Author: Juliet Stratton (Page 36 of 39)

Love and Life in English Alley

29 November 2017 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

We have been in the Spanish holiday resort of Benicassim, north of Valencia, for a month now and can see how easy it would be to settle into a lazy way of life – retirement! People on this site seem to arrive at the end of September or in October and stay several months, forming a community and making friends. We have slotted into this community in such a short space of time – our road, Calle B4 is affectionately known as “English Alley”. There are twelve pitches in total, we are on Pitch 9 and the majority of “residents” are English or English speaking Dutch. We have been welcomed with open arms, we hope we have done the same to newcomers to the site, it is such a happy loving feeling that will stay with us for ever.

Just after we arrived, the Maintenance team sheared the trees around us giving us something else to do in the afternoon! It improved our daily sunlight but removed protection from night time dew.

Cheese and Leek soup lunch hosted by Mary & Chris.

Keith, David & Chris getting stuck into lunch.

Julian and David preparing fish paella whilst Keith prepared a chicken paella at one of our street dinners.

This is a very social life, primarily due to the weather (we have yet to see rain) and people only head indoors once the sun sets and the temperature drops. However, living in such close proximity means people have to be sociable, we have to communicate with each other or life would be very boring. We have established that our Dutch neighbours are in their 70’s, he was a bus driver for 24 years in the city of Amsterdam; they have two daughters, one married a Greek doctor and lives in Rhodes with two grand-daughters whilst the other still lives nearby in Amsterdam. Another lovely Dutch couple live in Hungary and run a camp site in the summer and have been coming to this site for 8 or 9 years; last year they celebrated 45 years of marriage in Mexico! One Yorkshire couple are spending their first winter here following the husband’s recovery from a heart attack and another couple from Gloucestershire enjoy telling their grandchildren all about the lovely weather and amazing sunsets.

Our neighbour Kees makes amazing decorations out of plastic bottle!

We have witnessed a loose routine – Monday is shopping day; Tuesday is washing and chores day; Wednesday is day trip out and lunch in the local restaurant, Thursday is a visit the small fruit and veg market in town and the weekends are “social days”. Talking to the neighbours, having a beer with them, playing Mulkky (Finnish skittles) in the street and impromptu gatherings. There is a group of musicians on the site that have formed a band and keep everyone entertained for free on a Thursday afternoon.

Beautiful sunsets.

We have seen who is diligent at cooking and cleaning; seen who heads out in the morning on their bicycle and brings home the fresh bread, brings the fresh coffee and bacon sandwiches out to his/her partner who is sitting in the morning sun. We watch them keeping the front of their pitch clean, chasing away leaves and stones and who keeps the tan topped up. We are invited to share their late afternoon sun when ours has disappeared as well as lunch and dinner with them. It has been fascinating to watch and take it in.

David has made some new friends too!!

Chris & Julian loving David…

Down the bar for an impromptu sing song! Hi Ho Silver Lining……

Everywhere You Go I See Your Sun is Shining….

But I Won’t Make a Fuss……Tho It’s Obvious!!!

This couple stole our hearts one night; he is 73 years old and a month ago had had his third operation on his hip – a complete replacement. He is recovering from cancer to the neck, throat and voicebox too. His wife was indulging his desire to dance despite his aches and pains. A lovely couple from Zurich, heading south for the winter sun.

The site provides an entertainment team who, in the winter, organise activities such as yoga, tai chi on the beach, exercises, aqua fit, bingo, quizzes, games, wine tasting and days out and many other sports. We have taken part in some and shied from others. I have enjoyed my early morning (well, 9.30am is early when you are not working!!) visit to the beach to do tai chi exercises, watching the sun come up and listening to the waves hit the shore as the sun warms the muscles being stretched.

Morning yoga session.

One morning I witnessed a murmeration performed by Cormorants before they settled on the sea (just visible before they settled)!! Stunning.

Such a beautiful clean beach.

The town also makes the effort to interact with the resident here and vice versa; residents are helping out at a bag pack at the local supermarket to raise awareness and funds for the less fortunate families in the town; locals attend events in our social room attached to the bar; the local bars in town makes us feel very welcome and are always trying to speak “Spanglish” to us – a mixed version of Spanish and English!

A free performance by a rock band, perfect music for a Sunday lunch time!

We have really enjoyed our time in Benicassim and will always look back with fond memories but now feel we need to spread our wings and explore further. Thank you to all who have made us welcome especially Keith, Jean, Mary and Chris! Next stop Marjal.

‘,

Vistas de Valencia

16 November 2017 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

A day trip out to the beautiful city of Valencia reminded us that we are just tourists and therefore will be charged Tourist Prices for a drink in the sunny square right under the most popular church in the city!! 5 for a 330ml beer and 8 for a sugary sweet flavourless Sangria bought us back to earth with a bump, having got used to 3 for a pint, 1.50 for a soft drink and 1.50 for a glass of wine in Benicassim.!!nnWe were spoiled by the choice of Tapas available and enjoyed several mid morning as well as a bowl of paella late afternoon. We had been to Valencia before and felt no need to rush about and explore churches, the parliamentary buildings or fantastic architecure, so just wandered and took photos in between eating and drinking! Sticking with the food theme, we wandered into the Mercat (fresh meat, veg and fish market) and soaked in the sounds, smells and sights.nn

One small selection of tapas! You take a plate and eat as much as you want, you are charged per “stcik” left on the plate. Cream cheese was popular here, topped with strawberries, crispy bacon and cherry tomatoes; egg mayo was topped with crispy bacon or avocado; goats cheese topped with sardines or fried aubergines; mini croissants filled with cocktail sausages and fried onions!!

One of the many salad, fruit and veg stalls.

At a charguterie stall, you can buy parma ham ranging from 69 per kilo (on the right) to 189 per kilo on the left. Behind the counter you will find the “cheaper” range, averaging 15 per kilo!!

The butchery counters are the same as the charcuterie, you can buy fresh rib beef at 10 per kilo or aged (read yellow fat, mouldy bone ends) beef at 90 per kilo!! I’m sure it tastes nicer!!

Not being a fan, I cannot comment on the fish, apart from saying the displays are so neat and colourful!!

Talking of colourful, one square was full of florists!

This is the Town Hall; once you pass through Seciruty, you can wander about the building alongside the Town’s ministers and dignataries.

The town’s railway station (on the right) and bullring (in the middle)

We also paid a visit to the House of Rocks, so called because the statues that are paraded around the City are on bases that are so solid, they are called rocks. The statues represent worldwide nationalities that the church reaches out to across the world and are 20 feet tall. The mythical beasts are part of a religious story told to nurture friendship and love.

The “horsemen” are part of the parade.

Looking down on the statues….

We paid a brief visit to the more modern Arts, Sport and Culture part of the city.

‘,

Donkeys and Desert

16 November 2017 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

The Desert de les Palmes is a natural park just behind the coastal town of Benicassim and is not an actual desert! And there are not many palms there either, the name refers to the palm trees in the surrounding coastal areas. The donkeys are probably owned by local farmers who use them in the mountains when harvesting their crops; we came across these ones and stopped to feed them, they were friendly donkeys and appreciated the fresh grass!!

There is an 18km pot holed narrow road that winds its way from the outskirts of the town, over the tops of the mountain and down the other side, with footpaths heading off to waterfalls and natural fountains, ruined castles, remains of a monastery within sight of the newer built monastery and endless rocky outcrops with fantastic views fom the top. It tops out at 780 metres above sea level and was pretty chilly up there but the views were worth it! The area is popular with walkers, hikers and cyclists as well as pilgrims.

Black and white meets brown and white!

View of Benicassim from the top.

So much greenery.

David, Keith and Jean admiring the views.

The remains of a Carmelite monastery where spiritual refuge would have been sought. A new monastery has been built further up the hill and is still in operation today.

View of the monastery remains from a different angle.

The area is home to numerous pine trees, cork oaks, shrubs and aromatic plants and is regularly farmed.

Looking up at the “new” monastery.

‘,

Gaudi Park – Funky Fun and Fascinating.

13 November 2017 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

We spent an afternoon out with our friends Keith and Jean and went along the coast to Torre la Sal just outside Oropesa, where in the Marina D’Or area {a highly built up holiday destination} is a nature park full of Gaudi type structures. The park is full of birds, peacocks, pheasants, swans, ducks and the biggest carp fish we have ever seen!!! They must have been 2 – 3 feet long!! The main attraction was the Gaudi style park itself, full of colour and mosaics and strange ornaments.

View of Oropesa Bay.

Oropesa coastline with the Via Verde (Green Way) cycle path in the left corner.

David and friends.

‘,

Costa del Azahar – Benicassim

13 November 2017 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

After leaving Navarrete and Logrono we headed 315 miles south into the mountains, climbing for almost 4 hours to a dizzy height of 1200 metres for three quarters of the way before plateauing out then heading sharply downhill for 45 minutes to the coast arriving at Benicassim, north of Valencia. Fuel consumption is usually 18mpg when towing, 38mpg when not, however the continual climb meant we only got 15mpg and had to refuel en-route as we couldn’t risk doing the downhill drive purely on fumes!

Benicassim is a Spanish holiday resort with properties looking out onto the 7km long beach; the mountain range behind (Desert de les Palmes) shelters the town from any winds and the beach in the bay is shallow and perfect for swimming and sailing. The Desert of the Palms is not a literal desert but a protected natural area with a small mountain range! The beach has a wooden boardwalk all the way along, at the top end where we are the bay is called Voramar and from 1890 onwards Spaniards realised the benefits of the fresh air, perfect warm climate and salty sea water and built a parade of villas along it. I understand that in the roaring 20’s and 30’s certain villas were popular as party houses of certain repute, whilst some bigger ones were turned into hospitals and rest homes. Nowadays most are fully maintained and still occupied, one or two are very run down and needs attention and some are restaurants and cafes. The styles differ, some are simply one level living, some have palacial balconies, some are more traditionally Spanish, and some are art deco delights.

The town itself seems to be a haven for those over a certain (retirement) age, in November people are still swimming in the sea and walking around in shorts and t-shirts, whilst the local authorities encourage activity by providing a huge network of cycle paths, activity clubs and beach games. The local market is primarily a fruit, vegetable and clothing market and bus routes take you to the next towns along, Castellon is south and Oropesa is north. The site is very social, half the residents are here for the winter and the owners of the site provide activities every day; Spanish lessons, Spanish cooking, yoga, tai chi, gym exercises, bingo, wine tasting and a band plays every Saturday. There is also a group of people that are trained by a local choir leader to perform Christmas carols in several languages for a performance at the local Church for the villagers and within the site for people here, all supported by wine and goodies of course!

On arrival at the site, we had a big issue……the main “streets” are narrow and there was no way we were going to be able to reverse into a pitch as the pitches opposite were full. However, a knight in shining armour came along in the form of Jeff, another 5th wheel owner who had a 5th wheel specific motor mover and he helped us onto our pitch. This caused quite a commotion in the street, we had at least 20 people watching, offering advice and moaning (about how big we were compared to their caravan) however, we have made friends with everyone (especially Jeff) and David is looking at purchasing a new toy for future use!