Calpe - A to Z of Places I have Visited

I have started writing about some places I have visited and posting them in alphabetical order.
Still wondering what I will do for the more unusual letters like Q  etc. but I think I have an idea for Z.

We have been to the same villa in Calpe 3 times and love both the villa and the town of Calpe.

We found it by chance on the internet and discovered that it is owned by a guy from Liverpool who is married to a Spanish girl and lives in the next small town to Calpe.

After we had already been there we invited my sister and her husband to come for a week with us to celebrate my birthday and their wedding anniversary (I mentioned the fact that she got married on my 13th birthday in the first post in this series on Alicante).



Calpe 

Calpe is found on the South East coast of Spain about an hour's drive north from Alicante airport.

The drive north along the coast is beautiful on a sunny day - and we have only seen it in the sun.

The town of Calpe sits right on the coast and has all the usual restaurants and tourist type shops but it is not overly full of tourists, at least you never feel like it is the way Benidorm would be.

Smaller seaside town with good sandy beaches and a very relaxing feel about it.

Meeting Friends

When I was planning this trip I had mentioned to our oldest son that we were going back to Calpe again.  Later he was talking with some friends of his and ours and they mentioned they were going to have a trip to Spain but then imagine his surprise when they said they were going to a place called Calpe.  He quickly told them we were also going there and then discovered that our holidays would overlap by three days.  So it was arranged that we would meet them the day after we arrived which would be the day before they left and we would have coffee on a beach north of Calpe.

Me, our friends from Wales and my sister & brother-in-law.

Not only did we find that nice beach and have a great time together chatting and drinking coffee and then having lunch but when they realised that my brother-in-law loved to eat at carveries they told us about the best one they had ever been to which was only 10 mins from that beach.

Well you can guess what happened - yes we met up again a few hours later at the restaurant and spent a lovely evening together as well.



Surrounding Area

While we were there we went round Calpe and also some of the small places nearby.

 Here is a picture I took of Fred taking a picture of Averil & Victor on one of the lovely coastal walks we found.

North and South of Calpe you will find many beaches and other little towns to walk around and of course stop for a coffee or cold drink.

Of course everywhere we go we always find something to laugh about and this time it was a medical van with my initials on it so of course a photo just had to be taken.




Calpe Rock

There are 2 main beaches in Calpe and they are very easy to get to from the town because the town is basically built beside them.

There is also a very large well-known rock at Calpe which juts out into the sea and the two beaches have formed on either side of that rock.

Here is a view from the beach on the right hand side of the rock

Victor got a good picture of it here.



And here is the view from the beach on the left hand side

The water was great for bathing there and we had fun - Fred and Victor and I are like kids when we get in the sea together.

The beach on the left was longer and had more shops along it which was good because the day we went there was the hottest day and we needed to buy a parasol to use on the beach or we could not have stayed for as long as we did.

Amazingly we had a view of the rock from our appartment as well.

A suppose the rock is so famous there because it is so large and hence very noticable for quite a few miles along the coastal road.

Have you ever been to Calpe? Check this out to see if it is worth visiting.

Our Appartment

While we were there the weather was very hot but the appartment and the grounds were lovely

 meaning that we had breakfast outside each morning and almost any other meal we had when not off exploring.

There was also a very nice pool a couple of mins walk from the appartment to go for a swim before dinner in the evenings.

The flora is very colourful in that area and around our appartment there was this lovely dark pink display of flowers which made a nice background for a picture before going out for a meal one evening.

Bratislava - A to Z of Places I have Visited

For the next few months I am going to write about some places I have visited and do them in alphabetical order.
Still wondering what I will do for the more unusual letters like Q and X etc. but maybe I will have a brilliant idea later.

Well I have visited several places that start with the letter B but I really wanted to pick Bratislava for 2 reasons.

Firstly we never started out intending to go to Bratislava but when we were there we had a very enjoyable time.
Secondly the other places I have visited that start with B could fall into other categories like one of the cities/towns of a specific country that I have been to other places in as well and I might do a little series later on those countries.


Well in 2010 we were planning to go to Vienna in Austria before we would be leaving our home of over 6 years in Belgium to return to live in Northern Ireland (another country I have lots of B places for).   So we started to see where we would fly to for Vienna and discovered that Ryanair flew to Bratislava which was in Slovakia and not Austria but just a train journey over the border to Vienna and it was a very cheap flight.

So we were in Slovakia a first for both Fred & I (even though he has travelled to far more countries than I have).

When we arrived we got the train from the airport to the city; it was still quite early in the morning and the weather was wet and windy so the first thing was a coffee.

Now Fred is not found of coffee and I love coffee but we hadn't a clue about the language and in the little cafe at the train station we had to guess the menu.

I found a coffee ok but he wasn't sure about tea so in the end he picked a coffee and it was different to any coffee we had seen before.   I was actually jealous of it but I just had to get a picture of him with that coffee.

That coffee was so good that he had the same sort of grin on his face after he had drunk it.


Then we felt the rain was not as heavy as earlier and we took a leisurely walk up through some of the the main streets of the city.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

We came to the Market Square and really no market is very pleasant in the rain

and I was very glad I had my heavy, hooded warm coat for this morning adventure.

We did have a little wander around the market and got something to eat that we had never had before but I can't remember the name of it.  This is why I had decided that I should always carry a travel notebook with me but did I have it with me that day?  NO!


Here is a picture of the same square on a dry day.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

On the way up to the market Square we had noticed something rather different on the ground so on the way back down we had another look and took a picture

of a soldier? in a manhole?

and then another picture closer up.

Apparently there are quite a few of these types of statues around Bratislava but this was the only one we saw on our short trip there.

We didn't have enough time to go to see the castle close up

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

but you can see it above in a picture over the city during sunset.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

Then we also didn't get to see the UFO Tower which we didn't even know about.

Not very good at doing our research before leaving on this trip unfortunately and if we had known more and had better weather I think we would have really loved this city.  As it was I do have fond memories of that day.

Photo Credit:  Pixabay

We had to get back then to the train station to get the train to our destination of Vienna and we were glad that we had left ourselves plenty of time because when we got to the station we could not find where to get the train.

We were at the wrong station, there are two of them and the one we came to from the airport was not the one we needed to leave from to get to Vienna.  A little bus journey round the city was needed to find it.

Have you ever been to Bratislava? Check this out to see if it is worth visiting.

I would definitely recommend a day or two in Bratislava but hope for better weather than we got but if the weather is not so good just drop into the Train Station cafe and treat yourself to one of those delicious coffees if you can work out which one it is in the menu.

See Other posts in this series:

A for Alicante

                                                                                 

Alicante - A to Z of Places I Have Visited

For the next few months I am going to write about some places I have visited and do them in alphabetical order.
Still wondering what I will do for the more unusual letters like Q and X etc. but maybe I will have a brilliant idea later.

For a few years we found a lovely place to stay in Spain and enjoyed our different holiday weeks there in the small town of Calpe.

To get there each time we flew into Alicante and normally we just got our hire car and drove straight on to Calpe to get settled in to our little villa without even thinking about a visit to the town of Alicante.

However two of these holidays were shared with my sister and brother-in-law (yes the guy I wrote that post about gifts for his birthday  10 Gift Ideas for your Brother-in-Law )  and for the first one of them we were coming from two different countries to meet up in Spain.  Both flights were into Alicante Airport but several hours apart with Fred & I arriving first.  So we had plenty of time to pick up the hire car and go on into Alicante to have a look around and enjoy a coffee maybe!

Arriving in Alicante we found that the streets were full of people and there was 

a very noisy and joyful atmosphere.

We quickly discovered that the people had been gathering to await a procession.

Well being from Northern Ireland we have watched many parades and processions over the years in various towns and cities there but we knew that this one would be different.

We had previously seen processions in the Canary Islands so presumed that this one would be similar to those where a statue of a saint or of Mary would be carried from one site to another.

There were bands led by girls in very colourful traditional dresses and white headresses/bonnets and also banners with pictures.

Then after one section of the procession these girls in (we presume) national or local style outfits were all gathered together with many of them holding banners with numbers on them.  There seemed to be some sort of contest and perhaps it was between the girls or between local areas of the Alicante region and that would account for the numbers.

There were so many banners and they passed us by so quickly that we did not get a good look at them and unfortunately we did not get close enough for our pictures to clearly show the writing.

The bands themselves all looked very similar with the men (and a few women) all in white shirts and black trousers.  In Northern Ireland band parades we are used to each band having a different uniform.

With the man and woman both in green it made me think of St. Patrick's Day Parades.  If interested in that click on these links for posts I have written about them  Everyone's Irish on March 17th   &  St. Patrick's Day Parade in NI

The Ladies who were all dressed the same were led into this covered stand as there region or area passed by with their band - we never worked out why.

Occasionally there would be some men with the ladies in front of the band and they were also in a type of national costume.

They played the same instruments as we would normally see in our bands but they were perhaps more casual in their attire and their marching.



By the time this was all over we only had time for a lovely relaxing walk at the harbour area

Photo Credit:  Pixaby

which is beautiful and bright and open.   It is clean and the palm trees bordering it make it very attractive.  We were also surprisingly pleased by the state of the beach in Alicante because and that is good praise as we are spoilt for good, long, sandy beaches here in Northern Ireland.

Photo Credit:  Pixaby

But after that there was no time for that coffee before we had to drive back to the airport.


As my sister got into the car I remember her saying

"Well what was Alicante like?  Is it worth us going to see it?"  

and we all laughed when I explained what we had spent the afternoon watching - well it was somewhat appropriate as Fred & I were the ones no longer living in our home country where parades are a regular occurrence just as they are in Spain.

Have you ever been to Alicante? Check this out to see if it is worth visiting.

Later I tried to do a little bit of research to find out about the procession we had seen, well you know what I mean  -  I googled it.

Apparently for several days in the month of June they have a celebratory Festival of Fires and this was the "Feria Procession" that happens on one of the days and on other days they have different events some including fires in the evenings.  Quite appropriate as in NI we also have bonfires the night before some of our parades.

And did I mention that here we were two couples coming to this area also for a celebration?

We were celebrating my birthday and my sister's wedding anniversary. 

Yes

 my older sister got married on my 13th birthday and that's a story for another time.

The Day We Had to Say Goodbye - A Dose of Encouragement

Well our life here in Banbridge has changed once again.


For two weeks this year our daughter was home from South Korea and for the first of those two weeks our son was over from Leeds, England.  That meant we had a week in which the whole family (including our other son and daughter-in-law in Belfast) could do some things together, and we did have some nice meals and outings.

With visits there are all the hellos and hugs and lots of chat and catch up but there are also the goodbyes.  So it came that we first had to say goodbye to Jonathan and then last Friday it was goodbye to Linda.  Fortunately this time we have hopes of seeing her at Christmas for a quick visit back here because she really wants to be able to meet her nephew/niece who is due at the end of October.


This all brought back memories of another goodbye.

One which took place in February 2013.........

Our daughter Linda came back from university to live with us in September 2012 and all along we knew it was probably only for about 5/6 months while she decided what she wanted to do after completing her Masters Degree in Creative Writing.

Then on a Tuesday in February 2013 we drove her to Dublin Airport to fly to Dubai and then on to South Korea, where she was going to teach English in a school there for at least a year with the EPIK organisation.

Having had her with us for those months (after having seen her toddle off from our home in Belgium to university in Norwich in 2006 and then stay on there for a couple of years working and then another year at the university) our way of life did change somewhat from living as a couple who are very easy going with regards to when we do things, to three people in the equation of when we are going out, when we are eating, what we are eating, more detailed conversations and a lot more listening from us.

Now that extra dimension in the household had gone again.

Those last few weeks of her time with us had been very busy getting her visa organized, tickets, vaccinations, hospital appointments, dental appointments, shopping, going to certain types of  restaurants she may not have the chance to get to for a long time, visiting friends and family, saying goodbye to people at church, deciding what to pack and trying to sort out all her other stuff that will have to stay here (2 cases with a total of 30kg does not allow for much of her belongings to make the trip with her).

Then I was left with an empty bedroom to Spring Clean and find a space for all the bags and boxes she filled and left there.

If Fred did not work from home I think this would have been a very lonely time but as it was we just had to revert back to the way we were before she arrived, the way we had grown into since we came to Banbridge.

People may have said we should have taken the opportunity to make other changes then instead of going back to our old way.

Were we just going backward or should we have been determined to be different?

I think a lot of time could have been wasted in trying to

         decide what is best 
and analyzing it all about what we may have learned 
from the situation 
and how to use that insight to develop further 

when really we should just be living the way God wants us to live and doing each day what He prompts us to do.  I actually think the analysing and learning and insight bit sounds more like a business situation.

This doesn't have to be a mind changing event or life altering event, it is just something that happened on one day of our lives and was a sad occasion.

Today we are living another day in our lives in our walk with God

The following day, all the days in between and today we are living another day in our lives in our walk with God. There is no point in reading a lot into a situation just to have something to talk endlessly about but in the end do nothing anyway.

Everyone will view a situation differently depending on the type of person they are and how they see their relationship with God.  We cannot expect everyone to be the same as us or the same as others we have known.

We can only look at our own relationship with God and be prepared to make the small or bigger changes He wants us to make when it is right in His plan.


While Linda was back again this year she acknowledged that her move to South Korea had been the right move at the right time and spoke of how God had been helping her to grow in her faith even in a country where she does not understand a lot of the language.

We are thankful that she is happy there and we know that God has given her good friends and a good church family.

Even so it was hard again last week when we had to say those goodbyes again.

Some things change but some things don't - goodbyes are always hard.

But again I am reminded of the plaque we were given in 2004 when we were leaving Northern Ireland to go to live in Belgium

Yes the Lord is with us wherever we go, or wherever we stay 

and he is with you wherever you go or stay 

when you are a child of God, living each day for Him.

The important thing is that wherever we go 
we are living each day for Him.