Bonfires of st john

The custom of lighting bonfires for the summer solstice dates back to early man and represents the sun, the giver of life.
Water has also played a role in ancient customs since a time long since forgotten.
Early Christians carried on these traditions at the same time of year and named it the festival of Saint John so it is not surprising that the modern festival involves flower offerings jumping over fires and jumping into the sea.


We started our day with a trip to Guadalest.




Then went on to Benidorm so some of the boys could watch the England match. While the rest of us, took in the sights.


We returned to the finca at around 6pm and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading off to the beach in Santa Pola to have a BBQ with our local friends and the rest of Santa Pola.
There was a stage (not visible through the smoke in the photo of Sue looking like a smoked Kipper) with bands playing all night. Everyone was happy, there were fireworks and every one (not us) jumped over the fires and then in the sea at midnight.

'Hogueras de San Juan' 2010 By kevin, Margaret and Andrew

Today we went to Alicante we had a picnic in the park before setting out around the town centre to see how many hogueras we could find.














The two in the middle are Kevin and Dale who arrived today
















Warren told us it was like our guys on bonfire night but on a grand scale. His description didn't do it justice but they are big really big it’s hard to believe that they get burnt on the 24th.

These were the first one's we found they by the marina





















The next ones we found were all around the Townhall, we all took lots of photos

















The main street was like a carnaval with stalls and parades and loud music.


























After all the excitement we cooled off with and ice cold drink at the castle and took in the view.

Ever upward By Margaret and Andrew

Today spurred on by our trip up to the tower yesterday we asked Warren if we good see some old monuments.

We headed off to find some castles so where better to start then in the aptly named Castella we walked around the old town and up to the church and the castle.

















We walked around the town but could not find an open cafe so we headed back to the car and refreshed ourselves with the drinks we had taken with us.


Next stop on our three castle tour was the lovely village of Sax we climbed up to the castle the views were fantastic.














Warren was desperate for a rest so we agreed to head into the village for lunch we stopped at a very Spanish cafe call los amigos (the friends) it was packed with locals who made us welcome.

We had our lunch then dragged Warren back to the car, and then we were off to our last stop the old town of Elda. We parked the car in a nice bit of shade topped up our factor fifty and wound our way through narrow streets and small squares upward ever upward to our last castle of the day.



















There was another amazing view over the rooftops and we found that when we walked around the other side of the castle we were walking over the roofs of cave house with gardens on the roof.

A grand first day. By Andrew and Margaret

Well rested and raring to go we headed off for Sunday lunch at the sunset bar but on the way Margret and Andrew said they would prefer to go to the sea front. So we made for Santa Pola to explore the sea front.













We walked until Warren begged us to stop!. Then we walked a little more to a cafe right on the beach for lunch.

After eating we were fully refreshed, so we headed for the harbour to look at the boats, then to the marina to look at even more boats.















While we were there Warren’s wife phoned to see if we wanted to meet for a drink.













We had a nice cold drink with Monica and Beto then we decided to stay a little longer and have an ice cream.
















Monica and Beto had plans to meet Anna and climb up to an old tower called Torre del Moro as it has amazing views of the coast so we invited our selves along. We walked to a nice shaded park where we had arranged to meet with Anna it was nice to get out of the sun for a short while before our big climb.
















Beto went first to clear the path followed by Margaret and Monica who sang down to us ‘I’m the king of the castle’



The view was even better then we imagined and well worth the climb.
We had a real thirst on by the time we got back down so we all went for a drink before saying our good bye’s and heading back to the villa for tea.

Chasing the blue. By Sally.

It was a wet and windy day when we headed off to Quesada for our planned day out.
When we arrived the rain was heavier then ever and folks were dashing back and forth with plastic bag hats or fighting with umbrellas.

I turned to Warren and said “I don’t like getting wet “”how about we aim for that bit off blue in the sky over there”.


















So we put our backs to Quesada and drove off along a winding country road in pursuit of blue skies.
We turned this way and that as the road became narrower and narrower.

We were starting to feel the need for a break from driving as we reached the edge of that bit of blue.
When we looked around all we could see were signs for a lake, pointing towards the centre of our bit of blue so we followed it.
The road winded yet more and we thought we were lost for sure when we spotted a friendly sign that promised a warm welcome form a traditional country pub.















We drove off down the little track and soon we found a wonderful little pub called la fuente de don Juan.

We were greeted by the lovely Lorraine who made us tea and sandwiches, after we had refreshed our selves we chatted to Lorraine and found out that she was a member of the well known Abba tribute band called Abba Cadabra.

Fully refreshed we said our goodbyes the sky was blue in all directions so we visited the lake then turned for home.














On return I tried out the new ramps that the local carpenter had just fitted.

Gibraltar trip 2010

This year we have started to look at some possible locations for short breaks and excursions.
So with the help of some intrepid explorers, we dodged the ash cloud and headed off to the far corner of Spain to explore the wonders of the Costa Del Sol and Andalucia the areas that surround Gibraltar.

















We based our selves at the wonderful hotel, Reina Cristina in Algeciras an oasis of calm,with friendly staff that make you feel like part of the family.

















Algeciras is a busy and vibrant city and gives off a distinct Arab flavour with its Arabic signs and tea shops specializing in Moroccan teas and bustling markets full of exotic fruits and spices.


















We had a drink in this plaza which was full of market stalls at the time!

O.K i won't keep you waiting any longer i know you want to see the apes.













Woops my mistake!!! this cheeky monkey is my son Beto.

Here's the real apes they seemed to know it was Derek's birthday and jumped all around him.































We saw all the sights of Gibraltar and did a fair bit of shopping too!.

Then we went back and relaxed in our room, before partying the night away.

















Another highlight of our trip was visiting Ronda set high in the mountains and built across a gorge Ronda is one of those cities which appears to be located somewhere between reality and legend.

We are not sure who the old fellow in the hat is, but he was friendly and seemed keen to be in the photo.



















One of the jewels of the Costa del Sol is the beautiful little village of Mijas, which nestles comfortably in the mountainside at 428 meters above sea level.
It was a little wet and windy when we arrived in Mijas and we were greeted by horses in raincoats


















special thanks to our very own super hero Chris for all the help with the wheel chair.