winter in Alfaz

It is a strange stop/start time for the expats around December/January. Quite a few people go home for a fortnight before christmas, or to spend christmas at home leaving a gap in the circles of friends out here. This year the weather has added traumas to the journeys, not to mention the spanish air traffic controllers strike.Two intrepid friends of Michaels have plans to go home twice in December – once for a 70th birthday which Stella insisted on sharing with her grandsons back here for 11 days and then flying to Manchester on the 22nd for the xmas week. It seems quite a gamble whether there will be airports open, and how they will get to Reading. We will have a standby xmas dinner ready just in case.

All is not sunshine here, although last Friday we had a sunny walk round Guadalest reservoir.with picnic. This weekend has been cold with incessant rain. Mike has a cold like half the population, and we are really glad of electric blankets

I really enjoyed cycling down to Albir last week, meeting up with Irene, who wanted us to see a new apartment.I did some shopping, and cycled back up the hill-only 15 minutes.

After xmas I shall join a spanish class again, the exercise classes will start in earnest, and I’ll join the monthly U3a debating group.We do meditation on Mondays and the sports centre x3 when we can Just livening up this uninspiring blog with some walk vistas

And finally the post walk paella- yummy!

2011 NEW BEGINNINGS

Christmas Day was very different. We had been to  midnight mass in a very cold little church – a bit “stable” like, and had then set off, early the next day, in brilliant sunshine, with duvets and gifts in the back, heading for Angie and John’s finca We contacted all our families before sitting down to a traditional and very splendid meal. Card games banter and more feasting followed , until we flaked out at midnight Some of us succumbed earlier!

Between christmas and new year Michael and I had our own new beginning, and decided to give each other a little space – literally. Mike found a great apartment with spectacular sea views We now have an apartment in town, and a holiday apartment with views of the mountains and the sea, so we spend time together in both of them, and time doing our own thing. I have now a regular exercise to music group with 15+ participants, and Mike is a web page consultant for a couple of days a week, and is loving it.

So New Years Day saw us in relaxed mood having a paddle in the sea in Albir I liked this photo so much I put it on facebook, and yes the picture says it all.We are looking forward to treating visitors to a 2 location break, sampling the delights of town and resort.

One result is an improvement in my driving abroad. I gave a lift to 3 walkers yesterday to xirles up in the mountains, and regularly take to the local motorway.Tonight we are going to a concert of Argentinian music and tango dancing at the casa cultura in Alfaz. Tomorrow after mass will spend the afternoon with Mike on his suntrap balcony, and then back home to prepare for the next exercise session.

 

UK and BACK

The plan to go back to UK for Lucy’s 1st birthday was a good one. We booked the flight and Michael suggested we took the car back to Spain. This opened up the possibility of taking electric blankets and duvets and microwaves from the house, and more clothes and hairdryer, and before we knew it the boot of the car was stretched to capacity. I soon abandoned the idea of finding new clothes from the suitcase and managed to live out of 2 carrier bags for the fortnight.

We forgot to bring back some decent cutlery and a blender to make soup, but these were mere details. What we loved was seeing all our families and friends, being picked up from the airport, by Sue, staying with Barbara – a haven of tranquillity, Dinner with Di, The German market in Leeds with Ju. The fun factory in Menston with Michael and girls, The birthday party with everyone! We were able to have lunch with Michael’s daughter and family, Michael was given a personal photo album of his granddaughter’s wedding in Cyprus. We had a relaxed time with Nina, enjoying her free day with lunch at Epsom racecourse, and then the last 3 days in Southsea /  Portsmouth with Bren before catching the ferry to Santander. a spanish tapas bar and yes we went up the spinaker and had amazing views of Portsmouth. The trip home was very exciting. Firstly we escaped the big freeze by a day. We could have been stranded in snow in Madrid. However placing total trust in the satnav, and with no map – for goodness sake, we became lost in the centre of Madrid and added 200k to the journey, arriving home sometime after midnight. We were very very lucky!

We lost no time in putting our presents under the tree. Christmas came very very early in Alfaz!

life in Alfaz

It has been several weeks since the last post, in fact we have been back to England for a fortnight, returning in the nick of time, before the snow and ice hit europe –in November!My enthusiasm for writing is wilting because of a jumbling up of the words as I type them –must get the computor man back.

Before we left the fiestas in Alfaz entertained us for 5 days and nights! There were parades, and fireworks, and dancing and eating at all hours.The climax was a candlelit procession, where a huge statue of Christ on the cross is carried by 12 men through the streets, in silence followed by the townsfolk, and back into the church. This statue was given to the town 300 years ago by the bishop of Valencia, sent by boat to Albir, and hauled up the hill to the church. So this event is celebrated every year These street decorations are dismantled, only to be put up again at the beginning of December We like Alfaz, it is a lively town, with its own customs and is also very cosmoplitan, having 54 nationalities living here. Alfaz includes the seaside resort of Albir, which is a 15 minute cycle ride away( – yet to be done!)It is the only place apart from London to have a xmas tree donated by Norway.