Wednesday morning did the third in a row of our “fast” walks of three miles through the town and along the beach, both get back very sweaty and knackered. Made a fresh batch of chilli with my remaining fresh chillies and then read for the rest of the day. Tricia couldn't play boules as she was so tired.
I had been down to Mercadona and noticed they had some pasties in, some kind of veggie and tomato filling, tasted OK. Walked in the door and showed her a pasty, she actually jumped in her seat and her eyes rolled to the back of her head, then pretended she hadn't even noticed it. “Do not, under any circumstances, take up Poker, Pet, you'll lose more than your shirt!” Offered one to her, “No don't want it, on my diet, take it away, where are you going?” “OK I'll try a half of one, that's all”. I left the other half on the table and said sianohra to it, it would not be there when I got back from the washing up, it wasn't.
Last of “As good as it gets”, fried chicken and veggies, doms, she won! Bed ready for Valencia tomorrow.
Thursday 9th June 2011, Valencia!
Up at 7:30 am and tried to wake SWMBO was just this side of impossible as this hour of the morning doesn’t actually exist to her. “Wake up Pet, it's 7:30 am”. “Er...what, what, what time is it I'm still aslee..............ZZZZZZ”. (read snore) She actually fell asleep mid sentence and started snoring, honest! Eventually got her up at about 8'ish and we set about getting ready for the trip. I was assigned the all important job of the sandwiches, corned beef and branston, chicken and mayo, water and fruit.
Went for the €1.40, 11 mile, bus trip from Benicassim to Castellon, which took about forty minutes and dumped us about a mile and a half from the railway station, we had stayed on it hoping it would eventually get closer but it didn't and we had to get off at the terminus and walk back. Got the train tickets, €4.40, 40 mile journey, by watching a Spanish girl work the “automatic” ticket machine. Now it was cheap, but by heavens it was slow, one and a half hours and stopped everywhere. So by the time we got to Valencia it was nearly 1 o'clock, half the day gone already, cheap though, little did I know!
Wandered up to the Plaza Reina, stopped on the way to eat our sandwiches, where the tour buses were located, one is the historical route, we did that 2 years ago and takes in the Bio Park, which was fantastic. The other was the maritime route which passes the Science Park where we were headed. Coffee at €5.20, bloody hell, and after ages finally got someone to take our money for some tickets, take, it was stolen! €30 for the tour bus and €60 for the Park tickets.
SWMBO spots a market and as the “B” bus wasn't in yet dashes off and then almost straight away dashes back as the bus turns up. At about the same time as this there is some kind of protest going on with a lot of people shouting into megaphones and generally cluttering up the pavements, don't know to this day what it was all about.
So we get on and I'm following the couple up the spiral staircase of the Routemaster, London type bus, just at the top the wind blows her frilly skirt up, I was sorely tempted to say “Nice Beaver”, copying Leslie Nielsen in “Airplane”, (you must have seen it) but I refrained.
Three stops later and we are at the Science Museum. In through security (yes, big time, X-ray and all that stuff), use the toilets, she never misses a chance, and over to the entrance to the museum. Stick tickets in the ticket reader and nothing? Eh? Spanish girl comes over and after explaining that we have the wrong tickets, only for the Oceanographic bit and not the others halls. Yep, thought I asked and got charged for, the whole thing, turns out I was not. Guess what the OG is about a mile away, so we trudge off, mind you what a place, you think you have just stepped into the 23rd century.
Gets to the OG, more security and we are in, superb, and it's a good job we only got the one because we spent over 4 hours just there, you would probably need two days to see all three properly. Anyway, we had a good time there, see the millions of pictures SWMBO took, I used the video. Out and went looking for the tourist bus stop as we wanted to finish our tour, half way between stops it turns up, bugger, half an hour before the next one. Ah! If we walk fast/run we can get ahead of it to the next stop as it has to double back on itself, sweaty but made it. So the rest of the tour is the port and the rest of the city and then back to base.
Obviously we were way beyond being late for our intended 5 o'clock train and had therefore to go for the last one at 8 o'clock, miss that and it's hotel time. Meandered back to the station with SWMBO looking in as many shops as possible, me saying through clenched teeth “We need to book those tickets!” Got there and booked two €6.10 each, express rail tickets for the Tortosa train, stopping at Benicassim, no ruddy buses taking hours, this time it would be about an hour only.
We had an hour to kill, she was peckish so we went looking for a Café or bar for a drink and some nibbles as we were planning on eating in Benicassim on the 1 mile walk from the station to the MS. So we are wandering around and it's, “No, too busy, no, too near the road, no, too dirty, no, don't like it.” for, well for a long time as we ambled aimlessly away from the station. Just when we had got to the point when I would guess we had actually left the environs of Valencia, she says, “Mind, there was a lovely little café in the station.” Retraced our steps and found it, but the “lovely” bit was closed, so it was a couple of beers and a cake for 'er indoors and the 8:12 train.
Pleasant journey completely spoilt by this tosser of a middle aged woman who was continually texting with the keyboard sounds on loud. “Beep, beep, beep, then beep.....beepbeep....beep” Give me strength and the real thing was I had at first thought it was just a noise the train was making until SWMBO pointed it out, thanks a bunch, Pet! She just went on and on and I was just about at the point where I was going to wrench the bloody thing off her and shove it up.......when she got off.
Went to the Pizzeria in town where apparently we had been two years ago, it was so memorable I couldn't remember it, and then SWMBO told me the service and food and the time it took was crap. Dear God! Why did she let us come here again anyway! Something must have happened because everything was great, super pizza, wine, desert (her) and brandy, €50, don't care and drifted home at 11:30 pm in the dark. Brilliant day!
Friday 10th June 2011, BP and the forecast is gloomy.
For some reason I read for a while last night and still got up, bright as a bright thing, at 6:15 am, she was out, and I mean for the count.
Did things on the computer and finally SSS before Tricia emerged into the new day looking like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. Breakfast and the promise of visitors, Steve and Anita were leaving and popping round to say goodbye, soon put paid to that and she was bright as a button 30 minutes later.
Washing, same as, same as. I changed the gas bottle, still €14, hasn't gone up? So we will see how long this one lasts with the new fridge setting.
Then the heavens opened along with lots of thunder and lightening, rivers formed in the calle, so that's our game of boules off then? Dinner was my chilli con carne with home made chips, fried in chilli oil, put the bog roll in the fridge now I guess?
Doms, me, 3 – 1.
No DVD's to watch, even for the gazillionth time, so we read until we start to fall asleep.
Saturday 11th June 2011, BP and I still don't know what tickets we have.
Against all odds I applied and got (won?) two tickets for the Olympics next year, they are not the opening ceremony (ha!) but as I applied for a few events I don't know what we have, where we sit, morning or afternoon, which events etc. What I do know is that they have taken £146 from my credit card and will sit on that for a year, think about it, 6 million tickets, average £200? That's about, conservatively nearly £4 million in interest they will get.
SSS this morning and in walks this Erick and he's humming and brumming, (imagine a mixture of cymbals, snare drum and a tuba) as they do, a tune, I thought it was familiar, So I'm just finishing the paperwork and I realise it's “The Floral Dance!” I nearly wet myself laughing, mind I was in the best place to do it. You do get the odd whistler, (not the painter silly) and some do sing, I've listened to a harmonica in Pamplona and once I'm sure I heard an accordion, but I'm hoping that it was outside, think of all that squeezing in and out, you'll catch your vitals I'm sure.
I have decided to have my breakfast when I get up instead of waiting for SWMBO as it's getting nearer to lunch and certainly brunch by the time she gets up. 9:15 am now, been up since 7 am, so I'm starting on my rice crispies and banana followed by a nice Columbian coffee.
I think today we will get back to cycling as I haven't been on my old bike for a while now, no sniggering at the back there Mr Swan.
Still reading one of those Dan Brown type books (Kindle) and it makes me weep sometimes that people want to believe or start a new religion based on the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. For instance they talk about “The Last Supper” painting as if it was historical fact, Da Vinci died in the 1500's what the hell insight did he actually have? Still reading it thoughbut.
22 Miler to Castellon and back via the port and a coffee, hot and sweaty. Boules and doms, both me and then fish (fingers), peas and chips, then watched “Spaceballs the movie”, a satire of Star Wars, a Mel Brooks film and very funny. Bed.
Sunday 12th June 2011, BP and the normal Sunday fayre for breakfast. (1 week to go!)
The mossies seem to have gone on holiday but the flies have replaced them, as soon as you leave the door of the MS open, they’re in! SWMBO doesn't like this and as soon as it happens she's after them with the fly spray, normally I don't mind but when she sprays my marmalade on toast, I have to draw the line. She was chasing one belligerent little bugger this morning and I don't know if it was the recent reference to Star Wars or not but I distinctly heard her say, as she swept passed, aerosol in hand, “The Force is strong with this one”. (?)
Today we go back to the fast walk that nearly killed us last week but this time we will do it in the evening. So it's lying in the sun, playing boules and pretty much nothing else until then.
Two Irish families, well one North and the other South, Brian and Dennis, are leaving tomorrow, been OK company with the odd conversation at the PWC of an evening.
The man who can't be arsed to move is finally moving around, been talking to people and went for a ride on his bike the other day! We did really think he was suffering from something, like necrophilia, which of course we all know as “sleeping sickness” brought on by being bitten by dead pornographic mossies. Note;- SWMBO, clever sod that she thinks she is, all right maybe she is, with all the crossword nonsense she's always doing, has told me it should be narcolepsy, spoilt an otherwise good little story that did!
Fast walk with a coffee and tapas in town, dinner outside of baked potatoes, chilli for me and tuna and sweetcorn for Tricia. Then doms, me, and as we had already played boules which I won also, I thought I should go for the triple and persuaded her to play cribbage. It was dark when I beat her by one point, she went straight to bed sobbing, bless.
Monday 13th June 2011, BP and they are leaving in droves.
SSS early and then wait for communal breakfast as the “few” beers she had last night. (I know, very unusual for SWMBO, the drinking of beer but I think she was drowning her sorrows, see later)
This is as empty as we have ever seen BP. The management have even extended their “low” season prices until 14th July, which is unprecedented, to encourage people to stay a little longer, we are not, as us and most Brits have a ferry to catch. Also travelling back through France in July is very busy and very expensive, we know, we did it once, never again.
The plan this week is to get as much tanning in before we get home, buy in bulk all the cheap things we like here to take back and sort the MS and Truckasarus ready for the run home.
SWMBO has decided to clean the fridge, she does this by leaving the door open while she takes things out to clean, I tell her to shut the door now and again as all the cold is getting out and she replies that “I am not an idiot, I know what I'm doing!” “When I'm not sure about the first one and cannot fully agree with the second”. Unfortunate for me on two counts, one, as I spoke this riposte under my breath, she still heard it and two, she was holding a rather over ripe tomato in her hand. I'm not sure the stains will come out of my best white T shirt and I'm going to have to wash my hair again.
Down to Mercadona for some odd bits and this young woman comes up to SWMBO and tries to sell her some hip/thigh reducing cream, I arrived and she said, “Thank God, you got here just in time, I was about to slap her!”
Boules and she won for the first time in weeks, not planning any card games tonight as she may be on a roll.
Scorcher today but kinda windy so the bike ride is off. I cleaned the car in the shade of the trees, removing the accumulated bird crap off it, what do these birds eat? Then reading a bit and then off for our fast'ish three mile walk, cerveza and tapas for the second time running at the same pub. (black pudding on bread, which she ate both bits, again!)
Dinner is fillet steak, salad, fried potato, grilled mushrooms and peas, yummy.
Beat me at doms, but thank the Lord I won at cribbage, she can't really think she can emulate my recent achievements can she? Absolutely not, says so in the scriptures.
Zulu (not to the end) and bed. (sounds a bit perverted that does)
Tuesday 14th June 2011, BP and the 20+ miler is due today.
Going to cycle through to the Decathlon sports store for a pair of reasonably priced trainers as when I get back I'm going back to playing tennis again. Washing first unfortunately.
TMWCBATM, The man who can't be arsed to move, is back to his old tricks, mind if you call sitting there all day, staring into the middle distance, a trick, I think we could all manage that with little expertise or effort. We have also have a German who is a real “character”, (read nutter) , he tends to throw up most mornings, goes the the shower block in his underpants and plays his music loud now and again, bless.
An absolutely weird thing happened the other night. We were cutting for the first deal in cribbage, for a laugh I said, “You'll get the seven of diamonds and get the five of hearts”. And guess what, I got the three of spades and she the four of clubs. No, sorry couldn't resist that. No it was exactly as I predicted, how spooky is that?
The two Spanish families that were her for over a week left and as they were just pulling out we noticed that they had left their, newly purchased for the week, charcoal BBQ, shouted to them but they didn't want it so now we have a perfectively serviceable BBQ, inc fire starters and charcoal!
The cycle ride turned out to be 27 miles, two pairs of shorts, one Hawaiian (don't ask, for an upcoming party) , a cycle lock, and trainers, courtesy of Decathlon, €38 the lot, can't be bad. On the way out she stopped a TWO Cotes De Ingles and managed to buy nothing as the dress she had seen a couple of weeks ago had gone, result!
As we rode away from the store about 5 pm I hear “I'm hungry”, it's like having a small child in tow. “What about the banana you were going to bring?” “I ate it before we left”. God preserve us.
Back and boules, me, doms, her, no cribbage as it was getting too dark and also I didn't want to risk another defeat, and a fantastic salad for dinner with some Rioja.
Last of “Zulu” and then bed.
Wednesday 15th June 2011, BP and it's a day at the beach as it is just too hot to do anything else.
After scouring all the local Chinese “Bazaar” shops for a Frisbee and they having only bent ones, got one that had a propeller in the middle of it and was the correct shape. Totally useless, unless of course you wan a Frisbee that always zooms off to the right. A while back we bought a load of microwave proof cooking bowls with lids, yep you guessed it the bloody lids are the best Frisbees around.
The UG, Underpanted German was in the shower cubicle next to me this morning, the gurgling, choking and belching noises he was making were beyond description and I would dread to be the guy walking in after him, I think your feet would stick to the floor, wet or not. Oh, and another thing, whilst showering the other night he was having a conversation with his wife who was in the ladies shower, next door, just like farting in a lift, wrong on so many levels.
I've been waiting for the € rate to change in my favour, in vain, for a few weeks now and it fluctuates between 1.1 and 1.2, where have the days of €1.45 to the £ gone and, more importantly, will they ever return? Which reminds me of another, pre €, MP sketck called “The Money Programme”.
Good evening, and welcome to The Money Programme. Tonight on The Money Programme, we're going to look at money. Lots of it. On film, and in the studio. Some of it in nice piles, others in lovely clanky bits of loose change. Some of it neatly counted into fat little hundreds, delicate fiver's stuffed into bulging wallets, nice crisp clean cheques, pert pieces of copper coinage thrust deep into trouser pockets, romantic foreign money rolling against the thigh with rough familiarity, beautiful wayward curlicued banknotes, filigree'd copper plating cheek by jowl rubbing gently against the terse leather of beautifully balanced bank books!!
But I love money. All money. I've always wanted money. To handle! To touch! The smell of the rain-washed florin! The lure of the lira! The glitter and the glory of the guinea! The romance of the ruble! The feel of the franc! The heel of the Deutschmark! The cold antiseptic sting of the Swiss franc! And the sunburnt splendour of the Australian dollar!
I've got ninety thousand pounds in my pyjamas
I've got forty thousand French francs in my fridge
I've got lost of lovely lira, now the deutschemark's getting dearer
And my dollar bills would buy the Brooklyn Bridge
There is nothing quite as wonderful as money
There is nothing quite as beautiful as cash
Some people say it's folly but I'd rather have the lolly
With money you can make a splash
There is nothing quite wonderful as money
There is nothing like a newly minted pound
Everyone must hanker for the butchness of a banker
It's accountancy that makes the world go round.
Unfortunately I don't think anyone wants to hanker to be a banker, more like a wanker, that they are theses days, I hate them all.
Wednesday evening after spending a couple of hours on the beach with our new Frisbee, she's absolutely useless at it, back for a shower and then back into town for tapas and beers, SWMBO had four tapas. Doms her and then read until time for bed, as we don't finish doms until after ten, no time for film. Read a bit and then typing this at 1am as I can't sleep.
Tried to take a few pictures of the Earth eclipse of the moon, not so good.
Next and final blog for the season will be next week, home on Wednesday 22nd June and the relative cold weather, ugh!
 |
| The long rail journey |
 |
| Valencia station |
 |
| Valencia station and bull ring |
 |
| Plaza Riena |
 |
| Science park |
 |
| Oceanographic park |
 |
| Train home |
 |
| Late evening meal after Valencia |
 |
| Earth eclipse? |
 |
| New shorts |
 |
| BP at night 2 sec delay |
| Add caption |
 |
| Free BBQ |
 |
| Coffee on 27 miler |
 |
| The magic store, turns lots of € into nothing |
No comments:
Post a Comment