We checked in at our hotel and got bit of a shock. You see when you book a room with a wardrobe, TV and double bed you expect to see those things, but probably not crammed in so tightly there isn’t actually room for anything else! A generous estimate puts the room at about 7ft by 8ft. So if there happen to be a pair of anorexic dwarves reading this, get yourself a cheap night right in the centre of Barcelona at the Hotel Barbara, for everyone else, stay well clear.

So we left our cell and went north to check out Guell Park. We wandered through twisting and turning paths, under stone arches and up lizard lined flights of stairs, before coming out on a large piazza, flanked on either side by parakeets flocking from one palm tree to another and in the centre a chorus of drag queens in military uniforms putting on a show (I don’t know if ‘a chorus’ is technically the correct collective noun for drag queens but it sounds right to me). 

 

To be honest there was much more to see there than we had time for; we could see people standing on top of a pyramid structure hidden in the hills on one side, and a path that snaked off into some woods on the other.  But there wasn’t time for those on this trip as we had to get back for a football match!

Well one of us did anyway, Becki opted out of a 40 minute trip on the tube to see two teams she doesn't care about, so it was left to me to meet up with Rory and Richard close by our hotel and head off to the edge of the city to watch Espanyol vs Athletico Madrid.

It was a good game, though perhaps not so much for the quality on the pitch as for the atmosphere. We were behind the Espanyol goal, and they had a bloke with a microphone who led the crowd in every song and chant you can imagine throughout the 90 minutes.  The home side were poor in the first half and Madrid had most of the possession and took a 1-0 lead into halftime. After what must have been a rousing team talk they came out much better in the second period and created a number of clear cut chances, unfortunately they couldn’t put any of them away. So 1-0 it finished and fortunately we were at the right end to catch all of the action in both halves.

It was too late to catch our connecting metro home so the three of us ambled back through the streets of Barcelona, stopping for a pint to refuel along the way. We were off early the next morning on our way further south, so I said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel to see how Becki had fared in her cell for the evening!.....which was not great to be honest!

Days 47-52 - Black Is The Colour, Painting Is The Game.

It’s been a while since the last update but I will try and keep it brief.

So, after discarding all the old (black and mould-ridden) washing up cloths and vowing that I would be in charge of washing up every night during our stay to ensure things were actually clean, we decided to stick it out here in Sitges with Andrew and his wife/servant Valerie.

Over the last few days Nick and Andrew have completed the “Let’s knock down a perfectly good table for no apparent reason and then build an exact replica in its place” project.

I in turn, have done so much gardening to say I have become covered in midge bites would be an understatement.  You can barely see the skin that once covered my legs.  At one point I counted 35 on one leg.  I didn’t bother counting them on the other one.  After the building of the table was complete, I was tasked with white-washing the concrete base and sanding down the edges and painting them black.  

Andrew was so pleased with the look of this black paint that my job for the 4 hours after this was to paint every object in sight the same colour…..candle holders, a gas heater, a bucket, a watering can…the list goes on.

After the success of the table, Nick and Andrew then built a new top for the well.  I then painted it…not black surprisingly, but blue.

After a few overcast days, we decided to go to the beach on Tuesday.  By the time we finished work and got there however, the wind had really picked up and the sun had gone in.  We braved it out for half an hour or so but then had to admit defeat. 

The next day, after we’d finished work we went for a walk and discovered a tiny path leading off the track up the mountain.  We followed it and climbed up 100 or so metres and eventually emerged into a clearing on the cliff face.  Here’s a photo of Nick pretending to be a caveman while exploring our surroundings.

On Thursday,the eve of our last full day with Andrew and Valerie, we decided that the following day we would implement what Nick dubbed “The Chinery Challenge” (named after our good friend Loz Chinery – this’ll be a good way of seeing if he actually reads this blog).  Andrew has an incredibly annoying habit of repeating the same mundane point 5/6 times a day, and the aim of this game was to repeat the same point back to him as innocently and sincerely as possible while your voice simultaneously drips with sarcasm.

I won. 2-0. Just saying.

Just to end this post off nicely, here’s a photo of a turtle that lives in the pond in the garden!  Over to Nick to write about the weekend :-)