hola!!

Moira+I have just returned from a really lovely few days in Spain (together with our great friends Ken+Debby) – thanks to the amazing generosity of my former school colleagues who paid for the trip AND especially to Wendy (from school) who also let us stay in her lovely villa near Orihuela.
The sun shone (19-26 degC), the sky was blue and the Mediterranean was a wonderful mixture of inky blue and turquoise.
Moira+Debby essentially “chilled” while Ken+I played golf for three days (beautiful courses at Las Colinas, Las Ramblas and Villamartin)… and, fittingly, we ended tying - winning one day each and drawing one. We arranged our golf times either as “twilight” or relatively early morning rounds so we could all make the most of our time in the area. Somewhat predictably, we seemed to eat and drink quite a lot – both at the villa and at local restaurants, bars and cafes. The local supermarket sold the same Rioja that I would normally buy at home for up to £9 a bottle for just €2.99… well, it would have been a shame not to have sampled it, wouldn’t it? And with three patios to choose from, there seemed little point in putting up a struggle!
We were also “impressed” by the local Chinese shop that seemed to sell absolutely EVERYTHING (which Debby nick-named “Chimark”!).
Ken+I managed to fit in a coffee+pastry before our morning rounds of golf (as you do) and we all also found some really excellent lunchtime “deals” – with very good food - for €10 and €12 respectively (the latter in Cartagena which included four courses and a glass of wine!)… not to mention a brilliant stone oven restaurant where we cooked our own steaks!
We also enjoyed our coastal trips to Torrevieja and, in particular, to the beautiful city/port of Caragena.
All in all, we had a really wonderful time… and Ken has already asked what I have in mind for my THIRD retirement!
Very many thanks to lots of brilliant school colleagues for making it all possible.  
Photo: me “punching” a shot on a final hole of our “mini tour” – and Ken+I both got our pars, which was a nice way to finish!