Andy and I have just spent 10 days at his aunt and uncles villa in Spain. The house is on the outskirts of a town called Dolores, 30 minutes drive from Alicante airport on the Costa Blanco.
For the first 3 days his aunt and uncle, Norma & Keith, were still there for the last few days of their break. We spent our days next to the pool in the 30+ degree heat, a real treat for me!!! One day we took a ferry from Murcia to La Manga across the Mar Menor and had lunch and a swim in the lagoon. In the evenings Norma and Keith took us to local restaurants they know from their 20 years experience in the area. One night we went to a Chinese restaurant in the local town of Rojales, followed by drinks at a bar in Quasada.
Torrevieja, a British holiday hot spot, is only 20 minutes away, with a large shopping centre, supermarket and McDonald's with free WiFi.
The day after Norma and Keith left, Andy and I went to a big water park called Aqualandia in Benidorm - about an hour's drive from home.
We had loads of fun, playing on all the water slides. Andy had a wicked run on the fast one. Asked me to take a video, claiming the water splash will "never" hit me and the camera...................and then came Andy!
On Tuesday we spent the day at home next to the pool and went to the beach at Guardemar which is about 15 minutes away. For dinner we went to a Spanish Tapas restaurant at Torrevieja. You help yourself to Tapas from the counter. Some have square cocktail sticks in them, some have round ones. The square ones are €1.05 and the round ones are €1.40. When you are finished, the waiter counts the sticks and you pay for what you had.
On Wednesday evening we took a long stroll on the beach at sunset.
Thursday was cloudy so we drove out to natural waterfalls - Les Fonts de l'Algar. There are rock pools to swim in, but the water is freezing.
From here we drove high up into the mountains to a ancient village called Guadelest. Now a bit of a tourist spot, but the old bell tower from the Muslim monastery is still there. We had a beautiful lunch overlooking the olive tree valley.
In the evening we went into Dolores as the annual village fiesta was on. We had a drink in the square listening to speeches in Spanish and clapped when every one else clapped.
On Friday we went to Fortuna, a hot water spring and relaxed in the mineral baths overlooking the mountain.
We had salmon and prawns for dinner which cost only €6 from the fish monger.
We spent our last day next to the pool and at the beach. It was 49 deg C in the sun and 38 in the shade - hard to believe only 2000 miles from grotty England.
Left for Alicante airport at 6pm.
We had a great holiday and as you all know, something pretty special happened too......
Click HERE for all our photos
