Happy Birthday Alicia

Our next door neighbours baby has just turned one year old. We popped around with a present, and were asked to go back again at 6pm, in time for the party tea. 6pm?, I checked, well, 5pm then. ok, 5pm?, well make it 4:30. No wonder we never know what's going on!

At 4:30, we went back, and there was a lovely assortment of treats on the table, and a birthday cake, with a photo of Alicia on the top.

We had a lovely afternoon, speaking a mixture of Spanish, English and a little Italian. We met some new people and were even invited to their New Year party, if we had no where else to go (but Ed doesn't want to dress up as Madonna - so we are going elsewhere!!!)

Bull update

Oh Dear. It turns out that the broken arm was even worse than we thought! At the airport, he complained about a pain in his other arm, and a full inspection on his return to the UK showed that that too was broken. Not the best way to spend December, 2 arms in plaster.

All Bull

Last weekend was the bull running at Ontinyent again. I can’t believe that it is already a year since we went there!

We went of the Saturday, but it was very cold. There was a bitter wind, and we had made the mistake of not having had any lunch. This meant, that in a short time, we were both very cold, in spite of lots of layers. We watched the first bull, and even filmed someone being trodden on by the bull, but during the second one, I had had enough. I asked Ed if we could leave, “through there?” he asked, indicating where the bull and several hundred people had just gone! “Yes” I said, so we joined the throng! Part way down the road, we encountered the bull, and the runners. The atmosphere was much more tense than in the main square, as there are less places to hide from the bull. At one point, we were crushed against a wall by the crowd, even though the bull was on the other side of the street. Finally we got by, but we still stayed, to watch the bull go back over the bridge. It was very exciting, much better than earlier.

On the Sunday (after lunch) we went again, with some people from Ontinyent, that hadn’t been before. Again we stayed in the main square, but there were a lot more people, so the ‘buzz’ was much better. We saw some people from l’Olleria too.

A couple of our neighbours had a bit of a bet on; who could hit the bull the most times! When we saw one of them in the bar, he had hit it once, and said that he had cow sh*t on his right hand! Ed joked that he needed sn*t on the other one, but he said ‘no’ he didn’t want to get that close! … however, a little later, we learned that he had been hit by the bull, his t-shirt was all torn, and he had broken his arm in several places… he was now on the way to hospital in the ambulance... his parting cry… “I presume this means I’ve won the bet?” Needless to say, everyone agreed!

The next day, we discovered that his arm needed pinning, but as he was flying back on the Tuesday, it had been left for the hospital in England to do it, otherwise he would have had to miss his flight!

Cobblers

The strap on Ed's bumbag broke. He had a go at fixing it himself, but that didn’t last too long! It was time to find someone who could fix it properly.

Then I was told that there was a cobbler near the police station,t hat would mend it. Fine. But where was it?! Ed had a really good look one day, wandering around all of the streets, then we both did together. No sign of a cobbler. We rang a few people, but either they didn’t know, or they weren’t in!

Finally, in desperation, I asked a lady in the tobacconists where the shop was, that would mend a bag (I didn’t know the Spanish word for cobbler). She came out of the shop, and pointed down the street, naming a shop half way down. Excellent – it must be hidden in the back of the shop – which certainly had an odd collection of things in the window! In we went, and asked if the man would mend the bag. His expression said it all! We were obviously in the wrong place! Thankfully, he understood, and pointed us in the right direction. Opposite his shop, was another street, and the place we needed was half way up there. (at least, that was what I understood!) We bimbled up, but this appeared to be residences only. Then suddenly, peering through a house window, I spotted shoes and polish! This was it. As we reached for the door, I noticed the previous shop keeper watching us, and waved to him as we went in!

Inside the house, we discovered that the first room at the front of the house was the cobblers. Inside, sat a little man, mending a coat. I asked if he could mend the bag, and he said yes – come back in 1 hour. If he had told me his name was Rumplestitlskin I would have believed him! Ed thought that when he said ‘1 hour’ that was all he had left to live!

An hour later, we returned, and his wife let us in. He was on the toilet! She asked us to indicate what we wanted. Sadly, there was nothing interesting worth taking! We pointed out the correct bag, but she had no idea how much to charge. She had to go and ask him, through the bathroom door! 2€ later, Ed was the proud owner of a repaired bumbag, and very happy with it too.

More Visitors

Well, I'm glad to say that finally my Mum and Dad have been able to find a few days in their international jet-setting lifestyle to come and visit us.

They arrived at Alicante on a Sunday morning, so off I went to meet them. No problem! Except that I couldn’t find them! Apparently, they were waiting outside in the sunshine, but I drove past the entrance twice! Finally, I parked and wondered around looking for them. It turned out, that they were at another terminal that I didn’t know about! Never mind – we were still back in time for dinner!

On the Monday, we had a leisurely stroll around l’Olleria. There were quite surprised at how big it was. Although only a small town, it certainly has everything that you could need. On Tuesday, we took a ride to Gandia. The sea was lovely, the harbour peaceful, the beaches empty – but nearly all of the shops were shut. Just like Skegness in winter – but nicer!

Sadly, that was the end of the nice weather. On Wednesday, it was miserable. We decided to go to Xativa, for a stroll around. We drove right up to the castle, and walked in, just far enough not to have to pay! While we were there, the sun tried to come out, presenting us with a big rainbow over the old town. Beautiful. Then we had a stroll around the old town. A man saw us studying a building, and asked, “English?” Yes, we replied. Then he asked, “Italiano?”, No, “Sprechen Sie Deutch?”, Ja, and then he went on to tell us all about the monastery – in Spanish! Very funny! After a wonderful Hot-Chocolate break, Ed had the wonderful idea of driving to Cocentaina to see the beautiful costumes that the Moors and Christians wear at the parades. We drove into the most horrendous weather, and when we got there, we couldn’t find the shop! It turned out, that it was closed – as they had taken the costumes to Xativa (where we had just been) for an exhibition!

Sadly, on the Thursday, it was time for them to depart again. This time, I drove them up to near Taragona, where they were staying with friends for a few days. It was lovely to see the old neighbours and hear about their experiences! Somehow, I think that everyone who moves to Spain should write at least one chapter of a book! It would be so funny.

I'm dreaming of a ....

Today, when I was still asleep, Ed came and told me that it was snowing! I thought he was doing his usual 'tall tales', but no... we had big fat flakes everywhere. (I might use this in my Christas Cards!) Today it is only 3.3 degrees, yet on Monday, it was 20 degrees! Still, we have a lovely warm fire to keep us cosy.

Red Berry, Yellow Berry

We have a beautiful ‘wild strawberry’ bush. It is known for having the fruit and flowers on display at the same time. Just now, it is looking really wonderful, and even the bees are having a feast.