Benicarlo, Camping Alegria Del Mar, contd

Sunday April 6th 2014 - Monday 14th April 2014

Church for Kathleen is followed by lunch at the Marina.

Unusually, the waitress does not speak any English, a mix up in my pidgeon Spanish means we get two glasses of Tonic (no Gin) to drink while we peruse the menu.

I am very disappointed, I thought I could at least ensure I did not go hungry or thirsty in English, French and Spanish!

Clearly, I need to work on my Spanish, perhaps that will be a project for the future?

Back at the campsite, a very jolly French man arrives. He is travelling alone, and it seems to be his lifes mission to speak to us, but, only in French. We manage a surprising amount:

• explain how he can find his way to Peniscola
• understand that he has a soft tyre on his bicycle, and no pump to blow it up with, so, do it for him, using our electric air compressor.

Must discover his name!

I am determined to coax Kathleen onto the back of the scooter, my latest ploy is to tell her I will buy her a bottle of Tanqueray Gin, if she goes with me to the Supermarket, on the scooter.

Such an offer, she cannot resist, and is soon clambering on the back of the scooter.

 I am not sure which is the biggest threat to health and well being, riding pillion on a motor scooter or drink a bottle of Tanqueray Gin?

By Tuesday, the site is beginning to fill up, two German caravans arrive, followed by two Italian Campervans.

On our return from our cycle ride to Peniscola, we find we have been joined by a little group of three, who are a "team" doing a cycling challenge, to raise funds for Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund the Royal British Legion and Ssafa. 

One of them is cycling from the Royal Marines base at Exeter, to Gibraltar, and return! The other two are his support team. He reckons he is cycling 120km per day, and from what we hear of their conversation, that appears to be on a diet of McDonalds and KFC.

Their donations page is www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ctcrmgib2014, the target is to raise £150,000, he has a long way to go yet, but, full marks for trying!

There is a rather nice beach side bar / Restaurant just outside the campsite (Bar Mar Chica), our French/English neighbors, Tony and Barbara invite us to go along there for a very pleasant lunch on Saturday, as a "good bye" since we will be leaving on Tuesday.

Sunday is Palm Sunday (for the unitiated, the Sunday before Easter), Kathleen heads off for church, but, I have just got myself settled with my book, when, she returns. It would appear all of the Mass times have been changed, and there is to be some form of service in the open air, in Plaza de la Constitution. We head there, and sure enough, there are hundreds of people gathered.

Service over, we retire to the Marina for a very pleasant lunch.

It is clear there are going to be lots of elaborate celebrations in the week leading upto Easter.

Some, to our eyes, look rather unsavoury, such as these people dressed in what appear to be KKK outfits, although, I am sure, they are not in anyway associated with that particular group!

Monday is spent clothes washing, shopping, and loading the bicycles and scooter onto the trailer.

The day is rounded off having a trial run on our English neighbor's (Adele and Graham) electric bicycles (rather fun), followed by several glasses of wine, and, a lot of chatting.

  

Benicarlo, Camping Alegria Del Mar

Wednesday 2nd April 2014 -  Saturday 5th April 2014

Oh dear, it is overcast, no sunshine, worse, the weather forecast says it is going to be like this tomorrow too!

Have we moved north too early?

Looking on the bright side, it gives us the opportunity to explore, find the supermarket etc.

Things go from bad to worse, Thursday, it rains all day.

Friday dawns with the wind blowing fit to knock you off your feet, at least it has stopped the rain!

By Friday lunch time, wind has calmed to a gentle breeze and the sun is splitting the heavens, after a brief trip to by essential supplies, time to lie in the sun.

Kathleen gets busy introducing herself and, or course, gathering "the gen".

There are two French registered vans here, but both sets of occupants are English (OK, one is Welsh, so, I suppose I should say British). They are living in France, one pair (Tony and Barbara) in the Foix area of the Pyrenees, the other in the Limousan (Steve and Sue).

Now, I am not a dog lover, but, Tony and Barbara have a dog (Chloe) which hates cats. It does an excellent job of chasing any maurading cats. Suddenly, I am warming to Dogs!

Saturday brings a fine and sunny day, we cycle to Peniscola (about six miles along the coast). It all looks rather familiar, we have been in the area before, and have cycled in the opposite direction from Peniscola to Benicarlo.

The castle at Peniscola is, I believe, the location used to film at least one of the scenes in El Cid, for those of you old enough to remember the Charlton Heston version.

I suppose even the youngsters among you will be familiar with the film, from annual Christmas repeats.

The film crew of course had enough clout to have the cars removed from the scene, sadly, I did not.

There are impressive views from the castle walls, over modern Peniscola.

It is all very pleasant, not only the castle itself, and of course the obligatory churches, but also the old town, within the castle walls, which is a maze of small streets, lined with tapas bars.

I am not sure how authentic this is. 





I would think if the place was like this in the castle's hey-day, the defenders would have been permenantly too drunk and full of food, to do any defending! 

Altea, Alicante

Tuesday 18th March 2014

We depart Camping Roquetas, promptly.

Uneventful 200 or so miles to our next destination, Arena Blanca, Benidorm.

This turns our to be a poor choice, it is right in the middle of Benidorm, or, as I prefer to call it, Blackpool, with sun. Not to my taste.

A hurried reprogramming of the sat nav takes us to Cap-Blanch, Altea, Alicante (N38 34'40" W0 3'54"). An ACSI site, initial thoughts are, it is a bit big, but, it is right on the beach, so, we will reserve judgement.

Altea is the next town north along the coast from Benidorm, but, it appears to be quieter, or, more boring, depending on your point of view.

Wednesday 19th March 2014 

At the last site (Roquetas de Mar), our Motor Scooter (Yamaha xMax250) attracted a lot of attention, particularly from French Campervanners. I do not know why, it is perfectly standard and common model of scooter.

Here for some reason, it is the trailer which is attracting attention. We must have had at least twenty people come across and ask about it, mostly Dutch and German, but, a few Brits including Teessiders Keith and Judy, and a chap called Alan who hails from Nottingly, where the trailers are manufactured. 

If this continues, I think I will have to request commission from Armitage Trailers! (www.armitagetrailers.com/index.htm).

We have very pleasant English neighbours, Malc and Sue, who have been here for a few weeks and are able to give us a list of places to go.

Today we settle for a  cycle along the coast to explore the old town of Altea, and check out the church.

The town is on top of a hill, very steep! and very quaint.

Plenty of places for me to have a drink, whilst Kathleen is at Church on Sunday, I note, and, plenty of places for lunch, afterwards! 

Thursday 20th March 2014 

Not content with finding one church, Kathleen wants to find a "back up", just in case, so we search out a Tourist Information Office and obtain a map.

The map allows us to find the nearest Supermarket, and an alternative Catholic Church.

I unload scooter, and, go exploring, to find the route to Calpe and Denia, which, it turns out, is rather scenic, if you ignore the enormous quarry, at about the halfway point, which appears to be demolishing an entire hill.

Friday 21st March 2014 

After the trauma of hair washing, drying and straightening, we head off for a walk to lighthouse at Faro El Abir.

From the campsite, it is about five miles, there and back.








Most of the walk is within a National Park, very well kept, and very scenic.






Afterwards, we have what is, for Kathleen, an adventurous lunch, Tapas, consisting of Patas Bravas, Garlic and Cheese Potatoes, Tortilla, Meatballs in piquant sauce, with a bottle of Rioja of course.

Saturday 22nd March 2014

Weather forecast completely wrong, forecast, sunny 20C, actual, overcast, rain, 15C. A day of doing even less than usual, lying about reading.

Sunday 23rd March 2014 

Back to sunshine and 20C plus, that is more like it.

We go to Altea on our bicycles, but, this time we are fore-warned, no more attempts to ride to the top of the hill, or to carry / wheel bicycles up an apparently never ending flight of steps!

Church for Kathleen, explore old Altea for me, ending up in a very convenient bar, right at the door of the church.

An excellent lunch, in the old town part of Altea.

Chatting to Malc and Sue, for what remained of the afternoon. 

Monday 24th March 2014 to Monday 31st March 2014 

The site WiFi is free, the problem is, it is useless, so slow as to be unusable, and, as if that is not bad enough, it keeps on dropping the connection every five minutes or so. I have a Spanish Orange SIM card, to use with my Huawei Mobile Wifi (MiFi), but, whilst it worked very well in the Cadiz area, here, it is too slow to allow uploading of photographs, use of Skype etc.

So, to cut a long story short, I have been unable to keep the blog uptodate, so, the last week is being done from memory, appropriately enough, on April Fools Day!

We take a tram ride to Denia, which involves cycling the mile or so to the station, and leaving our bicycles there. 

The fare is a real bargain 4.25Euro each for a return trip of about 30 miles each way! The ride is so spectacular it is worth the fare, just for the scenery enroute! 

Denia is an attractive place, typical narrow Spanish streets, plenty of quaint little cafes, and of course an ancient castle.

On our way to Altea, we passed through parts of Benidorm, it was in our opinion, pretty grim, but, different people like different things, the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same, would it not.

But, you have to give things  a chance,so, on one day, we took the Bus  into Benidorm, with Malc and Sue , we were pleasantly surprised!

True, much of it is Blackpool with sun, but, there are some rather attractive bits, tucked away from the "full English breakfast cafes" and the karoake bars with the tattooed drinkers minus their tops spilling out onto the pavement, and the guys drinking their pints and watching the English Football on Sky. 


You certainly cannot complain about the beach, it is a magnificent stretch of good clean sand. It is easy to see why this place was one of the first package destinations.

There is even a little legend about the mountain you can see in the background.

It is said, a Giant, angry that he had been dumped by his girlfriend, kicked the mountain, in his temper, and left the nick you can see in the ridge, just to the left, the displaced piece of mountain, landed in Benidorm bay, where it remains to this day.



Malc and Sue are leaving on Sunday, so, we have a farewell meal at a very good Chinese Restaurant just a couple of streets from the campsite.

But, that Kathleen is a fickle friend, one minute she is sad at Malc and Sue's leaving, the next day, she has a new Norwegian singing partner.

The lady in question is called Vibeke Mykkeltveit, and they spend the evening entertaining the passing campers as they work their way through their respective song books.

Vibekke tells me, her first name is Dutch, and, means "little wife". As they sit singing and I slave away clearing up the debris from our evening meal, and, wash the dishes, I point out to her, that, in English, "Kathleen" does NOT mean "little wife".

Vibekke (pronounced a little like the English, "Rebecca", makes a living, or at least some money out of her singing, she has a website www.vokalmedisin.no, and some music / videos on YouTube. 


Tuesday 1st April 2014 

It is necessary to move  a little further north, if we are to avoid having too great a distance to travel for the Tunnel.

So, today, we are leaving Altea. 

Our English neighbour, Alan, is leaving too, he is heading home after almost six months here!

Alan is a regular visitor, so, we may well see him again, either later this year, or, next year when tentative plans to celebrate Malc's 70th here, have been made.

We head just under 200 miles north to Benicarlo, Camping  Alegria Del Mar, (N40 25'36" E0 26'17"), an ACSI site.

First impressions, site appears to be fine, you even get a free "welcome drink" at the bar. It appears just a little too "English", we will reserve judgment.

No sooner have we arrived, than we have yet another admirer of the Trailer! I really have to look at a commission agreement!

The good news is, it is within walking distance of the town, and the beach (rather pebbly, not sand), and the WiFi works!

Roquetas de Mar (contd)

Friday 14th March 2014

As anyone reading this is probably aware, our British banks make a nice little earner, by charging a "handling fee" if you use your credit card or debit card to purchase goods or draw cash from an ATM outside of the UK. 

Quite by chance, while visiting Almeria, some days ago, I discovered, if you use a UK Santander debit card, to draw cash from a Santander Spain ATM, they do not apply the handling fee. This means that, at the time of writing 200Euro costs you £164, instead of £168, a saving of £4.00.

Kathleen, needs to draw more Euro's, she has eventually spent those she obtained the year before last. Being prudent (well, she may read this), and knowing of my discovery, she decides, she must find a Santander ATM.

Technology to the rescue, the UK Santander mobile phone App is smart enough to locate the nearest Santander ATM, in Spain,  for us. It is in Aguadulce, about two miles away.

So, in the interests of exercise, and, saving £4, we walk to Aguadulce.

The saving is then spent (plus a bit), and the exercise undone, on two very large gin and tonics.


Saturday 15th March 2014 

Kathleen has decided she needs her hair trimmed, I decline the pleasure of risking her wrath by making a mess of it, so, we go in search of a hairdresser. In El Parador, finding a hair dresser is not too much of a problem, there seems to be dozens of them, in one street alone, we find three! But, we must find a hair dresser, who can do the job, right now, and, who understands enough English to follow Kathleen's instructions.

Eventually, we find a young lady, willing to take the risk, for 15Euro, 45 minutes later, the job is done.

It is a beautiful day, after the Hair Dressing saga, we have lunch and cycle south along the coast for about six miles, past the Castillo Santa Anna, to an area which we have been led to believe is a "holiday village".

It is a bit bigger than a village, the beach extends for as far as you can see.

It is not that we come to the end of the promenade after six miles, we just feel we need some liquid refreshment.

For a mere 3.60Euro, we have two beers, and, unexpectedly, we are given two tapas, and fresh bread.

Don't know what the tapas were called, but, they are small pieces of pork, in a spicy sauce, with a few chips (or patatas fritas, I suppose I should say).

On the way back, we linger to explore the exterior of, the restored, Castillo Santa Ana, the inside of which we visited a few days ago.

Sunday 16th March 2014 

I was about to begin this entry with "Another lazy day...", but, then, I realised, EVERY day is a lazy day, so, I suppose, Sundays are Lazy Days Squared!

Spend the morning reading my book, inbetween numerous attempts to get through to Gary, Susana, Gabriel, on Skype, all with no luck.

Midday, take Kathleen to church, she risks riding on the back of the scooter again.

After church, it is off to the "Cabana Belge" in Aguadulce Marina.

We first of all drop the scooter off at the campsite, since we just may have a drink, with lunch.

Another superb lunch, with copious drinks, which lasts from 13:30 to 16:30, I really would recommend this place. As if, having an excellent meal was not enough, when the bill comes, Kathleen pays it, out of HER purse.

I am shocked into silence.

Monday 17th March 2014 

We spend the day washing clothes, washing the outside of the van, loading the scooter and bicycles onto the trailer, because, we will be leaving here tomorrow to head a couple of hundred miles north, just beyond Alicante.

In the course of washing the outside of the van, we get talking to an English couple, because, I borrow their ladders, so can climb on the van roof, to clean the skylights.

Like many people we have met, whilst travelling around in the campervan, they are an amazing pair. She is visibly in poor health, and can hardly walk, he, is 80 years old, and they are still driving around Europe in a campervan. I like their spirit.    

Roquetas de Mar (contd)

Tuesday 11th March 2014

We decide to having a restful day, sitting in the sun.

Part way through the day, one of our (few) English neighbours (John)  begins moving his caravan. I subsequently discover, he has sold the existing caravan to one of the site cleaners, and bought another from some other English chap, onsite.

Kathleen soon interrogates them and we learn, John and his wife are residents in Spain, they live inland, near Granada, and keep a caravan here, so they can pop to the coast if the fancy takes them.

Anyway, having nothing else to do, I lend a hand, and the "old" caravan is soon moved off John's pitch, and the "new" one positioned ready for him to begin erecting awnings etc etc.

Wednesday 12th March 2014

The plan is to cycle to the "holiday village", just south of the Fort de Santa Anna, but, there is a ferocious wind, and clouds which definately look like rain clouds, (although in the end, it does not rain). So, we cycle to the "Commercial Park", which is a sort of small Eldon Square. There are some very smart shops, but, no customers.

Thursday 13th March 2014 

The weather forecast says, it is going to be overcast, perhaps with rain today. Which I think was actually yesterday's weather, since it is actually warm and sunny when we emerge in the morning.

We cycle the three miles along the coast, to the Market on Avenue de Union Europa.

It is the usual collection of food stalls (dried fruit, spices, fruit and vegetables etc), plus stalls selling clothes, I splash out a total of 2Euro, for which I get six pairs of "sports" socks. I never understand the workings of these markets in various European countries, they have to travel to the venue, set out all of their products, then at the end pack them all away again and travel home. They appear to sell next to nothing, so, the hourly rate cannot possibly be worth the effort. But, they continue, so, maybe I am missing something.

At lunch time we cycle to the promenade at Roquetas de Mar, and head for a place called "Bar Aurora". It is staffed by Brits (and possibly owned by them for all I know). It is incredibly popular, people are hovering, ready to grab your seat as soon as you are ready to leave. The other bars / cafes along the promenade are almost empty. 

The attraction is the prices I think, for 8Euro, you get a bottle of wine (Red/White/Rose) and four portions of "tapas". The portions of tapas are enough to make a light lunch for two, the quality is quite good and the service is best described as "jolly" I would say.

It is true, the tapas are mostly "English" versions of the Spanish original, for example, Chilli-con-carne, eggs and chips and fish and chips are "tapas" I have not seen on a Spanish menu before, but, hey, what do you want for 8Euro?, and, they do have more Spanish choices, like Squid, Tuna, Prawns etc.

Roquetas de Mar (Contd)

Saturday 8th March 2014 


We explore Roquetas de Mar town, on foot, and discover, among other things, another church.

There is a service at 19:00, Kathleen resolves, she is going to go to church this evening, in Roquetas de Mar, on the back of the scooter.

Quite what has brought about this sudden change of heart, I have no idea, best not delve too deeply into the workings of a woman's mind.

So, 18:45, all kitted up, we are ready to go, it is only three miles away, so, plenty of time. For some reason, it would appear that the entire population of Roquetas, and the surrounding district have decided to go out in their car, this evening, the traffic is dreadful, we arrive, just in time.

By the time Kathleen emerges from church, it is dark of course, and, the church is in a one-way system, so, we cannot just retrace our steps. 

A couple of wrong turns, into cul-de-sacs, but, we make it back in one piece.

Sunday 9th March 2014 

A cycle ride to the restored fort of Santa Anna, just beyond the Marina at Roquetas de Mar.

The fort dates back to the Moorish period, and, has suffered several misfortunes over the centuries. Not least of which was an earthquake. I was not aware that Spain suffered earthquakes on a scale significant enough to demolish buildings?

An excellent restoration job has been done, the interior is now an art gallery, it is all free, worth a visit.

Suitably fortified with culture, we cycle the 8 miles back to Aguadulce Marina, to have our Sunday lunch at the restaurant we found last week. It is called "La Belga", and is owned and run by a Belgian.

It was so good last week, we decided to return. 

Last week, we had Chicken Breast (Kathleen), Chicken Kebab (me), both where excellent, but, I had noticed, the Fillet Steak also looked very good. 

It was my intention to have the steak this week, but, the waiter talked me into the special of the day, an excellent mixed grill. I will have to return for the steak, next Sunday.

This is Kathleen with her, after lunch, quadruple Cointreau, this after consuming a beer, and half a bottle of wine, drunk in charge of a bicycle again I suspect.

Monday 10th March 2014 

We decide to visit, Almeria (town), on the bus.

This of course means that Kathleen gets to see the coast road, before we attempt it on the Scooter. As I suspected, it is a thumbs down, Kathleen will not be travelling that road on the back of a scooter.

The "old quarter" of Almeria is very pleasant, the usual Cathederal, built on top of a Mosque, after the Moors were ejected, clearly in a period before reconciliation and peaceful co-existence was the fashion.

Whilst we have been away, we have been reading books set in the period of King Henry viii, clearly, Spain never had anyone to strip the churches of their finery, as this opulent display shows.
  

Also a very impressive fortress, dating back to the time of the Moors, no doubt much restored of course.

For some reason, which I cannot explain, the bus fare there, is 1.30Euro, each, but, comming back, on the same bus, with the same driver, it is 1.45Euro, each. I addition, the bus does not take the same route back, but, for some reason completely bypasses Aguadulce.

Fortunately, it does stop, where we need to be off.

Finally, a couple of oddities, this, what appears to be a rather fine building, is, in fact a canvas cover, painted to look like a building, the actual building is in the process of being restored, behind the canvas cover, rather smart, I thought.

and, a trifle out of place, I thought, a Victorian style railway station!

Roquetas de Mar (Contd)

Friday 7th April 2014


I suppose this will come as no surprise to the male of the species out there, but, women are a complete mystery.

We were in Lidl, yesterday, and Kathleen could not resist buying two "strappy tops", on the basis that, at 4.20Euro, for the pair, they were a "bargain". The fact that she has a zillion "strappy tops", and, that she does not like the colour of one of the pair purchased (thus effectively making the price of the one she does like 4.20Euro), has no bearing.

I am rambling, I am stressed.

Today is a day to dread.

Kathleen needs her hair dyeing, and, for some reason known only to her, she wants me to do it, rather than just do the sensible thing, and go to a hairdresser.

It is a big enough shock, to learn that Kathleen actually has grey hair, I mean, she is only a slip of a girl, or, that is what she tells me, but, to find that I am to be responsible for colouring it, is just too much.

The hair colour pack is opened, and I read the instructions carefully, Kathleen immediately gives me different instructions.

I offer her Gaffer tape (to tape her mouth up), this offer is declined.

The actual process goes remarkably well, and with hardly a cross word (well, I exaggerate, slightly). 

I do end up, not having used all of the colouring solution. Why do they not make the container clear, instead of opaque, so you can see how much is being used?

Kathleen disappears off to the shower to wash off the surplus colour, apply conditioner, etc.

I take the opportunity to disappear off, on my scooter, to Lidl, whilst the hair drying, straightening and inspection takes place.

I return to a great surprise, she is happy with the results!

Not perfect of course, but, I am awarded an NVQ level 1 in hair colouring, with a promise, that in six weeks time, if I improve, I will be in line for an NVQ level 2.

What praise, I am elated.