Spain 2023 - February 17th to 19th

Friday 17th February

Friday is market day in Turre.  We left Richard and Muffin at home and bundled into our 7 seater car – this was a first!  We have had 6 in it before but never 7. 

The market was a bit quiet – all we bought were sweets (pick ‘n mix) and some churros.  From Turre we went back down to the Playa and the Parque Comercial for some coffee and a browse around everyone’s favourite shop, Maria Rosa.  It’s a gift shop but specialises in hand painted china. 

Back on the beach in the afternoon to put the finishing touches to the sandcastle.  It really is a great feat!  The nicest part is that each time we went down no one had knocked it down.

 My two children playing in the sand together. 

Dinner was casserole which I had cooked yesterday.  The meat came from Farmer Sarah and was excellent.  I made 11 portions altogether.  The freezer is busting again!

Saturday 18th February

The last day ☹  We went up to the Pueblo and were met by loud music and great excitement.  It was the end of the second day of the 7th Cycling Tour of Almería 2023.  The cyclists had done 99 kms (61 miles) and had to finish by cycling up the steep hill into the Pueblo, they must be super fit but mad!  Over 300 cyclists took part from all over Spain and beyond.  There was even a British team. 

The Pueblo was really busy, we had never seen it like this before. 

We couldn’t understand what the commentator was saying but we could tell by his voice that the cyclists were getting close as he was getting more and more excited, and his voice was going up and up!  The winner! 

I loved the atmosphere up in the Pueblo and could have stayed for longer but the others had had enough and were feeling hungry.

It was pizza for our last meal together.  We went to the Imperial Pizza on the Paseo.  It wasn’t warm enough to sit outside which was a shame, so we sat at a large table inside.  The pizzas are always good in there.

The afternoon was spent either packing or just relaxing.  I actually went to bed for an hour!  I have had a nasty cough for about 10 days and hadn’t been sleeping well, so I needed some extra sleep.

 

Sunday 19th February

Up early, sadly.  The plan was to be ready to leave the house at 9am, pack the cars and then drive away at 9.15am.  It was 9.13am when we left.  We had Laura, Tobyn and Bobby in our car and James had Victoria, Robert and Muffin in the hire car.

Last year we arrived at the airport when the check-in desk opened and stood in a long queue, so this year we were half an hour later and were the only people checking in!  One to remember.  All checked in and then the big goodbyes ☹  I shall see them all again in April, but it was still hard.  At Almeria airport you can see people going through security.  Tobyn and Victoria set the detector off so they were whisked away!  Victoria has a metal check and Tobyn was swabbed for drugs.  Imagine my grandson a drug’s mule!

Richard and I had to drive both cars back to Mojacar.  I won the toss and drove our car.  We dropped the hire car off and came home to an empty and very quiet house.  I had booked a table at Badger’s yet again, but went to see the sandcastle first.  It was still standing though Robert’s deep water harbour had been washed away.

After all the grey and chilly days we had while the family were here, today was a lovely day.  Richard and I sat out on loungers and did very little for the rest of the day.

Victoria and James got a head start on Robert leaving Gatwick, but sadly when they stopped at the Cobham services on the M25 they noticed a liquid dripping out of the inside of one of the back wheels.  They called out the RAC who took one look at it and said he couldn’t repair it and that he would organise a tow truck.  This call had taken 2 hours and 45 minutes, just within the

3 hours that the RAC quoted.  The tow truck was also going to be 3 hours but it was 4 hours.  They finally got home just after midnight.  What a rotten end to a nice holiday.