11 Nov 2008

Hello Fellow Bloggers

Hello fellow Bloggers & readers, sorry I have not been about for such a long time but its been a very strange year 2008

I had such plans at the start of the year I was going to go up in a hot air balloon, go to the Isle of Man visiting friends, travel to Penang & Australia as well as lots of other things

Well I joined in the various forums on Saga both the serious as well as the fantasy & setting up & running them is quite hard work, I have just checked then found the tearoom has now reached nearly 8000 posts and the village pond is also doing well.

Also through Saga I started meeting a whole range of people in different parts of the country and actually met my friend Sofi the other week in Birmingham who had travelled a long long way to meet people from Saga, all of which has also taken up time,

I will not go into any detail about myself and Debbie other than we are still running the tearoom and are enjoying each others company in the real world

I have just returned from a fortnights holiday in Spain so feel it’s a good start to resume my Blogging & tell you a little of what went on, wait for the next blog to begin

My Trip to Torrablanca






My Latest Trip to Spain



Well I desperately wanted a break it has been one of these years, so I searched all over, including Saga Travel, but found the prices so expensive for a single person wanting two weeks holiday

Finally I went to the expert Zorro, who gave me the name of a couple of hotels in a resort that did not have lots of British people

I then went to see my favourite person Dawn at the travel agents & low and behold she got me the hotel at the right dates, decent flights and even better at a good price

Oh forgot to say that Dawn tried to save me money by not including meals & a different airport transfer by minibus, surely that would be much better with all the hanging about & chatty reps plus all those stops

Everything started well I bought a meal deal at Boots which I felt was better & healthier than the odd one the people had to pay for on the flight, there were no problems on the flight nor at baggage collection, so off to find my minibus

Well I had read the instructions but where was the man with my name on a card, well after a while I re read the instructions & in the end went to the other terminal, but couldent see anyone there, well cut a long story short eventually after 15 minutes we found each other the minibus was full of others, all going to strange places which meant it still seemed to take forever to get to the hotel, what was worse was I could of got the train & been there in 15 minutes with a 3 minute walk from the station

Check in at the hotel was easy & the room was okay, but the view was the roof of green felt & I was next to the domestics room, at least it would be quiet, oh & the air conditioning worked well

Downstairs for a walk round, but hang on a minute it was a Spanish Saga holiday there were hundreds of elderly Spanish people apparently shouting to each other wherever I went in the hotel, but I did not worry & off to the beach in the sun & it was virtually deserted apart from a few joggers

Well mealtime came so down I went the place was full of those same people as in the lounge, with a small sprinkling of British, but none seemed anymore happy either, the food was self service & I quickly found a table & got the hang of the layout, what was interesting was it all tasted the same which continued through the holiday however attractive, sorry being unfair the sweets tasted different but not quite sure what LOL

Well I visited Fuengirola which was much as I remembered it & it was easy to reach by the train, I spent a number of occasions walking along the beach which was so peaceful & quiet apart from the noise of the waves, but sadly on my own

On the holiday I spent most of my time alone, apart from one nice little couple I met and a nice man I chatted to at the station one day, it seems the british now seem to stay within their own little groupings apart from the drinkers

I did some sun bathing again on my own but found due to back pain it was hard to lie on the beds for long, the one thing I did at these times was listen to my MP3 player & read the books I had brought

Well the bad news some days the sun shone but when it rained well the streets were flooded as you can see from the photo, for the last 3 days it never stopped, & the lounges were full of about 400 Spanish people again all chatting quite loud, but the Brits had disappeared yet again, so off to watch Bargain Hunt & other riveting programmes on the TV in the room mixed in with listening to music & reading

Now must say went to Malaga one day but got off at main station by mistake & went the wrong way, luckily eventually found the promenade & beach which was quite pleasant & different to the local ones, after a while I wandered back through the town & saw some of the traditional housing away from the tourist areas

Also went for a trip on the local bus to Ronda which was on a lovely day, I looked at all the touristy bits then found a lovely deserted area just off the beaten track with only the horse to keep me company which showed the valley & the town from a totally different view don’t you think

Whilst there was hungry so went into McDonalds, well it was a local one & I was served quickly, the food actually tasted better than some I had at the hotel I am sorry to say

Whilst on the holiday noticed this hill with a tower so found my way there & the view was fantastic so those of you that know me will understand that I then needed to come back at sunset to see if I could get any good photos there, I will post a few for you to see what you think

Because I was going up there at dusk I think the locals must of thought I was mad, I did worry because it was isolated that I could have been mugged or worse still have a fall then what would I do, but the photos I felt were worth the effort

Oh I forgot to mention, do you remember that I was next to the domestics room well 7.30 every morning on went the taps full for them so I was never going to oversleep was I but the they continued throughout the day until late afternoon & even worse they did my room last, well I suppose it could have been a load of drunks next to me LOL

Staying at the hotel was a young mum with 2 very young children, she looked worn out all the time, it wasent that the children were bad just boisterous, sadly nobody ever offered any help I did think of it but what would people think of some old bloke talking to her so sadly given the time we live in I dident, maybe I should start a forum on the subject on Saga

One day I saw the young mum on the beach playing with the children as I was walking along then she took some photos, when I reached her she was still taking the photos so I stopped & offered to take one of her & the children, she seemed very confused by the offer so I asked again, she was English, eventually she agreed to my doing it so I took the photos sadly that was the end, was it me feeling lonely, I felt she was so isolated but that my entering into conversation on my own would only cause embarrassment it seems such a shame I was not trying to chat her up just felt she could of done with a chat with an adult, but what do I know

On the last day it had been raining but guess what the sun came out as the minibus collected me, it was an uneventful trip back to the airport, the plane was an hour late but they had Mama Mia on for entertainment so that I enjoyed the flight, wanted to sing but thought better of it

In future have decided going on holiday on my own is not my thing, nobody to rub cream on back to chat to or hold hands this year hang on a minute don’t do those things with Brian hope there are no misunderstandings

I left the best to the last because it was Debbie that I realised I would of wanted to walk along the beach with & hold hands, whilst I was away she was in OZ but we used text each day & chatted on occasions I wonder what that says for the relationship

A Little Health Scare

I have been investigated for over 12 months for problems with my back & other skeletal problems, i am finding there are more & more things wrong, but we will see what the outcome is
Anyway back to the plot, the last consultant I saw very unusually sent me a copy of his letter explaining the findings & what happens next, no problem so far

Got to the bottom of the page & something caught my eye, Spinal Carsinosis it said, uumm said I, googled it, now no going off & trying it if you dont know what it is:) well it said it was I thought it meant, so thought this cant be true so googled again, well what to do now, uumm dont panic,


so the next day after not telling anyone, was i brave or stupid dont know, contacted consultants secretary said wanted to speak to him, but dident say why, he rang me later & we discussed the results then I said, now about these 2 little words at the bottom oh said he I was going to contact you about that, I really must apologise its a typing error it should of been an L not an R therefore calcinosis, not nice but infinitely better, we chatted about this & I was suitably relieved,


people say I should of complained screamed shouted & all sorts of other things, why did I not panic, I wish I knew, maybe its because I am a fatalist or maybe i am to daft, or maybe even I was in shock, but I think in reality knowing how the system works I had been seen by 2 consultants & my own GP so if it was so surely someone would of mentioned it before, what to make of it all relief was the best only problem is that others have told me off for not telling them of it, cant win sometimes can we