Espana tomorrow !!

Boarding pass printed seats allocated Tarmac stampede avoided 

view from roof

There is a train runs around the estate in the summer to take you to the shopping centre they toot and wave as they go by -

Pool at the end of the road with view to beach on far side also has tennis courts and boules / petang area

Esplanade beside beach still mean to get roller blades and skate this

boardwalk over carrabbassi beach , water alive with  fish even with all the tourists

When we first moved in it was unspoiled now it is more tourist orientated with bars and restuarents all temporary. in the winter months it reverts . To be honest being able to get a cold drink , a snack (srdinnes for instance) is a bit of a plus. I prefer to go early before the tourist arrive .  The water shoals so like many beaches in the med you can walk out for a long way , there are some areas where great dips occur so best be able to swim but these occur as you move up the beach , it also becomes rockier and this is where people fish and snorkel

When we first moved in this was a dilapidated fishing port. The shore was rubble and scrub grass . There was still fishing but it was mostly a mess. Now it is a posh marina with cafes bars and promenades. The marina teams with fish , how they survive the fuel soaked water I dont know , I should think if you tried to barbecue them they would go up like firelighters. Perhaps this is evolution .

The spanish love this sort of pavement , its disorientating and its definitely best to stay off the vino

 In one of the roads at the back of the house

My son and his friends stayed there once

They are empty

Glorious sunsets , if you go to the salt lakes you see Flamingoes

 Tapas in the parc

Another top tip

You dont need a visa for NZ - you can go for 6 months as long as you have a return ticket - love em...bit of common sense there.

The old ways are still best

I said I was having trouble getting travel Insurance . Cmpany after company drawing the line at covering me for more than 150 days, well not the Post Office !! No problems , no hassle and really friendly so another top trave tip support the Post Office cos if they go you are down to the commercial lot for whom pile it high and sell it expensive is the business plan , and dont help anyone outside your TOR.
Even 'specialist' sites turned me down .  Oh I have spent so much my credit card blocked the transaction , but I got mail saying if this is ok send Y and it will be alright. I did and it was .

So Singapore , A380 , Singapore Airlines no less, Melbourne , Hobart , then nothings planned !! Go where the fancy takes us , eventually NZ to see my son . His mum wants to spend christmas with him - he will be overjoyed ..... up on the roof ....

Spain

Today Sue goes to Spain with her friend Linda. I go next week . The advent of 'computers' has to a large extent complicated everything and introduced a stress factor that wasn't there in the past. Age off course is a factor. As a young man I went to a travel agent booked a flight and accommodation , bought my local currency and that was about it. I used to go on holiday with half a rucksack (backpack in modern jargon) full of clothes and come back with most unworn. Now I can hardly leave the house without 15 pockets full of necessities

The whole flight booking scenario has gone full circle , nowadays you are expected to find your flights , book your flights , check yourself in and print your boarding pass - the justification that it was cheap. Now prices are creeping up but I am still doing the work , the websites are anything but user friendly and the helpdesk either non existent , expensive or unhelpful . In fact quite often jobs being so impermanent its hard to find someone who really knows anything and mostly staff resort to the script. Often these days its like an episode of yes minister where when you ask a question they adopt the that is not the question and answer the question they have an answer to. Also of course so many call centres are abroad where staff are not also au fait with the infrastructure in Britain.

Yesterday we struggled to print Sues boarding pass . I cant do mine until next Sunday BUT I cant book on or print return boarding passes so I have to hope I can find somewhere to do that abroad. In the past I would have had all the paperwork and a seat. Its not an improvement.

I know some companies offer apps to download your pass , but my eye , hands an understanding are largely not up to it , and why should I do it ? If its that clever why doesn't it send me my boarding pass , I could have a password to login and the rest could be automatic..

I cannot adequately convey the frustration and stress doing things online with badly designed websites engenders . Those competant in IT often tell me they dont have problems but they do its just conveniently forgotten and if they have trouble what chance steam aged pensioners like me. Every company director should be made to use his website unaided that would change things. If I get hassle from a website I dont use it unless I really really have to.

This of course is all multiplied by the internet 'going down' when you are in the middle of something . The result being you lose all the data you have entered or worst still you don't know if your payment has gone through , and if its gone from your bank has it got to the recipient ? Theres no audit trail if it didnt arrive , in my book an electronic transaction isnt worth the paper its written on ....

I seem to need so much to go anywhere these days , glasses long sighted and short ,phone. If I am going on holiday and particularly a long trip then its phone + charger , laptop /Tablet + charger , camcorder + charger , Kindle + charger , Camera + charger external charger in case you cant find a vacant charge point at the airport , money , walet , credit cards .I can here you saying you dont need that many chargers BUT first not all chargers connect to every device and not all chargers charge every device and what if one breaks and you dont have a backup.
Of course when it all works its brilliant , 80 books to while away the time on the kindle , movies , games news at your fingertips , access to your accounts all around the world .Ying and Yang

Seagulls over sorrento

Seagulls have invaded Basingstoke , I sit in the garden , ice cold drink in one hand , book in the other and seagulls wheeling and calling overhead could be the seaside .

So this is Basingstoke is it ?

It started with one , another joined it , then another and then another , the front one turned , they all turned and set of on a march along the capstones , unfortunately by the time my camera / phone was ready to roll the majority had fffflown away . Just these 2 left chatting.

I don't know why there is smoke from the chimney I don't think it was cold

I think there are 3 . "M dad my mum here , came back every year. Course its changed , these houses were surrounded by woods and fields when I first came ."

Seagulls over sorrento

Seagulls have invaded Basingstoke , I sit in the garden , ice cold drink in one hand , book in the other and seagulls wheeling and calling overhead could be the seaside .

So this is Basingstoke is it ?

It started with one , another joined it , then another and then another , the front one turned , they all turned and set of on a march along the capstones , unfortunately by the time my camera / phone was ready to roll the majority had fffflown away . Just these 2 left chatting.

I don't know why there is smoke from the chimney I don't think it was cold

I think there are 3 . "M dad my mum here , came back every year. Course its changed , these houses were surrounded by woods and fields when I first came ."

A walk in the Park

 On a sunny Sunday afternoon

 daughter , granddaughter, niece and Aunt ,

and the band played on - Game of Thrones Theme at this point

 these really motored which is why there are no birds on this pond only on the other pond

Bird eats dead fish