Saturday evening.

By the time we got back from Vera we were knackered and all I really wanted to do was lie down and have a rest, but we had agreed we would go out and listen to some Music and we couldn’t let people down. The fact it was only Jaki and I was irrelevant.

So we quickly got changed and headed down to the Bus Stop in time to catch the Yellow bus along the Playa, getting off just before Lemoni Roundabout, thus named because of Calla Lemonar (I assume) but we call it that because there is a restaurant called Ramo de limon situated right on that roundabout.

This place holds a place in our hearts.

When we first came to Mojacar (in about 1996-97) the instructions we were given for finding our newly purchased time share at La Parata said. “Turn right at Lemon roundabout”.

There was then a frightening drive up the hill to the La Parata complex in the dark. It is steep and winding with several hair pin bends which are now protected by barriers but then, they were exposed to the sheer drop on one side.

We had reviewed the entertainment on offer and decided to head for a bar we had never visited (and probably never will again) called Cowboy Kennys where a Roy Orbison Tribute act was playing.

Now I had some reservations about this venue, primarily because anything with ‘Cowboy’ in the title is obviously suspect.

‘Cowboy Builders’ & ‘Cowboy Plumbers’ comes to mind.

I mean, who in their right mind would buy a car from a showroom that called itself ‘Cowboy Car sales’ so going to a Restaurant that called itself ‘Cowboy’ raised some concerns?

As we approached, we could see there were some tables set up outside, most had Reserved signs on them, and there was a small amp, a mike stand and about 37 miles of cables, laid out on what was the improvised stage. Clearly we weren’t going to be able to sit outside and have a beer whilst watching the entertainment.

So we went inside, ordered a drink and sat at a table just inside the door where we could hear the music without being able to see the stage.

There was country music playing over the loud speaker and a rather strange guy dressed in black Stetson, Black full length leather jacket and cowboy boots, with spurs, sauntered in like a gun slinger, shook hand with jack Law who was slouched at the bar, with three fingers of red eye, and then went back outside.

Of all the times I needed my camera it was then. But I had left it on charge as the battery was flat when we got back from Vera. Jaki had her phone but she hasn’t any Roaming Data so she can use her camera but cant send or receive without Wifi. So I was unable to get a shot of this guy but he did cut quite a pose. This octogenarian dressed like Lee van Cleef.

The waitress came and asked us if we were eating and we agreed to look at the menu.

Now, without going over ‘old ground’ most of you will know I’m on healthy eating regime so Cowboy Kenny’s ‘Bar and Que’ menu wasn’t ever gonna be high on my priority list, but we were starving and having studied the menu, we thought we could navigate to some thing at least reasonably healthy. My Bad.

Jaki with burger and chips

The actual menu itself wasn’t printed with the visually impaired in mind and with the limited lighting inside the building I found it hard to read. Then I found the layout a bit confusing.

I chose my meal from the section marked ‘Wraps” rather than the section marked ‘Burgers”.

I thought I had chosen a BBQ Chicken breast Wrap with Salad.

What I ended up with was a Breaded Chicken fillet in a Burger Bun with Chips and Coleslaw!

Jaki fared slightly better in that her Chicken was breadcrumb free. A small victory.

It was a bit of a disaster but we ate what we could. I smothered mine in some spicy sauce that was brought to the table(presumably to smother the taste of the food) but even with that addition, it wasn’t very good.
Now Ive promised not to review our dietary choices in these blogs but this one did warrant a mention in that it was everything I try to avoid. Sorry Cowboy.

I learned on Facebook this morning that ‘Kenny’ has gone off to America to compete in a BBQ cooking competition. Good luck with that Kenny.

Then from some where behind the bar, maybe even from the Kitchen appeared the man himself.

Spot the real Roy Orbison

‘Roy Kelton Orbison’ strode out into the sunshine wearing a black wig, a black suit and Black sunglasses. In certain lights, with your eyes closed, he looked just like Roy Orbison.

It’s a bit like Elvis impersonators. They only ever do the ‘Fat Las Vegas Elvis’ and never the leather jackets and Blue Jeans singer of his youth.

I went outside to get some photos (my intention was to snap the guy in the cowboy outfit but I couldn’t get him).

Roy was singing his own composition called “Crying” which is one of my all time favourites, (especially the version by Don Mclean) so i decided to take a little video. Sadly I’m too tight to pay WordPress for the full package so I cant share the video with you, you’ll just have to trust me.

Roy Orbison is known for his ‘distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads’. Sadly as I video’d our imposter he tried to hit some of the more ‘Complex and Powerful notes’ but what came out sounded like someone had run over his toe with a trolley.

It was awful. Which was a shame as until then, he had pulled off the illusion reasonably well.

We chose this as our cue to leave and slipped out of Cowboy Kenny’s and said farewell to the man in Black and rode off into the sunset.

We galloped across the prairie to Ankara where the All Ska’s were delivering a predicable set to a packed house with almost as many people sat on the sea wall. Usually there are groups of people in Ankara that we know and its nice to say hello but on this day we didn’t recognise anyone. Though strolling along with his ever faithful dog was an old friend Jack from the Bowling Club.

Our next port of call was Hola Ola one of our favourite venues, though its a bit Marmite with the ex-pats. Some dont like it. Its ‘too Spanish’ and there is a suggestion that the Spanish get preferential treatment over the Brits, but that isn’t my experience.

It is a busy bar and the staff work incredibly hard, particularly when there is a popular Spanish band playing (Like we saw there a week or two ago, It was rammed to the gills and getting to the bar let alone getting served was a nightmare).

Luckily it wasn’t too busy for Odyssey on Saturday so we bought a drink and watched the band for an hour or so in relative comfort before our last port of call, Cosmos.

Now this little beach side bar has a French influence and offers a predominantly Veggie menu, heavy on fish dishes. It’s slightly more expensive than most places but you pay for the venue which is mellower than some of the other beach bars along the playa.

We bought a drink and sat watching the Surf as the Sun went down.

It was a fitting way to end a very busy day.

.

Failure on the bread stakes.

Who knew my quest to find Sourdough Bread would get me into so much trouble on Facebook.

Initially, I put a message out on the local Mojacar Forum asking;

“if anyone knew where or how I could purchase a loaf”.

Several people came back with suggestions which on the face of it looked helpful.

“Why not bake your own” said one lady from the Netherlands?

Which was a great Idea but it takes about a week to get your Sourdough starter kit working and I just didn’t have the time. Besides, the Oven can only just melt Ice Cream so I doubt its capacity to bake a loaf.

“Try the Baker in Burgonvillas“said several others.

“There is a shop in the Commercial Centre that sells it.” Said some one else.

I accepted these responses at face value, so I went into The Commercial Centre and sought out the recommended shop where I ordered a loaf for collection the next day.

The Lady spoke good English and told me to return after 1pm the following day, which I did but the shop was locked up.

As I stood with my nose pressed against the window I remembered her saying.

“If I’m not here, I’ll be upstairs”.

The commercial Centre is on 5 floors so I set off to find the ‘other’ shop, upstairs.

I assumed the ‘other shop’ was one of the ‘other shops’ selling health foods and specialist Deli items juxtaposition with Chakra stones and weird lighting. One lamp i saw even looked like a loaf of bread with a bulb hidden inside it.

My first port of call was the shop at the top of the complex on the corner (I think its called Manos Que Sanan- Herboristeria Terapias) but the lady serving there didn’t know anything about my pre ordered loaf but suggested i come back ‘next Wednesday’ and I could order one from her.

I knew there was a Deli in the complex somewhere and eventually I found Mojacar Typical Gourmet on the first floor and wondered if they sold Sourdough. It seemed far more logical than a shop selling Gem stones, Hippy jewellery and Buddha statues ? But no, they didn’t sell bread and by the looks of it, they didn’t sell anything. I was the first person to enter the shop that day. The guy was so excited to have a customer he jumped up and put his pinny on before dealing with me.

I was at a loss.

Returning home I reexamined the feed back I had on Facebook and found a link to an Artisan Baker called Obrador Miguel Angel . So I sent him a message asking if he made Sourdough and did he come to Mojacar. I sent the message from my phone and those of you who know me know I have a sprite that deliberately scrambles most of my messages, so the message i sent would have disappointed my old English Teacher, Miss Hissey.

Miss Hissey. Lawrence Weston School.

It was a bit garbled and it had the odd random letter dotted around , more for cosmetic reasons rather than grammer, but i thought it summed up my general position.

However, I also sent an email just in case and this was accurately written with good gramar and punctuation. Honest Miss.

Then like (soggy bottom) baking the world over, the bottom fell out of my world.

The ‘keyboard vigilante’s’ who patrol Facebook waiting for an opportunity to vent their spleen on anyone who makes a mistake or says the wrong thing, were all on me in a flash.

How dare I ask some one whose job it is to make bread if he wanted to sell me one.

How dare I ask some one who advertises on Face book if they ever came to Mojacar.

But even worse, how dare I write a message to him with spelling mistakes or bad grammar?

They felt very protective of this artisan Baker and they weren’t gonna let some bloody customer bother him with the trivial nonsense of buying a loaf. There was a matter of principal to maintain.

Now I have to admit to having a certain amount of sympathy for their position. Yes, It was poorly written but i think most people would get the gist.

Yes I could have attempted to write it in Spanish but, take a look at his web site. Some of It’s in English, so I assumed he speaks a little and is attempting to engage with an English Clientele!

So maybe he is Ok with getting a message in English?

Once the dust settled on that, I resigned myself to life without Sourdough. It can be done and I’ll just have to try and survive on other goods. Like Chocolate?

But a week later I got a Whats App Message saying my bread was ready for collection?

Now I’m not sure quite what happened. Maybe the bread had arrived a week before and it was stored in the Freezer or it may have arrived that day? Either way, there was a loaf with my name on it waiting for collection and now I knew what the other shop was called .

Aura.

Spanish Bread shop.

jaki and I went in search of it the next day after bowling.

It was a bit of a Harry Potter moment as the shop was in two sections on the second (or was it third ) level. A bit of the Commercial centre I had never explored before.

It seemed to exist in a twilight zone between floors.

We went into the first shop and waited. There were signs of habitation. A dirty Coffee cup, an ash tray, but no sign of life. Jaki decided to widen our search area and came back with news.

There was another Aura on the other side of the corridor.

There was a lady in there who recognise my name, disappeared through a curtain and reappeared with some thing wrapped up in damp paper.

At last, the elusive Sourdough Loaf.

I put it in my back pack for the walk home. Worryingly It felt very heavy and i was concerned at it’s similarity with a breeze block.

Once home, we unwrapped it to discover it was already sliced.

I had bought Fresh Ham from Juan the Butcher, some Cheese and a fresh Tomato in anticipation, so we decided to have a Sourdough Sandwich for lunch.

Sadly the loaf was stale and very dry. Heavy and solid in consistency.

It was difficult to cut and even harder to chew. Jaki managed to eat all the middle of her sandwich but didn’t have the stamina to tackle the crust which was hard like a rind.

So after a weeks wait, abuse on line, three lots of Bus fare (€7.20) and a loaf that cost €7 we threw it in the bin.

My quest was at an end.

Like John Cabot who set out for Asia but discovered Canada instead. I had pushed the boundaries as far as I could but didn’t achieve my objective. Purchasing an (edible) Sourdough loaf had escaped me and there didn’t seem to be any way forward.

Perhaps Baking my own would have been quicker after all?

If Only I Knew?

I’m still surprised at how much of life there is still to learn. Even at my age.

Screenshot

Last week we went to our Local British Legion where there was a fund raiser for a local nature project, in the village. As part of the fun and games there was a Nature Quiz.

We paid our £3 a head and joined in.

Sadly we came last.

The Questions were so blooming hard that we didn’t really get any point in any other topic other than the picture round.

Now I’m not trying to make excuses but who knew the ‘gestation period’ of a two toed Sloth was 11 months?

Screenshot

Who knew that Hedgehog decline in the UK was caused by:

Widespread use of herbicides and insecticides in agriculture, gardens and parks destroys insect habitats and has lethal and sub-lethal harmful effects on insects and larvae.3,4,7 Studies have demonstrated that insect populations, that are a vital component of the hedgehog diet, have suffered sharp declines in the past two decades.⁸ Toxic load from the compound impact of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides may accumulate in hedgehogs when they consume insects.⁷

Habitat loss and fragmentation – removal of hedgerows, field margins and scrub result in fewer nesting sites and less protection for hedgehogs.^3,4 Nowhere in Britain is there remaining extensive connected natural woodland and grassland, and contrary to expectations, Scotland is one of the most deforested countries in Europe.¹³ Hedgehogs require large, connected territories to find sufficient wild prey items to support life.

Roads and traffic – estimates indicate that over 167,000 hedgehogs are killed annually in Great Britain, and it is ‘unlikely that this level of mortality is sustainable’.¹⁴

Well, one of the best ways to remind yourself you know absolutely nothing about life, the world or other countries is to travel. Then you become acutely aware of your ignorance. Other countries and other peoples know about other things.

Who knew it would actually take 2 Million holes to fill the Albert Hall. (According to The Londonist web site).

Now i hear you all asking what the hell has that got to do with Travel?

Or as one total asshole once said:

So it is here in Spain.

There are lots of things I dont know and even more stuff I didn’t know I didn’t know.

You following so far?

I didn’t know that here in Spain the motor car is insured, not the driver.

Now I know this for two reasons.

1. Our friends Terry and Sue asked us if we could stay in their apartment for a month in September whilst they are away. In exchange for us driving them to the Airport and collecting them after their holiday they would leave us their car, which we can use. It will be fully insured.
2. Our old landlord lent us his car today so Jaki and I could drive to the Supermarket and get all the bulky Items we need for the next few weeks. He had no problem doing that as the car is insured for me to drive.

This is a great way of doing things and makes it much simpler than our British system.

You would think going to the supermarket to get provisions would be simple but you would be wrong. [ An unknown you didn’t know you didn’t know]?

Is this a Healthy Breakfast?

See, I need to stay on top of my diet and at the moment it’s looking very fragile.

Sourcing healthy produce in the UK is hard. There are lots of traps you have to avoid ( the obvious ones are Breakfast Cereal, which are promoted as low sugar High Fibre, full of energy and great for growing Children.

How wrong can you be)?

There are foods that are promoted as being ‘diet’ that actually have more ‘harmful’ sugars in them than their non diet neighbours but the type of sweeteners are changed so they can be advertised as “Containing no Sugar”

There are Oils and Fats, Chemicals and Colourings, Emulsifiers, Fillers and Bulking agents that are used to keep the cost down, to make things look appealing or, as in the case of Mc Donald Fries (USA Version) they have addictive additives that make people want more.

Remember the little twist of salt in a bag of crisps.? Have one of them with a pint of beer and you need another pint of Beer.

Lidl sells a Sourdough loaf that is made using Yeast (instead of a sourdough starter mix) which means it isn’t actually sourdough, though it tastes similar it doesn’t have the same healthy properties. [Is this an alternative Fact] ?

It’s a mine field.

At least if you have the time and motivation you can look at the ingredients and see if its packed full of ‘shit’. To quote Eddie Abbew.

But here in Spain the ingredients list is written in Spanish so it’s even harder to comprehend.

When we arrived at the supermarket with a list of items we needed to purchase, we also had a subtext of finding items that were as healthy as possible.

Now Honey was high on our list as I know a lot of Honey is mixed with cheap shitty syrups to make them go farther and increase the profits. So I was on my guard.

Luckily we are in a Face book Group here in Mojacar and I sent out a message asking for help.

“Any suggestions for good quality local Honey and where can i get it”.

Sierra Cabrera Honey is available in different flavours, for example;

Orange Blossom, Mixed Flowers and Thyme. Came the response.

I got loads of responses and most people suggested the same honey (Local) and a selection of outlets that sell it including, the Vera Market on Saturday so that was relatively easy.

We caught the bus to Garrucha this morning and found local Honey on several of the stalls. There were a range of flavours but they were all local and all quality produce.

My quest for Sourdough bread was a little more tricky as initially people suggested the Belgian Bakers at Buganvillas, Laguna Playa. But when my mate Dave called in there this morning, they confirmed they do not make or supply Sourdough Bread.

Other people soon gave me suggestions of different places that sold Sourdough and I was able to order a loaf for collection tomorrow (Friday)at the Gourmet shop in the Park Commercial.

Several people suggested I make my own but as we are only here for 4 weeks it’s probably not an option. The starter alone takes a week to get going. There is also the issue of baking the loaf in the oven which doesn’t get hot enough to melt an Ice cream let alone bake a loaf.

I did find a cheats version in the local supermarket which Google translate tells me is a Sourdough, but others dispute its authenticity.

Unsurprising really in a world where there are ‘untrue truths’ or as Rudy Giuliani (Trumps one time Lawyer) said.

“Truth isn’t truth.” It’s just the latest claim from one of Trump’s people, the facts are no longer real.”

His Press officer was even more candid.

Alternative facts” was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the PresidentKellyanne Conway during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer‘s false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer would “utter a provable falsehood”, Conway stated that Spicer was giving “alternative facts”.

Todd responded. “Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods.”

Puts the Sourdough question into context doesn’t it?

My last ‘Big Thing’ on the discovery stakes comes from reading books.

Now I’m not the first person to say reading broaden’s the mind, but here in Spain there are books everywhere. People read them then leave them for others to read. There are impromptue libraries in Bars, Restaurants, at the Bowling club and in most of the houses and apartments that are up for rent. There are (mainly paperback) books everywhere.

Most are the ‘Hang em and Flog em’ staples of Daily Mail readers.

There are plenty of Cornwall books, plenty of Joe Nesbo and James Patterson but if you dig deep you can find some gems.

I remember my old mate Larry (God rest him) introduced me to James Lee Burke some years ago and I have never looked back.

So i picked up a book called Virgin Earth by Philippa Gregory and I was immediately hooked.

It”s not the type of book i would usually pick up but once i started reading it, i knew I would have to finish it.

It had two key ingredients.

Gardening and Racism. One i love, one I abhor.

Sadly the font/text was so small i was really struggling to see it and I dont have any reading glasses. On a recent visit to the Opticians they told me I had the start of Cataracts which is making reading even more difficult.

So I down loaded the book on my Kindle and abandoned my current read [Bosch book 12] in favour of some thing new.

The book is set in Virginia in 1638 when ‘God Fearing’ settlers (the Goodies) were still trying to come to terms with a hostile country and to wrestle the land away from the Native American Savages.(Baddies).

It’s a tale as old as time but one paragraph really surprised me with it resonance with today politics and the events in Gaza.

Building Fences to keep people out was a main stay of Trumps policies and “Taking Back our Borders’ (with Brexit) smacked of right wing Tory Ideology to keep out Jonny Foreigner.

But the bit that really got me was the bit: “From one river to another.” Its such an old and well used theme.

There has been recent furore in the Tory press about the phrase “From the river to the sea” which became a bit of a slogan for Supporters of Palestinian struggles.

As a result, it has been vilified by the Right Wing Media.

“We won’t rest until we have justice, until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea can live in peaceful liberty,” said Andy McDonald, Labour MP, at a protest in London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Three days later, he was suspended from the Labour Party.

Yet Benjamin Netanyahu the Israeli Prime Minister said:

“Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.” And that is apparently acceptable ?

Guess that’s the ultimate definition of fact and alternative facts?

Time for some Sourdough with Honey on it and a snooze in the sun!

NB: For a really interesting investigation into Post Truth watch Hyper-normalisation a documentary by Adam Curtis on BBC I Player.

A case of stupidity.

30/4/24

Pete picked us up at 4 am this morning and drove us to the Airport dropping us at the drop off zone, for which we pay the sum of £6. If you stop anywhere other than the drop off zone, in the airport complex there is a £100 fine.

Nice to think we had the same driver as the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police?

It only took about 35 minutes to get there as he was able to drive through the clean air zone in Bristol, where as last time i drove my Diesel, I had to skirt around the outside.

It was a short walk from the drop off into the Terminal where we had to make a few minor adjustments to the baggage. I hadn’t locked the zips on my suitcase. This isn’t to stop anyone opening the case, it’s still easy to do, but it does guard against the zip coming undone accidentally. All I had to secure it was a key ring from the front door key, so I slipped that through both zippers and hoped for the best.

We were reasonably practiced at checking the baggage in after our trial run to Madrid, so we were soon shot of the suitcases. In fact, we got them on the conveyor so quickly, we didn’t get chance to see what they actually weighed.

Last night we were balancing them on the bath scales in a vain attempt to ensure we didn’t have any excess baggage. Although they were both underweight we couldn’t get any more stuff in them which meant I had to carry an awful lot more stuff in my back pack than I had anticipated. As a result it was extremely heavy and forcing the extra items into the bag, I managed to break the Zip, so we were doing major repairs at 10pm last night.

Next, we went through the bit where they make you strip down to your underpants incase you’re carrying any explosive cosmetics or you have a time bomb tucked into the cheeks of your arse and that was as stressful as usual. There were big signs everywhere telling us that Bristol Airport was investing £millions into making this a state of the art experience, yet it looked complete and utter chaos.

There was a bun fight for plastic trays as we were all crammed into a space the size of a garden shed, stripping off shoes and belts. Loading trays with coats, bags and electrical items. I was concerned that my wallet, I phone, laptop and Kindle, went off on a bizarre Helter Skelter ride without me being able to monitor it.

At the other end of the conveyor ( after I had been scanned by their new state of the art scanner) I tried to retrieve my valuables but other people’s tray’s were crashing into mine whilst their owners were grabbing and snatching at their valuable before they hit the buffer at the end.

My tray ended up on the floor spilling my last remaining British Currency, my wallet and my back pack. The coins rolled into the crowd whilst my other tray with the electric good, slammed into the multiple pile up at the end of the carousel. It was like a car crash on the M25.

This wasn’t the only Baggage mishap I suffered this morning.

At Murcia airport we were waiting at the baggage carousel and amazingly our bags came off almost immediately, side by side. Now as Jaki cant use one arm, which is still in plaster, I was responsible for retrieving both bags.

I managed to get her’s easily enough but by the time I had puled it off the belt and stood it on the floor, my bag had gone half way around the baggage hall. I caught up with it but it had been laid down on its side with its wheels pointing toward me.

I managed to spin it round whilst jogging along side. Then I hooked my fingers into the handle ready to swing it off the conveyor onto the floor, It was at this point that I hit traffic.

All those other people were now off our flight and were trying to grab their bags too. They weren’t prepared to get out of the way for me. Sadly at this point I realised my hand was firmly wedged into the handle of the suitcase and any thought of letting go and waiting for it next time around, were folly. Me and that there suitcase were on a journey together, and we were not gonna be separated.

I mowed down at least three people as I ran through the crowd keeping astride my Suitcase.

It was like a scene from the movies where the cop is chasing the baddy through crowded streets and keeps bumping into people whilst shouting.

“Out of My Way. Police”.

Where as i was shouting.

“Out of my way, Please”.

`Once this crisis had been resolved we exited the terminal and our shuttle bus was waiting.

They checked our names, loaded our bags and waited for one more passenger before setting off. It wasn’t very sunny in Murcia and there was a strong wind, but I was glad to be back in Spain.

The journey was about 2 hours but the route was a bit circuitous as it first went to

HUERCAL OVERA, then EL PILAR (though i thought it was Pinar but perhaps thats a different place)? Then we had a strange stop at urbanisation De Alfaix where the coach reversed down a road for about two miles, at speeds in excess of those achieved on the motorway. Quite extraordinary.

There was another stop at Turre and then we were on Mojacar Playa where the driver turned right and went all the way to Price Brown before turning around and making its way back up the Beach to our drop off outside the Continental Hotel. I took a picture of the beach right outside Georgias Hotel and sent it to her in the hope it would get her excited.

I am pleased to say Exclusive Airport Shuttles were excellent and great value for money.

From the Beach Road we had a bit of a walk up the hill to our house dragging two suitcases and 4 bags behind us. It was hard work and we were knackered by the time we got there.

It was nice to see the old place. It looked welcoming and Paul has obviously had a few repairs done since last year with new patio doors and shutters up stairs.

WE hastily unpacked then set off to Delphin Dorado for lunch.

I had managed two slices of Low carb toast at 3.15 this morning but Jaki hadn’t eaten anything. She was feeling a bit ‘sicky’ first thing so the Yoghurt I bought for her breakfast is still in the fridge. So we were both starving.

Now I’m not gonna record every meal we have this trip. You are probably bored with that by now. I might make a mention and if there is some thing exceptional I might report it but I think youv’e all had enough of my eating adventures?

Unless, you say differently?

Just to say Delphin Dorado is like a working mans Cafe here and all the builders eat there. we had the menu del dia at €15 each for three courses and they were very good, plus two pints of beer, and two Coffees, with bread and alioli to start for €32 total.

Once we had finished eating, we checked out the small supermarket but it was closed so we headed home for a Siesta. Jaki seems to have gone off but although i was tired, i couldn’t sleep so I decided to start the blog. That is guaranteed to send people to sleep.

In a previous blog i explained that I didn’t find comedy very funny but i did laugh at events.

Well this was a classic example.

Whilst waiting for the bags to arrive at Murcia Air port I nipped to the gents where i watched a guy try to dry his hands underneath the Paper towel dispenser. He obviously mistook it for a hand blower so he spent some time shaking his hands about in an attempt the get the machine started.

I just thought that was highly amusing.

Trip to the Botanical Gardens

I start this blog with an apology (or two).

Events have overtaken me and ‘Im writting this Blog in different stages, so it may well appear a bit disjointed?

The first part was written in the Hotel, before we checked out. The next bit, when we got to the Airport waiting for our flight. And the last bit ( and proof reading) was done in bed at home on Wednesday Morning.

Most of my recollections are accurate but if I leave things too long I cant quite remember the sequence of events clearly and some of the detail get’s missed.

You might note also that there is starting to be some repetition.

“Got up, ate breakfast, went out, ate Tapas, went to bed”.

But thats really because that is what happened. We were in a sort of cycle. A life style that became repetitive by the very nature of the activities available to us.

Perhaps, we should have only spent 5 days in Madrid. That, I suspect would have been the optimum time.

But when we initially planned the trip our Friends Larry and Hazel were flying in for the last three days so we would have done things with them and it would have been fresh.

Sadly they had to cancel as Larry is seriously Ill.

It’s a shame because every Tapas bar we went in we said. “Oh, Larry would have loved this”.

Missing you mate.

Saturday we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens and have a walk around. It’s just a short walk from the hotel, near the Prado. Maybe 15 minutes.

We hoped it would be a nice day and we could relax and get some fresh air but first we had to get some breakfast.

Ham and Cheese sarnie

My Breakfast

Rather than making our own breakfast( like we would if we were self catering) each day has to start with a trip out to a Cafe.

This day was no different.

The choices are infinite though the breakfast options are very similar (repetitive) but staying in a Hotel means you have no choice but to go out and pay every time you want a Coffee and its often impossible to get a decent cup of tea.

A lot of the Coffee is served luke warm.

We tend to have Cafe Con Leche which is Coffee with Milk, which they add after the shot of coffee has been poured into the cup. You can ask for the milk to be Hot (Caliente) which makes a difference but its not always possible in a busy Cafe where the staff have disappeared almost before your order has been taken.

Initially our room didn’t have a Kettle but we were later given one though we had to re-use paper cups for the first few days as they couldn’t let us have any mugs. Then we found a shop that sold mug’s for €5 a pop (Ale Hop) so we bought two.

One had “Best Friends” written on it. But when we unwrapped it, it showed a ‘Turd and a roll of toilet paper’.

I guess they are fairly close but I’m not sure the picture of a Turd made my Tea taste better?

We brought ’T’ bags from home but ran out mid stay.

Luckily we found and Asian store that had PG Tips so we were able to stock up. (The local Supermarket DIA didn’t have English Tea). But we never found a spoon for sale and we never thought to borrow one from a Cafe. So we used my old toothbrush, not perfect but it did the trick and we could at least have a cuppa when we got up in the morning.

The Botanical Gardens

Today’s garden is divided into seven major outdoor sections and five greenhouses which allow the cultivation of species which are not suited to Madrid’s Continental Mediterranean climate. Total collections include about 90,000 plants and flowers, and 1,500 trees. Says the Wikipedia.

At the entrance they let us in for €2 each as we were pensioners though we didn’t have any proof, of age. However, the guy in the ticket office just pointed to my hair and said, ‘senior’.

The Gardens were a bit of an anti climax and I dont know why they should be when they are such a prominent feature of the Capital?

There were lots of empty beds, lots of weeds and plenty of plants that looked like they were hovering between life and death.

For such a prestigious garden i found this odd.

There was a self watering system in place though many of the plants look like they were suffering from drought. Maybe they just cant justify the water after all there is a shortage in Spain?

When we first got through the gate there were half a dozen beds full of Tulips that looked stunning but after that, it was a bit sparse and threadbare.

My old mentor Mr Hughes who was the head Gardener at Bristol Zoo when i was a trainee gardener, would have had our guts for garters if we neglected the gardens like this.

There are some green houses that hold some more tender plants but these too were a bit scruffy and neglected.

Thats not to say there wasn’t anything to see but what there was seemed to be a Cameo rather than a jewel in a tropical oasis. They were stand alone plants that did their best to look good whilst all around them failed.

There was a good collection of really nice Bonsai trees that are god knows how many years old and they were worth looking at, but they dont seem to come across in Photo’s, somehow the size and perspective is lost?

As we walked round we took some pictures but I have to say these are rather flattering. We tried to get shots that looked good rather than expose the flaws.

By the time we had walked the perimeter of the garden we could hear some music and decided to see if we could find its source.

Walking up the road the music got louder and we became aware of a crowd gathering in the road.

There was obviously some sort of demo going on.Now as an ex Union Official, I love a good Demo!

The crowd had banners and flags proclaiming the injustice of something or other. It was mildly amusing for a while, so we followed on in the hope of seeing something a bit out of the ordinary, some police brutality or some one glued to a bus shelter.

But it sort of fizzled out when the tail of the procession left the road and went into the park.

Jaki and I made our way home in the general direction of the Hotel. We had by now become relatively confident of our directions so we only had to make occasional references to Google map’s to ensure we kept on track.

We stopped for a quick drink before we made it back to the Hotel for a well earned Siesta. Another part of the ritual.

Madrid is a walking City and we have done our share. I am hoping the walking and the diet will have kept my weight in check but I haven’t had access to any scales, so I may well be disappointed?

Our diet has been quite positive in that we have eaten only light breakfasts and then most days, not eaten anything till the evening when, in most cases we have chosen Tapas.

Tapas might not be particularly low calorie, but it’s small portions and apart from the local bread (which I’m hoping is quite healthy as it doesn’t have all the shit packed into it) I haven’t had many Carbs. Or at least, I have tried to keep them to a minimum, which is difficult when there is a bowl of crisps in front of you.

We obviously went out for diner on the evening so chose a local Tapas Bar, El Sur that had reasonably good reviews and I think is one of the venues on the Tapas Tours of Madrid.

When we got there it didn’t look much but it was packed and we thought we might not be able to get in. But there was one small table at the back that was free. It was hard, the seating was uncomfortable and the table was small, but the menu looked good and when the food came, it tasted great.

We found ourselves sat next to two Scottish guys from Edinburgh who told us they now lived in Brighton. They had some healthy appetites, and they were several courses in front of us so we could see what they ordered and piggy back.

We ordered several different Tapas dishes starting with a mixed cheese board, some spicy pulled beef and a delicious stir fried vegetables with Rice ( my first rice in months and it was lush).

Jaki chose a fish omelet that was’ interesting’ but not really to my taste.

By now I was getting lazy so I forgot to take any photos. In my defence, I had been on this non stop for 5 days and I felt like a reporter in a war zone. (All right, a bit dramatic but you get my meaning).

This was a really good choice of venue and when we left there was a queue at the door waiting to be seated.

Additional information:

I forgot to mention this bit but its quite important. Afeer dinner we walked through the back streets and ended up once again back at Reina Sofia art gallery. As we cut across the large square directly outside Jaki suddenly vanished.
At the same moment a heard a loud splat, like a huge dollop of bird Pooh hitting the pavement.

When i looked down, Jaki was led on the floor kissing the flagstones.

It seems she didnt notice the end of the patio where it drops to pavement level. So she stepped, missed her footing and face planted the Pavement. Luckily she managed to get both hands out in front of her to break her fall, but even so she badly bruised the palms of her hands and both wrists which are still painful now ( Wednesday).

Apart from some embarrassment she seems to be Ok though it could have been a lot worse.

This little bit of Madrid isn’t quite so popular with the tourists, its a bit off the beaten tracks, in fact, it’s a bit ‘The other side of the tracks..’ Its not so pretty, a little bit untidy but it does host some great little bars and restaurants that offer great food and drinks.

Well worth finding places like this. They wont disappoint.

The chums last day

8/4/24

The Guys were flying back to Mojacar on Friday via Almaria airport so we were looking for some thing to do that was easy and close.

Dave suggested we walk down to the main Railway station at Atocha where he assured us there was a magnificent indoor garden. For want of any better suggestions we agreed and set off to walk the short distance down the hill to the station, keeping an eye out for a suitable breakfast spot.

Part way down we saw a nice little Cafe (La Vera) and decided to give it a try.

They didnt have any big tables so Jaki and I sat on one and the other guys shared a larger table.

They had a reasonably good range of options including some great Sandwiches though the favourite choice for locals seems to be the Churrios which they dip in their Coffee.
I had never tried one, it always looked too sugary but on this morning it was Jaki’s option, though with hind sight she probably would have chosen some thing else.

It was much saltier than I imagined but without chocolate it was a bit plain and she had drunk her Coffee by the time the food arrived.

I found a reasonably good impression of a Bacon and Egg sandwich which tasted fine and filled me up.

I’m not sure what the others had but there were no complaints so I assume they were all happy.

The Railway station is very impressive and it’s also a bit of a challenge to get to as you have to cross some very wide and very busy roads.

The best way of doing this is to wait at the crossing points till the little walking man turns green. Then you have enough time to cross the whole stretch without running. Trying to run amongst the traffic is folly and you will surely end in trouble. even standing on the pavement cant be dangerous as the scooter riders (the ones with Petrol engines) come up onto the pavement at all sorts of random times to park their bikes and they expect pedestrians to get out of their way.

I remember nearly getting run over by a scooter when i was walking on the pavement in Ho Chi Min City. The lights went red so some guy on a scooter just drove up over the kerb and along the pavement where i was walking so he didnt have to stop.

I expanded his knowledge of English that day.

Once across the road we walked down the slope to the Station and into a pretty unimpressive concourse which will be familiar to rail traveler’s anywhere in the world.

We circumnavigated the whole building without finding a Tropical Garden and it was only when we asked one of the armed Police officers that patrol in gangs with their Tattoo’d arms hanging close to their guns, that we were shown where it was.

The Baja level held the key so we walked down yet another slope and there it was. Sadly there are some renovations taking place which meant the actual garden was roped off and most of the plants were covered in a mix of Pigeon shit and builders dust but it was still pretty impressive.

Then it was time for coffee before we said our farewells.

The guys decided to catch a taxi back up to the Hotel whilst Jaki and I chose to walk and time it to see how long the walk was. (19 minutes).

So we said our goodbyes, hugged, shook hands and agreed to meet up in Mojacar in a few weeks time.

They went off in one direction and we went off in another. So when we all converged just outside the station it was a bit of a surprise. It seems the Taxi Rank was outside the doors Jaki and I had chosen for our exit.

And what a Taxi rank.

There were taxis two abreast, as far as the eye could see, all waiting to get to the front of the queue and bag that lucrative fare. So it was no surprise that the driver who got our four passengers and a €10 fare, wasn’t best pleased.

He would soon be back at the station and at the back of that queue.

When Jaki and I got back to the Hotel the Chums were just leaving, so we repeated the goodbyes before we went to our room and they went to the Airport.

We decided to go for a walk and explore, so we ended up down by the Palace where there is a wide open pedestrian areas that was perfect for strolling. There were fountains and gardens where young lovers seemed to spend their time and large terraces where families watched a group of performers who did a combination of dance and Gymnastics.

There were police cars dotted around at various strategic spots as there seemed to be in all areas of Madrid. They dont seem to underfund their Police here and the presence of armed and slightly menacing Uniforms was everywhere. Their patrol cars are a recurring sight on the roads with their Blue Lights permanently on. Sirens can be heard all the time as large blue vans intimidate the traffic jams and ambulances manoeuvre through the busy streets.

We did a big loop and worked our way back through the Shopping area (Calle Gran Via) keeping an eye out for the huge Primark that lives there somewhere. We eventually found it on Monday.

I dropped into one of the “Cannabis” shops that seem to be everywhere in Madrid and bought some Gummy Bears, which the guy assured me were legal here in Spain. Later when i did some research I found that these Gummy Bears weren’t actual Cannabis, they were CBD which is perfectly legal everywhere. And they tasted horrible, so they went straight in the bin.

By now we had been walking for hours so we stopped at a small Cafe for a drink.

I’ve rather taken to the Tinto de Verano but each place makes it slightly differently and this one filled the glass full of Ice so I had very little actual drink. However, we were glad of the break and the chance to relax.

We decided to stay out and find some where to eat rather than go back to the Hotel where i would surely have fallen asleep.

Dave had recommended a restaurant (El Lacon) and he intended to take us there one evening but they were closed and didn’t open until Thursday, so we headed there which saved us having to research anywhere new.

When we arrived at their doors we were too early, they didn’t open until 8pm, so we walked across the road and went into an amazing little bar (Viva Madrid) that was packed out with drinkers.

Sat at the bar it was too easy to drink the house Red wine and I was soon a bit wobbly.

I took a few pictures of the reflection in the huge mirrors and the guy sat next to us started waving so we obviously started chatting.

Him and his wife were on holiday touring Spain. they lived in California so we soon had plenty to talk about and we reminisced about our visits to Laguna Beach and Sanibell Island.

I knew I was gibbering so I had to concentrate on not being “The drunk we sat next to when we went to Madrid.” Luckily it was time for us to head back to the restaurant, so we said our goodbyes before too much harm had been done.

When we got to El Lacon it looked full, but they showed us up stairs where there was a good crowd but there were still some available table.

Dave had talked about a Square plate full of Meat and we thought we had found it on the menu so we ordered this to share. Jaki continued on the wine but i decided it was time to go on the water.

The food when it came looked delicious but like most of the meals weve eaten here in Madrid, there was almost no vegetables. The Padron Peppers and some slices of Lettuce were the only green things in sight. The rest was Meat.

We tucked in to this dish as if we had never eaten meat before. It was delicious. Jaki wasn’t too keen on the Gammon so I had slightly more than a half share, but we managed to finish the lot with ease.

When we got to bed that night I paid the price for my gluttony.

The meat hung heavily in my stomach and the wine played havoc with my head.

I had all sorts of Bizarre dreams some of which were clearly influenced by the Bosch Paintings we had seen earlier in the week.

I have often thought my Bowel influences my body and recent studies have shown just how this works . A good healthy Gut full of good Bacteria keeps the rest of the body in tune.

But fill it full of red meat floating in a sea of red wine and it doesn’t like it.

I think this was the nearest I’ve come to a hang over in 4 years and I dont like it.

Le Petit Dim Sum

This will be a short one as it really should have been tagged on to my last Blog, but I’m getting a bit behind with my Blogging. I just didn’t have the patience yesterday to finish off properly, so I’ll tidy things up with this post.

Thursday evening we all went out looking for somewhere to have a drink and then eat.

One of the problems with Madrid (if you can call it a problem) is that there is just too much choice and when you are only here for a few days, you are likely to make mistakes.

We stopped for a drink in a random bar (Matador) and sat on some rather hard stools at a rather wobbly wooden table with a large window behind it. It was warm and the window was open which allowed one of the many street people (they are sleeping rough everywhere though they usually arent any bother) to lean through and start asking for money. He woudnt take no for an answer and eventually staff from the Bar had to chase him away.

We had a drink and they brought some free Tapas but the seating in many of these bars is at best uncomfortable and we decided we didn’t want to eat here, mainly because the seat’s were too hard.

Somehow the decision was made to eat Chinese and Sue soon found a Chinese restaurant just down the street but when we got there it was tiny and it was already full.

So we pressed on.

Madrid is a great place to amble and we ambled past some of the more expensive Hotels in Madrid with their liveried door staff and their shiny brass plaques.

Even the buskers were posh.

We passed a string Quintet playing on the wide pavement and they were absolutely amazing. i would have stayed and listened for a while but the guys were on a mission and I was in danger of losing them.

The next Chinese that came up on Google was in a Food hall in the cellar underneath several of these big Hotels and from the way it was decorated, they were obviously trying to temp guests out of the Hotel Restaurants. Sadly it wasn’t working as most of the restaurants and Bars were empty. One Cocktail bar seemed to be doing good business but the rest of the place was dead.

As time was running out we decided to eat at the Chinese Restaurant Le Petit Dim Sum which had no other customers.

The Menu was limited but there were a few choices on there that we were happy with.

I fancies trying the Dim Sum but the rest of the gang advised they weren’t having starters so I chose the Beef with Noodles whilst Jaki chose Beef with hot and sour sauce.

But then to our surprise the rest of the gang (traitors) went for the Vegetable Spring Rolls. Thankfully Sue agreed to share hers with us.

If I remember rightly, Dave had the Beef noodles the same as me and Terry and sue went for Crispy chicken. I cant recall what Steph chose, thats the problem when you dont write things up straight away!

I was happy enough with my Choice though it had almost no Beef in it and Dave had even less in his bowl. The sauce wasn’t great, in fact it had almost no flavour, so I used the dipping sauce from the spring rolls just to perk it up a bit.

Jaki’s choice wasn’t great.

It was some sort of Thai Soup but the three red chillies on the menu were a ‘red herring’ as it wasn’t in the least bit spicy. there were a few slices of fresh chilli floating around in the bowl but they did little to the overall flavour. There was supposed to be meat in there too but we never really found it. The contents of this dish were a mystery and despite our best efforts, we couldn’t really identify anything by taste or appearance.

She left most of it.

Sue and Terry didn’t get on much better. Their Crispy Chicken was so crispy they couldn’t bite it so resorted to peeling the Crispy bits off the meat and just eating the chicken flesh.

And there wasn’t much of that.

By the time we had finished eating the staff were putting their coats on so it was obviously time to leave.

This wasn’t a great experience and I would suggest avoiding this place.

Having explored more thoroughly of late there are plenty of better Chinese restaurants available close to our Hotel. But I doubt Jaki and I will seek them out.

In truth, Chinese food is number two on Jaki’s list of food’s she dislikes with Pizza being Number one. Luckily there are plenty of other places to explore so we will be sticking to Spanish in the future.

Day two in Madrid

6/4/24

Thursday was very much the same as before, we met at 9 am in the Reception, then Dave led us out like Moses and the Israelites up the hill, left at the main rd and into Le Rollerie a chain restaurant close to our Hotel.

They showed us up stairs where we sat at a large table and perused the breakfast menu.

Now it’s fair to say, when you get to some where new the menu’s are excitingly different to those at home. But after you’ve been somewhere for a while, you start to reognise repetition and madrid is no exception.

Breakfast Menu’s in most places have a commonality that is easily recognised and probably required to keep people coming back for more.

So it is here.

Most breakfast menus have Bread, Cheese Meat and Pastries in various combinations and at varying price points. Some are better made, Bigger or Fresher, so there are better places. Some serve breakfast in very modern surroundings whilst others are more rustic or traditional and they all attract their own devotee’s.

Eating food stood up seems to be popular. Eating outside, even on a busy road with the bus fumes clinging to your sandwich and Builders dust coating the coffee, is a life style choice for many, so although every venue has something to offer, its usually pot luck whether you enjoy a meal or not.

For my part, I havent had one yet that I’ve disliked

So it was at Rollerie.

My Bacon and Egg’s with Toasted bread was fine and although it wasnt a huge helping, it filled me up nicely and i still got my protein fix from the Eggs.

Jaki went for Granola with Fruit (Or Crunchy Bits as my Grandson calls them). And again hers was fine.

Sadly Sue and Steph went for a simple Toast with Jam option but the Toast was overcooked so it was too hard to eat. Even though they both had their own teeth?

The Boys got on with their options without complaint so I assume they were happy with their choices?

Once the food was out of the way we set off for our last Museum.

This time it was just the three of us.

Terry decided shopping with the girls was preferable to walking round yet another Museum. So we hailed a Cab and set off for Reina Sofia National Museum.

I hadn’t really known what to expect as we had left all the planning to Dave, so imagine my delight when he told us the original Guernica was hung in the Reina Sofia , which was where we were headed. Strangely, Dave was far more interested in the Mondrians that were there and i didn’t get the impression he was over enthusiastic about the Picasso?

I did some work on Guernica when I was completing my Foundation Art Degree at the UWE in Bristol, so I was familiar with its story.

But nothing equiped me for seeing it in all its glory. It was incredible.

We had been walking around the museum for ages without finding anything worth looking at, Well, let me rephrase that. Anything that excited us. Then we saw this.

The Museum is huge and Its built in a square with a central garden so each side of the square has galleries off it. It’s also on several different floors but the signage is awful.

We searched around for ages before we even found a gallery to go into.

After exhausting our appetite for paintings we left the Museum and hailed a taxi to take us to the Moncloa Tower. A 92-metre (302 ft)-high transmission tower with an observation deck at the Plaza De Moncloa. It was a €15 taxi ride away through a very congested road network.

When we got there the others were waiting for us so we paid the €2 fee for the lift (Pensioners rates) and went up onto the viewing platform.

Again it wasn’t breath taking though it did give us a good overview of Madrid and I was surprised at just how much green space there was.

What it did do was make us Hungry so we made our way back to a more familiar part of Madrid where Dave wanted us to experience a particular restaurant that did nothing but Prawns in an old fashioned way.

We decided to use the Metro rather than get two Taxis though tackling the ticket machine still proved a bit of a challenge, even with the superior brain power we could now bring to bear.

The Restaurant La Casa Del Abuelo took a bit of finding but eventually there it was. In fact there it was twice. Since Daves last visit the place has become so popular they opened a second venue right opposite the original. The only difference being that the second venue had seating where as the original was standing room only.

in 1906 the founder of La Casa del Abuelo opened the doors of his first tavern  on 12 Victoria Street: in the heart of Madrid. No one would say that 100 years have passed since then, especially because nothing has changed. Time has not passed by La Casa del Abuelo thanks to the 4 generations of the same family that has wanted to respect and maintain the authenticity of the business while trying, as curious as it may seem, not to evolve.

In its early years, La Casa del Abuelo began to be famous for its donuts and sweet wine. Also for the love of the waiters for the place, who despite not being over 13 years old sometimes came to sleep there. The 20s and 30s arrived and with them, the idea of ​​its founder to offer sandwiches to his clients. La Casa del Abuelo not only became the first tavern to sell chorizo, anchovies or sobrasada inside a bun, but it also achieved something much more difficult: selling more than 1,500 sandwiches in a single day

This authentic old bar hit the spot a treat and we all gorged on Prawn’s in garlic butter. Dipping warm crusty Bread into the juices all washed down with a glass of very good red wine.

Stood up using the little shelves provided or squatting on wooden stools in the window, It was a real treat and one my old mate Larry would have loved.

These simple dishes were being turned out as fast as the chef could cook them and waiters were running into the street with piping hot bowls for hungry customers who were sat outside.

Our bill came to €140 but it was money well spent.

First day in Madrid

6/4/24

We met up with the Chums in Reception at 9am and set off for breakfast.

Dave had become the unofficial Tour Guide and general ‘go to’ person so he led the way out of the Hotel, up to the main Rd and turned left. He walked a short distance and went into the Restaurant (Papelon) we had visited, the night before.

They showed us to the back of the restaurant where they pulled two tables together to make a table suitable for us all.

Outside there was a queue of people running up the road and around the corner. We think it may have been the Dole queue or even Pension day but what ever it was the line of people never shrunk and even when we came out it was still around the block.

There was a good selection of items on the menu with a Spanish version of a Full Breakfast which the boys went for. Jaki went for a Croissant whilst Steph and Sue chose Toast with Jam.

The Full Fat boys was Ok. It wasn’t intended to mimic a full English but there were similarities.

It came with two Sausages though they were more Hot Dog Sausages than proper Bangers. Some thinly sliced bacon and some cold, uncooked Ham. I had two nicely fried eggs, (though you could chose Scrambled) and a fresh Roll.

All things considered it was pretty good

Once we had finished eating it was time to go our seperate ways. We three Boys plus Jaki were off to the #Prado Museum where we wanted to see the Hieronymus Bosch painting, The Garden of Earthly delights. I have explained why in previous blogs, so I wont repeat mysel, and the girls went shopping..

Dave had booked us tickets on line (£30 each) which gave us access to the Prado and two other Museums, so we could indulge our artist needs.

This was Terrys first Visit to an Art Gallery so he didn’t know what to expect. He was amazed and impressed when he finally stood in front of the legendary Bosch Triptych.

I have to say it was as good as I expected but, there were huge crowds and it was hard to get close enough to study it in any detail. I didn’t think to bring my glasses, so standing a long distance away was like trying to watch football from the top of the West Stand at Ashton gate, and often, Just as frightening.

We caught a Taxi from the cafe to the museum which cost us €10 but we later discovered it was but a 10 minute walk from our Hotel. In fact, nothing seems to be very far from our Hotel, it’s one of the great Illusions of Madrid.

When we got out of the Taxi there was a queue of probably 200 people waiting to buy tickets. We were able to go straight to the front of the queue and get in with almost no delay.
Its a huge place and a bit confusing so we asked for directions and found ourselves staring at the Painting within minutes.

We learnt some interesting information too.

The Triptych (three paintings) is designed to fold up and the back of the two side paintings is painted too, so when its closed up completely there is still some thing to look at.

The second and most confusing bit of information was that Bosch’s real name was originally Jheronimus (or Joen}. The Latin and Middle Dutch form of the name “Jerome, and he signed a number of his paintings as Jheronimus Bosch.

His surname ‘Bosch’ derives from his birthplace, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (‘Duke’s forest’), which is commonly called “Den Bosch” (‘the forest’). So he is an imposter!

The crowds built up and at one point I slipped out to the loo and wasn’t allowed back in until two huge groups of Asian Origin left the gallery.

loved this one

There were other very impressive paintings on display but they were all overshadowed by the Bosch.

Looking familiar

Once we had filled our boots with culture we slipped into the Restaurant for a drink, scoured the gift shop to see if there was anything worth buying and then left the building.

Dave with his Hopper.

We crossed the road and soon found ourselves in the Thyssen- Bornemisza Museum where there was yet more to see. Dave was on the Hunt for a Hopper and he was very excited when he found it. Just past the Mondrians.

By now we were all getting tired so we decided to call it a day and head back to find the girls who were having lunch in Plaza Mayor.

They took a bit of finding as its huge and there are Cafe tables everywhere. Whilst we waited for them to pay their bill we were joined by one of the street artists who’s skill was making things from Balloons. They weren’t very good things, but it kept us amused for a while.

There were other people trying to make a living from entertaining the tourists though some were far more believable than others.

I’m not sure any kid would want his/her picture taken with this particular Superhero, more Peppa Pig than Spiderman??

Dave wanted to take us to a food warehouse he had visited once before and he knew it was close by but couldn’t remember quite where to find it, so we had a bit of a wander before coming across Mercado San Miguel just outside one of the arches on the North West corner of the square.

More than 100 years have passed since the San Miguel Market was inaugurated as a food market. Currently, this historic building is one of the main gastronomic markets in the world, as it allows its visitors to take a tour of the essence and flavors of each of the corners of Spain.

Newport Market could lear a lot from this place, it was amazing and it was popular. There were hundreds of people and if I had one criticism it was that there was not enough space to eat the produce we purchased. All around the outside of the building were small (Ish) stalls selling Tapas. The challenge was to find the one I liked and then to get served and I did several tours before deciding on one particular stall that sold Olive Kebabs. Well, Olives and other various items on a small skewer.

I asked how much they were each and the guy told me €1 so i chose 4 different ones. But when he gave me the bill they were €4 each so i bought a plate of Olives for €16. Not my best ever decision.

I was sorely tempted on several occasions but i need to watch what I was eating or this few days would wreck my diet. So I settled for a few Olives rather than Cakes and Pastry or the delicious Hot Dogs that were available.

Eating was done standing up at a high counter and we all went off in different directions to get Tapas that suited our mood. Jaki found some Fish Tapas that she really enjoyed and Dave went for a thick sausage in a soft bun that looked amazing and some crab dish that didn’t survive long enough for it to reach the table.

It seemed most Tapas were around €4 each and the drinks were about the same. There was a bar selling Tinto de Verano for €4.50 that was really good and I had two rather large glasses though remember to tell them ‘No Ice” (Sin hielo) or you end up with all ice and no drink.

We spent a good couple of hours before it was time to head for home.

When we got back to the Hotel we all needed our Siesta and agreed to meet at 8pm for dinner.

The German Guy I met earlier in the week had recommended a place called Lamiak so as no one had a better plan we decided to head there. It took us on a bit of a tour through some back streets and parts of Madrid Dave hadn’t visited before. When we got to Lamiak it was small and rustic. they werent equipped to cater for large groups and only had very small tables available. They did try to put two tables together just by the door to the kitchen but it wasn’t very comfortable and we didnt think it would be a good place to eat, though the menu looked fine.

So we ordered drinks and decided to move on.

Terry recommended a particular bottle of Red wine and I agreed to join him. Sadly no one else wanted red wine so the two of us polished it off between us. It was delicious, I recommend trying this particular tipple.

The red wine got the better of Terry and he declared he wanted to find an Indian restaurant, so I googled Indian and found three different ones within a stones throw. We chose Anorkoli as it had the highest score of the three.

When we got there we discovered there was a whole street (Calle de Lavapiés, 46, Madrid, ES 28012) full of Indian restaurants and we could literally take our pick.

The food was OK but nowhere near as good as we get in the UK, though I wonder if everyone says that?

They brought two Popadoms (between 6 of us) and some strange looking fluorescent green dip to start, but the Popadoms were damp. I asked if we could have some fresh ones. I think they put two more old damp Popadoms in an oven and toasted them so they did at least crack apart, where as the originals could be bent into any shape you wanted.

My dish was quite mild (even though I asked for it to be extra hot) though others in our group didn’t agree and my lamb Dansak didn’t have too many lentils in it, but it was tasty enough. The chickpeas though were very good. A huge bowl and they were in a thick tasty sauce.

Sue and Terry didn’t enjoy their meal, it was too salty for them, which was a shame.

Dave polished his off and seemed happy enough.

Jakis opinion of her Curry!

Jaki seemed happy with hers though it wasn’t hot enough for her taste.

There was a stack of Nan bread left at the end and I dont know why that was ?

So, stuffed full Of Indian food in the middle of Madrid (I know) we set off on the short walk home.

Clifton in Bristol

3/3/24

Jaki and I decided to get out for an hour on Sunday.

The weather had changed from the Snow of Saturday morning and it looked like it was gonna be a nice day.

My Back Garden Saturday

I managed to get to the Gym fairly early so by the time I got back home, Jaki was showered and ready.

A mate of mine is coming to Bristol next week for the annual conference of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport Union) and staying in the Rodney Hotel in Clifton and he suggested we meet up for breakfast.

Now Ivor is a strange fellow.

He doesn’t eat “Foreign Food” prefering simple English dishes, so all the world famous fancy Restaurants in Clifton will be wasted on him.

I needed to find some where that serves traditional English Fare and I was a bit out of touch with the food scene in ‘The Village’ so we decided to have a good look round and familiarise ourselves with the latest venues.

Clifton is often the Face of Bristol.

You regularly see it on adverts and loads of TV dramas are set in Bristol and Clifton is a particularly sought after venue to the point where people think all of Bristol is like Clifton or Hotwell’s, which is the area around the docks.

Back in the 1970’s the trend started with Shoestring staring a very young Trevor Eve as Eddie Shoestring though Softly Softly (a spin off from Z Cars which launched the shouting career of Brian Blessed) may well have proceeded that?

For years Casualty was filmed in Bristol and in the early days they parked their vehicles in the station yard at Temple Fire Station. At that time we had station Bars and the crew (sometimes with a cast member in tow) would come in for a drink, or two.

Much later we saw the Lost honour of Christopher Jeffries a drama based on a real life murder that took place in Clifton and the vilification of Christopher Jeffries who was the victims landlord.

Comedy has roots in Bristol with much of Only Fools and Horses being filmed locally and you can visit the venues on a guided tour. There is some debate about where exactly this famous scene was filmed but The Mill House In Sea Mills always insisted it was filmed there.

But way before that Bristol was famous for the Young Ones staring Rik Mayal.

Our latest Comedy claim to fame is the Outlaws staring Stephen Merchant and Christopher Walken.

Many years ago I starred as Jasper in Sea Mills Junior School end of Term play Jasper the Wicked which we performed at Sea Mills Community Centre, the set for most of the community service scenes in Outlaws series one. So you could say, I have shared a stage with Walken and Merchant?

Historically this photogenic legacy was in part due to the BBC being based in Bristol but the Bristol site is more focused on Natural History now but we do have the Bottle Yard Studios.

“The largest film and TV studio in the West of England.

11 stages are available; eight at our main site and three at TBY2, our neighbouring expansion facility which opened in 2022 offering premium, fully sound-proofed shooting space, powered by the largest community-owned rooftop solar array in the UK.

Floor areas of up to 22,000 sq ft and heights of up to 34ft provide endless opportunities for set builds.

With a 5,000 sq ft green screen, 35,000 sq ft of furnished production offices and ample ancillary workspaces – plus a creative hub of on site companies delivering industry services – we’ve got everything required for a fully supported shoot.”

We also have a dedicated film Office.

“For 20 years, Bristol Film Office has been working to make Bristol one of the UK’s most film-friendly cities, assisting TV and film productions of all sizes to source locations, secure permits, find local crew and arrange the logistics that make on-location shoots run smoothly.

Our free, dedicated service is available to any production planning to film in the city, and is part of what makes Bristol one of the UK’s most competitive filming destinations outside of London.”

On Sunday, Clifton looked beautiful in the sunshine and the crowds were out in force.

The Cafes, Bars and Pubs were full but most people chose to eat and drink outside on the pavement or in the roads which are now pedestrianised.

The Mall Deli surprised me as the queue to be served went in through the door, down the full length of the shop and then turned and came back up again along the counter. It was completely rammed. But the smell of food coming out of the door was absolutely heavenly.

We walked around checking the menu’s on all the eateries as we passed but few matched the criteria we had. They were too exotic, too posh or quirky and I know Ivor wont want to go there, so i suspect it will be Primrose Cafe where we can be sure of a fry up.

Jaki and I stopped for coffee in a slightly quieter cafe on the edge of the village and we were then tempted to walk across the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Brunel’s Iconic structure that is synonymous with the image of Bristol, some thing I haven’t done for years. There were groups of people on guided tours learning about the bridge and its history, though I doubt they will be learning about its darker side.

This was once a well known suicide spot. People would walk out onto the Bridge, climb the railings and take the long drop into the river below, or land on the Portway (the road below) which was quite devastating for passing motorists.

When I was in the Fire Brigade, the Downs (the grassy area at the top of the Avon Gorge) and the Bridge were on station A1 Temples ground so any ‘potential jumpers’ were theirs.

However the Portway and the rocks below were on my Station ground, so if they actually jumped they landed on our Patch. If they went in the water they could end up anywhere and were often carried back out into the Bristol Channel.

There is a row of houses overlooking the bridge that must be the most sought after houses in Bristol, Their views are spectacular but they also have all the facilities that Clifton has to offer, on their door step.

What used to be a notorious Gents toilet is now an Ice cream parlour and it was doing good business on this particular afternoon.

We couldn’t resist calling into the Avon Gorge Hotel just to get a glimpse of the view from their Patio which was swarming with guests eating and drinking in the afternoon sun.

Then we cut back up Princess Victoria street where we passed the site of the much loved culinary inebriate Keith Floyd’s first Bistro.

We checked out the menu at The Albion, a small pub tucked away just off Boyce Avenue to see if that had a suitably simple menu but all we could see was Sunday Lunch and my stomach was rumbling.

We had to walk past the Green grocers which always has some incredible produce but is always twice the price of Gloucester Rd, another must see area of Bristol, if only for the variety of food venues.

Jaki called into the jewellers in the Arcade to see what price they would offer us for Terry’s 9 Ct Gold wedding ring but they valued it at much less than Kemps in Westbury on Trym, so we still haven’t sold it.

Blackey’s Antique jewellers in the Arcade.

By now we were getting tired and we still had some shopping to do.

I wanted to call at Waitrose in Henleaze to see if I could get a low Carb loaf. They used to sell this particular bread but the last couple of times I’ve been in, they haven’t had it so I wonder if they have stopped stocking it?

I guess it’s not one of their best selling lines?

It was time to head home.

You have to be careful going to Clifton.

Some routes will take you through the clean air zone and that can be expensive but if you use other routes you can avoid it.

Parking in Clifton is always hard to find and there are areas where its residents only. It can also be expensive, but on a Sunday it is free, so you just have to drive around until you find a spot. It produces more pollution because you have to drive further but hey, it is what it is.

So, if you visit the UK or you live here and want a day out (or even better a long weekend) you could do much worse than stay in Bristol.

If you can afford it, you could always try and stay in Clifton where you will find everything on your door step.

And if you dont like it, there is always the Bridge!

Some of the TV and Films Drama shot in Bristol.